00031.5.16
Analyzed by National Master Corey Russell
1. d4
d5 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 f5
{
This is
a mistake. This weakens black's king
(the e8-h5
diagonal
is now open), doesn't develop, and not black is
unable
to boot a white piece from e5. He will
have to use
pieces
now to do that. Instead, simple
development like
...Nf6
or ...Bd7 followed by ...Bc6 is to be recommended.
}
5. Bg5
{
I
understand your wish to post a knight on c5, but this
move is
dubious. By far, the e5 square is a
better outpost.
It is a
hole in your opponent's position. A
hole is a square
that
your opponent's pawns can't cover. c5,
on the other
hand,
can easily be covered by the black b-pawn.
Instead
of Bg5,
I recommend the following setup to take advantage
of
black's weakening by f5: Nc3, Bc4, Nf3, castles short
(O-O),
and Re1, with a definite advantage to white because b
lack's
e6 pawn is a target.
}
5...
Be7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nc5
{
I recommend 7. Nc3 instead
}
7...
Nc6 8. d5
{
A good
rule of thumb to follow is: don't attack until you've
gotten
all your knights & bishops out, and you've castled
to
safety! Your entire army wants to get
involved in the
fight. If you use just a few pieces, you can be
overwhelmed
if you
opponent uses all of his pieces, kind of like a 3 on
1 fast
break in basketball. Instead, Be2 looks
best, so that
if
black tries to push ...e5, white won't have to worry about
a
discovered check, because the bishop would be blocking.
After
the text, black could win a pawn by playing 8. ... Qxc5
9. dxc6
Qxc6.
}
8...
exd5+ 9. Ne2
{
This
isn't good. Black is threatening
...Qxc5. White MUST
prevent
the loss of a piece. Qe2! does the
job! Black can't
take
the knight since that would expose his king to check by
the
white queen on e2, which is illegal.
White only loses a
pawn
this way. Also, the knight on e2
block's white's bishop
from
getting out. This will cause problems
later. White's
king-knight
should be posted on f3 instead, where it helps to
control
the center.
}
9... f4
10. Qd2
{
This
still hangs a piece on c5. Nb3,
followed by 11. Qd2
(trying
to castle-queenside and thereby free white's e2 knight
to
move) is the best way to proceed. 10.
Qxd5 is possible,
but
black can get a lot of tempo {extra moves}
on white, so
it's
probably not worth it. For example, 10.
Qxd5 Nf6 11. Qc4
O-O-O,
and now white can't even castle
}
10...
Ne5 11. Nxf4
{
This
should lose, as now black can now win white's queen by
force. Do you see it? Instead, preserving white's c5 piece
with
Nb3 is much preferable.
}
11...
Nc4+
{
Oops! Wrong check! Much better for black is 11. ... Nf3+
12. Kd1
(forced, since it's double-check) Nxd2 13. Kxd2 Qxc5,
with a
crushing position for black.
}
12. Be2
{
Uh, oh,
white returns the favor. White's queen
is in jeapordy,
and his
king is in check. Is there any move
that will get the
queen
out of danger, AND block the check?
Yes! Qe2! Not only
that,
it even indirectly defends white's knight at c5, since
the
black queen is pinned to her king.
Instead, black procures
a large
amount of material.
}
12...
Nxd2 13. Kxd2 g5 14. Nce6
{
This
should lose immediately after 14. ... gxf4.
Notice if
15.
Bh5+ Kd7 16. Bg4 Kd6, and black's king is perfeclty safe.
}
14...
Qb4+ 15. Kc1 Qxf4+
{
Black
commits a minor blunder. He's still
winning, but white
can
take black's queen with 16. Nxf4 gxf4.
This would leave
black
with a piece up, though his development is severely
lagging. This is still far better than what actually
happened
for
white.
}
16. Kb1
Qxf2 17. Rf1 Qxg2
{
There
was no reason for black not to dominate the white bishop.
}
18.
Bb5+ c6 19. Nc7+ Ke7 20. Re1+ Kf6 21. Ne8+ Kf7 22. Nd6+ Kf6
23. h3
{
Why not
continue checking with Ne8+? Maybe
black will repeat
the
position 3 times with the same person to move, and then
you can
legally claim a draw!
}
23...
Bxh3 24. Nxb7
{
White's
bishop is hanging. Instead, preserving
the bishop
with
say Bd3 is superior (though black's still winning).
}
24...
Re8 25. Rxe8
{
This
ignore's black's threat of back rank mate.
Instead Rc1
would
fight on (sort of). Black's advantage
would stil be huge.
}
25...
Qg1+ 26. Bf1 Qxf1+ 27. Re1 Qxe1#
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