00027.5.12 Analyzed by Candidate Master Daniel Waite

1e4 c5 2Nf3 e6 3d4 cxd4 4Nxd4 Nf6 5Nc3

a6

(The idea of the opening is to create an imbalance and

develop around it. White needs to capitalize on

Black's dark square weakness and launch a Kingside

attack. Black on the other hand must keep things

"active" on the Queenside. Key to this will be

Black's King Bishop.)

6Bg5 Be7

(6. e5 is tempting. To play this move White must

answer two questions: 1.) Can I survive the attack

on the a8 - h1 diagonal? 2.) Can I maintain the pawn

on e5? If there is doubt to either of these questions

then the move should not be played. Black's game

strategy is based on "baiting." The idea of "baiting"

is to set a trap. This game strategy is unsound since

it is based on what the player wants to do and not the

demands of the position. Still a misstep could be

lethal. Unfortunately the constant "baiting" will

eventually turn a winning position into a completely

lost game. White carefully side-steps most of the

pitfalls.)

7Bc4 b5

(Ouch, White does not understand what the position

demands. 7. Bd3 was necessary. 7. Bc4 is not a good

idea, in fact it walks into Black's basic idea of

launching an early Queenside attack.)

8Bb3 d6

(Ouch! Black misses the simple 8…. b4.)

9f4 b4 10Ba4+ Bd7 11Bxd7+ Qxd7

(11…. Nbxd7 gives Black a nice advantage due to the

solid pawn structure, the nice out post on c5 for the

Knight, and half-open c-file for the Rook. Because of

9. f4 Black will also have the e4 square for a solid

post for the King Knight.)

12Nce2 Nxe4 13Bxe7 Qxe7 14Qd3 d5 15c3 bxc3

(Black can also try …Qc5 and …Nd7. Personally …Qc5 is

tempting. White wisely plays to exchange of the

Knight on e4. Another way to do this is to play Ng3.)

16Nxc3 Qd8

(One of my High School students stated that Black's

move is "pointless." Stronger is …Qb4 or …Nd7.)

17Nxe4 dxe4 18Qxe4 0-0

(Again Black is "baiting" White to play 19. Qxa8 Qxd4

when the White position begins to fall to pieces.

Trading positional considerations for material is

risky if you do not know what you are doing. Avoiding

the "bait" is wise. Remember when you opponent plays

this type of game, you are sure a major error will

happen in their game. The question is distinguishing

the error from the "bait.")

190-0 Nd7 20Nc6 Qb6+ 21Rf2 Nf6

(White plays an excellent move. It is flexible in the

sense that it contributes to stacking the Rooks on the

file of your choice.)

22Qf3 Rac8

(Black simply blunders. 23. Ne7+ picks up the

exchange.)

23Rc1 Rc7

(Black immediately blunders again! 23….Nd5 wins the

Knight on c6 or the Rook on c1. If White chooses to

complicate the issue then 24. Qxd5 exd5 25. Ne7+ Kh8

26. Nxc8 Qe6. The passed d-pawn and the trapped

Knight make life interesting for White.)

24Kh1 Nd5 25Rfc2 Rfc8

(…h6 still holds, barely)

26Ne7+ Kh8

(Black misses a chance at a nice "bating" idea. 26….

Nxe7 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Rxc7 Rxc7. The idea is to

"bait" 29. Qa8+ Rc8. Thus White must give up the

Queen or submit to checkmate.)

27Nxc8 Qxb2

(Another attempt at a "bating" maneuver. Actually

27…. Rxc2 is better, but black is lost. All that

remains is the quickest way to finish off Black.)

28Rxc7 Nxc7 29Qd1 Nd5

(29. Qc6! finishes the game quicker.)

30Rc2 Qb7 31Nd6 Qd7 32Rc8+ Black Resigns

Ideas for White's improvement: There seems to be a

good feel for traps. However the strongest

continuations were not chosen. Study in pattern

recognition would be useful to see ideas

"automatically." Work on the concept of "imbalances"

more. The idea of planting the Knight on c6 was a

good example of attempting to gain the superior minor

piece. In a sense this made the difference in the

game. Even though both players generally mishandled

it, it was enough to gain the victory. White needs to

consider the possibilities along the diagonals before

moving. Being "diagonally challenged" will lose many

games. Examples of this weakness: Allowing Black the

opportunity to launch a Queen side attack with b4,

missing the Black win of the Knight on c6 by cutting

off the diagonal, missing the final nail of Qc6. Over

all it was a good recovery from a bad position and

good avoidance of the various "bait" that was offered.

It takes a certain maturity to not grab material.