Annotated chess game: Let's play chess

ANNOTATED GAME

Let's play chess
beld (1200) vs. pr_black (1247)
Annotated by: beld (1676)
Chess opening: Philidor's defence (C41)

Interactive

•

Show all comments

•

All annotated games

•

View chessboard as:


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3	so far so good ;) I almost always play this part with white.



2... d6	bad move of black, it blocks his bishop on the black line. Nc6 would have been better.
	3 comments neilskye (1200) on 13-Mar-08: True, the Philodor defence is inferior for black. Better are ...Nc6 and ...Nf6 toiletduck1 (1200) on 14-Mar-08: bit arrogant though to say that a recognized opening is strictly 'bad'. it's about opinion, personally though I don't like it either bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: You shouldn't knock it before you understand it. Bent Larsen played the Philidor, and Tamaz Gelashvili, a Georgian GM, also plays it. There are some sophisticated positional ideas at play in a properly played Philidor, and on the other end of the spectrum, a few enterprising gambits at black's disposal.


3. d4	I don't mind getting more control in the center, therefore I push my pawn forward to d4.



3... Bg4	ow how cute he attacks my knight.



4. d5	well I don't want to be forced to strike back with the g-pawn so I move my pawn to d5 to prevent it from being taken.
	4 comments neilskye (1200) on 13-Mar-08: Correct again, creates a bind in black's position and gives you more space, also avoids weakening your pawn structure like you said. beld (1676) on 14-Mar-08: I want to keep the bisschop on the black line blocked in. toiletduck1 (1200) on 14-Mar-08: Morphy's move however is certainly better. bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: After 4. de, black's best chance is to option off a pawn with 4. ...Nd7!?, the Blackburne-Mieses gambit, to accelerate his own development and aim at catching white off-guard in the middlegame. If often leads to wild positions with opposite-colored kings. With "best" play white can consolidate his extra pawn however black's resources shouldn't be underestimated, as I demolished a strong A player in tournament play with this gambit.


4... Bxf3 5. Qxf3	well I didn't expect this trade so soon, but my queen is now active and I'll leave it standing here untill I find the need to move it again. It is in no danger of being attacked on the first 3 moves.
	2 comments neilskye (1200) on 14-Mar-08: Only move, gxf3 is terrible. Q out early is OK when it cannot be attacked easily OK, listen to heinzkat, he knows better than me!! bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: Four moves in, black's center is cramped, white has the two bishops with no positional liabilities, and black has exchanged off his one good bishop!! (his bad one remains unimpressively hemmed at f8). An opening like this should definitely send one (black) to opening detention until he has studied general principles more thoroughly.


5... Nf6 6. Nc3 Na6 7. Bb5+	hmmm his knight left the back squares leaving the field c6 undefended. I can win a pawn if black moves as I hope.



7... Nd7	he didn't play c6 as I was hoping, but at least my queen got more movement freedom. I might save that movement for later.
	3 comments bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: It's naive to expect your opponent to play forcing moves that allow an obvious loss of material; those blunders are often more subtle in nature. Unforced, unassuming, not taking into account incendiary components of the position. beld (1676) on 16-Mar-08: true, but it was either c6 or Nd7 in this case, so I can hope for a blunder. And take precautions if needed for when he doesn't blunder toiletduck1 (1200) on 25-May-08: Don't play moves just hoping your opponent will make a blunder- period. Against a strong opponent, that just won't cut the mustard! It's not the way to improvement.


8. h4	planning to play Bg5, but not certain if this is such a good idea.
	3 comments toiletduck1 (1200) on 14-Mar-08: It is not. bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: Black can simply play ...f6 or even ...Be7 as a counter. You are better off playing 8. Be3 and castling (either wing). beld (1676) on 16-Mar-08: yeah I discovered that later after I moved my pawn to h4, luckily it never got to Bg5...


8... Nb4	strong move. black's knight is finally becoming active.



9. Ba4	I need to defend c2 but I don't want to move my queen away from the f-line.



9... b5	black tries to lure me into Bxb5 after which he takes c2 with his knight and wins my rock.



10. Nxb5	thankfully my knight was also protecting b5.



10... Nc5	after this move black never got a chance to avoid checkmate.
	1 comment neilskye (1200) on 13-Mar-08: disasterous move by black, especially as it allows the double check, when an opponent's pieces start to get active towards your king it is time to take a lot of care!


11. Nxd6+	check with both my knight and my bisschop so he has to move his king.
	1 comment bitterbierce (1200) on 14-Mar-08: Heading towards an anthology finish, as they say. "Even the laziest kings flee wildly in the face of doublecheck!" --Nimzovitch.


11... Ke7 12. Nf5+	again check with my knight, his king is forced to move along.



12... Kf6 13. Nh6+	and another check in the sequence leading to checkmate.



13... Ke7	black probably thought that I would move my knight to f5 again.



14. Qxf7+	I took his pawn at f7 with check, black has only 1 move remaining: Kd6. after which I planned to move my knight to f5 with checkmate.
	1 comment neilskye (1200) on 13-Mar-08: Very well played and a good annotation too!