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ANNOTATED GAME

Walking the Walk
jj414 (1387) vs. stalhandske (2095)
Annotated by: king_0_nothing (1458)
Chess opening: Alekhine's defence (B02), Scandinavian variation
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Pages: 12
This is my Walk the Walk challenge to Stalhandske. I was defeated soundly and rapidly.
1. e4
Basic e4 opening, the same opening I've played thousands of times before.

 
1... Nf6
Stalhandske replies with Alekhine's Defence... I am fairly familiar with this defense because I've played it pretty often myself. This game was one of the first times I faced it with white and I was determined not to allow my pawns over extended in the center of the board...
2 comments
 
2. Nc3
I choose the Scandinavian Variation. Just a simple statement letting my far superior opponent know early that I am not taking the bait and would rather develop my own pieces at my own pace.
3 comments
 
2... e5 3. Nf3
I now have a Halloween Gambit transposition in my mind. I figured I needed to make bold moves to take my opponent out of his comfort zone, of course taking him out of his comfort zone won't make him as uncomfortable as I am, and I'm aware of that at this stage of the game.
1 comment
 
3... Nc6
He responds accordingly and we now have our third variation of the match, the Four Knights Game.
3 comments
 
4. Nxe5
And I take. GK database always lists this as a mistake, but I've had several opponents blunder away winning positions all the way up to the end game when I've used this approach, it's like it is cursed for black!
2 comments
 
4... Nxe5
He takes, and this Walk the Walk game has seen four different possible openings in the first four moves. Is this incredible? Quien Sabe? But what I can say is you know the game isn't going well for you when you're proud of your transposition skills rather than your game play. At least I took his Alekhine's Defence and turned it into what I wanted to play, right?
1 comment
 
5. d4
Or did I? In the end his original ploy was to get me to stretch my pawns thin...
2 comments
 
5... Ng6 6. e5
Which, of course, I do... and in the process I handed over a knight in exchange for a pawn. Can I get a mulligan?
1 comment
 
6... Ng8 7. f4
Attempting to dominate the center. A better move here might have been to develop my King's Bishop. 20/20 hindsight...
2 comments
 
7... d6
Staking a claim of his own...
1 comment
 
8. Bc4
On second thought, maybe not. My e-pawn did need an extra defender and using the Queen's Bishop to do so would have hindered development. I think I out thunk myself.
1 comment
 
8... dxe5 9. fxe5
Simply recapturing, the thing about trying to gain an advantage by giving up material is you can't afford to lose any more.
1 comment
 
9... Nxe5
A gift? Perhaps he pitied me and tried to cut me some slack? Doubtful. At this point he's like a shark that smells blood, only I haven't yet realized I'm bleeding...
2 comments
 
10. dxe5
I am now praying for a monumental blunder on his part. Any time you find yourself praying, you're in trouble. If he messes up here, say for instance going 10. ... f6, I can then play 11. Bf5+ Kxf5 and 12. Qxd8. The only problem is that I'm not playing someone rated 1350 or so, unfortunately that is a BIG problem and I'm hinging to much hope on mistakes...
1 comment
 
10... Qh4+
See what I mean? The beginning of the end.

 
11. g3
I realized my Bishop was hanging, it was really a solid move by Stalhandske, he has a tremendous advantage now and I cleared out all the center pawns for him, thus saving him the middle game work the Alekhine usually requires.

 
11... Qxc4
En prise.
1 comment
 
12. Bd2
Trying to clean house for an emergency O-O-O!!!

 
12... Bg4
Whoop! Hold it right there! "Ok" I say, meekly.
2 comments
 

Pages: 12