Annotated chess game: The Dentist has his Day!

« TAP TO LOG IN

ANNOTATED GAME

The Dentist has his Day!
The Dentist (1348) vs. jstevens1 (1679)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: KP (C20), Napoleon's opening

Interactive

•

Show all comments

•

All annotated games

•

View chessboard as:


1. e4 e5 2. Qf3	2. Qf3 - an unusual opening, this is called the Napoleon Opening. It is not as easy to exploit as you think and although I play out the recommended lines of the database things are about to go belly up big time for me.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: If White really, really wants to bring the Queen out at move 2, 2.Qh5 seems the better choice...


2... Nf6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 d6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. b4 Bb6 7. h3 a6	7. ......... a6 - this is where I start to play conservatively, a little too conservatively.
	1 comment dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: Black has a fine position due to white's laggard development, but 7 ..a6 is a strategic error that justifies white's strategy and wastes time. Black should play 7... c6!, followed by d4!, seizing the initiative.


8. a4 Ba7 9. d3 h6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Qxe3 Qe7	11. ......... Qe7 - the dsb exchanges do nothing to relieve my cramped position.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: It's not too cramped at the moment. White has more space on the Q-side and a marginal lead in development perhaps, but the position looks close to even, I reckon. dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: Black moved the bishop three times to exchange a bishop that had just moved once, leaving the white queen on a good square. Not fatal but this loss of tempi is a factor in how white gained a slight edge in an inferior opening.


12. g4 Nh7 13. Ng3 Be6 14. Nd2 Qd7	14. ....... Qd7 - maybe I should have exchanged bishops while I had the chance!
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: No. 14...Bxc4 15.Nxc4 would have increased White's lead, with his other knight threatening to come in at f5. Black would have found herself faced with a K-side attack. dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: Black does not realize yet that given enough time, White's attack will prevail against defensive play facing what has become an ideal reverse lion formation. Black should have still striven for ...c6 and ...d4 to exploit white's king piosition to counteract the flank attack.


15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. gxf5 Qe7 17. Nf3 Nd7	17. ........ Nd7 - I complete my development but white has a clear advantage in space and a dangerous mating attack develops.



18. a5 Ndf6 19. O-O-O Nh5 20. Rdg1 Kh8	20. ...... Kh8, escaping from a pin down the g file.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: ... and the pin down the a2-g8 diagonal. But I prefer ...Nf4 here. dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: White has not played precisely here, better would have been simply Ke2 to deter a queen side counterattack. White continues to exploit Black's emphasis on defensive moves rather than counterattack. N-f4 is more active.


21. Rg4 Nh7f6 22. Rg2 Nf4 23. Rg3 Nf6h5 24. Rg4	24. Rg4 - a curious knight manoeuvre holds things together on the kingside but not for long!



24... Qf6 25. Kc2 Rfd8 26. d4 Qe7	26. ......... Qe7 - I moved my rook to d8 hoping to contest the centre but it is not to be. White slowly improves his position while I am reduced to shunting Glenda from e7 to f6.
	3 comments moppa (1200) on 10-Jul-08: I think this is the stage you did the biggest error, just to toss your queen between e7 and f6. In my view, you should have done everything you can to open the queenside and activate your rooks. The most obvious move to me is ...b6 when black gets at least some counterplay. If black just sits around and wait for execution she will surely lose so it was time to think hard and inisist to make something positive happen to your position. archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: I agree. Striking out on the Q-side had to be considered, or maybe bringing the a8-rook closer to the centre: d8 or e8. Is there anything else - something a bit more active? How about 24...Qe8 or ...Qd7, threatening to come in at a4? 24...Qe8 25.Bb3 Qb5 26.Bc2 c5, and suddenly Black has counterchances of her own... dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: Agree with the others. Since inaction was fatal, ...b6 would open up the position and disturb white's plans.


27. h4 Qf6 28. Kb3 Qe7 29. Ng1 Qf6 30. Nh3 Kg8 31. Nxf4 exf4	31. ........ exf4 - white now forces an exchange of knights opening up the position.



32. Qf3 Kf8 33. Rg2 g6 34. Qg4 Rde8 35. Qf3 Ng7 36. Qxf4 h5	36. ......... h5 - I have just lost a pawn and I will soon lose another.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: White's patient manoeuvring is starting to yield dividends. Black feels she is on the defensive and is trying to defend, but sometimes the defending pieces just need to stand still whilst unengaged pieces come to the rescue, or strike up a diversion somewhere. For the last 10 moves, White has been given a free hand; he could afford to be patient. dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: Black's position is now unsustainable, white has been given a free ride to lock up all sides of the board.


37. Qh6 Ke7 38. fxg6 Reh8 39. Qg5 Qxg5 40. Rxg5 f6	40. .......... f6 - the exchange of queens does not improve my position and I am now 2 pawns down. I play on for a few more moves with a heavy heart.



41. Rg3 c6 42. f4 Rad8 43. d5 Rhe8	43. ............. Rhe8?? - loses another pawn. I overlook the fact that the a pawn will fall after dxc6 giving white another passer. As soon as I realised this I threw in the sponge before my opponent replied on the grounds of ruinous loss of material. Even taking into account my playing history with the Dentist and the 300 point difference in our ratings I felt that there was nothing left to play for. This was the second time in the space of a week that I lost to U1400 oppo. I dropped 17 points against cbarracuda. Luckily this game was unrated so my rating was not affected. At the time of the resignation my rating was 1679 and my opponent's was 1348. A sorry tale. Do you think I under-estimated my opponent here or do you feel I simply played passively and paid in full? You the jury decide.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 10-Jul-08: Yes. Yes, you underestimated your opponent - who played quite well, I thought. And, yes, you played passively and paid in full. Once you had set up your defence with the knights on f4 and h5, then was a good time to look for counteraction on some other part of the board. It was going to take a few moves for White to break through (as you saw), and your a8-rook remained unemployed for the entire game (in fact neither rook did very much: a 2-rook advantage is worth a heap more than 200-300 ELO!). Had you even looked like you were going to create trouble on some part of the board other than where White was operating, then you might have seen 200-300 ELO points make a difference! dmaestro (1647) on 10-Jul-08: You underestimated your opponent, who was essentially playing a system which required a different strategic focus to defeat, and failed to exploit the weaknesses of that system by active play. Systems work as long as all your opponent has to do is focus on executing a single minded strategy. Had you contested the center early, White would have been on the defensive instead.