Annotated chess game: Over-extended!

ANNOTATED GAME

Over-extended!
easy19 (2205) vs. jstevens1 (1827)
Annotated by: jotheblackqueen (1200)
Chess opening: Nimzovich-Larsen attack (A01), modern variation

Interactive

•

Show all comments

•

All annotated games

•

View chessboard as:


1. b3	Hi everyone! Lost my 44th game to Freddy the Master Mater. At least I was trying to win this one but in doing so I over-extended myself which is what some of my lower-rated opponents have been guilty of doing against me. So how did this all happen? Well, it all starts with the Larsen's Opening, 1. b3 - a favourite of the Danish GM Bent Larsen. As usual I will provide the Gameknot Analysis link to the game here. http://gameknot.com/analyze-board.pl?bd=14047427&fb=1&rnd=0.7658726204127998



1... e5 2. g3	2. g3 - Hmm - a double-fianchetto.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: Hippopotamus Attack? acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: na, not really.


2... Nf6 3. Bb2 Nc6	3. ..... Nc6 - develops a piece and defends my e5 pawn.
	2 comments dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: 2...d5 would have set up an ideal centre. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: And losing the possibility of c6 or c5 in order to control the center and block the lsb.


4. c4 d6 5. Bg2	5. Bg2 - Freddy completes the double-fianchetto.
	3 comments acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: Actually, doubling both bishops to b2 and g2 is not so strong. black_cat_hamlet (1531) on 21-Jun-10: Freddy is always trying new things against you... must make it hard to predict him EDIT; yeah, maybe it's not the best idea but a player like Freddy is always gonna have a few tricks up his sleeve... yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: nothing wrong with the double fianchetto the bishops have reach their maximum activity for the early game. They support the center and can strike there. The only thing that could really make them much better would be to have them side by side. Besides doing the same thing every time gets old.


5... Bd7 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Nc3 Qc8	7. ..... Qc8 - after developing the ecclesiastical twins, Fou Leblanc and Fou Lenoir, Glenda moves onto c8 to try and force a trade of light square bishops and weaken Freddy's castled position.
	1 comment damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: The black lsb has been forced to prevent the pawn doubling after BxN. But this move is auto-blocked, forcedly, by white if playing Nf3. The black's lsb should aim to f5, instead, in order to control the white diagonal that is right into white's files, and forcing him to play against it (d3-e4 instead of more aggressive moves).


8. Nd5 Nxd5 9. cxd5 Nd8	9. .... Nd8 - with the idea of a possible c6 and an exchange of c for advanced d pawn allowing the knight to move back to c6.
	4 comments dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: 9...Nb4 was better than retreating it to the back rank. It is all against classic opening principles. no_genius (1909) on 21-Jun-10: you're right, it does give white headaches defending the d5 pawn. Ng1 is just undeveloping, and e4? allows Nd3+! yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: I agree Nb4 would probably be slightly better but as to no_genius comment. d5 is not really threatened. Say play went 9... Nb4 10. O-O Nxd5 11. Nxe5! and white wins the pawn back. Because of dxe5 12. Bxd5. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: having black his bishop covering the b1-g6 diagonal, e4 cannot be played at once, so Nb4 would be safer. I think that the tactic way, with 9. ..., e4 whorts a look, too. If accepted, the exchanges leaves the black queen freedom to go to h3 to defend the pawn in g7, attacking at the same time the pawn in h2. Of course, white has a check in the middle and Bxg7 also... but maybe not wise because it opens the column for the rook... hmmm....


10. O-O Bh3	10. ...... Bh3 - as Freddy chooses to castle kingside I decided to adopt my earlier plan of trade off of bishops and to delay castling. I would have preferred to go queenside if at all but alas the decks are not cleared.
	1 comment damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: Having only the bishops as active pieces, why trade the best of them? If you wanted to attack, did you have a look on g5? Anyway, the more important thing now is to free the knight!


11. Ne1 Bxg2 12. Nxg2	12. Nxg2 - the trade takes place as planned.
	3 comments acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: A "fianchettoed knight" makes the knight passive if a pawn is on e5. I think the knight should stay on f3 and let the king take. Still, white might be planning to play f4, later. yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: I think white is planing f4 and would be consistent with whites last moves Ne1-Nxg2 supporting f4. Since there is no light square bishop White's king could be fairly safe on g2 or h1. Depending on how things develop. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: ...helping Freddy to locate his knight in a very good square, further supporting a good f4!


12... h5	12. ..... h5 - I now decided to start a pawn storm on the kingside which does not quite get going. This sort of thing is what Freddy has done to me so I have at least given him a miniscule dose of his own medicine!
	3 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: Rather premature, methinks. Maube 12...f5 was worth a look, ready to castle behind the pawn, but also freeing the knight stuck on d8. dmaestro (1647) on 20-Jun-10: Agree, for such a pawn storm down the h file to work, Black must reorganize. yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: I haft to agree with ionadowman this pawn advance is rather weak and must be followed up with h4 fairly quickly. I think blacks best plan would have been to try to free up the knight with either 12... f5 or c6 (your previous unfinished plan). f5 seems a bit more logical to me. Though d5 will be a pain. Also white will be playing f4 soon as well too.


13. f4 f6	13. ...... f6 - although Gameknot Analysis did not offer an alternative to this move, Freddy suggested that I should have followed up with h4 here.
	6 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: Freddy's suggestion is consistent. dmaestro (1647) on 20-Jun-10: Otherwise, there was no point in h5 no_genius (1909) on 20-Jun-10: It can't be good to lock in your bishop like that! acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: Still, if black had enough time, maybe f5 with Nf7 and then h4 would be better. Right now, if I were going to defend the pawn, I would play a move like Bf6, g5, and h4, but maybe that plan would be too risky. yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: h4 would be consistent. Blacks line is very perilous 13... h4!? 14. fxe5 hxg3 15. hxg3 Qg4 [not dxe5? for sure after Bxe5 black has to many wholes to cover] White now has a few options here Kf2 [not sure I really like this one though] Qe1 My choice since Qe1 Qf2 doubles on the f-file. Though white might want to play moves like Ne3 and Rf3 first. Blacks last option Rf3 with plenty of defensive and attacking possibilities making it quite flexible. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: ...leaving a very dangerous hole in g6... a black's headache in this kind of positions! Keeping the lsb helps a lot to control it.


14. Qc2 Nf7	14. ..... Nf7 - transferring my knight over to the kingside to attack/defend if necessary and I have at least moved one piece off that back row and next move I plan to put Glenda on h3 and then castle queenside. However, Freddy puts a stop to the latter plan by keeping Henry either in the centre or having to go kingside after all.
	3 comments no_genius (1909) on 20-Jun-10: Given white's next move, was ... c6 or ... c5 any better? yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: After queen c2 Black would probably be best with Qd7 Rac1 Rac8 then Nf7 black could continue the king side attack now with moves like g5. At this point black will not have nice place to anchor the king. As far as no_genius neither move is bad probably better than the played move. either move would still be met by Rac1 I'd prefer c6 15. Rac1 Though they have the downside of leading black into a semi-passive position. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: ...leaving the white queen free to go to g6. This is not a problem, now, because you can play Rh6, but...


15. Rac1 Bd8	15. .... Bd8 - another piece, Fou Lenoir takes the knight's place to defend that vulnerable c2 pawn from Freddy's heavies on the c column.
	3 comments black_cat_hamlet (1531) on 20-Jun-10: Freddy's d5 pawn is really annoying, isn't it? acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: yea, and if u attack the d5 pawn, e.g. b6, and then Qb7, then white can always play e4, defending the d-pawn. dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: 15...c5 was still playable. Black's king is stuck in the centre after 15 moves!


16. Ne3 Qh3 17. fxe5 dxe5	17. ...... dxe5 - the idea of f6 becomes apparent here - I played that move to support e5 - the e5 pawn prevents Freddy putting a rook on f4 in order to swing round to h4 forcing Glenda to retreat.
	2 comments dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: 17...Nxe5 brings the knight to the centre. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: Why keeping the dsb trapped? Ok, it is committed to the defence of c7, but it is not supposed to stay there! Besides, you leave white the good (not now, but probably yes, later) d6... Of course, fxe5 leaves the f column free for white's evil plans, but you already have a bad hole in f5... After Nxe5, BxN and the black position is almost lost, I fear...


18. Qg6	18. Qg6 - aggressive but gameknot analysis suggested 18. Ba3 instead - please refer to the link in my intro speech for further detail.
	4 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: The Bishop move to a3 would have prevented Black's castling short. White would be quite well placed to attack Black's King in the centre.... acepoint2000 (1200) on 20-Jun-10: Still, I don't think black wanted to castle kingside, anyway. yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: This move also prevents castling short due to O-O Nf5 and black is roasted. Excellent move by Freddy here. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: Do you see how the hole in g6 works for white?


18... Kf8 19. d4	19. d4 - hmm I expected Ba3+ here. He is trying to deflect my e5 pawn from defending f4 as explained in a previous note. However, it gives me a chance to temporarily carry out a Witch Ejection plan with 19. ...... Rh6.
	1 comment damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: I think the bishop's check is a better move, indeed. I can only see disasters after Nf5!


19... Rh6 20. Qd3 exd4 21. Nf5	21. Nf5 - closing in on Henry and attacking my rook on h6. I dare not play a move like Rg6 because of Ba3+ followed by a discovered attack winning the rook on g6 so I decided to move the rook to the safety of h8 only for Freddy to have suggested Ne5 as an improvement.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: Actually, 21...Rg6 would not have been too bad at all: 21...Rg6 22.Ba3+ (22.Bxd4 might have been preferred) 22...Kg8 23.Ne7+?! Bxe7 24.Qxg6 Ne5! 25.Qe4 Ng4 26.Qh1 Bxa3 and Black emerges with much the better of it. Of course, in this line White could retain the advantage by 22.Bxd4 or 23.Qxd4. How about does Freddy's suggestion? Black seem to get a bit of an attack for the exchange: 21...Ne5 22.Ba3+ Kg8 (say - there seems to be nothing better) 23.Nxh6+ gxh6 24.Qd2 Ng4 25.e4 dxe3e.p. 26.Qe2 h4. Both ideas improve on the rook retreat, after which Black heads very rapidly downhill. Mind you, the position hereabouts is a lot more complicated that it might look. dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: How about 21...Ne5 attacking White's queen?


21... Rh8 22. Qe4 Ne5	22. .... Ne5 - I only received Freddy's suggestion that I should have played that move one move earlier just after I played Ne5. I plan to move the knight to g4 and threaten mate (how dare I?!) on h2.



23. Bxd4 Ng4 24. Rf2 Nxf2	24. ..... Nxf2 - can't see anything much better but now Henry is doomed.
	2 comments archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: Black is busted whatever she does. damalfi (1200) on 13-Jul-10: Elegant by Freddy to sac the rook...


25. Qe6 Ng4	25. ..... Ng4 - allows mate in 3. According to gameknot I would have had to have given up Glenda for the knight just to limp on against a player nearly 400 points above my rating. No thanks, I prefer it this way. So I think in retrospect that my attack was premature and Freddy thought that it was. However, would you the jury rather see this than for me to keep defending all the time? I look forward to hearing your views on this. Hope you have all had a good weekend - bye for now - Joanne
	4 comments no_genius (1909) on 20-Jun-10: I guess your chances for a swindle are ... low. You'd have as much chance of Serbia beating Germany in the world cup... oh wait archduke_piccolo (2334) on 20-Jun-10: The attack was not wrong in principle, and Freddy's suggestion at move 21 would have retained some attacking chances. Whilst attacking chances remain, the possibility of pulling off an upset is always on the cards. dongoodman (2344) on 20-Jun-10: When you get a chance to set up an ideal centre you should do it and control the centre. 2...d5 was a no brainer. You had another opportunity to play it on move 4...d5. yoshark (1409) on 21-Jun-10: Nothing wrong with the attack its what is done after developing. Just small slips here and there but that's all Freddy needs really.


26. Bc5+ Be7 27. Bxe7+ Ke8 28. Nxg7#