...Making The Wrong Choice Early
There's not much to say about this Team 45 45 loss, no brilliant play or huge blunders - quite simply I got a good position out of the opening, chose to give up some material for a speculative attack, and my opponent had enough defensive resources to keep me at bay and win once the smoke had cleared. Good practice, though, lessons to be learned for the future, and fun to play, which is always the main thing.
I had the white pieces against Dutch opponent LazyPeon.
pauliewoll-LazyPeon
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4
The Rubinstein Four Knights again.
5.Ba4 Bc5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nd3
It looks a little antipositional blocking the bishop's exit route with the knight, but the pawn won't stay on d2 for long.
7...Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ne6 10.Nxc5 Qxc5 11.Qf3 O-O 12.d4
White has obtained a terrific position out of the opening: open lines, the bishop pair and a pawn centre. Positionally I'm slightly compromised by the doubled pawns, but on the other side Black is going to have serious difficulties developing his bishop thanks to the threats along the h1-a8 diagonal. Meanwhile if he ever advances his d-pawn he's going to have trouble opposing rooks on the e-file. So I'm sitting pretty.
12...Nxd4
Black opts for extreme countermeasures and complicates the position, instead of going down the positional route with 12...Qa5 13.Bb3 d6 14.h4 Bd7 15.Bb2 Rae8 and a roughly equal position. The approach pays off, as I go wrong almost immediately.
13.cxd4 Qxd4 14.Bb3
White loses the game right here by going for the speculative attack. It's much safer to play 14.Qa3 - which I didn't even consider at the time - 14...a5 (if 14...Qxa1, 15.Bb2 traps the queen) 15.Bb2 Qb4 16.Rfe1, and White is only too pleased to let Black exchange queens any time he likes; the extra bishop, and total control of the e-file prior to invading unopposed on e7, will win easily.
14...Qxa1 15.Ba3 Qf6
Black, two safe pawns up assuming White wins back the exchange, is now the one happy to exchange queens. I take a long, hard look at the position and come to the view that even without the queens I still have more pieces in active play if I don't win back the exchange, and if I can attack on the kingside there might still be winning chances.
16.Qxf6 gxf6 17.Re1 d6 18.Re3 Bf5 19.Rg3+ Bg6 20.h4
A better move order is 20.f4 f5, and only then 21.h4 Kg7 22.h5 Rae8 23.hxg6 hxg6, and White is still hanging in there. The move played allows Black to set up a blockade that White doesn't have the firepower to break. After that Black wins by repeatedly throwing the unpleasant choice at White: exchange or back off.
20...Kh8 21.Bb2 h5 22.Bxf6+ Kh7 23.Bd5 c6 24.Bf3 Rg8 25.Rg5 Kh6 26.g4
Still desperate to prise open the black king position, I throw more material on the fire.
26...Rae8 27.Kh2
Stepping out of potential pins or checks on the g-file.
27...hxg4 28.Bxg4 Bxc2 29.Rh5+ Kg6 30.Bc3 f6
Forced, in view of the threat of perpetual check from the rook on g5 and h5. But an excellent move in its own right, as it gives the king an escape tunnel via f7.
31.f4 Rh8
And now here comes the exchange-or-yield move. My rook has nowhere sensible to run, and after the exchange Black's extra material makes the win a formality.
0-1
I had the white pieces against Dutch opponent LazyPeon.
pauliewoll-LazyPeon
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4
The Rubinstein Four Knights again.
5.Ba4 Bc5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nd3
It looks a little antipositional blocking the bishop's exit route with the knight, but the pawn won't stay on d2 for long.
7...Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ne6 10.Nxc5 Qxc5 11.Qf3 O-O 12.d4
White has obtained a terrific position out of the opening: open lines, the bishop pair and a pawn centre. Positionally I'm slightly compromised by the doubled pawns, but on the other side Black is going to have serious difficulties developing his bishop thanks to the threats along the h1-a8 diagonal. Meanwhile if he ever advances his d-pawn he's going to have trouble opposing rooks on the e-file. So I'm sitting pretty.
12...Nxd4
Black opts for extreme countermeasures and complicates the position, instead of going down the positional route with 12...Qa5 13.Bb3 d6 14.h4 Bd7 15.Bb2 Rae8 and a roughly equal position. The approach pays off, as I go wrong almost immediately.
13.cxd4 Qxd4 14.Bb3
White loses the game right here by going for the speculative attack. It's much safer to play 14.Qa3 - which I didn't even consider at the time - 14...a5 (if 14...Qxa1, 15.Bb2 traps the queen) 15.Bb2 Qb4 16.Rfe1, and White is only too pleased to let Black exchange queens any time he likes; the extra bishop, and total control of the e-file prior to invading unopposed on e7, will win easily.
14...Qxa1 15.Ba3 Qf6
Black, two safe pawns up assuming White wins back the exchange, is now the one happy to exchange queens. I take a long, hard look at the position and come to the view that even without the queens I still have more pieces in active play if I don't win back the exchange, and if I can attack on the kingside there might still be winning chances.
16.Qxf6 gxf6 17.Re1 d6 18.Re3 Bf5 19.Rg3+ Bg6 20.h4
A better move order is 20.f4 f5, and only then 21.h4 Kg7 22.h5 Rae8 23.hxg6 hxg6, and White is still hanging in there. The move played allows Black to set up a blockade that White doesn't have the firepower to break. After that Black wins by repeatedly throwing the unpleasant choice at White: exchange or back off.
20...Kh8 21.Bb2 h5 22.Bxf6+ Kh7 23.Bd5 c6 24.Bf3 Rg8 25.Rg5 Kh6 26.g4
Still desperate to prise open the black king position, I throw more material on the fire.
26...Rae8 27.Kh2
Stepping out of potential pins or checks on the g-file.
27...hxg4 28.Bxg4 Bxc2 29.Rh5+ Kg6 30.Bc3 f6
Forced, in view of the threat of perpetual check from the rook on g5 and h5. But an excellent move in its own right, as it gives the king an escape tunnel via f7.
31.f4 Rh8
And now here comes the exchange-or-yield move. My rook has nowhere sensible to run, and after the exchange Black's extra material makes the win a formality.
0-1
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