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ANNOTATED GAME
Astersen v/s Templeton
astersen (1860) vs. templedf (1486)
Annotated by: templedf (1200)
Chess opening: Old Benoni defence (A43)
astersen (1860) vs. templedf (1486)
Annotated by: templedf (1200)
Chess opening: Old Benoni defence (A43)
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1. d4 c5 |
My usual response to a queen's pawn opening is King's Indian, but KI is very positional, and I don't tend to do well with it against higher rated players. My opponent is 400 points higher rated, so I decided to try something different. I like to keep Benoni in my back pocket in case of emergencies, like this one. I like it because its lines resemble Sicilian, which is my most played opening. | |||||||
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2. Bf4 cxd4 |
I am never afraid of drawing a queen out early. It almost always gives some great opportunities for development while chasing the opposing queen around the board. | |||||||
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3. Qxd4 Nc6 |
Chasing/development. | |||||||
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4. Qe3 Nf6 |
Preparing to chase/development | |||||||
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5. Bg5 |
Breaks up the Nd4 fork. | |||||||
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5... e5 |
I needed to free my queen and bishop to join in the queen hunt. | |||||||
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6. Bxf6 |
Surprise! Not a move I expected from a 1900 player. | |||||||
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6... Qxf6 7. Nc3 |
Nice development. The knight gets nicely in my way and opens up the long castle, putting the rook right where I don't want it. | |||||||
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7... Qd6 |
The only sensible thing to do was to block the castle. Otherwise, it was going to go downhill fast. | |||||||
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8. Nb5 |
White didn't look closely enough before moving. He thought he had me hung, because the only safe place to put my queen is b8, which is extremely counterproductive. White later admitted that this move was the mistake that cost him the game. | |||||||
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8... Qb4+ |
What white missed was the Zwischenzug. This puts white in a bad position. His only response is to jump back with the knight, giving up two pawns in the process. | |||||||
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9. Nc3 Qxb2 |
Pawn #1. | |||||||
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10. Rb1 |
The only reasonable move. | |||||||
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10... Qxc2 |
Pawn #2. | |||||||
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11. Nf3 |
Again, the only reasonable move. White now has to do some serious development fast. | |||||||
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11... Qf5 |
I wanted to get my queen out of jeopardy. If I hadn't taken her out now, Nh4 would have consumed the last two squares she could have used to escape. | |||||||
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12. Nh4 |
White wants to get my queen off the knight's and rook's backs. Can't blame him. Personally, though, I would have played g3. | |||||||
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12... Qf6 |
My objective was to pressure the knight and defend the pawn. It also sets up a discovered attack on the knight. My plan was to roll out the black bishop next, probably to pin the knight. | |||||||
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13. Nd5 |
Another surprising move. Were I playing white, I'd have played g3. Instead, white tries to sucker me into the same king-rook fork that we danced around earlier. The annoying part is that I don't have an easy way to shake the knight loose. | |||||||
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13... Qd6 |
Abandoning my attack on the knight and retracing the queen's previous tour, I move the queen to defend c7 and attack the knight. I'm not happy about it, though, because Qd6 blocks Bb4 . | |||||||
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