Gryzemuis on 11/9/2013 at 15:36
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
Let's just say that some of the pawn moves have been.. interesting. Sacrifices, exchanges that don't get much benefit. I'll see how it all ends. Maybe I'm not seeing the bigger picture :p
I don't think there is a big picture in chess games. Maybe after a game has ended, you can tell what the big picture was. Or maybe there are only 3 pictures: 1) checkmate your opponent's king, 2) capture all his pieces, or 3) walk a pawn to the other end, and promote it to a queen. When you can execute one of those 3 plans, you usually win. No idea what I was trying in this game.
But let me explain my thoughts at each individual move.
Game is here: (
http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=75154846)
I'm bored with Outlast. And Mopgoblin isn't making any moves. So commentating my own game is maybe the best use of my time. The game isn't over, but it's over. So it shouldn't matter.
1. e4, c5
2. Nf3, d6
3. d4, Nf6
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/4j47f2qsxgqog.pngThis is the Sicilian opening. It always starts with e4, c5. At the 3rd move, black always captures c5 x d4. I've never seen a game where that didn't happen. But Mopgoblin didn't play the textmove. Maybe to get us out of familiar grounds. That worked. I had no clue how to take advantage. Maybe I should have played d4-d5 asap (after defending my e4 pawn. never give up center-pawns easily). Maybe I should have traded d4 x c5, and then trade queens. Black loses his right to castle, that's good for white. However, I wanted to keep the queens on the board. More pieces on the board = more complexity. And more complexity should favor the better player.
This would be the normal continuation, after cxd4, Nxd4, Nf6, Nc3.
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/1c8b2fxhp04na.pngBlack then has a number of options to continue.
5 ..., a6 - The Najdorf variant. Black prevents Bb5+ or Nb5. Very sharp lines follow.
5 ..., g6 - The Dragon variant. Black plays Bg7. Also sharp. The game revolves around who can attack quickest.
And there are others, like e6 (Scheveningen).
But we continued:
4. Nc3, g6
5. Bg5, Bg7
6. Qd2
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/qem6b5v4s8m.pngI wasn't happy with my Bishop on g5. It should have been on e3. (That's the usual place to put it in the dragon's variant). It wasn't threatening anything. It wasn't even pinning Nf6. And my d4 pawn was weak.
6. .... b5
A pawn sacrifice. No idea why Mopgoblin played this. It didn't achieve much.
7. Bxb5+, Bd7
8. Bc4
I didn't like this either. Objectively I should have played Bxd7+ and trade the bishops. Black would have lost a pawn. And white wouldn't lose any tempo (=time). But I wanted to keep as many pieces on the board for as long as possible. As I hoped that complexity would work in my favor. Maybe I should have put my bishop on d3.
8 ..., Qc7
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/140n6d1t6dmr1.pngNow black has a threat. If he plays c5xd4, and white answers Nf3xd4, then black can play Qxc4, winning my bishop. If I play Bb3, then black can play c5-c4, winning my bishop. That is why I decided to play d5. The d5 pawn now blocks the bishop on c4 (not good for white). But it is also a thorn in the black position. And it prevents Nc6. The knight on b8 can go nowhere. And as a result, the rook on a8 is locked in too. And it keeps material on the board. That's why I decided to play d5.
9. d5, e6
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/1qegouqmmjhvj.pngBlack played e6. To relief the pressure in the center. However, there is no reason why white should exchange the pawns. In fact, it can increase the pressure even more. By playing e5.
10. e5
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/2hhi4dfj87qc0.pngNow things get interesting.
The most obvious move for black would be d6xe5. White can not take back Nf3xe5. Because black would win a piece: Qc7xe5.
But white has a "zwichenzug". An "in-between-move".
10. e5, dxe5
11. d6, Qb7
12. Nxe5
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/28u4qrz3icu8s.pngWhite has the nasty pawn d6 in black's position. Ne5 is a dangerous outpost, and can not be easy forced away. Black could take a pawn on b2. But that is very dangerous. White can castle kingside. Or play Rb1 and chase the black queen to the side. With the black queen on a3, it would take black a number of moves to get the queen back in play. While white continues the attack.
Still I think this was the best move for black. (Not sure, as I won't use a computer for analysis until the game is over). But black played Nxd5.
12. ..., Nxd5
13. Nxd5, e6xd5
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/bjjqwic70s2.pngNow white could play Bc4xd5. Threathening to win "the exchange". (The exchange means: win a rook versus a piece (knight or bishop). This is 5 vs 3 points, and thus equals roughly a 2 pawn advantage). This line could be very similar to what was played. But I decided to set a more sneaky trap.
14. e5xd6
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/36outf6re0848.pngWhat does black do ? Take the pawn Qc7xd6 or not ?
If black does not take the pawn, where does the queen move ?
Possibile line:
14. ..., Qb7
15. Bxd5, Nc6
16. Qe3+, Kf8
Resulting position:
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/rv6dkbjdgd9p.pngBlack king is cornered. The rook on h8 won't go anywhere soon. The d6-pawn is still painful. Black's Qb7 and Nc6 are cut off from the defense of their king. Bd5xc6 and Be7+ corners the black king even more. White's position looks very good.
But black did not play Qb7. Black took the d6-pawn. And fell for a trap.
14. ..., Qxd6
15. Bxd5
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/boo5ktrs0lxc.pngNow there are 2 main threats.
(12 images in a post limit forces me to continue in a 2nd post).
Gryzemuis on 11/9/2013 at 15:36
Almost there.
Now there are 2 main threats.
The first thread is white's Bd5 taking the rook on a8. Winning a full rook. Black can not capture the white bishop on a8. Only play Nb8c6, Ba8xc6, Qxc6. After exchange of the bishop and knight, white is a full rook up. Therefor black wants to put Nb8 or Bd7 on c6.
Nb8c6 is what happened in game.
13. ..., Nc6
14. Bxf7+
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/ftu4osj2d9cd.pngBlack has to get out of check. Kxf7 allows the white queen to capture the black queen. Game over. What if black's king would not take the pawn ? And move to e7 to cover the black queen. But it can't: Bg5 covers the square e7.
What if black would have moved its Bd7 to c6 and protect the rook on a8 ?
After Bxf7+, black's king could go to d7 and cover the queen on d6.
But white does not need to play Bxf7+. He can play Bxc6+.
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/2xfl6eyvbuk1.pngBlack can now not walk his king to d7 to cover his queen.
If black takes the white bishop with the knight, Nxc6, then black's queen is still uncovered, and can be taken by the white queen. Similar as to what happened in the game.
But what if black takes the white bishop with its queen ? The black queen would be out of the line of the white queen. Check would be removed, and the black queen can not be captured. But there is a bigger problem.
13. Bxd5, Bc6
14. Bxc6+, Qxc6
15. Qd8++
Inline Image:
http://www.chessvideos.tv/bimg/b5exlggzous8.pngMate !
Anyway, I think black was lost at move 12, when his queen took the d6 pawn.
At move 15, black lost his queen. And the game was over. You can't win (or even draw) when you are down a queen versus a piece. I think I could win this even against a GrandMaster.
15. Qxd6 was played last Wednesday. The game is continuing for a week since. Sorry.
Gryzemuis on 11/9/2013 at 21:10
Second round has started.
It's:
SubjectiveEffect - Nuth/Quasimorphy
Hopper - LittleFlower/Gryzemuis
White to move, in both games !
Good luck everybody.
SubJeff on 11/9/2013 at 21:52
Game on.
faetal on 12/9/2013 at 11:11
Ding ding peoples.
SubJeff on 12/9/2013 at 12:20
Me playing Nuth feels like I'm faetal playing me. I always seem to get faetal reacting to me and I'm just having to react to Nuth. It's been very interesting.
faetal on 12/9/2013 at 12:26
Damn, who is my faetal? Probably need to see if any children are registered on chess.com.
Nuth on 12/9/2013 at 21:38
Epic battle against SubjEff. I played a risky second move which was okay, but blundered on move 6 then was so disconcerted that I also blundered on move 7. Spent the rest of the game setting traps and hoping SubjEff would fall into enough of them to let me claw my way back into the game. It still came down to the wire. Big sigh of relief after that one.
SubJeff on 13/9/2013 at 00:03
Gaaaaahhhh! I was two pieces up and then played like a fool.
Gryzemuis on 13/9/2013 at 00:48
Name change ? Congratulations.
Where do I apply ? I haven't used the nick LittleFlower since my UT days, in 2001. Gryz or Gryzemuis would be more appropriate.
Congratulations to Nuth for reaching the finals.
You guys played 2 full games where Hopper and me made 2 moves. :)
I was to blame for that, I was out tonight.
But I suspect we will be playing quicker tomorrow or in the next few days.
