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ANNOTATED GAME
A Bird in Hand
jstevens1 (1771) vs. dmaestro (1574)
Annotated by: dmaestro
(1646)
Chess opening: Bird (A02), From gambit, Lasker variation
jstevens1 (1771) vs. dmaestro (1574)
Annotated by: dmaestro
(1646)
Chess opening: Bird (A02), From gambit, Lasker variation
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1. f4 |
The most recent game between my friend Jo and myself was instructive and worth annotating. Jo started with a Bird's opening. | ||||
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1... e5 |
White's strategy is to dominate the Kingside. Black responds with the sharp reply 1...e5!?, From's Gambit, named for the Danish chess player Martin Severin From (1828–1895), thus sacrificing a pawn to exploit White's weakened Kingside before White can develop adequately. | ||||
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2. fxe5 |
Besides taking the pawn, White can play the safer e4, transposing into a Kings Gambit with equal chances. | ||||
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2... Nc6 |
A more obscure, modern move order. The idea is to defer ...d6 and develop instead, hoping to transpose to better variations. After the normal 2...d6 3.exd6 Bxd6, White must play 4.Nf3, avoiding 4.Nc3?? Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxg3+ 5.hxg3 Bxg3 checkmate. Black has two main alternatives: 4...g5 to drive away White's knight, and 4...Nf6, threatening 5...Ng4 and 6...Nxh2! Emanuel Lasker introduced 4...g5 in the game Bird–Lasker, Newcastle on Tyne, 1892, so it is known as "Lasker's Variation". Today, current thinking is that 4...g5?! is more dubious; a quiet response considered favorable for White is 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5! (6.Ng5? leads to a dubious piece sacrifice) Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Nc6 9.Nc3! Be6 (9...Nxe5?! 10.Bf4 f6 11.Nd5 Kd8 12.Nxf6!) 10.Bf4 0-0-0+ 11.Ke1 Nge7 12.e3 Ng6 13.Bg5 Rdf8 14.Bf6 Rhg8 15.Be2 Ngxe5 16.Rf1 with a slight plus for White. The sharper 5.g3 g4 6.Nh4 also seems favorable for White, after 6...Ne7 7.d4 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qd3 Nc6 (9...Rh5 10.Bg2; 9...Na6 10.c3) 10.c3 (10.Nc3? Nxd4! 11.Qxd4?? Bg3+ wins White's queen) Bf5 (10...Qe7 11.Bg2! Bd7 12.Nd2 0-0-0 13.Ne4! favored White in Taylor–Becerra Rivero, Minneapolis 2005) 11.e4 Qe7 12.Bg2 0-0-0 13.Be3. At this point, White seems to have an advantage in all lines, although play remains extremely sharp, e.g. 13...Rde8 14.Nd2; 13...Rxh2 14.Rxh2 Bxg3+ 15.Kd1 Bxh2 16.exf5! Re8 17.fxg6! Qxe3 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.gxf7; or 13...Bd7 (threatening 13...Rxh2!) 14.Bf2! | ||||
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3. Nf3 |
Logically consistent. But with this move order, probably better is 3.Nc3! Nxe5 4.e4 intending 5.d4, rather than 3.Nf3?!, and then after g5!? or d6!? when Black has the kind of position they are playing for. | ||||
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3... g5 |
The GK computer considers this move weak compared with ...d6: (Inaccuracy: -0.92 » … g5 4. h3 d6 5. d4 dxe5 6. d5 Nb4 7. Nc3 g4 8. hxg4 Ne7 9. Bh6 Bxh6 10. Rxh6 Nbxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Qxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxe5; Best: -0.34 » … d6 4. exd6 Bxd6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e3 Bg4 7. Bc4 O-O 8. O-O Ne5 9. Be2 Qd7 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Bxg4) | ||||
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4. d4 |
?! But this move justifies Black's plan. | ||||
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4... g4 5. Ng5 |
Jo does not like the more passive retreat to g1. | ||||
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5... d5 |
The most aggressive response, exploiting the position of White's knight which has to be careful to avoid being trapped. | ||||
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6. exd6 e.p. Qxd6 |
Again, Black chooses the most aggressive response. | ||||
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7. c3 |
Defends d4. | ||||
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7... Qg6 |
Black continues the aggressive play. The N is now threatened. | ||||
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8. Qd3 |
Hoping for a Q trade and to allow the N to retreat. The GK computer considers this weak compared with d5: (Inaccuracy: -0.45 » 8. Qd3 Qxd3 9. exd3 h6 10. Ne4 f5 11. Nc5 Nf6 12. Na3 b6 13. Na4 Be6 14. Bf4 O-O-O 15. Nc4 Nd5 16. Bg3; Best: -1.10 » 8. d5 Bh6 9. dxc6 Bxg5 10. Bxg5 Qxg5 11. Nd2 bxc6 12. Ne4 Qb5 13. Qc2 Be6 14. e3 Qb6 15. O-O-O Qxe3+ 16. Kb1) | ||||
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8... Bf5 |
Prevents the Q trade. | ||||
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9. e4 |
Best alternative. | ||||
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9... Bd7 10. d5 Ne5 |
Black has a slight edge at this point. | ||||
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11. Qg3 |
? This move is a serious error, giving a clear, winning advantage to Black. The GK computer prefers Qd4, which is what I had expected. (Mistake: +2.04 » 11. Qg3 Bd6 12. Bf4 Qf6 13. Nd2 Nf3+ 14. Ngxf3 Bxf4 15. Qf2 gxf3 16. Nxf3 Nh6 17. Qd4 Qxd4 18. cxd4 O-O-O 19. Ne5 Ba4 Best: +0.77 » 11. Qd4 Bg7 12. Qc5 c6 13. dxc6 Qxc6 14. Qxc6 Bxc6 15. Na3 h6 16. Nb5 Kd7 17. Nxf7 Nxf7 18. Bc4}. | ||||
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11... Bd6 |
Of course. An immediate threat is to win the White Q with ...Nf3+. Also the White N is trapped and can be attacked by pawns. | ||||
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12. Bf4 f6 |
!? I decided to play this move rather than Qf6 because I wanted to keep pressure on e4. | ||||
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13. Ne6 |
Jo realizes she is in trouble and attempts to complicate. But this accelerates the loss. Better was development, such as Nd2 first as the GK computer suggests: (Mistake: +1.65 » 13. Ne6 Qxe4+ 14. Be2 Qxd5 15. Bxe5 Qxe5 16. Qxe5 fxe5 17. Bc4 Nf6 18. O-O Bxe6 19. Bxe6 Bc5+ 20. Kh1 Rf8 21. Rf5 Bd6; Best: -1.02 » 13. Nd2 O-O-O 14. Ne6 Bxe6 15. dxe6 Ne7 16. O-O-O Qg8 17. Qe3 Kb8 18. Bc4 Nxc4 19. Nxc4 Qxe6 20. Nxd6 cxd6) | ||||
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