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1. d4
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I played as Black in this unrated game against one of my teammates whom I found to be a strong 1700 player. In the game, Black plays an interesting 9th move which defines a good portion of the game. Late in the game, Black blunders away a winning position and with a second blunder loses the chance to draw. The credit really goes to White though who played a nearly flawless game. |
 
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1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5
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Up to this point we have stayed within the common lines of the Nimzo-Indian. |
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7. cxd5
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More usual is 7. 0-0 getting the king to safety. This move seems to retain some initiative though. |
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7... cxd4
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7. ... exd5 is more common and probably better |
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8. Nxd4 Nxd5 9. Qc2
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A nice move adding a defender to the knight and attacking h7 |
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9... f5
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f5!? This, to me, is one of the defining moves of the game, intended to shut down the attack along the b1-h7 diagonal. Yet, as my opponent pointed out to me after the game, g6 was probably objectively better as this weakens the a2-g8 diagonal which becomes a thorn in my side. |
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10. O-O
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Breaking the pin on the c3 knight and forcing Black to decide whether to make the exchange there or not. |
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10... Nxc3 11. bxc3
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I decide to isolate White's queenside pawns while I have the chance. |
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11... Ba5 12. e4 Qc7
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Getting wood off the back row needs to be Black's priority at this point, and this also attacks the c3 pawn. |
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13. Bb2
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Defending the pawn and getting the bishop on the long diagonal where it will eventually exert more influence |
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13... Nc6 14. exf5 Nxd4
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More or less forced to keep from falling behind a pawn, but now the isolated c pawn will become a dangerous passed pawn |
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15. cxd4 Qxc2 16. Bxc2 exf5
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The first round is over with White clearly ahead, having two well placed bishops and a passed, albeit isolated, pawn. Also Black's weakened a2-g8 diagonal is now vulnerable |
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17. Rfd1
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Now time to manuever for position. White sets up a pushing rook behind his passed pawn, nearly always a good idea. |
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17... Bd7
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Here I made the decision to try to get my bishops to optimum locations as I thought the diagonals would probably be what would win or lose the game from this point.
Ideally, I would like to blockade the passed pawn with my dark squared bishop on d6 and get my light squared bishop to b5. |
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18. d5 Bb4 19. Bb3
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I think white should have advanced the pawn again, cramping Black's position even more, especially since this allows 19 ... Bd6. However, that is the perfect diagonal for White's light squared bishop. |
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19... Bd6 20. Rac1 a5
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Trying to open up some room for my pieces and create counter-play on the queen side. Gaining tempo by attacking the bishops was in my mind. |
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21. a4
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Good, but it only delays the assault |
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21... b5 22. axb5 Bxb5
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This is the diagonal I had planned for my light squared bishop back on move 17 as it keeps the white king locked up and can become dangerous to White's rooks. |
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23. Rc3 a4 24. Ba2 a3 25. Bc1
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? This is the only seriously questionable move by White that I see in the game, allowing the following tactic and moving the dark-squared bishop off of its best diagonal. 25. Ba1 looks stronger. |
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25... Be2
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Winning the exchange, but at a high positional price. I think this is still the best move though. |
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