Annotated chess game: "Compromised Defense" is a BAD thing!

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ANNOTATED GAME

"Compromised Defense" is a BAD thing!
ethansiegel (1734) vs. dewars (1646)
Annotated by: ethansiegel

(1986)
Chess opening: Evans gambit (C52), compromised defence, Paulsen variation

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12... Re8

Sure you will. Watch me grab this half-open file. Whatcha gonna do? (When your wife divorces and sues you? Hulkamaniac.)

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13. Bd3

"Hey queen, where you gonna run to now (where you gonna go?)"

13... Qh5

"I'm goin' down to h5 baby, way down to Mexico-way!"

14. Ne4

! And look at what I can play now! Ne4! And now black CAN'T respond Nxe5, because I played 11. Bb2 instead of 11. Ba3. What do you really good guys who read this think? You know who I'm talking to, ion, rob, marin, and you folk! Is 11. Bb2 an improvement to this line? I'm certainly liking my position here...

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14... d5

"I'm certainly envying your position here!"

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15. exd6 e.p.

<Yoink!>

15... Be6

You think you scare me, tempoing my queen like that?

16. Bc4

"You think you scare me, tempoing my queen like that?" After the exchange of bishops, which is black's only option, he must still deal with the pawn on d6, plus my queen is more active on c4 than b3.

16... Bxc4 17. Qxc4 cxd6

Probably best. Still, the storm is still coming...

18. Nxd6

Obvious but strong! Let's take stock here. Black has played, objectively, pretty well. There are no major problems with any of his moves to this point, *except*, I would argue, 7. dxc3. He's now only up one pawn, his pieces are hiding on the sides, he has no presence in the center, and his Re8 and pawn on b7 are currently forked. His position is a wreck, and it seems to me that 7. ...dxc3 is the culprit. Therefore, I have to conclude that the compromised defense is a failure of an opening. The rest of the game isn't perfect, but I play well enough to turn this into a victory.

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18... Ref8

A safer option than Rfb7, since the pressure on f7 is very strong. Note also how the Nf3 is only one move away from pressuring f7 as well.

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19. Nxb7

But I choose to even the material score, while still retaining a superior position.

19... Rab8

I saw this tactic -- Nxa5 can now be met by either Rxb2 or Nxa5, but white can defend everything.

20. Nxa5 Nxa5 21. Qc3

With that pesky bishop off the board, white can make a battery with his queen and dark-square bishop, AND play Rfe1 finally. The immediate threat of this move is mate on g7.

21... f6

Really, this is a tough situation for black. Qg6 and Qh6 leave the queen open to harassment and the a5 knight hanging, and Nf5 is made embarrassing by Rd5.

22. Ba3

I've got to say, I was impressed with how many targets I actually managed to attack in this game! This attacks the knight and removes the threat on the bishop from Rb8.

22... Rfc8

Counterattacking is really black's only chance, but really, everything is threatened by white's menacing pieces.

23. Qe1

! "Why so quiet? Is it tough to talk trash while you're wallowing in it?" (This is a powerful square for the queen, as it threatens the Na5, the Ne7, and also threatens to deliver a powerful check with Qe6 )

23... Ng6

It's hard to find a good move for black here. The knight had to move, but perhaps c6 was a better square to move it to, for reasons that will become clear imminently.

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24. Qe6+

! Black, I believe, overlooked this. He would love to bring his queen to f7, with a chance to exchange them, but now he's forced to lock his king in the corner.

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