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1. d4
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This is one of my first games on either ladder. I chose the slow ladder largely on a whim. There were ~450 players when I grabbed the bottom rung. You cannot immediately challenge the top, the highest you can reach is ten percent of the ladder length. So I challenged someone 45 rungs above me. If you win they drop one rung and you climb half way to their position. This game was my third or fourth up the ladder (I lost one so far). Challengers automatically take black.
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1... Nf6
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Queen’s pawn, black does well to dressage a knight. |
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2. Nf3
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White responds in kind. |
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2... a6
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This is highly unusual, and I chose it instead of the far more popular g6 (preparing to fianchetto a bishop) because it was the first response in the database showing black a slight edge. |
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3. c4 c5
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Black can regain the dxc5 pawn with Qa5+. |
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4. e3
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White defends instead. |
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4... e6
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Black directly protects c5. |
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5. Ne5 Bd6 6. Qf3 Qa5+
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Black’s thought is that if white interposes the knight it restricts the bishop’s movement, and if white chooses the bishop it makes b2 vulnerable. |
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7. Bd2 Qb6 8. Bc3
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White defends against the threat to b2. |
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8... O-O
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Blank is anxious about castling king’s side given all the power white has amassed. But the castle pawns are never violated. Indeed, black never moves a pawn beyond the fourth rank—never captures or loses a pawn. |
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9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Ng4
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This is a good attack. Black fears white smashing his castle wall, so draws the bishop back. |
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10... Be7 11. d5
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White has a pawn and queen focused on d5. Black has a pawn and knight. White would win this exchange, so the knight is forced to move. Nb4 creates a possible King/Rook fork if black can draw the white bishop off the defending diagonal. Black sees no avenue for that, but recognizes potential with a knight/bishop exchange. Plus, the white bishop is undefended. |
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11... Nb4
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White recognizes the white bishop threat and moves up the e pawn to offer the queen’s umbrella. A better move would have been to check the black king and trade knights. |
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12. e4
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Black sees Ng4 is vulnerable. The knight/bishop exchange is programmed as conditional moves. White must respond the the knight’s check, the queen being the obvious response. |
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12... Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 Nxg4 14. Qg3
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Black’s knight leaps back to the castle wall, but should have left the brave knight afield. Because exd5, 15. Qxg4 d4 blocks the castle threat. White must then retreat with Qe2 to defend the queen’s rook, and the bishop falls. |
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14... Nf6 15. e5
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Black will fork the queen and bishop. Even trades now favor black by the inexorable laws of mathematics:
5/6 > 4/5 > 3/4, etc. In other words, as the same amount is deducted from numerator and denominator, the ratio of denominator to numerator gets bigger. The advantage grows. |
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15... Ne4 16. Qg4
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This was a mistake. The queen should not have moved off the bishop’s rank, because she was b pawn’s only defense. |
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16... Nxc3
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The knight and pawn are four points, the rook is five. |
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17. Nxc3 Qxb2
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White should castle to protect the queen’s rook. |
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18. Rb1 Qxc3+
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Nothing to interpose—castling is no longer an option. |
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(1898)