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ANNOTATED GAME
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easy19 (2244) vs. jstevens1 (1756)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2332)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B21), Grand Prix attack
easy19 (2244) vs. jstevens1 (1756)
Annotated by: archduke_piccolo
(2332)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B21), Grand Prix attack
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Speculative sacrifices in the opening - gambits - often lead to exciting games. The gambiteer risks material for the sake of less tangible advantages, but the tension mounts as he tries to realise those advantages. When it is the queen that is being invested, then the tension is at fever pitch. How can the gambiteer so much as break even on his investment? Such examples are uncommon, but here's one such. | ||||||
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1. e4 c5 2. f4 |
Beginning the so-called Grand Prix Attack, popular for its inaugurating a K-side attack. | |||||
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2... d5 |
... Possibly this is the response that means that the Grand Prix will never supersede White's main lines of the Sicilian! | |||||
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3. Nf3 |
An unusual response that gambits White's e-pawn. But White has something more spectacular already in mind... | |||||
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3... dxe4 |
Why not? | |||||
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4. Ng5 |
According to plan. Also possible was 4.Ne5. | |||||
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4... Nf6 5. Bc4 |
A straightforward attack on f7. Black could simply block this with 5...e6, but there's nothing wrong with developing a piece to drive back the c4-bishop, is there? | |||||
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5... Bg4 |
Apparently White must play 6.Be2 if he doesn't want to give up more material... | |||||
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6. Qxg4 |
(!!?) Giving up the queen for the sake of keeping his attack on f7!? White's development has hardly begun. too! Incidentally, 6.Bxf7+ would have transposed into the game continuation. Either way, White is speculating very heavily! | |||||
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6... Nxg4 |
There's no real choice. Black has to test White's idea. | |||||
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7. Bxf7+ Kd7 8. Be6+ |
Forking K and N, which will ensure White at least gets a second minor piece for his queen. Still, he needs a third to restore the material balance! | |||||
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8... Kc7 |
(!?) One has to ask, what would White have played had the king returned to e8? Would White have settled for a perpetual (9.Bxf7 ) or taken the fork (9.Nf7?! Qd4!, say)? It seems the latter course would have been very risky - too risky perhaps? The game might have ended in a draw right here! However, Black was not wrong at this point in fancying her chances of surviving to win. | |||||
| 3 comments | ||||||
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9. Bxg4 |
Time to assess the position. White has N B for the Q. Although a long way from completing his development, White has two pieces in action, with forking threats at e6 and f7. Black, meanwhile, pretty much has to begin all over again, just to activate her game. White has gained a great deal in time for his large material investment. | |||||
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9... Qe8 |
(!?) Dodging both forks at once - a sensible plan. But another idea was to allow one of the forks to happen: 9...Qd6!? 10.Nf7!? Qxf4 11.Nxh8 Qxg4 12.0-0 Nc6. Since much of White's temporal and spatial advantage would disappear with the win of the exchange, it would seem he might have had to come up with a different plan, 10.Ne6 , say. | |||||
| 4 comments | ||||||
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10. Ne6+ Kb6 |
Probably safest. Had she played 10...Kd6, this might have happened: 11.Nc3 Qg6 12.h3 Nd7 13.f5 ... 14.Nxe4 with a strong-looking attack. | |||||
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11. Na3 |
Aiming for c4 and check. | |||||
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11... a6 |
Creating a hidey-hole for himself... | |||||
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12. b4 |
(!?) Trying to open a file directed at the Black King. Maybe White felt that 12.Nc4 Ka7 13.Nc7 Qg6 14.Bh3 offered insufficient return. | |||||
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12... Ka7 |
Again, playing safe. But taking on b4 was worth a look: 12...cxb4 13.Nc4 Ka7 14.d3 Nc6 15.Be3 Kb8 16.Bb6 (threatens Bc7 ) ...a5 (an attempt to create room for the BK) 17.Bc7 Ka7 (17...Kc8 18.Nb6#) 18.Bb6 Kb8 (18...Ka6 19.Nc7#) and what seems to be a perpetual. Had White more than this if Black took the pawn? I haven't found anything so far! | |||||
| 3 comments | ||||||
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13. b5 |
Charging onward! See how Black is being given no time to bring out her pieces. But White's game is developing almost as slowly: yet to castle, and still to bring out the Q-side pieces. Meanwhile, what might have been the consequences of opening the b-file? 13.bxc5 Qc6 (say) 14.Rb1 Nd7 15.Nc4 Qa4 and Black has some threats of her own. | |||||
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13... Qg6 |
This queen is just about Black's only active piece, and it looks difficult to bring the others into play. What is intriguing about all this is that it's hard to see how White can make good the loss of his queen; and equally difficult to fathom how Black can survive the bind on her game. Are both losing?? | |||||
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