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ANNOTATED GAME
Small advantages wins games.
friction009 (1420) vs. anotherminorpawn (1629)
Annotated by: gleeful
(1968)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B20), Gloria variation
friction009 (1420) vs. anotherminorpawn (1629)
Annotated by: gleeful
(1968)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B20), Gloria variation
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1. e4 |
Black built up a series of small advantages to break through and win a pawn on move 20. The game continued with a rook on the 2nd rank that confined white's king, allowed black to advance up the board, and mate. Please feel free to message me if you have comments, questions, or find any mistakes. | |||||
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1... c5 |
The Sicilian defence breaks symmetry by contesting the d4 square with the c pawn rather than the e pawn. White often attacks the kingside while black obtains a queenside advantage. Grandmaster John Nunn noted that the reason for the Sicilian Defence’s popularity “is its combative nature; in many lines Black is playing not just for equality, but for the advantage. The drawback is that White often obtains an early initiative, so Black has to take care not to fall victim to a quick attack.” | |||||
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2. c4 |
Attempting to reestablish symmetry, this often transposes into positions arising from the English opening. 2. Nf3 is most common. | |||||
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2... Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 |
Preparing for d5. | |||||
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4. g3 |
?! - Dubious. White's kingside bishop can already be developed via e2, so weakening the kingside castle is unneccessary. Better is Nc3, contesting the center d6 square. | |||||
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4... d5 5. Qe2 |
?! - Dubious. Developing the queen too early often leads to a loss of tempo as she is attacked and forced to move multiple times. Better is Nc3. | |||||
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5... dxe4 6. Qxe4 |
After the exchange, white is left with a backward pawn on the half-open d file. This will become the focus for an attack. | |||||
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6... Nf6 |
Developing with tempo. | |||||
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7. Qc2 Be7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 |
Moving the rook off of the long diagonal and preparing to fianchetto the lightsquared bishop to counter white's bishop. It may have been better to play b6, allowing Bb7 next move. | |||||
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10. Nc3 |
Finally developing the 2nd white knight, but too late to influence the earlier exchange. | |||||
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10... b6 11. Ng5 |
Opening up the bishop and threatening black's knight. Also threatens mate (Qxh7#) if black's f6 knight can be lured away. | |||||
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11... Nd4 |
Forcing the queen to retreat again. | |||||
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12. Qd1 |
White's queen has moved 4 times and returned to her original square, effectively wasting 4 moves. During that time, black has developed all but one of his pieces and constructed a solid pawn chain supporting a centralized knight. However, advantages in development and time are temporary and need to be taken advantage of immediately or the opponent will have the opportunity to equalize. | |||||
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12... Bb7 |
Countering the strong white bishop. | |||||
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13. Bxb7 Rxb7 |
Exchanging the bishops leaves the pawns around white's king weak. The exchange also lifted black's rook, enabling black to to easily double pieces on the half-open d file. | |||||
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14. Ne2 |
Attempting to trade off black's dominating centralized knight. | |||||
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14... Rd7 15. Nxd4 Rxd4 16. b3 Rd3 |
Protecting the rook from Nf3 (or Bb2, though that would give up the d pawn). 16...Ne4?! 17. Nxe4 Rxe4 18. Bb2 would isolate black's rook in the center and give white some counterplay. | |||||
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17. Qc2 |
Qe2 is probably better, as it still allows Rd1, protecting the d pawn, and protects Ng3 | |||||
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17... Ng4 |
Attacking the g5 knight and preparing Bg6. | |||||
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18. Nh3 |
Ne4 may have been better as this regulates the knight to the edge of the board for most of the rest of the game. Perhaps white was expecting to follow it up with Ng4, forcing the rook to retreat. | |||||
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