Annotated chess game: Playing a blindfolded opponent

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ANNOTATED GAME

Playing a blindfolded opponent - Full out war
bert1bell (1724) vs. bipolarcorner (1403)
Annotated by: bipolarcorner (1655)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B23), Grand Prix attack, Schofman variation

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The following game is one that was played with Bert having a handicap, namely that he played without seeing the board and thus had to play by head ( the official term is blindfold chess, but there was no blindfold involved so it seemed a bit silly ). His busride was fairly boring and as such he randomly hit me up on facebook for a game of chess. His proposition was that we both played without a board or chesspieces as a form of training. I declined, however since I'm not that confident in being able to play chess at a reasonable level under those circumstances due to my rather 'selective memory'. I still remember what the colours were of the t-shirts of about 50% of all students I met during my first schoolday in college 1.5 years ago, but I can't remember what I had for dinner last night if my life depended on it. After a short discussion we agreed on me being allowed to use a board since it was just practise anyway. Him playing blind is probably the reason why he lost, but I can't say he made a lot of big errors. His first big error only came at move 18 into the game and before that he managed to pull the position entirely into his preferred type of position. The rating that's shown above are our irl national elo's. I hope you'll find the game just as interesting as I thought it was.

1. e4

Those who have read some of my previous annotations will already know this, but I can't emphasize enough that Bert and I, are fundamentally very different players. Our preferred playstyles, positions, openings and approach to the game are about as different as can be. This is already shown as soon as move 1 where he plays e4 whereas I'll stick to my favoured d4. For example: I prefer my positions closed and with room for some error, where I can slowly grind my opponent into creating small weaknesses that I can later take advantage of. In contrast, he usually has the tendency to create open positions in which there are many complications and where the opposing player usually has to play incredibly accurate to survive. The moves or sacrifices he plays aren't always 100% correct ( the computer will often agree with me on this point ), but the positions he creates often pressure the opponent in overlooking a small detail or making an error. As such there's a lot we can learn from each other and our games become rather exciting every once in a while.

1... c5 2. Nc3

Closed Sicilian. I know that Bert used to play the Alapin, however nowadays he prefers the grand prix attack from what I've heard. My experience versus the grand prix is very limited as not a lot of people tend to play it here in Belgium so I don't really know the opening theory behind it. We'll somehow manage.

2... Nc6

Taking a more waiting approach. Usually I'd just bust e6 out immediately, however in the closed Sicilian I like to wait a bit longer to see what exact variation we're playing so that I change it up by playing d6 instead if I deem it better.

3. f4

And this is the point where I realize we're going to be playing the Grand Prix attack. It's not that popular among players because it's deemed that Black equalises too easily if they actually know what they're doing, but it's definitely playable at the clublevel and in my opinion leads to interesting games.

3... g6

I was considering Qc7 for a second, going for my usual Taimanov setup and getting rid of booktheory immediately, but it didn't feel quite as convincing. I wasn't too scared of Nb5 or Nd5 as it's common in the Taimanov to answer that threat with Qb8, but I didn't want my queen all the way on b8 since I knew that a strong attacking plan would be coming my way rather soon ( as e5 or f5 are common plans in the grand prix for white to start up an attack ) and a queen on b8 doesn't exactly help in defending that. Instead I opt for g6 with the idea of playing Bg7. My pawn on c5 probably won't be fiercely attacked and it's easy to defend it with d6 later so I'd rather have my bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal where it's really strong. g6 is also the main line according to Bert which surprised me a little.

4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5

Putting pressure on the knight who could be an important defender in the future.

5... Qc7

Stepping out of main theory. Qc7 looks a bit strange because of Nd5, however I thought about it for a second and after 6.Nd5 Qb8 7.d3 e6 8. Nc3 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bb3 Nd4 I think black is doing just fine. Black is getting a lot of space on the queenside which is what usually happens in the Taimanov and Kan variations of the open Sicilian that I like to play in exchange for vulnerable dark squared diagonals, but that shouldn't be an issue with my dark squared bishop being placed on g7. At the very least I'd be very familiar with the attacking plans of Black if nothing else considering the similarity it'd have with what I usually play. I assume Qc7 isn't one of the mainlines because there's a better alternative, but at the very least I thought it was interesting.

6. O-O

Probably the best move, as it brings the rook on the important f-file so it can help in playing f5 in the future. His king is also relatively safe there as it's not easy for black to actually make use of the dark a7-g1 diagonal. At the same time he's also inviting black to capture on f4, which would most likely end up in a disaster as it's an easy square for White to attack and White will most likely get compensation with either center control ( with for example d4 ) or maybe several tempi and the quick development of all his pieces.

6... a6

Attacking the bishop. if he retreats Ill push b5 and try my chances there in the future. If he captures I get the bishop pair. I don't mind either situation.

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7. Bxc6

Surprisingly he captures the knight. I'd assume he'd want as many pieces on the board for his eventual attack so I thought it a little bit strange at first, but it has a few good reasons when you think about it. He probably felt like his bishop wouldn't do a lot on b3 and giving me the d4 square for my knight is indeed not the most pleasant thing. On top of that, we have to take into consideration that he's playing without looking at the board, so removing a piece of the board can remove some of the strain.

7... Qxc6

A small inaccuracy. I should have played bxc6 instead so that I can play d5 more easily in the future or dxc6 so that I can easily develop my light squared bishop and place my rook on d8. White now has ideas of playing Ne5 which forces Black to retreat the queen or quietly develop and target the queen more easily later on. That being said, it's not a huge error. Instead of contesting the center if bxc6 was played, I'll most likely start up a minority attack at the queenside. Black's structure is still very solid with little exploitable weaknesses.

8. d3

Making room for the dark squared bishop to develop after f5 is played or to go to e3 if he wishes to target my pawn on c5.

8... b5

Getting a lot of space on the queenside and preparing to develop the light squared bishop on b7. I was considering the idea of playing d6 instead to try and develop my bishop by playing it along the c8-h3 diagonal,but after h3, I'm not sure where the bishop would end up.

9. Qe1

Indirectly aiming at my king who hasn't castled yet and preparing Qh4 in case I had castling plans.

9... Nf6

I decide that it's about time I brought my king to safety before I start any attack. The short term plan is to castle, play Bb7, get my rook on f8 to b8,c8 or d8 depending on the situation and then push my pawns. An unrated or 1200 elo player might give me enough time to do all that, but Bert knows better then to allow me to solidify my position and start attacking plans.

10. f5

The attack starts.

10... O-O

I decide to ignore it for the time being. Maybe it was the appropriate timing to play a move like b4 now that his knight doesn't have a lot of squares left and then play a5 after, but I wanted to bring my king into safety first. In an actual game I would give a move like b4 a lot of consideration and probably even spend up to half an hour looking at it, but considering we're playing on a quicker pace I played the logical O-O. I expected e5 to follow after castling, but after Nd5 it doesn't look too bad for black.

11. Qh4

Probably not the best move, but one that does create various problems. The plan for White is very simple, play Ng5, play e5 and because it threatens checkmate it's not possible for the knight to go anywhere but h4 where it doesn't do a whole lot, but it's the only square for the knight that prevents checkmate. After that white simply plays g4 and it looks rather grim for Black. White will be up material at the cost of having an exposed king, but my pieces are in no position to take advantage of an exposed king right now. It's up to me to find an appropriate defense that won't ruin my pawnstructure too much.

11... d6

I decide to let my light squared bishop aim at White's kingside first as it'll prove a great help in defending in the near future. Ng5 gets met with h5. Then, after fxg6 fxg6 Black's pawn structure is very questionable, but it looks like a holdable position.

12. Ng5 h5 13. Rf3

An inaccuracy. White should play fxg6, weakening Black's castled structure significantly before bringing the rook into the attack.

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