Annotated chess game: Eyes bigger than your stomach?

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ANNOTATED GAME

Eyes bigger than your stomach?
robertb3079 (1987) vs. ethansiegel (1745)
Annotated by: ethansiegel

(1986)
Chess opening: Ruy Lopez (C69), exchange variation, Alapin gambit

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13... exd4

0-0-0 now is too slow, as the knight on c4 plus the pawn on d4 are too much.

14. e5

! The only move, but a good move, tempoing the queen and winning the d4 pawn.

14... Qf5 15. Qxd4

And obviously, now I'm kicking myself for not castling queenside when I had the chance.

2 comments

15... Rd8

!? Probably the best try at this point; I refuse to abate my attack and decide to go all-out here. I realize that white can sneak in to my queenside with Qa7, but I decide to allow this just to have the opportunity to go after white's king. Even so, my king doesn't look any safer than white's at this point!

1 comment

16. Qa7

This has the bonus of luring white's queen away from the kingside. If white goes pawn-grabbing, he'll go down in flames.

1 comment

16... gxh3

Trying to crack white's defenses open!

1 comment

17. Bxh6

This is, perhaps, the crucial moment in the game. How to best respond here? I was torn between so many different moves, including Nxh6, Rxh6, hxg2, Qg4, Qg6, and Qe4. Many of these looked bad to me because of white's ability to play Ne3, but again, I think I chose one of the worst possible moves...

17... Rxh6

It's just slow! Also, I hadn't considered that white would go over to the attack, and that his pieces would actually get there first. Oh, the humanity! Especially considering that hxg2 forces white to address the threats of gxf1=Q , Qh3, threatening mate, and if Kxg2, the king is dangerously exposed!

1 comment

18. Rbd1

And now I go calculating lines, and realize that I cannot allow him to play Rxd8 , as Rxd8 Kxd8 is met with either Qb8 , winning the Ng8, or Rd8, where black has a tough road ahead to defend against checkmate. At this point, I went into a long think, and couldn't find anything good. The best I had was an idea to exchange pieces and get my king over to sanctuary at h6.

2 comments

18... Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Rh7

This is a rotten attempt, starting with Rxh6, on my part. I really think I had a chance to take this ~2000 player down, and blew it! This is where the tables turn...

1 comment

20. Qb8+

Forcing me to run...

20... Kf7 21. Rd8

Now this, unfortunately, I hadn't seen! I was expecting Qxc7 , where I can run towards h6. But this threatens to win the queen, and will definitely win the g8 knight at least. What can I do? What can I hope for?

21... h2+

For better or worse, I decide my only option is to try to force a perpetual check. If Kxh2, I can consider Qf4 , forking king and knight, or other check-oriented options.

1 comment

22. Kh1

He knows better!

22... Kg6

I've got to save the queen if I want to have a chance at a draw.

23. Rxg8+

nighty-night, knight.

23... Kh6

Now, there's really little I can do to prevent white from going to a won endgame with Qf8 , but I can always hope...

1 comment

24. f3

He does know that my only chance is a perpetual check, right? I like Qf8 much better here.