It was a first round, I got a young guy rated 1531. I had White, Ruy Lopez, he played Berlin defense. I decided to play simple and after a6 took on c6. I knew right away that Bg4 was a mistake.
I liked my position the after the opening. Then he played 20… g5, I thought that it is not a good move and replied by h4. Computer approves it, but then recommends 22. Kf2 with the following Rh1, it looks logical to me after h4. I kind of felt being forced to play 24. Bxg5, but later regretted it. The thing is I thought that I can’t defend e4 pawn and didn’t like exf5, letting the bishop on the open. Ironically that was the best move, 24. exf5, because after 24… Qxf5 25. Nc3 e4 I had 26. Rxe6! cxd6 27. f4 Qg6 28. fxg5 hxg5 29. Bxg5 with +1.2. 25… Qxc2 was not better after 26. Rc1 Qg6 27. Ne4 Be7 28. Bxg5 Bxg5 29. Nxg5 hxg5 30. Qxe5.
These lines would allow me to play comfortably for a win instead of what happened in the game. Anyway I found a defensive plan associated with my rook placed on e4. Then I played Qg4 forcing him to choose between an unpleasant endgame and losing a pawn. First option was better, but he chose the second one. But just when I thought that I have a stable advantage he suddenly played 30… g4. I knew that I have to cover d2 square, but missed that after a queen check his rook can go to h1.
My mistake was that I thought only about defense. 32. Qe4 was serving the same defensive purpose, but also was taking g6 square under control. After 32… Qc1+ 33. Kf2 Rh1 the following 34. Qg6+ with the series of checks forced his king to a7 and then Qe3+ would force the queens exchange where I would have +2 advantage.
So 32. Qc3 gave up the win, but I still had a draw. The problem was I had less than a minute left. When he played 34… Qg1+ I had a choice between Kg3 and Ke2. Unfortunately I didn’t like Ke2, not seeing that he doesn’t have anything more than a perpetual and played Kg3. It was a losing move. After 35… Kf5 I realized that e4 is coming, also I suddenly saw that I have only 4 seconds left, so I have to move right away. My move was a blunder, while it was sinking into me, my flag fell.
After the game he said that 36. Re4 probably could save me, but 36… Rh7 was winning anyway.
November 4, 2018 at 11:59 pm
This is an interesting game because there were so many positional evaluations in it.
4…d6 The general problem with this botched Lopez move-order is that White gets a good Scotch variation with 5.BxNc6 and 6.d4. It would be worth looking at this with an engine because there is a good chance that he will make this mistake again, next time he plays you as Black. Probably, it’s best to prep that line I gave above with 5.Nc3.
6.BxNc6! It’s not easy to play this move, but I believe you are getting a superior delayed exchange variation here, or delayed exchange a tempo up, and Keres thought the delayed exchange (where Black plays …d6) was strong for White (maybe it was a tempo up situation like this one).
7.d4 Into the Scotch. It’s weird, but I wanted to play this position more like a delayed exchange var of the Ruy than a Scotch, with 7.d3. The main diff is that Black has a pawn on a6, which cuts down on Nb5 ideas, for a Re1 move, which is a bit passive for a position that is about to be blown open without the bishop-pair. d3, Nc3, c4, a number of different moves and strategies possible, so it’s almost good to have your personal “book” line here. š
7…Bg4, obvious mistake, like you say.
10.Rd1 I didn’t see this move, but it’s always tempting to put a hit to the queen whenever one’s mind is not quite made up.
I like 10.Qc3 here. It puts a hit on the c6, and e5 pawns, as well as stopping …Bc5, which is a big deal here, since one possible plan for White is to play f3 and Be3. Also, I calculated 10.Qf3 Qd6, 11.b3 Rb8, 12.Ba3, as well as Bb2 look great for White.
11.Bg5 At this point, I like slow moves (it’s a slow position) like 11.Nbd2, although 11.h3 is another option, if you were more in the mood of keeping queens on.
12-14 unusual positions, hard to say if there was anything better, your moves look strong.
15.RxR I preferred 15.b3
15…BxR I thought that 15…RxR looked better, but in hindsight his move does look more likely best. Oh, now I remember. Instead of 16.b3, I liked 16.Qd3 with the idea of 17.BxNf6, followed by Qd7!
18.Be3 I liked 18.Bc1 here, but maybe it’s nothing (unless f4 ever gets pushed). Your move seems more practical. I wanted to triple up on the e5 pawn or force …f6. It could be that if he defends it, that you could then move your queen to attack another pawn, just a thought.
18.Qg4 I liked the idea of 18.Na4-b2-d3; it also puts a hit on c5, e5, and f4 (which is where his knight could be heading).
Black has plenty of king-side defenders, although your move got him acting a bit strangely.
21.h4 Didn’t consider this. I liked Na4, but 21.Qg4 is strong in principle here. 21.Qg4 Qe7, 22.Qf5 Nf6, 23.h4 Not to mention that the g3 square was cleared out for the knight (or pawn, or king).
23.Na4 This knight becomes a little dim on the rim, although putting a piece on c5 is an obvious plan. I liked 23.Kf2 here because it opens up Rh1, as well as Ke2, and if he does play …f4, then takes and Ne4 becomes an option. So, it’s kind of like one of those moves where you say “Before I move the knight to the rim, is there anything else that I can improve first.”
28.Qg4 It’s clear that if he’s any good, he’ll play 28…Qg6 in response, only move really. I liked 28.Nb2, then 29.Nd3 or Nc4, when you can have three shots on his e-pawn. Basically, you are controlling the position before you give him any shot at counter-play.
30.Qxc6 I never even noticed that you can win this pawn, though now your pieces are askew, and Black has a counter-attack, which was more easy to sense than it was to see.
35.Kg3 I wanted to play 35.Ke2, although, to get out of where his pieces are, although I then noticed 35…Rh2, but after 36.Kd3 Rxg, 37.RxR QxR, 38.Kc4, White is still up a pawn, and shouldn’t lose.
35…Kf5 I didn’t see this, only thought Black was going for a perpetual with 35…Qh2+, which explains why I also missed the ….e4+ that you missed in the game. Still, after 35…Kf5, 36.Qd2 e4+, 37.f4 Qh2+, 38.Kf2 Bxb4, 39.QxB KxR Black might still be winning this, but this all so crazy as to say that you probably get a draw based on it being too complex for a Class C player to win, and actually this is the sort of position that they often lose from.
Yeah, you definitely played as your rating advantage would indicate, and outplayed him for most of the game, just ran into a time-pressure blunder at the end. Sorry about that one, buddy. If this were a three game match, my money would still be on you. š
Thanks for sharing this game! It was a lot more interesting, and a better game than I had expected from how you described it. Nothing to hang your head about; it was probably surprising since you were dominating the whole game.
November 6, 2018 at 12:56 am
Thank you, will answer later.
I had a battle with a master with Black, he made the same mistake as in September’s game (post “Missed chance”).
So I won an exchange, but eventually gave up or lost 3 pawns and in the end it was R vs.N +3P endgame which he won in a crazy time trouble.
We finished the last, played more than 4 hours.
November 6, 2018 at 4:45 am
Wow, that sounds amazing! It sounds like an intentional exchange sac on his part. Nice that you got in such a long game against a Master! š
I was looking at this position tonight, well glanced at it, it was in Soltis book, where he says that White should not accept the exchange.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1757437
31.BxRb4? is a mistake. 31.Qc1 was best. In the game, Black should have played for a bigger middlegame with …f5, on various different moves, and in the end Aronian had to give the exchange back just to draw it.
November 6, 2018 at 7:24 am
No, it was not intentional, he said he forgot and when remembered it was late.
Here is the line:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O dxc4 8.
Bxc4 b5 9. Bd3 a6 10. e4 e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. f4 Bd4+ 14. Kh1 Ng5 and he played h3.
November 6, 2018 at 7:47 pm
Wow, 13.f4 Surprising mistake for a Master, pushing the f-pawn two squares, while castled there, and not preparing it. It’s still in the opening, so he should have taken the time to play that right, or remembered a line.
I like how you play the semi-slav as Black, the Anand line. š
November 8, 2018 at 3:39 am
I posted both my games from Tuesday and Wednesday night, haven’t annotated them yet, though.
November 8, 2018 at 5:15 am
I added pre-computer-analysis annotations to both of my games.
November 9, 2018 at 10:30 am
I will check your games.
Yesterday played with 1011 rated young guy, he blundered a piece on move 15, I organized an attack, on move 24 he resigned, it was over at that moment.
Match started, they are playing Rossolimo variation!
November 11, 2018 at 2:21 am
Well, at least you won!
I didn’t like the way Fabi handled the Rossolimo. I would have played Qd2 (main-line) instead of Nh2. If he’s not that comfortable with it, then perhaps it’s better not to take on c6 right away, and play c3 instead of taking on c6.
That’s one of those openings that I should study up on more, since it’s more decent than how he played it.
November 11, 2018 at 11:27 am
I agree, Magnus really played that well.
Rossolimo is very decent, I won quite a few games including games with the same and higher rated opponents.