2 games, and 2 painful losses !

For discussion pertaining to Chess, Net-Chess, or general interests.
Post Reply
iamachessstudent
Posts: 380
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:35 pm

2 games, and 2 painful losses !

Post by iamachessstudent » Mon Aug 13, 2012 3:31 pm

Hello again all!

his posting I am also presenting 2 games, but both are painful losses to me against the same opponent; one with the black pieces, the other with the White pieces.
I have been objective as possible while commenting and annotating, and I hope you enjoy these as much as the first 2 games that I posted a week or so ago!
Thanks again for those that like what I post and let me know, you know who you are:)

I might start doing a few of the games from this site that a few people has given to me as suggestions...depends on feedback, which is why I have not done the games from this site yet...I will keep you posted!




[White "Simon249250"
[Black "Josh"]


White plays a very aggressive and smart style against my Sicilian Defense. At one point out of the opening, I had a chance to take things into a position that would probably have been slightly favorable to me, but I missed this chance and slowly and steadily lost ground and was throughly out played!

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 {The Grivas Variation, one of my favorite variations of the Sicilian Defense.

5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bd3 d6 8.O-O a6 9.Kh1 Be7 10.Bg5 O-O {An alternative was 10...Bd7, but I like to castle first and then look at other options. This is main line theroy at this point, and both players seem to have in mind to come into the same position.

11.f4 h6 12.Bxf6! N {This move is very novel and looks very good!
Previous experience in this line has ran almost exclusively 12. Bh4, when Black has tried the move 12...Nxe4 and has been able to hold his own in many encounters.
Against 12. Bh4 i was planning the simple and effective 12...Qc7! which keeps the position totally equal and balanced.
12... Bxf6 13.Qh5 {White begins a direct assault, which seems to be why he preferred to get rid of the Knight on F6.

13...Qc7 14.Rae1 {Again, concentrating on a purely King side assaault!

14...b5 15.a3! {An important little move that controls the B4 square and makes counterplay more difficult for Black! However it was exactly now that a chance to obtain that Queenside counterplay was presented to me...

15...Bxc3 {This move is "OK" but...15 b4! would have given good counterplay and may even have granted Black a tiny edge i.e. 15..b4!; 16. axb4, Nxb4; 17. e5, dxe5; 18. Ne4 and I think Black is just a touch better here!
While the move I played does double White's Q-side pawns, it does not grant any counterplay and I am soon forced on pure defense, as White consistently aims for a powerful K-side attack.
16.bxc3 Bd7 17.Re3 {Preparing to transfer the Rook to the K-side.

17...Ne7 {Purely defensive and another "ok" move, but I think that perhaps 17...Kh7!? is more interesting and maybe even better?

18.f5! {White gains space and again, carries out his plan to attack my Kingside!

18...Kh7 {Now maybe 1 move to late?!

19.Rg3 {The Rook swings over....

19...g6 {Hoping to exchange that F pawn and drive the Queen away, giving more chances for a beter defense.

20.Qh4! {White again is relentless and hasd an excellent sense for his attack! The Queen retreats and attacks at the same time! This keeps me making pure defensive moves also, no time for thinking about counterplay!

20...Qd8 21.Rh3 {Threatening checkmate (Qxh6)!

21. ... Ng8 {Protecting the H6 square and only NOW will White exchange pawns, since the pawn recapture by Black is forced.

22.fxg6+ fxg6 23.Rxf8 Qxf8 24.e5 {Now the Bishop at D3 enters the fray!

24...dxe5 {White does not care about losing this pawn, the way is cleared for him to begin decisive operations on my Kingside!

25.Rf3 {Threatening to come to F7 now...

25...Qe8 {Or 25...Qg7; 26. Nc5!, Ra7; 27. c4, bxc4; 28. Bxc4 and White's advantage is huge and insurmountable.

26.Qe4 {More pressure.

26...Ne7 27.Rf6 Nf5 {Maybe 27...Rd8!? but Black has one tough defensive task here!

28.Nc5 {The Knight now enters the battle...and again the pressure mounts on Black.

28...Ra7 29.Qxe5 Qe7 {29...Qg8 makes no difference.

30.h4 {The final assault begins and White gives up another Pawn to divert the Black Knight.

30...Nxh4 31.Ne4 Nf5 32.Rf8! {A wonderful Diversion!

32...Qxf8 33.Nf6+ {This effectively ends the game, tho I play on for a few moves, not wanting to believe my loss here.

33...Qxf6 {Forced.

34.Qxf6 Bc8 {And again 34...Be8 made no difference.

35.Bxf5 exf5 36.Qc6 {Double attack and a grand way to conclude the game!
BLACK RESIGNS!!!

1-0


Game conclusions and lessons to learn:

{This was a great lesson in 1 game: How to conduct a beautiful Kingside Attack by White and 2: When you miss an opportunity (as I did on my 15th move), you do not get another chance! A wonderful game to be sure!}


[White Josh
[Black "Simon249250"]


A great game! A novelty by Black in a well-known variation of the Nimzo-Indian results in a position where White has a slight pull. Black begins to equalize and after some fine maneuvering, White is forced on the defensive. The pressure by this new situation unravels me, and in a position where I could keep the position equal, I make a terrible blunder which hastens the end.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 {The Nimzo-Indian Defense.

4.Qc2 {The Classical Variation, my favorite choice to combat the Nimxo with.

d5 5.a3 {The most combative variation which forces the play.

5...Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 {With this move, we enter the "Modern Variation", one of the most popular variations for Gm's all the way down to club players. I will not go through all the finer points of the variation, there is plenty of theroy that you can find for this... once the opening is over then I will detail the struggle further.

7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.b4 O-O 12.Bb2 Re8 13.Qb3 {Also possible here is 13. Rd1, which is also as theroy-laden.

13...Bg4!? {This is a true novelty.
Usual in the position are 13...b6 with an unclear game.
Also 13...Be6 has been tried, but after 14. e3 White's position is very good indeed.
This novelty seems to develop the Bishop to a beter square immediately, and puts the battle of the Q-side away for the time being...the main purpose of the novelty will be revealed on the very next move.
14.Rd1 {I chose this move after a long time in thinking...
The normal looking move 14. e3 would be neutralized now by 14...d4!; 15. Nxd4, Qh4! and here seems to be the purpose, or 1 of the purposes of this novelty! Maybe the simple 14.h3!, forcing the Bishop back to F5 or C8 and simply using the tempo gained by playing as i the game !?
14...a5 {Attacking the Q-side now...I believe the position is +=; White still has the advantage of the 1st move and maybe a little more?!

15.e3 {Preventing any intrusion on the critical d4 square!
The alternative 15.Rxd5, Qe7; 16.Rd1; axb4; 17.axb4, Be6 is totally =, and not what I was looking for playing White!
15...axb4 16.axb4 d4 17.Be2 {Already White has to be careful!
If 17. Bc4 then 17...Qf6!; 18. Be2, Be6 and Black is slightly better. -=
The Bishop move is careful and just attempting to keep some initiative.
17...Be6 {A good move and consistent, White is still +=.

18.Bc4 Nxc5!? {Very interesting and making much Chaos on the board! For the piece,. Black gets active play all over the board...

19.bxc5 {I did not consider anything else, and really is there anything else?

19...Na5 {Attacking the Queen.

20.Qb4 {Another viable choice was 20. Qc2, Nxc4; 21. Bxd4, Bd5 and the position is +=

20...Nxc4 21.Bxd4 Bd5 22.Bc3 {Maybe perhaps 22.0-0, Bxf3; 23. gxf3, Qg5+; 24. Kh1, Qh5; 25. Qxb7, Na5+= might have also been tried?!

22...Re4 23.Rd4 Na3 24.Qb2 Rxd4 25.Bxd4 Qa5+ {A good check and now we arrive at the one of the most critical parts of the game!
The game is well near equality and a Draw would probably been a fair result IF the correct move against this Check was played...
26.Kf1?? {...but it was not!
The correct move was 26. Nd2! ( looks odd doesnt it>), but indeed, this keeps equality! if 26...Nc4; 27. Qc2! is equal.
26. ... Qa4 {And now, the positon is well in Blacks advantage! -+
And now White has defintely lost the thread and upset by the previous failing of his handling the position played...
27.Qa1? {Horrible!
Terrible!
Totally poor, and if I could think of more adjectives, I would!
The ONLY way to continue this fight as 27. Ke1, but even then, Black has all the chances!
27...Nb5! {Of course, the best move and fastest way to end the game!

28.Qxa4 {No choice.

28...Rxa4 {and here WHITE RESIGNS!

0-1
Game conclusions and lessons to learn

This game was a GREAT example of slowly losing the "thread " of a game and losing your concentration at key moments. I had a better game after the novelty introduced by Black, but became unraveled as my opponent was able to complicate the play and I lost my headings.

Post Reply