00001.4.4 Analyzed by National Master Corey Russell

1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 d6 3. Nc3 Nfd7

A very bad move. In the opening stages of the game, do NOT

move a piece twice without first developing your other pieces,

except to prevent loss of material. In the beginning, there

are 3 elements that are very important: 1) Development --

getting pieces out of their home squares 2) Center control,

and 3) space. Black should've staked some central control

by playing either ...c5 or ...e5.

4. Be3 e6 5. Nf3

Because of black's particularly passive play, there's no

reason white should not do 5. f4! right away to gain more

SPACE and central control (e5 square). Notice white plays

f4 later anyways, albeit after a lot of maneuvering.

5... Be7 6. Qe2 b6 7. O-O-O Bb7 8. Kb1

There isn't a good reason for this move. Simply 8. d4, staking

claim in the center and opening up the f1-a6 diagonal for the

white's light-squared bishop is more logical.

8... a6

Again, black needs to control the center. ...c5! and Nc6!

would give black a fighting chance.

9. d4 O-O 10. e5

Good! You're locking up the center to give yourself a free

hand on the king-side.

10... d5 11. h4 Nc6

VERY bad. Black needs open lines for his pieces, including

. ...c5! is the natural way to do that, followed by ..Nc6,

...Rc8, and mabe ...cxd4. This would also weaken white's

protection of his e5 pawn once the d4 pawn falls. The general

principle is: Attack the base of pawn chains. For white,

this is e6, and for black it is d4. Note that eventually,

White indeed does attack the base of black's pawn chain,

which was black's fatal error.

12. g3 h6

Black should've avoided weakening his king position. Again,

..Na5 and ...c5 was mandatory. White could've taken advantage

of this mistake by playing 13. g4!, followed by h5, Rg1, and

g5 opening up lines on black's king side immediately.

13. Nh2 Re8

Black misses many chances to play ...c5, which is his correct

plan.

14. f4 Na5 15. b3

This weakens your king position unnecessarily. Since there

is no threat, white can play g4! with a strong attack. For

example, if 15. ... Bxh4 16. Nf3 Be7 17. g5, and white opens

the h-file to fatal effect, because of mate threats involving

Qh2. And if black declines white's pawn, white can simply

play g5, opening up black's king side.

15... Nb8 16. Qf3 Qd7 17. Bd3 Bb4 18. Bd2 Nbc6

Of course, ...c5! would be very strong for black. For

example, 18. ... c5 19. Ne2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 c4 21. bxc4 Nxc4

22. Bxc4 (forced because of the ...Qb5+, Ka1, Qb2 mate

threat) dxc4 23. Qf1 Bxh1 would leave black with a winning

position!

19. Ne2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Rad8 21. f5 Na7 22. f6 N5c6 23. h5

Good constriction move! White now has a winning position.

23... Nb5 24. Qg4 g5 25. hxg6 Na3+ 26. Ka1 Nxc2+ 27. Rxc2 Kf8

28. Nf3

This wins, but the fastest win is 28. g7+ Kg8 29. Qh5, with

the idea of Qxh6 and Qh8 checkmate.

28... fxg6 29. Qxg6 Re7 30. Rxh6

Good! Playing only for mate, as the rook on e7 is irrelevant.

The pawn on f6 is very dangerous to black's king position.

30... Rh7 31. Rxh7 Qxh7 32. Qxh7 a5 33. Qh8+ Kf7 34. Ng5#

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