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1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 d6
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I scouted my opponent and noticed a tendency for whites affinity to play c3 Bc4 & Qb3. Black is looking for an early castle and a struggle along the a2-g8 file.
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4. Nd2 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nc6
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(*gm=16385017) Black is still in the book here, but just this one game. Ngb7 is recommended for White. --------- (I've included this game # as reference, but don't know how to include a direct link in this annotation. Anybody?) |
2 comments
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6. c3 O-O
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Okay, c3 as anticipated. Black is castled, but my king has kinda stepped on the bull's-eye. _______Black needs to move the bishop off c4. ______There is an opportunity for Black to play Ng5 trading knight for bishop, but I missed noticing that at this time. |
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7. Ngf3 Qe8
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Black may have a slight lead here. ( Game #16385017, rotkoph (2092) v. startsek (2370) achieve this position). Our game deviates at this point. |
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8. h3
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h3? _____ I suppose White is looking to ward off any thought of Black playing Bg4 and pinning the knight on f3 to his queen, but he's going to play Qb3 anyway. h3 does create a retreat square for the dark squared bishop and/or the knight on f3.____ I expected Qb3 and a queen side castle. |
1 comment
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8... e5
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Finally I get a bit of initiative going. |
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9. Bg3
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White is not interested in... 9. dxe5 dxe5. |
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9... e4
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Attacking the knight next. |
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10. Nh2 Be6
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Black asks white to trade off light squared bishops. |
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11. Qb3 d5
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Research pays off and the light squared bishop is being forced to retreat. Black has gained a modicum of control in the center and is castled. White has lost some measurement of time and is not castled. Blacks glaring problem here is the undefended b & c pawns. |
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12. Be2 Qc8
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Bishop retreats and b/c pawns now defended. However, Blacks queen is tied down to c1 and some work is needed to bolster the queenside and or encourage Whites queen to relocate. _____ There's a bit of a vacuum on the kingside of the board, with white squares gaining importance there. |
1 comment
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13. Ng4 Nh5
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White attempts to get some play for his knight, but Ng4 temporarily blocks the d1/d5 diagonal, consequently Nf5 becomes available and the dark squared bishop comes under attack again.
Black is starting to feel that there is something important about the white square at f3. I'm an average player at best, but it was weird at the time to kinda see the f3 square as a focal point. I know my pawn on e4 has a weight bearing effect on f3, but White has a knight, bishop and g4 pawn all reinforcing f3. |
1 comment
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14. Be5 f6
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Still trying to preserve his bishop.__________ I see the rationale behind this move though , my 14....f6 creates a possibility of a future pin or check for white on his favored b2/g8 diagonal. I really need to be mindful of retaining control along that diagonal. |
1 comment
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15. Bh2 Ne7
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Accomplishes a couple things for Black. It supports the pivotal d pawn. Creates potential for Nf5. And unblocks my c pawn. I'd like to clean that up so as to free my queen. |
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16. c4 Rd8
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If White wants this diagonal, he's going to have to pay for it. |
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17. O-O Nf5
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Apparently White is married to the idea of castling kingside. I still don't have a clear plan in mind, but now the black squares in front of his castle look like positions to infiltrate. |
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18. f3 Nhg3
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Forcing the bishop issue. I'm going to trade either one knight for bishop or two. His choice. |
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19. Rfe1 Nxe2+
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19th move and finally a little blood is spilled. |
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20. Rxe2
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Fine with me. RxN breaks his rook linkage. There's a fork potential if Black can manage Nxd4. Still, I'm not seeing a clear plan. |
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20... dxc4 21. Nxc4
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Creates a self pin on his queen. There's still danger for Black and I must not allow a check, I don't want to lose a move now._____ I spent a lot of time on my next move trying to figure some way to remove the d pawn and leverage a knight or rook off that square. Like Rxd4 e3xR, Nxd4 forking the queen/rook and taking back the rook on e2. In the end I saw that his queen has no side to side ability because of his pawn at e3 and went about exploiting that. |
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