Annotated chess game: The Crushing Defeat (GK Blitz: 5 min + 20 sec)

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ANNOTATED GAME

The Crushing Defeat (GK Blitz: 5 min + 20 sec)
msk3000k vs. cazador2
Annotated by: cazador2 (1515)
Chess opening: Sicilian (B90), Najdorf, Byrne (English) attack

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1. e4	Since I'm making this game public, I'll disclaim what eventually will become pretty apparent: I'm neither a very skilled or experienced chess player beyond the world of recreational chess.



1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6	Decided to go with the move involving the Najdorf variation just for kicks. I wasn't sure what my opponent's response would be.



6. Be3 g6	I then decided to proceed with the dragon variation, which probably wasn't wise.
	2 comments madthinker (1604) on 17-Jan-13: I've never seen a6 played before g6. Put simply, I don't think a6 is much use in an open dragon, and in a closed dragon, it can be played later. blake78613 (1200) on 18-Jan-13: Chris Ward calls it the Dragondorf, it is more Najdorf than Dragon and Black generally castles Queenside.


7. f3 Bg7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O	I suppose it might start to be telltale at this point that my opponent was working on a kingside attack. I was too focused on building towards a queenside attack that I didn't notice a trend that began to be apparent in the next few moves.
	2 comments madthinker (1604) on 17-Jan-13: If Nc6 had been played instead of a6, then 9...d5 is the most popular continuation. blake78613 (1200) on 18-Jan-13: Either 6...a6 the Najdorf or 6...Nc6 the Classical variation is playable. The Dragondorf is playable, but Black should have made Najdorf type moves, he is now basically a tempo down in a Yugoslav Attack type Dragon.


9... Nbd7 10. Be2	Here, with the aftersight of how the game progressed, its pretty easy to see that my opponent's bishops, queen, rook, and the d4 knight were perfectly set up for a pawn attack against my dragon formation. I've discovered that this might be a weakness of the dragon...in my past games it has seemed to depend on the pawn structure and bishop remaining in that formation. I might need to think of a defense that can answer this threat if I'm to continue using it.
	1 comment l-d-j (1747) on 18-Jan-13: As Black in the dragon, you need to seek counterplay on the queenside ASAP. Either a pawn strom (...b5--.b4 and ...a5-a4 etc.) or an attack with pieces (queen to a5, rooks to the open c-file, knight to e5, bishop on g7 and an exchange sac on c3). Those are the general ideas for Black here. Of course you can combine both.


10... Ne5 11. g4	Here the pawn attack begins to be apparent. At this point, I was considering a knight sacrifice for one of the pawns, probably the g4 pawn, to break up the attack, since I've experienced previous games where pawn attacks were devastating. However, I didn't want my opponent to gain a material lead so early in the game. I foolishly decided to try and keep building my own attack.



11... Qb6 12. h4 Rd8	This point in the game is rife with my own mistakes. With such a heavy attack going, I don't know how I could have ignored it at this point.
	2 comments madthinker (1604) on 17-Jan-13: Qb6 puts the queen in the firing line with Ne6 a possibility. I would move the Bc8 (even consider sacrificing on g4), and get a rook to c8 as soon as possible. l-d-j (1747) on 18-Jan-13: ...Rd8 is just too slow. The rooks belong on the open c-file, as madthinker points out correctly.


13. h5 gxh5 14. gxh5 h6 15. Nf5 Qc7 16. Nxg7 Kxg7 17. Bxh6+ Kh7 18. Rhg1 Ng8	This, it turned out, stemmed the tide a little longer, and I had some hopes at this point of surviving the attack.
	1 comment madthinker (1604) on 17-Jan-13: A rule of thumb in the dragon is not to take on h5. A typical white attack will go 14.hxg6 fxg6 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6, and the Nf6 defends h7. White can attempt to remove it with g5, to which black normally blocks the file with Nh5. Or White can remove it with Nd5, which is why Black needs a rook on c8 (to sacrifice the exchange as soon as this is threatened).


19. Nd5	At this point, I meditated moving my knight to c4 and attacking his queen. The resulting combination I saw as 20. Kxc7 Kxd2 21. Kxa8 which leaves me behind in material, but might have been preferable to suffering as badly as I did in moves to come.
	1 comment madthinker (1604) on 17-Jan-13: If 19...Nc4, then 20.Qc3, and there is a mate threat on g7, as well as the Queen hanging.


19... Qc6 20. Qf4 Be6	Protecting the pawn.



21. Nxe7	The knight kept on attacking my queen and concentrating around my king. There was really nothing I could do.



21... Nxe7 22. Qf6 Rdg8	At first I thought this move would stump my opponent and give me a little breathing room, but it didn't.



23. Rg7+	As soon as he brought his rook down, it didn't take long for me to realize there was no way I could win from this situation. Here's to a poorly played but instructive game.
	2 comments l-d-j (1747) on 18-Jan-13: Good attack by your opponent! blitzkov (1200) on 18-Jan-13: Nice game!