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ANNOTATED GAME
The power of a queen
l-d-j (1405) vs. icebergslimjimjo (1266)
Annotated by: l-d-j (1747)
Chess opening: Sicilian, Chekhover variation (B53)
l-d-j (1405) vs. icebergslimjimjo (1266)
Annotated by: l-d-j (1747)
Chess opening: Sicilian, Chekhover variation (B53)
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This is a game I played recently on GameKnot. Although I won rather easily (my opponent has a much lower rating) there are some parts of the game that are nice to see. I think this game shows very well how powerful a queen can be, especially on an open board.
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1. e4 c5 |
This game was part of a mini-tournament, "Derman's sicilian XXI". Not surprisingly if you know the name, this was the starting position. The idea of the Sicilian is that White gets a developmental lead and tries to attack in the centre or on the kingside, while Black seeks counterplay on the queenside and the c-file (which is usually opened soon). | ||||
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2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 |
Mainline open Sicilian. | ||||
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3... Qa5+ |
?! Yes, the queen is a very powerful piece. But to get her out so early is risky, to say the least. She can now easily come under attack, and because she is so powerful, you should try to keep her on the board, unless you get very good compensation or can deliver checkmate. That's why this is not a good move. Better would be 3...cxd4, exchanging a wing pawn for a central one and opening the c-file to attack. | ||||
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4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Be3 e6 6. dxc5 dxc5 7. h3 Bxf3 |
I think this is the best move, because 7...Bh5?! 8.g4 Bg6 9.Ne5 and White already gets his kingside attack going while he is still able to exchange knight for bishop if he wants to. (Usually an N for B exchange is good for the side that loses the N, especially on an open board) | ||||
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8. Qxf3 |
And there comes Her Majesty. | ||||
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8... Nd7 |
? A mistake, Black should try to undermine White's plans. My computer (Fritz 8) gives 8...a6 to deny White access of b5 and prepare ...b5 for himself. | ||||
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9. O-O-O O-O-O |
? And another mistake. Now the queen shows her power for the first time. | ||||
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10. Qxf7 |
If your opponent has his queen out, always watch out for this kind of things. A queen can cause a lot of damage, as happens in the game. | ||||
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10... Qb6 |
? Black shouldn't care about that little e6 pawn. Now White has a clever (but rather simple) way to win material: | ||||
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11. Rxd7 |
! Removing the defenders of f8. | ||||
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11... Rxd7 12. Qxf8+ Rd8 |
? Another mistake. Better was 12...Qd8, 'only' losing two more pawns: 13.Qxc5+ Qc7 14.Qxa7. Now Black will lose a piece and a pawn instead. | ||||
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13. Qxg7 Ne7 |
Unfortunately for Black, the only way to keep his rook is to sac his knight. | ||||
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14. Qxe7 Rd6 |
?! Again, I don't think this is the best move. The rook can easily be chased away. | ||||
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15. Bf4 Rd7 16. Qg5 |
So the queen goes back. But the one man (or rather one woman) show is not over yet... | ||||
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16... Rhd8 17. Bc4 Rd7d4 18. Bb3 |
My computer found a nice variation here: 18.Nb5! Rxc4 19.Bc7! Qxc7 (the only way to prevent mate on d8) 20.Nxc7 Kxc7 and White won't have any problems to convert this into a win, with so little material on the board. | ||||
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18... Qb4 |
?? Another big mistake by black. The next move must have been a surprise for him... | ||||
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19. Nd5 |
! A knight sac. Of course there's the threat 20.Nxb4. If 19...Q5, White gets a devastating attack with 20.Ne7+ and if 19...Qb5, White can threate unstoppable mate with 20.Qe5 and Qc7# to follow soon. (I didn't actually calculate these lines) | ||||
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19... exd5 |
? The wrong capture. Better would be 19...Rxd5 20.exd5. But now comes another trap that was set by the sac: | ||||
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20. c3 |
Black loses queen or rook. | ||||
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20... h6 |
?? Another blunder. Of course White can just take the pawn and maintain the threat. But he has even better... | ||||
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