00042.6.05 Analyzed by Candidate Master Charles Oberweiser

This is my friend, Tim Smith's, exhibition game before

the actual tournament. This was not at tournament time

controls (40 moves/120 minutes, 20 moves/60 minutes,

and 30 minutes), but it was at 90 minutes for each side

for all moves. I was at this tournament with him and

helped him prepare his openings for the psychological

aspect of his opponent.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4

We thought this would be our best weapon against Tom

because he tends toward the Hungarian opening, an opening

that begins a stream of tactical ideas that usually favor

white. We wanted to accentuate the fact that Tim is a

Kasparov-like calculator.

3. Be7

Sure enough. He played the Hungarian. Everything's

according to plan.

4. d4 exd4?!

We didn't expect this. This is an inferior move because it

allows the white e-pawn to drive back the black pieces.

4. d6 is indicated completing development.

5. c3!?

Tim usually plays the sharp 5. 0-0 here, but he surprised

his opponent. This gives the game numerous complications.

5. Nf6?

Tim quoted in post-game analysis, "I'm surprise he played

this move. In order to not lose tempi he must weaken his

kingside. Right from this moment I knew my game plan."

Better was 5. Na5 taking advantage of the exposed

position of the white bishop where white would respond

with 6. Qxd4.

6. e5!

Punishing black's inaccuracy the first time he gets a

chance. This pawn needed to be restrained with d6 before

the king's knight would come out a la Nimzovich.

6. Ne4 7. Bd5!

This move prevents d5 to protect the newly-attacked

e4-knight so Black has to weaken his kingside in order

to not lose tempi.

7. f5?! 8. cxd4

A simple glance at the position will show that white

has built up a strong mobile center. Black needs to

attack it at once or he will risk being crushed.

White's main problem is the e4-knight.

8. Bb4+?!

Moving the same piece twice allowing White to build up

time (development) and initiative. While this isn't a

huge blunder in itself, it can be pounced on in the long

run with accurate play. Better was 8. Nb4 (I know,

moving the same piece twice again, but this time it's

dislodging the central bishop in order to get the strong

9. d5! with counterplay). Also better than the text

is 8. d6 cracking at the white center, though succumbing

to the shot 9. Qa4!.

9. Bd2

Giving up the two bishops for an advantage in time.

9. Nxd2 10. Nbxd2 Ne7?

Moving an already-developed piece once again. One may

be thinking it's attacking the bishop so it's all right,

but in this position due to black's open king and his

newly undefended bishop, Tim came up with a tactic that

gains considerable advantage while eliminating black's

right to castle. It must be said, however, that if Black

continues correctly he could establish a strong knight

at d5. However, in the opening, there usually isn't

time for these kind of maneuvers. Tim suggested 1. 0¦a5

or 10. g5 as creating counterplay for Black. He didn't

provide the line for 10, g5 which leaves me speculative,

but I agree with 10. a5 for sure. Though 10. g5 11. a3 Ba5

12. Nh4 Bxd2+ (if 12. gxh4, then mate in two with 13. Qh5+!)

13. Kxd2 g4 does look good for black now that I take a second

look.

11. Bf7+! Kxf7 12. Qb3+ Ke8?! 13. Qxb4 a5?

This move does not help development nor does as much

constructive work as it would've done on move 10. This

is black's first major mistake. Tim mentioned to me that,

"13. b6 was undoubtedly the best move because 13. d6

fails due to the fact it opens up the position while the

black king is in the center and 13. d5 obviously fails

because it produces the well-protected passed e-pawn

that's ready to push after 14. 0-0 and 15. Rfe1. 13. b6

is the only solid way to develop because white's pressuring

black to a huge extent due to the powerful center built up."

I agree. 13. b6 followed by 14. 0-0 Bb7 15. Rfe1 Nd5

(hopping into the fine outpost blockading the advance of

the d-pawn) and black doesn't stand as badly.

14. Qc4 d5 15. Qc3 f4?!

Black really was in time trouble which is why, I think,

that these blunders are occurring in a row like this.

Nothing called for an immediate 15. f4. Better was the

slow buildup with 15. Rf8.

16. Rc1?!

Keeping the initiative going. White probably should've

castled first and played Rfe1 in order to get the e-pawn

rolling right away.

16. c6 17. 0-0 Rf8?

Giving white everything he could want. Straying from

anything logical. White has so many threats right now,

that one would think black would need to defend against

a few. 17. Qb6 is a much stronger move to the text with

pressure down the b-file and on white's center.

18. Rfe1

Continuing his plan.

18. h6?

Tim said to me in an email, "18. h6? was a computer-like

move that intends 19. g5 and prevents white playing Ng5.

To tell the truth, I was expecting either 18. a4

(preventing Nb3-c5) and Qc7 intending a c5 push after due

preparation or 18. Kf7 manually creating a castled position.

After 18. h6 I knew he's not able to create a safe place

for his king for the rest of the game." I believe that

18. h6 was a rather inaccurate move as well. More

active were the ones that Tim indicated and 18. Rf5!?.

19. Rcd1

The main idea here is to over protect the base of white's

center (d4) to allow the white knight at d2 to make it's

way to c5. Even better was probably 19. Re2 (to allow the

knight retreat to e1-d3-c5 if the opportunity arises itself)

g5 20. h3 (now intending Nh2-g4 and eliminating all black

counterplay) Rg8 21. Nh2 and white has a great game. The

text has the drawback of allowing black to create something

on both wings.

19. Bf5

Developing his bishop, but allowing 20. Nb3 without problems.

Better was 19. g5.

20. Nh4?!

Tim mentioned to me that this move was mainly due to time

pressure because he blitzed this one out. He admitted,

"I missed the stronger line 20. Nb3 b6 21. Nc1 g5 22. Ne2 Rc8".

20. Bg4 21. Rc1 g5

21. Be6 was more useful than the text at this point

because it blockades white's strong e-pawn.

22. Nhf3

This proves that white knew he made a mistake because he

had nothing else in store for this knight here.

22. Bf5?

This move didn't impress me. Much more logical would be

22. Rg8 or 22. Be6 (again, blockading the passed e-pawn

and getting out of the way for g4).

23. h3

A useful move. It makes g4 less tempting and allows for

Nh2. A nice idea.

23. b6 24. Qa3!

Changing direction to the weak d6 square.

24. Rc8?

Not the way to respond, much too defensive. However,

there are immediate concerns that need to be considered

like the h-pawn and a cancer spreading in his own territory!

Better was 24. Be6 or 24. Qd7.

25. Qd6!

Excellent move. The queen radiates her majesty's powers

in all directions making black extremely uncomfortable.

Black has nothing except defense now.

25. Bg6 26. Nh2!!

Beautiful! I was proud of my friend here and surprised.

He thought for 10 minutes in a 90 minute game on this move.

This is a Karpov-type move when he's more of a calculating

player. Here he's bringing more pieces into the battle.

Heading for f6 while his counterpart heads for f3.

26. Kf7!

A fine defensive move as well. It makes sure the bishop

stays put and tries to find safety. If Black tried the

resource 26. h5, Tim told me he planned 27. Ndf3 which

would be a strong response. What made the white queen

at d6 so powerful is that it couldn't be exchanged without

the loss of a piece and a powerful white passed pawn at e7.

After 26. Kf7! now exchange is possible.

27. e6+

The in between move. White realizes he needs to retreat

his queen, but he wants to push the passed pawn to be a

thorn in black's flesh first. Strong alternatives to the

text were 27. Ng4 threatening 28. Nxh6+ and 27. Ndf3! Kg7

28. Ng4 Nf5 , and then 29. Qa3 retreating and White has a

strong attack going. As a matter of fact, the latter

alternative looks stronger than the text.

27. Kg8 28. Qa3?!

White should've just retreated to e5 on his 28th move.

It creates more threats. In post game analysis, Tim

mentioned to me what he was thinking during the game here,

"At this point I was nervous. I said to myself, 'what

have I done'. Here black had a brilliant defense, 28. Bf5!

followed by 29. Kg7 and black solidifies." In a post-mortem

28. Re8 also looks interesting for black.

28. Qc7?

This neglects the g4 square as well as all the other

important squares on the kingside. He's intending c5,

but I don't know what that does for him.

29. Ndf3! c5??

Again, I don't understand what this does for Black.

Much better is 29. Bf5. All this does is opens up a

diagonal for the white queen after the capture at

c5. This is a game-losing blunder.

30. Ne5?!

This is a good move, but it's not the best. 30. Ng4!

is a powerful shot that gives white the winning game and

after 30. Kh7 31. dxc5! (a clearance capture for use of

the a1-h8 diagonal) bxc5 32. Qc3 he has a powerful attack.

He saw this immediately in analysis afterwards, but during

the game, with //time ticking down, he missed it. With the

knight moving to e5 it's not doing it's job of preventing

h5 anymore.

30. Be8 31. Qd3?

Not punishing black fully. Thanks to the d5 pawn the e7

knight (black's elastic blockader), the b1-h7 diagonal

doesn't have much promise for the white queen. 31. Nhg4!

once again would be indicated. The text gives black

some hope for counterplay by locking up the pawns and

attacking the praised passed e-pawn with 31. Rf6!.

This would've been a sure win for white.

31. Qd6

31. Rf6! is a much stronger way to attack the e-pawn

while protecting the h-pawn. Also possible here would

be locking up the pawns with 31. c4!.

32. Qa6?!

Having to make the last few moves with about 30 seconds

each, Tim picked the less accurate of his three logical

choices here. The important strategy here is the use of

the a1-h8 diagonal and that's done by exchanging. 32. dxc5!

was a fine move. Any other moves allow 32. c4! Locking

up the pawn structure and making use of the a1-h8 diagonal

a thing of the past.

32. c4! 33. b3 c3

Of course not 33. Qxe6 because of 34. Nxc4!.

34. Qd3

34. Nhg4 is the strongest in the position.

34. Qb4 35. Nhg4!

This is still a strong move, but it's effect has diminished

over the past few moves. Stronger yet would seem to be

35. Nd7!

35. Kg7 36. Nd7 Rh8?!

After the game, Tim pointed out to me here a much stronger

defensive opportunity. 36. Bg6! Prevents any penetration

by the queen and after 37. Qa6, then 37. Rfd8 and black's

still pretty solid.

37. Qa6!

Even better might be 37. Qe2! Qxd4 38. Ngf6 c2 39. Rxc2

and White has an excellent game.

37. Rc6 38. Qa7?

Here, white made haste quickly, answering with 38. Qa7

after 30 seconds of thought. This isn't a bad move at

all, but much stronger in the position is the move 38. Nge5!.

38. c2??

Not punishing White in the least. Far superior is 38. Qd6!

With pressure on White's passed e-pawn. Now white has a won game.

39. Ndf6!

Nothing short of beautiful. A discovered attack (and pin)

on the defensive horse at e7 and new pressure on black's

bishop at e8. Tim's always quick to see strong tactics.

39. Qd6 40. Nxd5!!

Pretty. Utilizing the overworked queen and adding another

attacker to the pinned knight.

40. Kf8

Forced. Anything else loses terribly. This move releases

the pin and protects the knight once more.

41. Nxe7

This is a fine move. I thought it was the best in the

position until Tim pointed out in post-game analysis

41. Re5!! This move is a very beautiful move that rips

the game open tactically all over the place.

41. Qxe7 42. Qb8

Intending 43. Qe5 with centralization.

42. Kg7??

Time pressure caused the game-losing blunder. Begging

white to play what he had originally intended to win

material. Better was 42. Qd6.

43. Qe5+! Kg8?

Still losing, but better, is 43. Kh7.

44. Nf6+! Kf8

Still losing, but better again, is 44. Qxf6.

45. Nxe8!

Another discovered attack. He's unleashing them one after

the other.

45. Rg8 46. Qf5+

Even better is 46. d5!, though white is still winning

undoubtedly.

46. Kxe8 47. Qb5 Qd6

47. Kf8 was better than the text.

48. d5?!

The more direct win was 48. Rxc2!!. The rest of the

game is self explanatory. In a few cases, Tim didn't

take the most efficient way to win or utilize the quickest

checkmate possibilities, but he was going at about 25

sec. on average per move towards the end.

48. Ke7 49. Qxc6 Qxc6 50. dxc6 Rc8 51. Rxc2 Rc7 52. a3 h5

53. Re5 g4 54. Rxh5 gxh3 55. Rh7+ Kxe6 56. Rxc7 a4 57. Rh7

axb3 58. c7 bxc2 59. c8=Q+ Ke5 60. Rh5+ Kd6 61. Qxc2 hxg2

62. Kxg2 f3+ 63. Kxf3 Kd7 64. Rh7+ Kd6 65. Ke4 b5 66.

Qc7+ Ke6 67. Qe7 Checkmate 1-0