Annotated chess game

Bogoljubow's Defence, quite an unusual choice. A mirror image of the Alekhine (appropriately -- Alekhine and Bogoljubow had quite a rivalry going on!) but White chooses not to advance to d5. Perhaps because the mirror-image of the usual Alekhine move c4 would be f4, exposing the king's position.

One thing about keeping the K in the centre, is that it leaves one's opponent guessing. That can lead to difficulties in deciding on a plan... If you build for a K-side attack, he castles Q-side, or "vice versa".

No. Perhaps 10... Nh5?!, but after that move was played 11... gxh5 is compulsory or Black is simply a piece down.

Agreed. The questionable move was the knight's to h5. easy19 is being provocative, but also opes a file he hopes to use later as an avenue of attack. But it is not so simple from here to show that 10...Nh5 is bad, though. Maybe White could think about dropping her bishop back to h4 then g3, in conjunction perhaps with Qe2. Or maybe look to some sort of counteraction in the centre, beginning with 12.Rae1.

Black had probably wanted to follow up with Nf4 at some point putting pressure on g2 and centering his knight. And trying to provoke g3 allowing his lsb to have a decent square to go to. I actually think Bxh5 was a mistake because this give black good king side pressure. If white had waited to castle and taken on the knight and then O-O-O would have made Nh5 look silly.

I think 13.Bh4 had its points, though.

More aggressive was 14.f4, striking at the centre before Black's K-side action gets under way. The idea is 14...exf4!? 15.Bxf4 Be5!? 16.Bxe5 Qxe5 17.Qf4 Qxf4 18.Rxf4 and White has the better game. Black can vary, but White will have a fine game, regardless, e.g.: 14...0-0-0 15.f5!

Rather than this, it might have been an idea to allow this advance with the idea of getting in your own licks. I think it is established that Black is very unlikely now to castle short, though long castling is still on the cards. One idea here is to begin Q-side operations as quickly as possible, and since some preparation for it has already been undertaken, 15.b4 springs immediately to mind. Its purpose is two-fold: to begin an infantry assault on that wing, but also the pawn on b4 would enable the bishop to strike at the BQ by Bc5. A possible line runs 15.b4 h3 16.g3 b6 (to stop 17.Bc5) 17.a4 h5 18.a5 h4 19.g4, and if White's Q-side attack has for the moment been contained, so has Black's.

18.Rbd1 was another idea, still with hopes of some counteraction in the centre. As for which move is preferable for the f1-rook ... pass! Either seems OK. Right now, I don't see that Black has any real advantage, for all his aggressive strivings.

But it also relieves the pressure on the g-file for the moment. White might have considered 20.Ne2, here, to cover the dark squares f4 and g3. But then comes 20.Ne2?! Bxh3! 21.gxh3? Qxf3+ 22.Kh2 Qf2+! 23.Kh1 Rg3! when, to save the mate, White has to give up the Queen: 24.Qc3(!) Rxc3 25.Nxc3 0-0-0 26.Rg2 and having Q+2P for R+N, the advantage lies with Black. To protect f3, 20.Rbf1 came into consideration...

This is probably OK, but I'm not keen on it for two reasons. One is that it places the rook on a square attacked by the enemy Q, which will tend to tie down White's own. The other is that this rook can no longer intervene on the Q-side, should it become necessary. Black's reply comes as no surprise, for all that his attention has been directed hitherto almost exclusively upon White's right flank. Her defences secure enough for the nonce, White could have undertaken active operations on her own account: 22.Qc5!

The alternative line suggested seems much the better option. So far, White is doing fine. The only real weakness in her game at this point concerns the dark squares, but Black has only the Q that can exploit this effectively. Blacks doubled pawns, moreover, don't make it any easier for him to crack open White's wall of pawns. After a sequence, say, 24.Nd1 e6!? 25.Ne3 exd5 26.Nxd5 White probably would emerge with the initiative and the edge.

Were the consequences of 26...Qf4+ underestimated, or was the move overlooked altogether? Of the alternatives, 26.Re1 or 26.Rgd1 unpins the g-pawn, whereupon White can shore up the h3-square by 27.Qf1; and 26.Rdd1 also unpins the g-pawn, as well as taking the rook off the BQ's diagonal. Which is the best? I'd probably play 26.Re1 myself, but whether it is any better than the alternatives, I don't know. By the way, the counterattack by 26.Qa7 won't do owing to 26...Bxh3! with the idea 27.Qa8+ (say) Kd7 28.Qxb7 Qg3 29.d6 Bxg2+ 30.Rgxg2 Qh3+ 31.Kg1 Rxg2+ and mate next move.