Annotated chess game

A very interesting judgement call. Black has been mobilising as fast as he can. So far in this tournament, going after th h8-rook has represented rather a loss of time for White. Yet in this game White seems to "get away with it" quite well. Has our earlier judgement been wrong, or is there something about this present game that "okays" this knight move?

I think it's the timing of this move that's important. I feel that if black waits to long Nf7 can actually be effective. The problem with it early is black gets much needed time, but now that the dsb is moved white may actually benefit form the exchange. 12... Qe7 would have been more accurate.

15. O-O intresting.. i would have moved 15. Nxe4 giving black no time to make any free moves after 15. Nxe4 Nb5 16. c3 and the position is stil closed but more equal... then with 0-0 15.....e5 is not the best repley to the 0-0 best in my opinion is h5 or g5 giving black extra time..

It might be interesting here to evaluate the overall situation, now that an approximate material parity has been restored. That isn't easy. White has the more solid position, and majority on the K-side; but her Q-side has still to be mobilised. Black is more or less fully developed, but there's something constricted about his position. Some regrouping might be in order, methinks, possibly beginning with getting the King off the long white diagonal, but has he time for this?

I agree if ionadowman if I could get my king to e8 or even the f-file thinks would look better I'm thinking that 16... b5 may have actually been a slight error because now my king has nowhere to go. 16... a6 then I could run Kb6 Ka7 if needed.

b5 is not a slight error it is the error. the move to make was Nb5 if you move it on the analyze board you wil see why it is the best move. b5 gave joanne all the opportunities she needed, to give black a hard time.

Black's thrust seems to have helped White a bit!

White has a fine position here. An alternative plan might have been a direct attack on the King by 20.a4, but the game continuation, though less direct, looks just as effective.

A regular old fusilade!

...volley, salvo and barrage...

I find 21.Rfb1 a rater useless move.. more effective is 21.b4 the rook is not needed on that side.. 21.b4 Rc8 22.a4 cxb4 Be3+ and black had a doubled pawns a open file and the king is open to attack..

This exchange could have waited for the tearing open of Black's Q-side by 22.a4, one feels.

Mind you, this converging fire upon the King's position looks impressive!

The most reliable method, as Black can not exchange on c4 on account of the pin appearing in the d-file if he did. Now lines will open for the White rooks.

It seems as though black has given you what you wanted. Now, I'm not analyzing this in any great depth like you did during the game, so I'm wondering why you decided against 27. cxb4 here? Black's playing 27. ... Na4 doesn't seem enough of a threat to worry about: 28. b3 Nb7? 29. Rd2 and the knight is trapped. 28. ... Nc6 29. Rdc1 and now the knight must move allowing 30. Rxc5+ (or maybe 29. ... Qxd3 30. Bxc5 and now the knight is partially pinned to the king and vulnerable). So black would probably look for other lines, and in the end, white gains a passed pawn on b5, splits the black pawns into isolated pawns, and gains that open c-file.

I'm inclined to agree with blake84120. 27.cxb5 Na4?! 28.Rac1! Nxb2? 29.Bxc5 Qd7 30.Bd4+ picks up the knight and wins.

b3 is quit logical.. but 26....Nb6 is not.. Ne7 has far more potential, whites center is quit weak..

My previous comment notwithstanding, White's patience in consolidating her position before breaking into Black's game has a lot to be said for it - in this game at any rate. For all the apparent freedom Black has, his position is becoming more and more fragile. White could have played 28.cxb5 or 28.Bxc5 here - both good moves - but 28.Be4 keeps the squeeze on.

My opinion about the patience is that white was slightly to impatience in the early stages and to patient in the later stages. Black is actually doing the same.. side note : for white the moves are actually very simple and that is one of the winning elements keep it simple and natural, no complicated moves and tricks are needed in this complicated game. (the complication is in the position not in the moves)