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ANNOTATED GAME
Challenge from andra
andra (1231) vs. markpinkston (1403)
Annotated by: markpinkston (1611)
Chess opening: Ponziani (C44), Caro variation
andra (1231) vs. markpinkston (1403)
Annotated by: markpinkston (1611)
Chess opening: Ponziani (C44), Caro variation
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15... f5 |
And I change tacks. Instead of doubling rooks with ...Rhd8, which can be nicely answered by O-O-O, I decide to attack the bishop who has few escape squares. | ||||||
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16. O-O-O |
Castling long anyway. Can't argue with that! | ||||||
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16... b6 |
And now ...f4 wins the bishop, as the text takes away the last escape square. | ||||||
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17. Nc4 |
Giving the bishop a place to go and challenging for the d file. | ||||||
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17... Rxd1+ |
Trying to maintain control of the d file with ...Rhd8 runs into the pin 18. Bg5, and I just didn't like the looks of that. | ||||||
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18. Rxd1 |
Now after ...f4, the bishop has to go to d2 and block the file. That will allow me to play Rd8 and challenge back for control. | ||||||
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18... f4 19. Nxe5 |
Except that white doesn't save the bishop. He takes a pawn instead and now has two pieces en prise. | ||||||
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19... fxe3 |
Given the choice, I take the bishop. The problem with this is that after he trades knights, he will win the e pawn and actually be a pawn to the good. I think it would have been better to play Nxe5 and maintain a material advantage. | ||||||
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20. Nd7+ |
Except that he doesn't play to win the pawn, he plays to check my king. And for what purpose? I don't see it, but I'm sure he had an idea. | ||||||
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20... Kc8 |
And now my king is just as centralized as white's, and I add another defender to the d8 square. | ||||||
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21. fxe3 |
White gets the e pawn, but has given up a piece for it. Now my material advantage should begin to tell. | ||||||
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21... Rd8 |
Attacking the knight a second time, so it must move or be lost. The only safe square is f6, and after that I will trade rooks and use my extra knight to try to win the endgame. | ||||||
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22. Nxb6+ |
Except that white sacrifices a second piece for a pawn. I don't understand what he was thinking here. That is just too much material to give away without some concrete reason. | ||||||
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22... axb6 23. Rxd8+ |
And now he trades his last piece? Might as well resign as play that move. | ||||||
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23... Kxd8 24. b4 |
As we enter the endgame I take a look at the board and decide where I want my pieces to be. Obviously the e pawn must be blockaded (and that is best done with a knight). The other striking feature of the position is that if I arrange my knights so they defend each other and can't be attacked by a pawn, they can never be forced to move (the white king can't take either one). With these points in mind I decide I want knights on e5 and c6. The e5 knight will protect the base of the kingside pawn chain on g6. The only problem is that I need to make sure that once I get a knight to c6, white can't play b5 and kick at it. But I have an idea of how to do that. | ||||||
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24... Ne5 |
Step one: blockade the passed e pawn and protect the kingside pawn chain. | ||||||
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25. Kd2 |
Centralizing the king is always good in an endgame. | ||||||
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25... c5 |
Hoping for bxc5 when white can no longer control the c6 square. What would I have done if white had pushed b5? I don't know, but I'm sure I would have found a way for my knights to control the game. | ||||||
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26. bxc5 |
And I get my wish as white relinquishes control of c6. | ||||||
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26... b5 |
And now the e5 knight has a square to jump to (c4) if he needs an outpost later in the game. | ||||||
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