Annotated chess game: mmistere's 1st conversational mini-tournament

ANNOTATED GAME

mmistere's 1st conversational mini-tournament
waeddy (1498) vs. mmistere (1442)
Annotated by: audiomeleska (1090)
Chess opening: Giuoco Pianissimo (C50), Italian four knights variation

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This annotation is intended as peer training for the Fool's Gold team.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3	This is the last move for the Giuoco Pianissimo opening.



4... Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. O-O d6	Both kings have castled and the center is crowded.



7. h3	Blacks best move here is Be6, threatening white's c4 bishop without the threat of compromising pieces in the center. After 7. ... Be6 8. Bxb6 fxe6 9. Bg5, while white is pinning the f6 knight to black's queen, black can push d5 and start to open the center.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: After 7...Be6 White mifght be better advised not to exchange on e6, which strengthens Black's centre, but to retreat 8.Bb3, inviting Black to exchange bishops at a spot more convenient to White (pawns doubled towards the centre, a potentially useful opening of the a-file). What often happens is that for some time the hostile prelates glare balefully at each other along the disputed diagonal...


7... Nd4 8. Nxd4 exd4	With this move black effectively blocks his dark bishop from the e through h files. Bxd4 is better after 9. Ne2 black could pull his bishop back to c5 or b6 if he did not want to make the exchange and his pawn structure would remain intact.



9. Ne2	Black has another chance for Be6. White's bishop doesn't have much mobility. If white declines the exchange the only square that allows escape from the exchange threat is b5. But after 9. ... Be6 10. Bb5 c6 white's bishop is confined to the a4 square. If white were to accept the exchange with 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. Nxd4, now black can restore his presence in the center with e5 while maintaining a rook on the opened f-file.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: ...But White retains the option of (9...Be6) 10.Bb3. White need not fear B exchanges as such, but b3 is, for White, a much more convenient place for this to happen. Note, too, that with the exchange, it is White's "bad" and Black's "good" bishops (so-called on account of the placing of each other's pawns in relation to the bishops) that would be exchanged.


9... d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nf4 Nxf4 12. Bxf4 Bd6 13. Qf3 Bxf4 14. Qxf4 h6 15. Rae1 Be6	This exchange no longer favors black. After 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qe4, black is now required to use a queen and a rook to defend the 2 pawns. I think 15. ... c5 is better as it defends the d-pawn and open the queen to mobility on the d8-a5 diagonal.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: I suspect 9...d5 was a bit premature, and that 9...Bd2 was the more pragmatic move. As the position simplifies, the bishop's development becomes more of a problem...


16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qe4 Re8	Rather forced since 17. ... Qd6(or Qf6) is followed by 18. Qxe6 which still loses the e-pawn, but forces the black queen to retreat or have a losing exchange.
	3 comments kingstuart (1200) on 05-Jun-07: 17.Qg4 is better as it wins the weak e pawn. audiomeleska (1090) on 05-Jun-07: Thanks for pointing that out. I think I need to analyze a little slower. I was also rather focused on black's moves. archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: Possibly 17.Qe5 was a bit more flexible than Qe4 as well, but certainly 17.Qg4 was to be preferred.


18. f4 Qf6 19. Qe5 Qxe5 20. fxe5	Even material is maintained, but black will have a hard time opening an attack on the king.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: I much prefer 20.Rxe5, piling on the backward pawn, then to double rooks, move the rearward one to e4 (possibly in conjunction with a pawn advance b2-b4), then moving up the king. Black has to worry that White will get in f4-f5 if a useful pin should appear in the e-file.


20... Ref8 21. Re4 Rxf1+ 22. Kxf1 c5 23. Ke2 b6 24. Rf4 Rd8 25. Kf3 Rd5 26. Ke4 g5 27. Rf6 Kg7 28. Rxe6 h5	Black drops the rook. Rd8 is much better.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: The seeds of defeat have already been sown. Black's game might still have been salvageable but for 26...g5?, which allowed White to invade his position, winning a pawn at once, into the bargain. Instead, Black might have tried 26...a5 to make it harder for White to open up the Q-side, or, possibly better, 26...Rd7 and leave it to White to figure out how to make progress. After 26...g5 27.Rf6! the Black e-pawn is quite defenceless, leaving White with a central, well-supported passed pawn.


29. Kxd5 Kf7 30. Rh6 h4 31. e6+ Ke7	Kg7 may have eventually won white's rook, but black is now unable to stop white's advancing e-pawn from promoting. Without a serious blunder by white, black cannot recover from this position.
	1 comment archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: 31...Kg7 32.e7 wins.


32. Rh7+ Kf6 33. e7 Kg6 34. Rh8 Kg7 35. e8=Q c4 36. Qf8+	And black resigns. Mate would have been forced within 3-4 moves.
	3 comments neilskye (1200) on 05-Jun-07: Mate is next move after 36...Kg6 (forced) 37.Rh6# audiomeleska (1090) on 05-Jun-07: Thanks. I'm disappointed that I missed that myself. Regardless, there is no escape for black. archduke_piccolo (2337) on 10-Jun-07: A fairly even game until Black's mistake on move 26, which led to a bigger one 2 moves later. White had something of the initiative and after 20,Rxe5 (instead of the 20.fxe5 played) would have had a strong initiative at least.