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Board 2: Am I the sacrificial lamb in this key match? My only other match this season, or for the last 20 seasons, was a 19-move draw four weeks before, with Black, on a lower board, against a weaker team! 1. e4 With white, one is supposed to try and make something of the initiative in such circumstances, so I choose an open game
1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Ne7?! Does my opponent want to be out of the books or is this his personal improvement on theory in the French defence?
4. Nf3 All I can do is develop as many pieces as possible, as quickly as sensible, and hope to retain some initiative. I have no idea where black is headed!
4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf5?! My opponent doesn't seem to care about development; perhaps he wants to provoke me into weaknesses. He must have played against 6 g4 before. I'll just carry on with my development. But which bishop do I move first? In this position, I'm not sure, until I see what he has in mind, whether my king's bishop should go to e2, d3 or c4, so I move my queen's bishop to a safe central square.
6. Bf4 b6 He wants to embarrass my e4 knight and build long-term threats against g2, if I castle king's side. I'm very attracted by Bc4, to put pressure on e6 and f7 and, objectively, that might be the best move here, but I want the option of keeping the queen's knight on e4. 7...Nxd4 loses to 8 Nxd4, Qxd4; 9 Bb5+ and black's Queen is a gonner.
7. Bd3 Bb7 8. |
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It is often said that chess is 99% tactics. Strategic skills may enable you to obtain a won position, but winning a 'won' game requires tactical skill. White demonstrates an abysmal shortfall in this area from move 30 onwards, as well as missing an early opportunity on move 15. His failure to manage his time properly is no excuse! Despite his failings, White had a clearly won position when his opponent's flag fell, but the note to the highly plausible 38.Qxf8 shows how easy it is to go astray in won positions, with a really neat stalemate idea for Black. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 |
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Firstly, commiserations to Mike, who is a fine player. His current grade is based on more than 70 games in local leagues, and congresses, and he has played the best in the country. He simply had "a bad day at the office". My comments on the game are not based on extensive computer analysis, but reflect the thoughts of a player of my own modest standard. I am not here to crow about the win, but our Chairman felt that the game would be of interest to Alwoodley club members. The game went as follows:- 1. Nf3 f5 2. d3 This is probably an error allowing black an early initiative. Maybe it reflects that nobody had ever responded in this manner to Mike's Nf3 ...
2... Nf6 3. e4 d6 4. exf5 Bxf5 5. Nc3 e5 6. Be2 Be7 7. |
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Played in the last round of the Major at the Bury Rapidplay. Clegg was on 5/ 5, and I was one of three players with a chance to catch him. Before the game, my opponent told me that he had played in 50 events this year and won 20 of them. He was lying second in the Grand Prix and was a recovering 170! If he was trying to intimidate me, that wasn't going to work. I needed the win - end of story. 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6 7. b4 My book on the French Advance was written by Tim Harding in 1978 (!) and doesn't have an antidote for Nh6. Fritz rates b4 as the best response (Bxh6 Qxb2 and the a and c pawns are going as well), but after
7... cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 Harding's assessment (after Ne7-f5) is -+. I don't really see why. Fritz gives it as equal, and I'd be reasonably happy to play this position again.
9. Bb2 Bd7 10. Be2 Rc8 11. Kf1 Preparation for Nc3. White wants to maintain the defence over d4 with Na4, driving away the queen. He can't achieve this with the king on e1 or g1 as the Nf3 can be captured by a Kt on d4 with check. White can always fianchetto the king later if needs be, although the rooks tend to operate effectiovely on their own in this line.
11... Be7 11... Na5=/+
12. Nc3 |
