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ANNOTATED GAME
Request: Never Give Up
chicoboy (1284) vs. bwaa (1790)
Annotated by: bwaa
(1873)
Chess opening: Latvian counter-gambit (C40)
chicoboy (1284) vs. bwaa (1790)
Annotated by: bwaa
(1873)
Chess opening: Latvian counter-gambit (C40)
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1. e4 |
Hi all, I've got a very fun game between chicoboy and I to show off from early this month. This is the closest he's come to beating me yet, and let me tell you, it was close indeed! | |||||
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1... e5 2. Nf3 f5 |
I've been playing the Latvian Gambit exclusively in these games. Gerhard has been getting much better at thwarting it. I'm not going to give the opening itself a lot of detail; I have a whole series of annotations on it if you want that. | |||||
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3. d3 |
I do still think this is too passive, though (better 3.Nxe5 or 3.d4!) | |||||
| 2 comments | ||||||
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3... Nc6 |
Getting the Knight out and defending e5. | |||||
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4. Be3 |
This isn't necessarily the best place for this Bishop, since it could be easy to chase with f5-f4. | |||||
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4... Nf6 5. exf5 d5 6. d4 |
This is essentially why I think 3.d3 is not ideal for White--his best chances lie in an all-out total war against the Black kingdom. Kudos to White for recognizing that and making the second pawn move. | |||||
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6... Bb4+ 7. c3 Bd6 8. Bb5 |
White repels the invading forces with ease and continues his development. | |||||
| 2 comments | ||||||
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8... Bd7 |
?? Tactical opportunities abound in this opening, and I missed the one that this allows. 8...e4 was far better. | |||||
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9. Bxc6 |
My opponent does not miss the tactical opportunity. | |||||
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9... Bxc6 10. dxe5 |
Winning a piece. | |||||
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10... Be7 |
Trying to keep the Bishop pair, but probably 10...O-O was better, gaining a little in terms of time. | |||||
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11. exf6 |
Black should be pretty much lost at this point, but I'm going to make White prove it. It's still very early in the game--plenty of time for tactics and mistakes! | |||||
| 1 comment | ||||||
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11... Bxf6 12. O-O |
White gets his King to safety. | |||||
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12... Qd7 13. Nd4 Bxd4 |
Black trades, since his light-squared Bishop is better-placed than his dark-squared one--though neither is looking great at the moment. | |||||
| 1 comment | ||||||
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14. Bxd4 O-O 15. Nd2 Qxf5 16. Bc5 |
Probably not what I would have played, since it just forces Black into the Rook lift he wants to play anyway. As White is a full piece ahead, I probably would have simply focused on finishing development and then trading down into a won endgame. | |||||
| 3 comments | ||||||
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16... Rf6 17. Nf3 b6 |
Trying to drive this Bishop off the a3-f8 diagonal in preparation for ...Raf8. | |||||
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18. Bd4 Rh6 19. Be3 Rg6 |
!? This looks like it fails to a tactic, but it's actually a stronger threat that I will explain in a moment... | |||||
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20. Nh4 |
Forking the Q and R, but it's really important to notice: **this is a bluff!!** White cannot actually take the Queen, for if he does, Black gets back in the game with a nasty windmill attack: 20.Nh4 d4!! 21.Nxf5?? Rxg2+ 22.Kh1 Rxf2+! 23.Kg1 Rg2+ 24.Kh1 Rg3+ 25.Rf3 Bxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 and Black has a fine position, though he's still a little behind. | |||||
| 4 comments | ||||||
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20... Qf6 |
?????? Black set up the windmill combination perfectly, but entirely failed to execute it! I really don't know what came over me. As I mentioned above, correct here was 20...d4! | |||||
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21. Nxg6 Qxg6 22. Qd4 |
The situation looks very grim for Black, a full Rook in the hole. He needs to activate his pieces and play energetically--or else resign, but Black committed to Total War with his second move, so he's not going to back down now! | |||||
| 3 comments | ||||||
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