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1. f4
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A friendly game against my boss. Is any game really friendly? The title was chosen at the time of the challenge, so I left it alone. Colors were random and I got white, so I gave my boss the Bird. White's 6th most popular opening, winning about 33% and losing about 42% of the time, according to ChessGames.com |
 
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1... d5 2. b3
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Looking to fianchetto. |
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2... Qd6 3. d3
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Black brings out the big gun early, with a threat against white's pawn on f4. White defends with the bishop on c1, though in retrospect, I wish I would have just played e3 or g3 so I could go ahead and fianchetto. |
1 comment
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3... Nf6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. g3
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White defends the f4 pawn, freeing the bishop from guard duty so it can finally fianchetto on b2. |
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5... Bxf3 6. exf3
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I feel white (me) has been playing sloppy. 5 pawn moves so far, in just 6 moves. And black has out-developed white and is more in control of the center. |
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6... Nbd7 7. Bb2
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Finally. |
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7... e5 8. Qe2
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Black advances into the center, white counters by pinning the e5 pawn to its king. This also puts winning numbers on e5, threatening to play fxe5 next move which will fork the black queen and knight and win additional material. |
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8... Be7 9. fxe5
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Black unpinned his e5 pawn, but didn't support it. He missed the threat. I would be remiss in my duty were I to fail to show him what he missed. |
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9... Qe6 10. exf6 Qxe2+ 11. Bxe2
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Black exchanged queens. Probably not prudent, given that he is now behind in material by a full piece. |
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11... gxf6 12. Nc3
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Developing with a threat. |
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12... c6 13. O-O-O O-O-O 14. f4
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Deja vu. This is the not the first time I have played a pawn to f4. |
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14... Rhe8 15. Bg4
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White is drifting a little here. I know I want to eliminate pawns, and black's kingside is ripe for the plucking. But I'm not sure how I want to go about it here, so I'm just poking at black, hoping I'll find my muse along the way. |
1 comment
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15... Reg8 16. Bf5
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Poke. |
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16... Kb8 17. Bxh7
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I have to give black a ? on his move 16. ... Kb8?. It frees his pinned knight, but white exchanging more pieces was a minor concern, and generally not a wise thing to do when up by just a piece. Black needed to save his h-pawn and prevent white from getting a passed pawn on the h-file. |
1 comment
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17... Rgh8 18. Bf5 a6 19. Rde1
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Seize the open file with a threat. |
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19... Rhe8 20. h4
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Time to cash in on that passed pawn. |
1 comment
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20... d4 21. Ne4 Bb4 22. c3
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Probably not good play by white. No matter how this turns out, white is likely to end up with an isolated d-pawn. |
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22... dxc3 23. Bxc3
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I give myself a ? on 23. Bxc3? because now black can win back some of his lost material with 23. ... Rxe4, 24. dxe4 Bxc3. |
1 comment
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23... Bxc3 24. Nxc3
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Black missed it, and white's material superiority remains intact, and with further pieces removed from the board. |
1 comment
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24... Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1
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Black exchanges, not a sound strategy when down by a piece and a pawn. |
1 comment
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