I had outplayed black in a Ruy Lopez, and at move 17 I mated with Rxc8 - both the queen and the knight are pinned, leaving the bishop unprotected.
Tuesday, 4 October 2022
Friday, 28 January 2022
A race against the clock
Me (2039*) - Cureton (2100), 5+4 Blitz game
Sicilian Defense (Grand Prix Attack)
1. e4 (only now I realized that I accidentally started a game while logged in instead of in anonymous mode - oops) c5 2. 2. Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4. Nf3 Nge7 5.Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6 Nxc6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 d5 9. Kh1 O-O 10. b3 b5 11. Bb2 d4 12. Ne2 b4 13. Ng3 Bb7 14. f5 Qd7 15. Bc1 Bd6
So far both sides had made reasonable moves in this opening (another one I borrowed from the twitch streams of IM Eric Rosen). However, as the computer points out in the post mortem, Bd6 is a blunder, allowing white to take the advantage with 16. f6! I did not see it.
16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Qe1 Rf7 18. e5.Be7 19. Ne4 Raf8 20. Qg3 Qc7 21. Bg5 Qxe5
I had slowly improved my position, and now black blundered - and I saw it. After the coming exchanges, white gets a winning position (the computer gives 6-7 pawn equivalent advantage). However accurate play is still required and both sides had just over a minute left (of course there is a 3 second increment er move, but that is less than it sounds....).
22. Qxe5 Nxe5 23. Bxe7 Ng4 24. Bxf8 Rxf8 25. Nfg5 Re8 26. Rf3 h6 27. Nh3 Ne3 28. Rc1 Kh7 29. Rg3 Rf8 30. Rf3 Rxf3 31. gxf3 e5 32. Nd6 Bxf3+ 33. Kg1 Bd5 34. Ne8 e4 35. dxe4 Bxe4 36. Nf4 Bxc2
That was a decent series of moves from both sides, no blunders, not even inaccuracies according to the computer. This is still won for white but time was going to play a major role from now on (we were down to 7 and 11 seconds). My next move throws away the advantage completely, and the remaining moves were full of time pressure blunders resulting in a continuous seesaw between drawn and winning for white.
37. Ne6 (Ng2 wins) Bf5 (d3 draws) 38. N8xg7 (Nxc5 wins) Bg6 (Bxe6 draws) 39. Re1 (Rxc5 wins). After my move, we both had just over 3 seconds on the clock (I had come within one second of flagging) and that turned out to be insufficient for black who flagged in a drawn position. 1-0.
Thursday, 6 January 2022
A nervous game of six queens
Garexy (2118) - Me (1988*), 5+3 Blitz game
Italian Four Knights game
I had a fairly large amount of bad experiences this year so far playing anonymous chess game at Lichess, so I decided to go back to playing logged in as myself.
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Nxe4 5. Bxf7+ (the Alekinhe declined transposed into an Italian Four Knights. This bishop move does not have a good reputation). 5. ... Kxf7 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Ng3 Bc5 (returning the favour, as white can counter with the same trick by playing Nxe5+ - but white declined) 8. d3 Rf8 9. Bg5 Qd6 10. Qd2 Kg8 11. 0-0-0 Be6 12. Rde1 d4 13. Kb1
Black has a strong position, the bishop pair looks menacing at the king, and white is about to sacrifice the exchange to get rid of one bishop.
13. ... Bb4 14. Qe2 Bxe1 15. Rxe1 Rae8 16. Nxe5 (white may have overlooked the pointe of Rae8 - it protects the pawn at e5 by the tactics of Bxa2+) Nxe5 17. Bf4
White now relied on this pin to regain some material. I had seen a refutation, and played it - completely overlooking that black can simply score a free bishop with Rxf4. Oh well. In my line black ends up a full rook ahead, which should be sufficient.
17. ... Qd5 18. Bxe5 Qxa2+ 19. Kc1 Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Qxb2 21. f4 Qb4+ 22. Kd1 Qc3 23. Ne4 Qa1+ 24. Kd2 Qa5+ 25. Kc1 Bd5 26. Rd1 BBxe4 27. dxe4 Rxe5 28. Qc4+ Kh8 29. Qxd4 Rb5 30. g3 Qb4 31. Qd3 Re8 32. e5 Qb2+ 33. Kd2 Qb4+ 34. Ke3 g5 35.Rf3
This is mate in 10 starting with Qe1+, which I did not see. The position is of course completely won for black, but I was down to 50 seconds while white still had over 4 minutes. Even with increment, that made me nervous. Anyway, play continued.
35. ... Qc5+ 36. Kd2 Qd5 37. Ke3 Qxd3+ 38. cxd3 Rb2 39. h3 Rd8 40. Ke4 Rb3 41. f5 a5 42. f6 Rb4+ 43. Kf5 Rf8 44. Kxg5 a4 45. Kf5 a3 46. Ke6 Rb6+ 47. Ke7 Ra8 48. f7 a2 49. f8=Q+ Rxf8 50. Rxf8+ Kg7 51. Rf7+ Kg6 52. Rf6+
Stuff had happened. I managed to get the queens off the board, had to sac one of my rooks to eliminate white's new queen, but a new black queen is ready to materialize at a1. The Stockfish programme in the post mortem rather annoyingly points out that this position is mate in 14, which of course I did not see.
52. ... Rxf6 53. exf6 a1=Q 54. f7 Qe5+ 55. Kf8 (now it's mate in 3 starting with Qe6, and that I should have seen....) b5 56. g4 b4 57. h4 h5 58. gxh5+ Kxh5 59. Kg8 Qe6 60. Kg7 b3 61. f8=Q+ Qg6+ 62. Kh8 Qh6+ 63. Kg8 Qxf8+ 64. Kxf8 b2 65. Ke7 b1=Q (the sixth queen in the game) 66. Kd7 Qxd3+ 67. Kxc7 Kxh4 and white resigned.
My rating went up from 1988 to 2039 (still provisional).
A rare mate indeed
Let's kick off 2022 with a casual anonymous blitz game (5+3) I won. I was black, my opponent fooled around in the opening (1. h3, 2. a3), but then won a pawn, only to let me trap and win a knight, and then allowed a rare type of mate I had never had on the board:
23. ... Qd6+ 24. f4 (only move) exf3 # en passant checkmate.
Monday, 8 November 2021
Some nice attacking and mating ideas from Blitz games (November-December)
I was white in this position that arose from a Ponziani. I had won a pawn but black's attacking chances provide compensation. The bishop sacrifice on h3 looks promising, but I thought I could refute it. Indeed, the engine considers it unsound, and I counter-attacked until mate:
23. ... Bxh3 24. gxh3 Qxh3 25. Bf4 Rhg8+ 26. Bg3 h5 27. Nd5 h4 28. Rxe7+ Rxe7 29. Qxe7+ Kg6 30. Qxf6+ Kh7 31. Qf7+ Rg7 32 .Qh5+ Kg8 33. Nf6+ Kf8 34. Qe8#
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Another game with white, this time arising from a French Defense. White is already better, but thie bishop sacrifice blows the black position wide open:
19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6 1-0 (Kd7 is the only move to avoid queen loss, and after Qxe6 white has three pawns for the bishop and a superior position).
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This rooks end game originated in a Lemberg gambit against the Alekhine (2. Nf3?!). I had been able to hang on to the pawn and reached this still difficult ending. However, white's latest move (g4) is a blunder: black will win the g pawn, or (as in the game) have an elegant mate:
39. ... Re3+ 40. Kh4? g5+ 41 .fxg5+ hxg5 #
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Black had rather misplayed the Ponziani, leaving me with a strong attack. With his 21st move (Ng8) he tries to scare off the white bishop. I saw a beautiful combination, and missed the mate in two with Qxg6... Anyway:
22. Nxg6 Nxh6 23. Rxe8 Bxe8 24. Nxh8+ Kf8 25. Qxh7 Ng8 26. Rxe8+ (Ng6 is mate in 7 by the way) Qxe8 27. Ng6+ Qxg6 28. Bxg6 Nd8 and black resigned.
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Saturday, 30 October 2021
Blitz miniatures October-December
The first one is a 5+3 blitz game, where I had black, and via a declined Alekhine, we entered a Stafford gambit (thanks to IM Eric Rosen for making me aware of this power weapon in blitz):
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. Nxe5 Nc6 5. Nxc6 dxc6 6. Bc4 Ng4 7. 0-0 Qh4
The fun thing about the Stafford is that white can make logical opening moves and end up in a lost position after 7 moves (the Stockfish program rates this situation as +5.0 pawn equivalents for black). The attack is simply too strong. White was already getting desperate here....
8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. Qf3+ Ke8 10. h3 h5 (Rf8 would have been even stronger) 11. a3 Ne5 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. Qe1 Bxh3 (already forced mate) 14. b4 Nf3+ (Qg3 is one move quicker, but I saw the forced mate in the line I played) 15. gxf3 Qg5+ 16. Kh2 Qg2 #
Another similar game a few days later:1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. Nxe5 Nc6 5. Nxc6 dxc6 6. Be2 h5 7. O-O Ng4 8 .Bxg4 hxg4 9. Kh1 Qh4 10. Bf4 Bxf2 11. Qe2 g3 12. h3 Bxh3 0-1
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Here is another Stafford from the Alekhine - white misplayed it, and I got the chance to finish in style.
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. Nxe5 Nc6 5. Nxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Ng4 7. Be3 Nxe3 8. fxe3 Bxe3 9. Qe2 Qg5 10. Nd1 Bb6 11.Nf2 O-O 12. h4 Qa5+ 13. c3 Be6 14. a3 Rad8 15. b4 Qa4 16. h5 Qb3 17. h6 Qxc3+
18. Qd2 Bxf2+ and black wins the queen, as any move other than Kxf2 is a forced mate. 0-1.
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In this game, I was white and black fell into one of the opening traps in the Ponziani. It did allow for a neat mate later on:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 Nf6 6. Be2 Nxe4 7. d5 Ne7 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qxe4 Bf5 10. Qd4 c5 11. dxc6 Nxc6 12. Bb5 a6 13. Bxc6+ bxc6 14. O-O c5 15. Re1+ Be6 16. Qa4+ Ke7 17. Nc3 Rb8
18. Nd5 #
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In an Anglo-Dutch game I had black and after 10 regular moves the position was equal - but white then made the mistake of playing h3 and the position crumbled quickly.
1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d6 4. Bg2 e5 5. e3 c6 6. Nge2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. d4 Qe8 9. d5 c5 10. e4 Qh5 11. h3
11. ... fxe4 12 .g4 Bxg4 13. hxg4 Nxg4 14. Re1 Qh2+ 15. Kf1 Rxf2#
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As black in an Alekhine I had won a pawn but white has a strong attack as compensation.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. h3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 Bf6 13. Ne4 d5 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. c5 Nd7 16. Kh2 Qh4 17. Rg1 f5 18. Rg2 Nf6 19. Qg1 Rf7 20. Bg5 Qxd4 21.Bh6 g6
The sacrifice that followed looks tempting, but is unsound as confirmed by engine analysis after the game. 22. Rxg6+ hxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24. Rg1 Rg8 - this is the refutation: the threat Qxf2 is more than white can handle. White resigned: 0-1.
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Having lost two Grand Prix attacks in a row as white, I switched to the wing gambit for the next Sicilian. Turned out not bad, not bad at all.
1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. a3 bxa3 4 .Bxa3 d6 5.d4 g6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bc4 Bg7
8. Bxf7+ Kf8 9. Bd5 Nf6 10. Bxb7 Qa5+ 11. Nbd2 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 1-0
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An Alekhine that developed into a mid-game trap I had not encountered before.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. exd6 cxd6 5. c3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bd3 e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Nf3 Bc5
10. O-O O-O 11. Bb5 e4 12. Qxd8 Nxd8 13. Ne5 Be6 14. Be3
Looks logical, but leaves the knight on e5 trapped.
14. ... Bxe3 15. fxe3 f6 0-1
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From a Pirc/King's Gambit hybrid that was misplayed by black I got a winning position easily, but the mate was nice and a bit unexpected.
1. e4 d6 2. Bc4 e5 3. f4 exf4 4. Nf3 h6 5. d4 g5 6. e5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 Be6 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9.Qh5+ Ke7 10. Ng6+ Kf6 11. Nxh8 Qxd4 12. Qf7+ Ke5 13. Qxf8 Nf6 14. Ng6+ Kd5 15. Nc3+ Kc6 16. Ne7+ Kb6 17. Nc8+ Kc6 18. Ne7+ Kb6 19. Bd2 a6 20. O-O-O
and black thought that finally the king would be safe: 20. ... Ka7 21. Nc8#
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An Alekhine that white played a bit too passively...
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. h3 g6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Be3 Nxe3 8.f xe3 O-O 9. Bc4 Nc6 10. a3
Black's position is already very comfortable. Time to rip open the centre while the white king is still there:
10. ... e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qh4+ 13. Ke2 Bxe5 14. Nd2 Bxb2 15. Ra2 Bc3 16. Nf3 Qxc4+ 0-1
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The Scandinavian has been a bit of a problem for me as white - but in recent weeks I switched to encountering this with Nc3, creating positions that are unfamiliar for black. In the following game this worked out very well, with black losing a piece at move 13 and walking into forced mate five moves later.
1 .e4 d5 2. Nc3 d4 3. Nce2 Nc6 4. Ng3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e5 6.d3 Be6 7. Bxe6 fxe6 8. f4 Bd6 9. fxe5 Bxe5 10. Nf3 Bxg3+ 11. hxg3 Ng4 12. Bg5 Qd6 13. Bf4
13. ... Nce5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Qh5+ Kd7 16. Qxe5 Qb4+ 17. Bd2 Qxb2 18.O-O Qxc2 19. Rf7+ Kc6 20. Qxe6+ Kb5 21. a4+ Kc5 22. Qd5+ Kb6 23.Qb5#
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A From's gambit that resulted in probably the quickest mate I have had on the board.
1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. d4 Qh4+ 5. Kd2 Qxd4+ 6.Ke1 Qh4+ 7.Kd2 Nc6 8. Qe1
8. ... Qd4#
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This one is a Ponziani, misplayed by black, who allowed a bishop sacrifice against the queen side castled position. The mate was neat though.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 d6 5. Bb5 exd4 6. cxd4 Bd7 7. Nc3 Qe7 8.O-O O-O-O 9. Qd3 a6 10. Bxa6 bxa6 11. Qxa6+ Kb8 12. Nb5 Qxe4 13. Bd2 Nd5
14. Ba5 Nb6 15. Bxb6 cxb6 16. Qxb6+ Ka8 17. Nc7#
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Here we have an interesting attacking game against a hybrid of French and Owen defense.
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. d4 Bb4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6.e5 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Ne4 8.O-O Nxc3 9. Qe1 Na4 10. Bd2 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Nc6 12. c3 g5 13. f4 h6 14. f5 exf5 15. Bxf5 Qe7 16. Qe4
I had sacrificed a pawn to get this position. Black's king is not safe in the center, but the point of my queen move is that it prevents 0-0-0 because of Qxc6. The alternative escape route is not successful either It looks like black can counterattack on the king side, but that's just an illusion (Stockfish gives white 4 pawn equivalents better at this point).
16. ... O-O 17. f4 f6 18. fxg5 fxg5 19. Kh1 Rf7 20. h4 Raf8 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. Bxg5 Qxg5 23. Rg1 Rh7+ 24. Bxh7+ 1-0
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1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bh4 g5 6. Bg3 Bc5 7. Qe2 d6 8. O-O-O Be6 9. Nf3 Qd7 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Ne7 12. Nxe5 dxe513. Qxe5 Qd6 14. Qc3 Qb6 15. Bxc7 Qxc7 16. Qxf6 O-O-O 17. d4 Bd6 18. Qxf7 Rhf8 19. Qe6+ Kb8 20.f3 Nxd5 21. Qxh6
and white, having four pawns for a knight, resigned befire I could move. This is one of the best resignations I encountered, certainly for a blitz game. I quite liked the position, with now plenty of counterattacking options (like Nc3!), but resigning? However, after the game I checked this position with Stockfish, who rates it more than ten pawn equivalents better for black. Kudos to white for realizing just how bad the position actually is.
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Black's Owen defense kind of backfired in this game. After Re8 his king side position was shot to pieces.
1. e4 b6 2. Bc4 Bb7 3. d3 e6 4. f4 d5 5. exd5 Bxd5 6. Bxd5 exd5 7. Nc3 d4 8. Qf3 Nd7 9. Ne4 Ngf6 10. Ne2 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nxd4
12... Re8 13. Nc6 Qc8 14. Nxe7+ Rxe7 15. Nxf6+ gxf6 16. f5 Ne5 17. Qg3+ Kh8 18. Bh6 Qg8 19. Qh4 Nd7 20. Rf3 Re2 21. Rg3 Qe8 22. Bg7+ Kg8 23. Bxf6+ Kf8 24. Qh6#
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Against French (or Caro-Kann) defense players, the two knights attack is a remarkably strong weapon for white - it makes the battles far more tactical than they are used to. In this game, I got a great position on the king side, and black's blunder allowed a quick mate.
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 d4 4. Ne2 Nc6 5. Ng3 e5 6. Bc4 Bg4 7. d3 Bd6 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 f6 10. Nf5
10. ...Nge7 11. Nxg7+ Kd7 12. Bd6 #
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1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ne4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. d5 Ne7 9. Qxe4 dxe5 10. Nxe5 g6 11. Bc4 Bf5 12. Qe2 Nxd5 13. Nxg6+ Ne7 14. Nxh8 Bg7 15. Nxf7 Qd4 16.O-O b5 17. Bb3 c5 18. Rd1 Qh4 19. Qxb5+ Kf8 20. Nc3 Re8
21. Qxe8+ Kxe8 22. Rd8 #
11. e6 fxe6 12. Nxe6 Qb6 13. Nxg7+ Kf7 14. Nxf5 Nf6 15. Ne5+ Ke8 16. Nxe7 Kxe7 17. Ng6+ 1-0
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I was white in a Grand Prix attack style Sicilian by transposition from the French. The position below is about equal, even after my temporary rook sacrifice on f7. Black should have gone for the line Qxc2+ with equality, but decided to trap the rook instead - only to be confronted with a sound actual rook sacrifice.
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 c5 3. f4 a6 4. Nf3 b5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bb7 7. Bd3 Qh4+ 8. g3 Qh3 9. Qe2 Nf6 10. Be3 b4 11 .Nd1 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bxe4 13. Nf2 Qg2 14 .O-O-O Bb7 15. f5 Nc6 16. fxe6 dxe6 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18. Nd3 Rc8 19. Rhf1 Be7 20. Rxf7
20. ... Bf6 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Qh5+ Ke7 23. Bc5+ 1-0 (black loses the queen).
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White outplayed me in an Alekhine defense - but my desperate counterattack paid off.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 d6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. d4 Nc6 7. Ne2 Bg4 8. c3 e6 9. f3 Bh5 10. O-O Qd7 11. Ng3 Bg6 12. Nd2 Be7 13. Nde4 O-O-O 14. Be3 h5 15. d5 exd5 16. Bxd5 h4 17. Ne2 h3 18. g3 f5 19. Nf2 Ne5 20. Nf4 Bf7 21. Bxb6 Bxd5
White is clearly better after Nxd5. But the rook at d8 looked juicy....
22. Bxd8 Bxf3 23. Qb3 Bg2 24. Bxe7 Nf3#
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Another example of Nc3 against a Scandinavian. My piece sacrifice is unsound, but black missed the best moves and walked into a knight mate on move 15.
1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 d4 3. Nce2 e6 4. Ng3 h6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bc5 7. d3 a6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Ne5 Bd6 10. Qh5 g6 11. Nxg6 fxg6 12. Qxg6+ Kf8 13. Nh5 Ne7
14. Qg7+ Ke8 15. Nf6#
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Granted, white completely misplayed this old Benoni, but the mate must have come as a surprise.
1. d4 c5 2. c4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qh4 Nf6 5. Bg5d6 6. Nf3 Qb6 7. b3 Nb4 8. Na3 Qa5 9. Bc1 Nc2+ 10. Kd1 Nxa3 11. g3 Bf5
12. Bg2 Bc2#
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I was black in an old Benoni defence, that turned into a very positional closed set-up, but all it took was one white mistake to blow the position wide open.
1. d4 c5 2. d5 e5 3. e4 d6 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. a3 Bg7 7. b4 b6 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Bd3 a6 10. b5 a5 11. a4 Nbd7 12. Bc1 Nh5 13. Be2 Ndf6 14. Bxh5 Nxh5 15. g4 Nf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Qf3 Qf6 18. Nge2 g5 19. O-O-O Re8 20. Ng3
20. ... Bxg4 21. Qxg4 Qxc3+ 22. Kb1 Qb2#
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White misplayed the dubious Krejcik Variation against the Alekhine, but the end is nice.
1. e4 Nf6 2. Bc4 Nxe4 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bb3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. d3 Nf6 7. O-O e6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 g4 11. hxg4 Bxg4 12. d4 h5 13. Qd3 c6 14. Ne5 Nbd7 15. c4 h4 16. Bh2 h3 17. f3 hxg2 18. Rf2 Bf5 19. Qe2 Qb6 20. c5 Qb4 21. Qd1
21. .. Nxe5 22. dxe5 Bxc5 23. Qf1 Rxh2 and white resigned (it is actually mate in 5).
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Black opted for a sort of hybrid of French and Caro-Kann, which gave me a nice position. After Be7 the position is no longer defendable for black.
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e5 Ne7 5. d4 Nf5 6. Bd3 h6 7. O-O Nd7 8. Ne2 b5 9. Bxf5 exf5 10. Nf4 Be7
11. e6 fxe6 12. Nxe6 Qb6 13. Nxg7+ Kf7 14. Nxf5 Nf6 15. Ne5+ Ke8 16. Nxe7 Kxe7 17. Ng6+ 1-0
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White did not find the right moves against my Alekhine, and lost a pawn. But the end came unexpectedly fast.
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. c5 Nd5 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 d6 7. d4 dxe5 8. dxe5 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Nc6 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. Bf4 e6 12. Be2 Bxc5 13. Bg3 O-O-O+ 14. Kc2 Rd7 15. h3 Bh5 16. Rhe1 Rhd8 17. Rad1
17. ... Bg6+ 18. Kc1 Ba3#
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In this game, I tried the Grand Prix attack again to counter the Sicilian Defense. I got a great position, and black's blunder at move 17 sealed his fate.
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. f4 Nf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. d3 g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Qe1 Nd7 10. Qg3 Bxf3 11. Rxf3 e5 12. f5 O-O 13. Qh3 g5 14. Rg3 h6 15. Be3 Rb8 16.b 3 Qf6 17. Rf1
17. ... Kh7 18. Bxg5 1-0
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Black encountered my Sicilian wing gambit well, but with Bf6 he allowed a draw by perpetual. Then he got greedy...
1.e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. a3 bxa3 4. Bxa3 a6 5. d4 b5 6. Nc3 Bb7 7. Nf3 d6 8. Bd3 Qc7 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Bb2 Nf6 12. Nxf6+ exf6 13. O-O Be7 14. Rfe1 O-O 15. e5 fxe5 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18 .Rxe5 Bf6
19. Rh5 g6 20. Qh6 Re8 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. Ba3+ Be7 23. Qh8#
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And to round off this overview post, a miniature I played on New Year's Eve. Once more the two knights attack against the French was successful - black did not see the trap I had planned with 12. d4...
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ Qxf6 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Ba4 Bd6 8. d3 O-O 9.O-O Bc5 10. c3 b5 11. Bc2 Bb6 12. d4
12. ... Bb7 13. Bg5 1-0
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Monday, 23 August 2021
Some nice attacking and mating ideas from Blitz games (August-October)
I was white, with a position that came from a Scandinavian transposed into a Blackmar-Diemer gambit. After black's Kc8, white wins by force - in post mortem analysis the engine gives a mate in 13.
16. Qd2 b6 (black cannot protect the mating square on d8 and has to create a place to flee. But it won't work ) 17. Ncxe4 (setting up a deadly battery - black can only delay the inevitable, and chooses to end it quickly) Ne8 18. Qd8+ Kb7 19. Nc5# (double check and mate).
I was white in a Grand Prix attack against the Sicilian - and after having sacrificed my queen's knight, the rook is now joining in. I could not calculate the whole line, but I was pretty sure that it was winning. Indeed the engine rates this position as +11.9 pawn equivalents for white.
17. Rxf6 Kxf6 (mate in 7 - but the position after the best move h6 is also completely lost) 18. Rf1+ Kxg6 19. Qxh7+ (another knight sac for good measure) Kxg5 20. h4+ Kg4 21. Qg7+ Kxh4 22. Rf4+ (quicker is Qh6+, but I saw the forced mate in this line) Kh5 23. g4+ Kh4 24. Qh6+ Kg3 25. Qh2 #.
Another Grand Prix attack, I had sacrificed a piece for some pawns and chances against the black king. According to the computer, white is a bit better, but black needs to be careful. He wasn't.
23. Nd5 Bd4 (tempting but suicidal - Bg5 was the only reasonable move) 24. Ne7#
I was white in a Ponziani that was mishandled by black. Already a few pawns up and with black's king in an awkward position, the end came soon.
21. ... Re8 (Bb8 would have allowed black to continue to fight - now the knight delivers mate on the centre of the board) 22. Nxd5#
This was such a short game (Caro-Kann) that I post it completely:
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 c5 5. Be3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bc5 7. Be2 Nf6 8. Nxe6 Bxe6 9. Bxc5 Qa5+ 10. b4 Qa3 11. Nxd5 Nxe4 Black misplayed the opening and is lost even if white did not have mate in one: 12. Nc7#
I was black in an Alekhine's defense. I played g5 and white took the bait:
14. Bxg5 Bxg5 15. Nxg5 Qxd4+ 16. Qxd4 Nxd4 17. Nxf7 and now the unexpected riposte that wins immediately: 0-0! 18. Ng5 Ne2+ 19. Kh1 Rxf1#
I was black in a London game (via an attempted Benoni). White looks a bit more comfortable, but the position was about equal, until the ill-timed push f4. I saw the killing rook sacrifice within seconds:
34. ... Rxg4+ and white resigned. The rook is untouchable because of Qg2#, and white's position crumbles. The post mortem engine analysis even shows a forced mate in seven moves.
Sunday, 27 June 2021
Four recent blitz games
These are the four most recent blitz games I played at lichess.com, against players of similar rating. The time control for these games is 5+3, i.e. each player gets 5 minutes with an additional 3 seconds for every move made.
Hennie Schaper - Blunder_4_Life
Caro-Kann defense
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Qd7
This is an unusual and not particularly good reply. In blitz games one can try moves like this though to get opponents out of their opening knowledge.
6. Nxf5 Qxf5 7. Bd3 Qd5 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Be3 e6 10. 0-0 Ne4
This is already the losing move. The queen's position is awkward, given that she is needed to defend the knight. It ended quickly.
11. c4 Qf5 12. Ng5 Bd6 13. Nxe4 Bxh2+ 14. Kxh2 h5 15. Nd6+ 1-0 (Lichess link)
RascarKapac - Hennie Schaper
Alekhine's defense
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. h3 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Be2 Nc6 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 a5 12. d5 Ne5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Bh6 Re8 15. f4 Bg7 16. Bg5 h6 17. Nh4 Rc8 18. g4 Bd7
In spite of a few inaccuracies on both sides (well, it's a blitz game and we're not masters), things have followed normal patterns so far. As usual in this defense, black's position is somewhat cramped, but with opportunities to strike back, given the inherent imbalance.
19. Rc1 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Rxc4 21. Qd3 Qc8
Black is now clearly better. White blunders on the next move, losing a piece in a bad position.
22. b3 Rxc3 23. Rxc3 Qxc3 24. Qe4 Qd4+ 25. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 0-1 (Lichess link)
My opponent asked for an immediate re-match, which I accepted.
Hennie Schaper - RascarKapac
Sicilian Defense: Grand Prix attack
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nf6 5. d3 d5 6. e5 Nd7 7. Nf3 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Kh1 a5 11. Qe1 Ba6 12. g4
This is for me a new system against the Sicilian Defense: the Grand Prix attack, recommended by IM Eric Rosen. The g4 attack is thematic, even though the computer in the post mortem analysis does not like it.
12. ... g6 13. g5 Re8 14. h4 Bf8 15. h5 Kg7 16. Qh4 Be7 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. Qh6+
White has a strong attack. The queen check is essential to prevent black from Rh8. The computer rates the position as winning for white, but there's still a lot of work to do.
18. ... Kg8 19. Rf2 Bf8 20. Qh4 Bg7 21. Rh2 Kf8 22. d4 Ke7 23. Qg3 cxd4 24. Nxd4
With a series of sub-par moves, white has lost the advantage - if anything black is better now. Fortunately for me black blundered on the next move:
24. ... c5 25. Nc6+ Kf8 26. Nxd8 Rexd8 27. Rh7 Rab8 28. b3 c4 29. Ba3+ Kg8 30. Qh3 cxb3 31. axb3 Rdc8 32. Kg2 Nc5 allowing a nice finish.
33. Rxg7 Kxg7 34. Qh6+ Rg8 35. Rh1 1-0 (Lichess link)
Hennie Schaper - pecintaalam
Ponziani opening
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 exd4 6. Be2 Be6 7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 0-0-0 9. 0-0
The first time on my life that I played the ancient Ponziani opening - another recommendation by IM Eric Rosen. Opposite castling usually leads to sharp games. Black's next move hands white the bishop pair and fixes the weakness of d4.
9. ,,, Bxc3 10. bxc3 Nf6 11. c4 Qe4 12. Bd3 Qg4 13. d5 Bf5 14. Bxf5 Qxf5 15. Qa4 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5
A critical position for the game. White's attack is coming while black has not made any moves against the white king. The computer gives a clear advantage for white. However... as IM Eric Rosen would say "there's a funny line..." I decided to sacrifice a rook here for an attack that would at worst yield a draw by perpetual check, and at best a decisive advantage. I invested a large part of my time in it as well.
17. Qxa7 Qxa1 18. Qa8+ Kd7 19. Qa4+ c6 (the losing move, black should have gone for the draw with Kc8) 20. dxc6+ bxc6 21. Rd1+ Ke6 (the point of the sacrifice is that the black king cannot go to a dark square because that would lose the queen to a bishop check) 22. Qxc6+ Kf5 23. Qf3+ Ke6 24. Re1+
Black is of course completely lost by now - only Qe5 can stop the mating attack.
24. ... Kd7 25. Qb7+ 1-0 (Lichess link)
With these four blitz games I increased my Lichess blitz rating from 1791 to 1952. Even accounting for the fact that Lichess ratings are a bit inflated compared to chess.com and over the board chess, this is quite nice.
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