Annotated chess game: The Annotation Project II

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ANNOTATED GAME

The Annotation Project II
8ballphoenix (1578) vs. daddyk (1537)
Annotated by: 8ballphoenix (1600)
Chess opening: Bird's opening (A03), Lasker variation

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1. f4	Having been soundly beaten by Daddyk as black, after dropping my queen rather too easily, in a game I believe he will shortly be annotating, it was time to seek revenge with the white pieces. Prior to starting this tournament, I felt that with the 3 point advantage, and the queen, Black really should be able to win, however, as the games have progressed, I have found myself doing better with the white pieces than with black.



1... d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. e4 dxe4 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. Bxf7+ Kd7 7. Qxg4+ Nxg4 8. Be6+ Kc6 9. Bxg4	Up to here seems pretty standard, with Black favouring c6 over e8 for the king, and white having nothing better than the capture on g4 otherwise the defecit would be too much.



9... Bg7 10. Ne6 Qg8	...Bg7; 10 Ne6 to get the knight onto a good restricting square, blocking the pawn, and forcing the queen to g8 defending the bishop all seem favoured as the best moves so far.



11. d4	Making way for the DSB as this pawn move prevents Bxb2. If black replies with exd3 e.p. then b2 is still under attack but black loses the e4 pawn, which I am more than happy to see the back of - it could get in my way later.



11... exd3 e.p. 12. cxd3 h5 13. Bh3	I want to keep the bishop on this diagonal to prevent the king escaping via d7. Part of the point of whites queen sac was to expose the king, and I want him to stay exposed!



13... Na6	Is he making way for the rook? Or is he looking at c5 with the intention of shifting my knight? I like my knight where it is. Or maybe looking at b4, then d3+ (or the more obvious but easy to deal with c2+). Either way, I don't think the knight plans on staying that far away for long.
	2 comments nuntar (1702) on 10-Dec-09: It could be a combination of all of these -- simple development with the idea of choosing what to do with the piece later. After all, the knight cannot develop to c6 with the king there. 8ballphoenix (1600) on 10-Dec-09: Yes. One of my problems as Black in this line, is that because I can't have c6 for the knight, and I want it, I am unable to decide whether to go to a6 or d7 instead, and as a result I tend to delay developing this piece, which also prevents development of the rook, so in this respect, simply getting it out must be good. Trouble is, it is easy for white to restrict it's future movement. Choosing what to do with it later is ok, but black may not be given much choice, so it makes sense to me that black has possibly already decided what to do with it.


14. d4	I can't prevent it going to c5 and b4, and I don't want it going to c5. If it goes to d3 via b4, no problem. With his king on the c-file I don't mind swapping his knight for my bishop with a rook check. Note after the pawn swap on move 11, I still have a pawn in the same place, but I also have his e5 pawn out of the way, and a clear view down the c-file to that king!



14... Nb4	As expected.



15. Na3	Na3 prevents ...Nc2+, allows the rook to defend the bishop in case of Nd3+, and starts moving in on the king.



15... Nd3+	Again, as expected, but the bishop is more restricted now than the rook would be if allowed out!



16. Ke2	I don't see any immediate danger to my king, and my castling rights have gone anyway, so why not release the h1 rook, and force the knight into an immediate decision... (If Nxc1, then still Raxc1 as the h1 rook will be more useful on the d or e file, whilst the a1 rook is no good to man nor beast remaining stuck on a1 or b1.



16... Nxf4+	Moving the knight was required, but this surprised me. Maybe he saw a chance to remove my LSB as 17. Nxf4; ...e6 probably allows the king to escape to the back row. I didn't look too deeply into this as I'm sure my opponent either overlooked Bxf4, or felt getting just a pawn for the knight was better than allowing Rxc1+, and it does give him an open file near my king if he gets a chance to use it.
	1 comment daddyk (1200) on 10-Dec-09: Think this deserves ???? A total blunder on my behalf. I thought about taking the Bishop but then white would put Rook on a strong file and check to boot... My thinking was I get a pawn, assumed white would retake with knight, this would allow me to win 2nd pawn in the center and release a lot of tension... Instead I lose my Knight and allow White to develop a piece... I totally overlooked the Bishop and well there you have it, basically threw in the towel...


17. Bxf4	Bishop developed, and no escape for the king via the d-file without dropping material.



17... Bf6	Presumably intending shifting my bishop from the h2-b8 diagonal with ...g5 and ...h4. Or, looking to play ...Kd7 without dropping the bishop, but if ...Kd7, my knight probably ignores him and waits for him to go to e8 or c8, then goes to c7+, winning a rook for nothing, or a queen for a bishop.



18. Rac1+	But, Rc1+. If ...Kd7 then Rxc7+, threatening to double up on the c-file and the king is looking rather cramped. If ...Kd5 then Nxc7+ and he doesn't have many places left to run, being surrounded by white pieces. Or...



18... Kb6	The easiest option for me as white - mate in 2.



19. Bxc7+	and black resigned due to ...Ka6; Nc5#. I am finding that the knight on e6, especially with blacks pawn on e7, is playing a major part in restricting blacks ability to get his queen and rooks into play. I think a key part of this victory was in preventing blacks knight from reaching c5. Thanks for the game, Kieran.
	1 comment daddyk (1200) on 10-Dec-09: I should have let you finish it off... sorry. Very direct to the point play good game & thanks