Annotated chess game: Team match

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ANNOTATED GAME

Team match
horseshoe (1377) vs. pretz (1410)
Annotated by: pretz (1200)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B21), Andreaschek gambit

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1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qd1 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Nf3 d6 8. Bc4 O-O	I'm playing a very characteristic Sicilian Dragon opening. Knights are all in the right spot, the c pawn is gone, the d and g pawns are in position, and the black bishop fianchettoed nicely. I mostly got this from "How to Think Ahead in Chess".



9. O-O Be6	I was out of things to develop, and I wanted to open up the rook's file. In this situation, white can choose between letting his white bishop run around and waste tempo, or he can just trade and double up pawns on the e file. He chose to trade off.
	2 comments novagold (1200) on 25-Jun-08: Why here? After the trade off he's disrupted your pawn structure. Pinning the knight seems preferable. archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: This is one of those places where 9...a6 would have been useful, inaugurating t6he advance of Black's Q-side flank. Or 9...Bd7 is also thematic. Worth a look might have been 9...Bg4 or ...Ng4, but I would prefer one of the less committal moves. The piece exchange offered by the text has its upside: the removal of a useful attacking piece from White; but the downside is the removal of a potentially useful target for Black.


10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. a3	To prevent Nb4



11... Ng4 12. b4 Bxc3	Oops. It happens.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: 12.b4 ruins the game. Even without the loss of the piece, White might not want minor piece exchanges on e3 on account of the isolated doubled pawns that result. So, 12.Bd2 seems to be indicated. After 12.b4?? Black might well have considered 12...Nxe3 anyway, just about forcing 13.fxe3 Bxc3, reducing material a further minor piece, as well as carrying off the extra one.


13. Rb1 Nxe3 14. fxe3	Since I'm ahead, trading off pieces and opening up lines (even for the opposition) makes sense. Also, now he's got double isolated pawns.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: Same result as my previous comment; just a different move order.


14... Rc8 15. Ng5	Putting pressure on the doubled pawn.



15... Ne5 16. Nxe6	Forked like a rookie. How disgraceful.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: The situation was trickier than it looked. E.g. 15...Rxf1+ 16.Qxf1 ... and then what? 16...Qe8 17.Nxe6 or 17.Qc4 maybe? It often happens that the loser of material gets some ephemeral tactical chances in (partial) compensation. Maybe Black has to play 15...Qd7 (or possibly 15...Qb6), accepting the loss of the e-pawn but seeking to seize the initiative whilst White gathers it in. At any rate, a single pawn is a poor return for a whole piece.


16... Qb6 17. Qd5	Preparing for a revealed check, but in my humble opinion taking the rook might have been wiser.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: Overfinessing, and robbing himself of the fruits of his tactical counterblow. There were two ways of taking the rook: [A] 17.Nxf8 Qxe3+ 18.Kh1 Rxf8 19.Qd5 Rf7 etc; or [B] 17.Rxf8+ Rxf8 18.Nxf8 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 Kxf8 20.Qd5, say. Black would retain a considerable advantage, but by no means the winning one he now gets...


17... Qxe3+ 18. Kh1 Rxf1+ 19. Rxf1	Now I've gotten the rook out of danger and taken the pawn back, so the beautiful fork comes to nothing.



19... Nf7 20. Ng5 Qxg5 21. Qxf7+ Kh8 22. Qe6 Rg8 23. Qc4 Be5 24. Qe2 Qh4 25. h3	Saving himself from Qxh2 mate



25... Qg3	Threatening Qh2 mate



26. Kg1 Qh2+ 27. Kf2 Rf8+ 28. Ke1 Qg3+ 29. Kd1 Rxf1+ 30. Qxf1	Trading off.



30... Kg7	This attack just ran out of steam, but I've succeeded in trading off pieces while maintaining my advantage.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: Keeping alert! White was threatening mate in one.


31. Qe2 Qxa3 32. h4 Bc3 33. Qd3 Bxb4 34. Qd4+ e5	Protecting with tempo



35. Qd5 b6 36. Qb7+ Kh6 37. Qf7 Qe3 38. Qd5 Qe1#	My bishop advantage proves enough for the checkmate.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2332) on 26-Jun-08: White could defend one, but not both, mates.