Wow, Cabbage, Good Game!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Man, you had me squirming in that game. If you don’t mind, I’d like to post my annotation of it.

2

Oops. Probably tomorrow. I missed the time slipping by. Your fifteenth move was swashbuckling and exciting. It reminded me of early Morphy.

3

Oops, I just started the same thread! Didn’t see that one. Anway, thanks! It was a great game. Let me know if you’re up for another one.

4

Oh, and yeah, I’d like to see your annotatin of it.

5

I hate to be both rude and off-topic at the same time. :wink: However, I am looking for a partner. To play an online game of chess that is. Estimated UCSF rating - 800. Anyway I’ll be here. Leave your user name, email and choice of colors here.

“What’s right is only half of what’s wrong
and I want a short-haired girl
Who sometimes wears it twice as long”
George Harrison - Old Brown Shoe

6

Oh yeah, I had seen your post earlier and had planned on responding if nobody else did before long, but I forgot about it, sorry. Anyway, yeah, I’ll play you a game if you want (though, admittedly, Lib would probably give you a better game than I will :))

My email is bcabbage@aol.com, and I don’t really care about the colors.

7

Libertarian v Cabbage

Game III

  1. e4 Nf6

Alekhine’s defense. A very snappy, tactical opening designed to lure White into overextending his center pawns.

  1. e5 Ne4?!

Usually, Black plays 2…Nd5, where the knight is considerably safer, and where it better follows his original strategy.

  1. d4 e6
  2. Nf3 c5!?

This is a bold way to challenge White. After 5.dxc5 Nxc5, Black has almost equalized, and can develop a long term queenside strategy. However, should White ignore Black’s challenge, the knight on e4 is precariously placed, with few retreat options.

  1. Bd3 d5!?

An interesting gambit! White probably can’t hold the pawn, not without serious loss of time.

  1. exd6 e.p. Nxd6
  2. dxc5 Nf5
  3. Bb5+?

This is entirely the wrong idea. White realizes he can’t hold the pawn with 8.b4 because after 8…b6 9.cxb6 Bxb4+ is check. Black then regains his pawn, develops a piece with tempo, and fully equalizes.
But White should just return the pawn right away with 8.0-0 Bxc5. The move played simply lets Black equalize.

8…Bd7
9. Bxd7+ Nxd7
10. Nc3 Bxc5
11. O-O O-O
12. Bf4 Nf6
13. Qxd8 Raxd8
14. Rad1 Ng4?

Black has played a superior game until now. He had equalized, and should have started a minority attack on the queenside with 14…a6, followed by …b5, …Nd6, with an eye on either …Nc4 or …Ne4. But the move played is too risky both tactically and strategically. Black might be thinking that his kingside pawn advantage calls for a kingside attack, but that will only hold true in the endgame. Right now, White’s king is secure, and attacking it almost certainly cannot succeed.

  1. Ne4!

White covers all the bases cheaply and efficiently.

15…Nfe3?

A swashbuckling move, remeniscent of a young Paul Morphy. He made surprising moves like this. But this time, it just doesn’t work. Black appears to be trying to create a weakness where none exists. But there really isn’t enough material to launch any effective sacrifice combination.

  1. fxe3 Bxe3+
  2. Bxe3 Nxe3
  3. Rxd8 Rxd8
  4. Rc1

Granted, White has to really hunker down and squirm for a while, but in compensation, he is up a whole piece. If he can just weather the ensuing storm, White wins fairly easily.

19…f5
20. Nc5 e5
21. Kf2! Nd1+!
22. Ke2 Nxb2
23. Nxb7 Rd7?

Why chase the knight back to a better place? Leave the knight alone its isolation, and play 23…e4 followed by …Nc4 instead. If Black is going to find any compensation for his piece sacrifice, it is going to have to be in these two connected central pawns along with a very active rook and knight.

  1. Nc5 Rd5
  2. Nd3 Na4?!

25…Nc4 is better. The knight needs to help support the other men.

  1. c4!!

Now, it’s practically over for Black. This pawn is past and fast, launching its drive to queen with a tempo grabbing attack on Black’s rook. Plus, the check Black had apparently hoped for has disappeared.

26…Rd6?

Allowing the pawn to gain yet another tempo.

  1. c5 Rg6!

Too little, too late. But probably Black’s best try at this point. If nothing else, it at least forces White to be very careful. One false move, and White’s whole advantage could quickly evaporate.

The weirdest thing about this game is that whenever White held any advantage, he always “enjoyed” it on the precipice of danger. It was a high blood pressure game.

  1. Nh4 Rg4
  2. g3 Re4+
  3. Kf3 Rd4?!

Well, Black is pretty much just groping here, and his game begins to quickly disintegrate.

  1. Nxe5 Nb2??

And this is a blunder that clears the way for White to queen his pawn and win easily. Black needed to keep the knight handy for …Nb6 whenever White’s pawn eventually advanced.

  1. c6 Nd1??

Black’s last chance to stop the pawn was 32…Rd8.

  1. c7 g6
  2. c8=Q+ Kg7
  3. Rc7+ Kf6

White announced mate in four.

  1. Qh8+ Ke6
  2. Qe8+ Resigns

White mates in every variation:

37…Kf6 38.Qe7 mate

or

37…Kd6 (or…Kd5) 38.Qc6+ Kxe5 39.Re7 mate.

8

All I can say is done. :wink:

“What’s right is only half of what’s wrong
and I want a short-haired girl
Who sometimes wears it twice as long”
George Harrison - Old Brown Shoe

9

Lib: Thanks for the annotation!

dragonfly98: Cool, we’re underway.