Annotated chess game: Memorial Day Classic Round 6

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ANNOTATED GAME

Memorial Day Classic Round 6
Ausbon (1620) vs. (me) byakuugan3 (1698)
Annotated by: byakuugan3 (1200)
Chess opening: Sicilian defence (B20)

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16... Bb7 17. Ne3 h5

I didn't know what to do in this kind of position, but I think this was dubious. I wanted to play h4 h3 and start an attack on the light squares, but that plan may take too long to carry out.

3 comments

18. Rd1 Ndf6 19. c3

This is passive. White needs to develop his pieces quickly, especially since I have an extra knight. White's undeveloped bishop and rook became a problem for him in the later endgame. Bd2 I think is much better than c3, which does nothing to help White's position.

3 comments

19... Rad8

Bd2 is impossible now, and White's position is cramped

20. Rxd8 Rxd8

My position is clearly more active and better positioned, but maybe it isn't enough to win since White has a lot of pawns and I didn't see any way to capitalize on my advantages

1 comment

21. a4

White attempts to get his rook into play while forcing a pawn trade. Here I thought this game was drawn since three pawns is considered equal to a piece, and my pawns had no hope of promoting.

1 comment

21... h4

My only hope to win this is to try for a mating attack on the kingside, since White lacks defenders there.

1 comment

22. axb5 axb5 23. Ra7 Rd7 24. c4

At first I thought White blundered because of bxc4 Nxc4 Rd1# Maybe White didn't see my mate when he played this move, or maybe he had something else in mind like bxc4 Ra4 c3 bxc3 Nxc3 which gives me a pawn, but also leaves me with only one pawn on the board, so White has good drawing chances in the endgame.

1 comment

24... b4

I decided to ignore the pawn so I wouldn't complicate the position. Maybe winning the pawn was better, because now White has a passed pawn and potential winning chances. I think b4 gives me the most winning chances since taking frees up some space for White's pieces. Taking the pawn is more drawish, while advancing the pawn gives super sharp dynamic winning chances for both sides

2 comments

25. Ra4 Nc5

Now White can't take the pawn or play Ra5 because of Nd3 winning a piece. But even then, the position is too ultra complicated to know if that would be enough to win.

26. Ra2

The only other moves were Ra7 and Ra1. I think Ra1 is better since it defends the back rank if the bishop could move. But once again, the position is too complicated to calculate accurate moves.

26... Nh5 27. f5 Nf4

This threatens Ne2 fork

28. Kf1

Here I considered Nxg2 Nxg2 Rd1 which wins a pawn back, but I wasn't concerned about the pawns now. I need to try for a mating attack so I should keep as many pieces on the board as possible to capitalize on my extra piece. Trading will benefit White, who has more pawns.

1 comment

28... Ncd3 29. Bd2 b3 30. Ra3 Nxb2

I forgot that White could play g3 in this position instead of taking the pawn. g3 would probably give White better chances to draw, or maybe even win, but I stopped considering it after White took the pawn.

31. Rxb3

I think this is a mistake because now my rook becomes active on the seventh rank for a potential mating attack with my rook and two knights.

1 comment

31... Rxd2 32. Rxb7+ Kf6

Here I thought I had good winning chances, since I have a nice attack against White's weak king. I wasn't as worried about g3 as I was a few moves ago since I might not need any pawns to finish the game. Perhaps my pressure with my rook and two knights is enough to win, if I can use my king to attack, but this is too complicated to evaluate. This might be drawn, but I still thought I had good winning chances, since White must play perfectly. I want to be optimistic that I can win this, but I would probably bet money that this is a draw.

33. c5

I think g3 was the best move to try to draw, since it forces my last pawn off the board. The promotion idea is too slow, because my mating attack idea is faster. This might be White's losing move, but he might still have drawing chances after this.

33... Nbd3

Now I have a forced mating threat, like if White plays something careless like c6??, then I have Rf2 Kg1 Ne2 Kh1 Rf1 Nxf1 Nf2# which is a nice mate if White overlooks it.

1 comment

34. Rb1

This interferes with my forced mate threat, and g3 is another idea. After g3, I have Rf2 Kg1 Ne2 Kh1 h3 (threatening Rf1 followed by Nf2#) so White plays Rb1 to stop Rf1 , but I have Rxf5 threatening Nf2# and White is in trouble.

34... Rf2+ 35. Kg1 Ne2+ 36. Kh1 Rxf5

I use this opportunity to exploit my mate threat of Nf2# so now my rook is untouchable. I will win White's other pawn, but still, since I only have 1 pawn left I was lucky to hold onto, White may still have drawing chances. I still have hope of winning this, because White's king cannot get out from it's corner.

37. Ng4+ Kg5 38. h3

White is defended from mating threats, so I didn't see any way I could possibly win now. I considered offering a draw, but I was determined to win this endgame and get 2nd place in the tournament. If I drew this game, then I would fall into a 4-way tie for 2nd.

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