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ANNOTATED GAME
When You Have to Win
yttrio (1650) vs. driss (1527)
Annotated by: yttrio (1533)
Chess opening: French (C10), Paulsen variation
yttrio (1650) vs. driss (1527)
Annotated by: yttrio (1533)
Chess opening: French (C10), Paulsen variation
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25. fxe6+ |
The plan: simply trade off material since I'm ahead a pawn. | ||||||||
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25... Nxe6 26. Nf4 |
Again, aiming to trade off material. | ||||||||
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26... Nxf4 |
Considering that black is down a pawn, it would probably be better to have avoided the trade. | ||||||||
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27. Bxf4 Bc8 |
Although this move seems a bit counter-intuitive because it moves the bishop back to where it came from, it has plans of chasing away my rook with 28) ... Bf5. Unfortunately for black, I now have a tactical shot to win another pawn. | ||||||||
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28. Bh6 |
! Because of black's last move, his pawn on g7 is now pinned to his rook on g8, so he can't take my bishop. I will win the g7 pawn and have a passed pawn on the h-file. | ||||||||
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28... Bf5 |
Since black can't do anything about the pawn, he instead chooses to move his light-square bishop into my position with and eventual Be4, pinning my undefended knight. | ||||||||
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29. Rg6xg7+ |
Winning the second pawn. Although I hadn't yet lost my other game in the tournament, I made the dangerous psychological decision of telling myself that I had already won this game. Although black is down material and position in an endgame, he still has chances for counterplay. Winning a won game is possibly the hardest thing to do in chess. When your opponent is down and on the verge of destruction, he/she will be looking for his/her chances the most. If you make one slip, the game might just slip away from you, and recovering from such a psychological blow can be very difficult. | ||||||||
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29... Rxg7 30. Rxg7+ |
Being up two pawns, all I need to do is trade off material (preferably the rooks) and I should have this game under wraps. However, to do so I need to play the correct moves. You don't win a chess game by making bad moves, after all. You always need to play the best move, even in a winning position. | ||||||||
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30... Ke6 |
Moving the king toward the center as opposed to letting it become trapped on the edge. In the engame, the king is a valuable fighting piece, and should be treated as such. This theme of an active king being used as an attacking piece will eventually become the deciding factor of this game. | ||||||||
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31. Bg5 |
Again, offering to trade material and simplify. | ||||||||
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31... Bf8 |
Of course, my opponent can't take on g5. If he plays 31) Bxg5, then I end the game immediately with 32) Nxg5#. My rook now looks like it's running out of room, but I use my rook's active position to my advantage. | ||||||||
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32. Rc7 |
I now threaten two things. One is to simply win the pawn on c5. My other threat is to move my bishop, which then threatens Ng5# (note how my pawns and rook trap his king on e6). | ||||||||
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32... Be4 |
Removing both threats by pinning my knight while simultaneously threatening to capture it for free. | ||||||||
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33. Kg2 |
The only move to defend the knight, which is still pinned. | ||||||||
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33... bxc3 |
Black finally relieves the tension on the queenside, but with a purpose. After 34) bxc3 cxd4 35) cxd4, the threat of me winning the pawn on c5 no longer exists. | ||||||||
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34. bxc3 cxd4 35. cxd4 |
And the position has now simplified itself a bit. I was starting to feel a bit uneasy about winning the game because of the positioning of my two passed pawns. Passed pawns that aren't too far advanced and have two files in between them are able to be picked off by a lone enemy king. I won't go into too much detail, but king-and-pawn endgame theory shows that two connected passed pawns are self-supported, since if the king takes the back one it will be unable to catch the other. Likewise, passed pawns with one file between them are also self-supported due to a "wall" that they create. Ironically, passed pawns with two files in between are no longer self-supported and can be picked off safely by the enemy king if the pawns are not advanced too far. Although this was a bit far-fetched of an analysis of the position, that thought started to weigh down on my mind. | ||||||||
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35... Bb4 |
Potentially threatening Bc3 if I ever leave that square unguarded. More importantly, though, it allows his rook to come into the game and threatens 36) ... Rf8, attacking the pinned piece. | ||||||||
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36. Kf2 |
I continue to centralize my king while unpinning the knight. If black tries 36) ... Rf8, which threatens the knight, then I can play 37) Bf6 to adequately defend. | ||||||||
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36... Bxf3 |
An interesting idea by black. After my king recaptures, he will be able to move his rook onto the open file with check, buying him some time. | ||||||||
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37. Kxf3 Rf8+ |
Now if I make a move like 38) Kg4, he will have the possibility of 38) ... Rf2, winning either the a-pawn or the h-pawn. | ||||||||
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