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ANNOTATED GAME

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vaderboy98 (1471) vs. kerksal (1477)
Annotated by: kerksal (1706)
Chess opening: Caro-Kann (B12), advance variation
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Pages: 1234
11. h3
White shoos Black's Bg4 away.

 
11... Bxf3
Black decides to take the knight.

 
12. Qxf3
White doesn't take back with the g2 pawn because doing so would weaken his pawn structure. The resulting pawns on f2 and f3 would be doubled pawns, and the f5 square would become particularly weak (because White can no longer play g4) and Black can place his knight on the great f5 square.

 
12... Nf5
Improving the knight's position and allowing the Bf8 to come out.

 
13. O-O
Getting the king to safety.

 
13... Qc7
Threatening the e5 pawn.

 
14. b4
Strengthening the c5 pawn. This is a bad move because the e5 pawn is threatened, and as I said before, the e5 pawn is the one that White should be trying to defend.
1 comment
 
14... Qxe5
Picking up the free pawn. Now material is even, but Black has the better position due to the weak White queenside pawns, and better pieces. Note that the Nb1 can't move because the c3 pawn will hang.

 
15. a3
A poor move. Strengthening the b4 pawn, but the development of White's Nb1 and Ra1 is a more important issue.
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15... g6
Black decides that the Bf8 won't be able to take on c5 anytime soon, so he decides to deploy the bishop to g7, where it is more useful than e7.

 
16. Ra2
White tries to get out his Ra1 into the game this way.

 
16... Bg7
Black develops his bishop. Notice how Black's knight is superior to White's knight. White's knight is performing an annoying role of guarding the c3 pawn, while Black's knight is centralised and strong on f5. The Black bishop is also superior to the White bishop. It watches down a long diagonal down to the c3 pawn, while White's bishop just stares at its own pawn on c5. The Black queen is superior to the White queen, because it ties the White knight down to the defense of the c3 pawn. White's queen can't boast of a similar feat.

 
17. Re2
White indirectly attacks Black's queen, as if he moves the Be3 somewhere, then the Qe5 will be under fire from the Re2.

 
17... Qc7
Black retreats his queen to a safe square, where it can support the a-pawn moving to a5 or the e-pawn moving to e5.

 
18. Bc1
I'm not sure what White is trying to do during the next few moves, so I won't try to explain them.
1 comment
 
18... O-O
Getting his king to safety, and allowing the rook to come into the game.

 
19. g3 a5
Trying to activate the Ra8. Like 3...c5 back in the opening, Black is luring White to take the pawn. Taking on a5 would double the a and c-pawns, which would weaken all of them as they won't be able to guard each other.
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20. Qd3 axb4
Black activates the Ra8. Now the rook is hitting the a3 pawn.

 
21. cxb4
Taking back with the c-pawn is better, because it doesn't allow the Ra8 to penetrate down to a1.

 
21... h5
Black strengthens his knight on f5. This is because now White is discouraged from playing g4 and kicking the knight out. White can still play g4, though, because of his h3 pawn.
1 comment
 

Pages: 1234