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1. e4
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Hi all! This is my first finished game from the WTW Welcome Mini-Tournament Group 3. Obviously I'm not a Master or even Expert, but as I had the White pieces it's my honor to do the annotation, and if any Masters stop by to comment I'd definitely appreciate it. It's not a perfect game by any means but hopefully everyone can find something of use within. Here goes! |
  1 comment
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1... e5
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The oldest[citation needed] of openings! |
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2. f4
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The King's Gambit is one of my favorite openings, on both sides of the board. I think it leads to fun and interesting play. |
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2... d6
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Personally I think accepting the Gambit (2...exf4) is better. Then it's up to White to prove he can get something for the pawn! |
1 comment
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3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Nf6
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Both sides begin quick development. |
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5. Nc3 Nb4
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? This blunders a pawn! Now White can play 6.fxe5 dxe5 7.Nxe5 and come out a clear pawn ahead, with a big central advantage and an attack on f7. |
1 comment
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6. d3
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White chooses to take the tempo rather than the material. Now Black should give up his central presence to maintain equality with 6...exf4 7.Bxf4 Be7. |
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6... b6
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? Black's DSB could easily have been developed to g4, and his e-pawn is still hanging! As I said above, best was 6...exf4. |
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7. fxe5 dxe5 8. Nxe5
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White comes away a pawn to the good, and he's threatening a very disruptive check on f7. |
1 comment
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8... Be6
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This is essentially Black's only good move. There's no other way to adequately defend f7. |
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9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. a3
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White exchanges Bishops to give Black a weak, isolated e-pawn, and to further weaken the vulnerable light squares a6 and c6. It's worth mentioning that White is not devoid of weaknesses--his Ne5 is undefended and he has no claim at all to the d4 square. |
1 comment
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10... Na6
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An ugly place for a Knight, but it has a view of c5 and it didn't have anywhere else to go, anyway. |
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11. O-O
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? Terrible! White hands over a significant material advantage. I think (the computer agrees) that the best choice was 11.d4, or perhaps 11.Be3. Black now has a simple tactic that wins a piece... |
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11... Bd6
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? But this isn't it! Correct was 11...Qd4+! 12.Kh1 Qxe5, coming away with a free Knight. |
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12. Nc6 Qd7 13. Nd4
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? Again White overlooks Black's chances along the c5-g1 diagonal. Now 13...Bc5 pins the Knight to the White King, winning it for nothing! |
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13... Be5
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? And again Black misses the tactic as well. As I said, 13...Bc5 was the correct choice here. Now the Knight can escape with no trouble. |
1 comment
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14. Nf3 Bd4+ 15. Kh1 O-O-O
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Black has finally consolidated a bit. He still has a weak e-pawn, but there's no direct threat at the moment and the file isn't open. He's also leading White in development. White, for his part, has far fewer pawn weaknesses (look at all the weak light squares around the Black King for comparison!) and slightly better central presence. |
2 comments
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16. Nxd4
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Out of White's 16 moves, six of them have been this Knight! It's no wonder he's behind in development. The thought behind this move is simple: White exchanges his Knight for the strong Bishop and draws the BQ to the center of the board, where she'll be easy to harass. Getting rid of the Bishop makes White's dark-square weaknesses easier to defend--important because he has yet to develop his dark Bishop! |
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16... Qxd4 17. Qe2
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White prepares to connect his Rooks, bolsters e3 in preparation for a Bishop that might want to land there, and takes aim at Black's undefended Knight from behind the d3 pawn. |
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17... h5
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The players have castled to opposite sides of the board, which usually means whoever gets a pawn storm going first has a big attacking advantage. |
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(1771)
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