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| "The seal on your 'sealed move' looks tampered with!" |
The league finished tonight and the new standings are posted on the right side of the blog.
Here is the schedule for December 1:
Tigers vs 49’ers
W- Vince V – B – Mike N
B – Paul M – W – Dave S
W – Luigi M – B – Americo M
B – Luca M – W – Marcello M
Thunder vs Oilers
W - Gene M – B – Tim R
B – Luke S – W – Sam T
W – Zach R – B – Tom H
B – Forfeit – W – Ted G
Now for a game with some interesting twists at the end.
Chess 960 Game (my favorite chess!) – Set up from left to
right – BRKBNNQR
1. b4 Nf6
2. Bxf6 gxf6
3. f4 b6
4. Ng3 e6
5. d3? d5?!
The last moves were not optimal for either side. White is
weak on the dark squares and not helping the White knight a g3 find good
squares. Black had 5. …..h5 and then h4, gaining space and leaving that poor
knight on g3 with little to do but retreat.
6. e4 Nd7
7. exd5 Bxd5
8. c4 Bb7
9. a4? Be7
(-.8 which means Black has a .8 of a pawn lead)
White is exposing his king before developing all his pieces
and maybe trading queens. Black now has easy, over-extended targets to go after
– as well as an uncovered king.
10. Bf3 f5?! (-.3)
Black should have got started against White’s weak
queen-side with 10. …..Qf8.
11. Bxb7 Rxb7
12. Nf3 Qg7
13. Ne2? Qf8 (-.7)
Now the right idea.
14. Ned4 Bxb4
White is not supporting his king quickly enough. Now his
pawn wall has a hole in it (-1.8).
15. Nc6 a5
16. Nxb4 axb4
17. Qe1 Nc5
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| White to make the 18th move. |
18. Ne5 f6
19. d4 fxe5
20. dxc5 Qxc5
21. Rxb4? Rd8 (-3.1)
That move was still not so good for White. Better was 21.
Qxe5 (-2.5).
22. fxe5 Rd4
23. Qc3 Qxe5
24. Qe1? Qf4+? (-3.9)
The game is going downhill for White anyway. But Black had
the killer 24. …..Re4, 25. Qg3, Qa1+ (-5.3). If 26. Rb1 then Rxc4+ or if 26.
Kc2, Qxh1.
25. Kb2 Re4?
Losing ground (-3.2). 25. …..Rd2+ keeps the same lead.
26. Qc3 c5?
This gives White a chance at counter-play with 27. Qh8+!,
Kc7 28. Rd1, Re2+ 29. Kb1, Qe4+ 30. Ka1, Qe5+ 31. Qxe5+, Rxe5 32. Rb2 and White
has some life again at (-2.2).
27. Rb3 Rxc4
28. Qh8+? Kc7 (-6)
This move is too late now. 28. Qe3 was needed to get Black’s
powerful Queen off the board (-3.7). But there really isn’t too much hope for
White anyway.
29. Rd1 Rd4?
Well with moves like that, White has another chance to get
back to (-3). 30. Rbd3, e5 31. R1d2, Rb4+ 32. Kc2, Qc4+ 33. Rc3, Qe6 34. Rcd3,
Rd4 35. Rxd4
30. Rbd3 Rb4+?
Another error that would pull the game close to even! In
chess, you can’t let your guard down for a second! 31. Kc3, Qc4+ 32. Kd2, Qa2+
33. Ke1, Re4+ 34. Kf1, Rf4+ 35. Rf3, Qc4+, Kg1 (-1).
31. Rb3? Qf2+
(-3.9)
Trading pieces when behind is rarely a good idea, unless
forced to by eliminating a very powerful piece of your opponents. As shown in
the moves in the last paragraph, simply moving the king and keeping those
powerful rooks connected, kept White competitive.
32. Ka3? Rxa4+!!
33. Resigns
That error set up a pretty sacrifice ending for Black; 33.
Kxa4, Qa2+ 34. Kb5 (of course 34. Ra3, Qc4++), Qxb3+ 35. Ka6, Qa4 mate
IF however – Black had missed this mate finish and played instead
to get the rook back; 34. ….Ra7+, 35. Kb5, Qxa3, 36. Qd8+, Kb7 37. Rd7mate!
This is the beauty of chess. Complete reversals of fortune
are only one move away. In other words, in chess - it is always possible to
snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory!
Thanks for the game write up it was fun! The game was very interesting and well commented too!
ReplyDeleteI think perhaps black's second move 2....Nf6 might need a rethink because controlling e4 and g4 early are not so important in this start position.
Also, I think white would have been better to keep the good bishop rather than exchange it off for a bad knight. An alternative to 2....Nf6 could be 2....Nd6 since there is no harm in blocking the d-pawn because the other pieces can develop well without needing the d-pawn moved.
All the best for your next game with friends! I hope you have many more games playing Chess960.
Take care.
Thanks for the input Harry. You are right about move 2. ....Nf6.
ReplyDelete