Annotated chess game: Un Demi Point!

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ANNOTATED GAME

Un Demi Point!
therealjimfriar (2055) vs. jstevens1 (1744)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: Scotch (C44), Sea-cadet mate

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1. e4	Hi everyone! As I said at the end of my last annotation. Now for the good news! This game starts off as a Scotch Opening.



1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4	3. d4 - this move characterises the Scotch Opening - it challenges the centre and interesting play results. Just for the benefit of newcomers to the annotations gallery, my first ever game with Coach Ion which I annotated as Battle of the Wings started off as a Scotch. White deviates to a Goring Gambit on his next move.



3... exd4 4. c3 dxc3	4. ........ dxc3 - I accept this gambit with some trepidation as when I looked in the database the first thing I saw was the Sea Cadet Mate. That mate is similar to Legal's Mate. However, playing through that game I made myself a mental aide memoir. Do not play Bg4!



5. Bc4 d6 6. O-O Nf6 7. Qb3 Qd7	7. ......... Qd7 - to defend the weak f7 pawn.



8. Ng5 Ne5 9. Bb5 c6	9. ........ c6 - to screen out that lsb's attack on Glenda.
	1 comment ptitroque (1883) on 12-Aug-13: 9. Bb5 seems to be a mistake : white will move 3 times the LSB, thus losing the developping advantage and initiative. 9. Nxc3 seems to be better.


10. f4 cxb5 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. Nxc3	12. Nxc3 - after an exchange of white's lsb for my knight white finally collects my c3 pawn. I now gain a vital developmental tempo for Frere Lenoir with Bc5
	2 comments nuntar (1702) on 13-Dec-08: White now seems to have little to show for the material deficit. archduke_piccolo (2355) on 14-Dec-08: White has a slight lead in development, and the Black King still in the centre. But it is Black's move! One tempo can make quite a difference.


12... Bc5+ 13. Kh1 O-O 14. Nxb5	14. Nxb5 - I decided to let the b pawn go in order to tuck Henry away on the kingside and to bring another defender to the weak pawn on f7 which is pinned against Henry. Somehow I must drive the Wicked Witch of the West off the a2-g8 diagonal.



14... Qc6	14. ........ Qc6 - opens up Frere Leblanc's diagonal. My next move h6 prepares the possibility of putting Fere Leblanc on e6 developing my bishop, connecting my rooks and driving the Witch off that diagonal unpinning the f7 pawn by driving back the white knight.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2355) on 09-Aug-13: Looking at this anew, I was thinking that this note is a good example of planning in chess. Black wants to rid herself of the pressure against the f7-square. Here she outlines the process by which she plans to achieve that object. Note that in general you can't 'plan' a whole game. Rather, you set yourself certain objectives within a game and set about achieving those by whatever means you have at your disposal.


15. Nc3 h6 16. Nf3 Re8	16. ......... Re8 - backing up my e pawn.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2355) on 09-Aug-13: All part of the plan. If 16...Be3 at once 17.Nxe5 might have been annoying.


17. Bd2 Qb6	17. ....... Qb6 - here I froze. This was the first time that I had managed to maintain a clear pawn lead against an Expert. There seemed to be no weaknesses, but this just seemed too good to be true. I let the emotional baggage from my past performances against the Expert colour my judgement here. I offered Jim a draw. I half expected a refusal. If the refusal was to come with an exchange of queens I would recapture with Frere Lenoir, otherwise Frere Leblanc would come to e6 and drive back the Witch followed by the move Ne7 to protect my e pawn and to prepare f6 to bolster it. But he accepted the draw offer and I received 7.1 points for this high draw. At the end of the game Ion assessed the position as Black has a clear advantage. I suppose in one way I am in a win win situation here. If the advantage is with white then it was a good draw offer. If it was a bad draw offer then it is nice to end the game with the better of things against a player 300 points north of my rating. In any case it ensured that although I came bottom of the league I did not leave Beafyness' tourney with nul point. It was Un Demi Point. My opponent had the following to add - hope you can follow:- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 [4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6= ] 4...dxc3 5.Bc4 [5.Nxc3 Nf6= ] 5...d6 I have always thought this best 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Ng5 Ne5 9.Bb5 [>=9.Nxc3!? is interesting 9...h6 10.Nf3=/ ] 9...c6-/ 10.f4 cxb5 11.fxe5 dxe5 12.Nxc3 Dunno whether Be3 is better? 12….Bc5 13.Kh1 0-0 14.Nxb5 [14.Nd5!? Nxd5 15.exd5- ] 14...Qc6 15.Nc3 h6 16.Nf3 Re8 17.Bd2 Qb6 [17...b6 18.Nh4- ] 1/2-1/2 Look at the following game…I would have played 14 Rxf6 if I had have seen this analysis first……. (3) Belamaric,Goran - Hribar,Bojan [C44] SLO-chT2 West Kranj (2), 15.10.2004 Scotch Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3 [4.Nxd4 Qh4 5.Nb5 Bb4 (‹5...Qxe4 6.Be2 Nb4 7.Nxc7 Kd8 8.Nxa8 Nxc2 9.Kf1 Nxa1 10.Bd3 /- ) 6.Bd2 Qxe4 7.Be2 Qe5 /= (7...Q
	2 comments marinvukusic (2161) on 13-Dec-08: I agree with Ion, Black stands great here. White might try to get some activity on f file to compensate, but a pawn is a pawn and between competent equals there would be a long struggle for a draw (and I am not convinced this is salvageable, e4 is too weak). Black should generally aim for exchanges but not at any cost (White has no threats yet). I would play the obvious 17...Bg4 (that one later might go to h5 -> g6 and put extra pressure on e4 weakling while defending f7) and 18...Rad8 first. archduke_piccolo (2355) on 14-Dec-08: I think I did add something to the effect that at least Joanne was negotiating from a position of strength. White would have found the draw offer very hard to refuse!