In the land of the blind....

Hennie Schaper - joninatadihardja (Indonesia)

Philidor Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be6 4. Bxe6 fxe6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 e5

I can't recall ever playing against the old-fashioned Philidor, but that's no excuse for not seeing the simple Ne6 here, with a very nice position for white.

7. ... Nf6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Qe2 Nbd7

There's something about black's weakness on e6 that was a huge blind spot for me in this game. With Ng5 I would have had a second opportunity to exploit it. Still other chances are coming.

11. Rd1 Nc5 12. Ng5

Not bad, and finally hitting at the weak spot, but I did not even see the simple Nxe5. 

12. ... Qe8 13. b4 Na6 15. Ne6 Rf7

Now b5 would be winning for white thanks to the threat on c7. I did not see it. Instead I played the tempting Qc5, which black should have neutralized with Qc6. Fortunately he did not see that one either.

16. Qc5 c6 17. Ng5 d5 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Nxf7 Qxf7 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. Qxd5 Nxb4 22. Qxf7+ Kxf7 23. Rd7 Nxc2 24. Rb1 b6

Now that the dust has settled, black looks to still have a fighting chance with a pawn for the exchange. However, the pinned bishop on e7 is a fatal weakness.

25. Bg5 Re8 26. Rc1 Nd4 27. Rcc7 Nf5 28. g4 h6

For a moment it looks like black can get out of the sticky situation, but the bishop simply switches sides.

 

29. Bc1 Nd4 30. Ba3 1-0

Well, I won, against a much higher rated player, but there were too many mistakes along the way...