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White obtains an early advantage from a mismanaged opening by Black, but after a series of exchanges enters an end game in which White has a rook and two pawns for Black's knight and bishop. After a period of probing for weaknesses, Black manages to win the initiative, and then obtain an advantage. The game looked to be heading for the infamous king-bishop-knight vs lone king endgame, and hence well over one hundred moves to the game, but in prolonging his tenure oh his last remaining pawn, White inadvertently shortens the game. Here's the plot. |
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1. e4 e6
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French Defence. A long time favourite of mine in OTB play. |
 
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2. d4 d5
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Black's standard challenge to White's claim upon the centre. |
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3. Nd2
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The Tarrasch variation, in my view the most difficult line for Black to meet. Also popular are 3.Nc3 (Classical) and 3.e5 (Advance variation). |
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3... Nc6
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[!?] Guimard Variation. This used to be my stock response to White's 3rd move, and I had a lot of success with it, even against strong opposition. I did not use it to initiate piece play by a central break ...e5, but to play lines more akin to Owen's Defence, combined with a slower breakout with ...f6. The fact is, though, that there is a bit of a down side to 3...Nc6, in that it blocks the thematic ...c5 pawn break. This was not helped by my clumsy handling of the line during the next few moves. |
1 comment
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4. Ngf3
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Develops, and protects the d-pawn at the same time. |
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4... Nf6
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Attacks e4, and induces the pawn's advance. |
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5. e5 Nd7
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Most circumspect and probably best, though it does make bit of a problem out of the c8-bishop. 5...Ne4 is possibly playable, but it is not a move I would be happy to contemplate in this type of position. |
1 comment
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6. Nb3
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Possibly the most 'natural' move is 6.c3, but for some reason, this knight move has long been regarded as the strongest. Personally, I don't think there is all that much in it. |
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6... a5
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This was a new move for me - not conceptually, as I used to play it quite a lot, but never so early. I don't think I'll be in such a mad rush to repeat this experiment. Better would have been ...Be7 or ...f6. |
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7. a4
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To keep the knight snug on b3. |
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7... f6
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Afterwards I felt that this should have waited one more move, in favour of ...Be7. |
1 comment
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8. Bb5
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A good development that exploits Black inability to strike at it by ...a6. The threat is to exchange at the moment White considers most propitious, and, apart from the unappealing ...Na7, Black can't do much about it. |
3 comments
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8... Be7
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As White omitted to exchange on f6, an alternative well worth thinking about was 8...fxe5 9.dxe5 ... (9.Nxe5 Ncxe5 10.dxe5 c6 would have been great for Black) 9...Be7 10.Nbd4 Ndb8 11.0-0 0-0 12.c3 Bd7 and Black's game looks reasonable enough. |
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9. exf6 Bxf6
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[?] What was I thinking?! The knight recapture simply had to be the better option. I think I might have had the ...e5 break in mind, but that was never going to happen. |
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10. O-O O-O 11. Re1
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The e-pawn is under attack - what can be done about it? Maybe I ought to have carried on, for better or for worse, 11...e5!? 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Be7, but the position doesn't look very comfortable. Another idea might have been 11...Re8 12.Bf4 Na7 13.Bd3 Nc6. Instead, I tried to revivify my game - and redress my earlier mishandling - with a pawn sacrifice. Had I thought this through more, I might well have chosen differently. |
2 comments
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11... Be7
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[!] This probably did not deserve to turn out as well as it did, but for the cost of a pawn, Black's pieces became very active. |
3 comments
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12. Rxe6 Nf6 13. Re1
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The move I expected, and probably best. But White could have contemplated a an exchange sacrifice, here, with 13.Rxc6!? bxc6 14.Bxc6 Ra7 15.Ne5 ... with plenty of activity to offset the slight material imbalance. |
1 comment
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13... Ne4
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At the cost of a pawn, Black's game doesn't look so bad, now. But a pawn's a pawn fo' a' tha'. |
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14. Be3
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14.c3 was a good alternative. |
2 comments
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14... Bg4
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?! Possibly 14...Bd6 ought to have been played first. |
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(2340)