Annotated chess game: Another game with Charlotte

ANNOTATED GAME

Another game with Charlotte
Charlotte Rowena Stevens (Unr) vs. Joanne Rowena Stevens (1200)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: Global opening (A00)

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Hi everyone! This evening my 9 year old daughter Charlotte bravely begged me to give her a game of chess. I did oblige. She begged me to go easy on her. I definitely reassured her that I would certainly be like Mr Easy on her! Charlotte is certainly getting the hang of how the pieces move now, but she still leaves pieces en prise. Here is how the game went.

1. h3 e5	1. ..... e5 - conventional development. Charlotte's first move is not the best but it is playable.
	2 comments easy19 (1200) on 27-Oct-13: It is perfect i think she is going mister easy on you archduke_piccolo (2337) on 28-Oct-13: As 1.Na3 is known as the Sodium Attack; looking at the other end of the Periodic Table alomng the same row, we get: 1.Nh3, the Argon Attack... . What do you reckon?


2. a3 d5	2. .... d5 - after a second flank pawn move by Charlotte I decided to control the centre of the board.



3. b3 Nf6	3. .... Nf6 - after another pawn move from Charlotte I decided that I would develop my knight.



4. Nf3	4. Nf3 - at least Charlotte now knows without prompting that a knight moves in an l shape.



4... Nc6 5. Nc3	5. Nc3 - both sides bring out our remaining knights.



5... a6	5. ...... a6 - I am preparing d4 and hoping to swindle Charlotte into losing her knight!



6. a4 d4 7. a5	5. a5 - Charlotte does not notice that her knight on c3 is en prise and I now take full advantage.
	3 comments easy19 (1200) on 27-Oct-13: all part of the plan bwaa (1886) on 28-Oct-13: A cunning trap indeed! archduke_piccolo (2337) on 29-Oct-13: First, White has to see that her knight is now under attack by a pawn. She also has to be aware that in general she should trade a knight for not less than THREE pawns (or another Knight or Bishop). That Black is not offering three pawns, but one, indicates the Knight should move. Where to? Na2 is safe; Na4 is not possible on account of the pawn being there; Nb5 is not safe (...axb5); Nd5 is really not safe (...Qxd5 or ...Nxd5); Ne4 is not safe (...Nxe4); ... and Nb1 is safe, but then the knight is back where it started. I'd still prefer 7.Nb1, though, as after 8.d3, the Knight can redeploy to d2.


7... dxc3 8. dxc3	8. dxc3 - naturally Charlotte gets a pawn back for the piece. Now I decided to trade queens here as I am ahead on material.



8... Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Bf5	9. ..... Bf5 - after the queen trade I am planning to put Henry away on the queenside.



10. Bd2	10. Bd2 - Charlotte anticipates that she might be subject to castle fire along the d column, so she decided to develop her bishop.



10... O-O-O 11. Rb1 Bc5	11. ..... Bc5 - I could have played Nxa5 here but I decided to clear the decks. At least two of Charlotte's pawns are now en prise.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 28-Oct-13: I would have been tempted to play 11...Ba3 here. The threat is 12...Ne4.


12. h4 Bxf2	12. ..... Bxf2 - I take on f2 and I now have a dastardly plan which will unveil itself in the next few moves.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 28-Oct-13: Again, White had to notice that the Bishop on c5 was aiming at f2. This sort of attack is very common - especially by a White bishop standing at c4 aiming towards f7. Here's the classic example in this brief game: 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 ... -(attacking Black's unprotected e-pawn)- 2...Nc6 -(protecting the e-pawn)- 3.Bc4 ... -(combining with the Queen to attack the f7-square)- 3...Nf6 -(not seeing the threat, Black develops the King's Knight and attacks the Q at h5)- 4.Qxf7 checkmate - a Scholar's Mate...


13. h5 Ng4 14. c4 Ba7	14. ..... Ba7 - an innocuous looking move but it involves a square clearance for my knight to come into f2 with check.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 28-Oct-13: Instead of 13.h5, White could have tried turning the tables on her Mum by playing 13.Ng5, threatening to attack both enemy rooks at once by 14.Nxf7.


15. c5	15. c5?? - blocks the diagonal of Fou Lenoir but she overlooks the fork on f2.



15... Nf2+ 16. Kc1 Nxh1 17. h6 gxh6	17. ..... gxh6 - and now, Charlotte being the equivalent of a whole queen to the bad, now waves the white flag. Better luck next time, Charlotte!
	2 comments easy19 (1200) on 27-Oct-13: ok ok this is not how it should end. Waving white flags before the game has ended is just not like Mr Easy. only if you can prove a mate it should end. if not it will be part of your learning curve.. archduke_piccolo (2337) on 29-Oct-13: See if you can get hold of Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan's book on openings. Its opening chapter is about the sort of games he used to play (and lose) when he was a young, beginning player. Very readable, and the experiences will be familiar to most chessplayers thinking back to their early days. Charlotte may find that even a Grandmaster has to start as a beginner, and to learn what does and doesn't work.