This is the second time I've played taufiq here on gameknot. I feel he is a strong player with all the necessary tools to take his game to the next level. In this game, I employed an uncommon opening to try and see if he would be unsettled, but he played excellently throughout most of the game. Let's have a look... |
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1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5
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Here I am employing a defense known as the Benoni. This is a gem I used to pull out often when I started. Black's goals are to direct attacks in the direction of his pawns and uses the initiative to counter white's centre. To those higher ups who keep telling me Benoni lines are inferior, I say show me definitive evidence of this!!! |
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3... e6 4. dxe6
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Alternative: 4. Nc3 exd5 5. Nxd5 Nc6 6. e4 Bd6 |
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4... fxe6
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!? - Interesting that White allows me to keep pressure on d4 and d5 at the cost of weakening my kingside. |
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5. Nc3 d5
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More pawn moves don't look that impressive, but I am capturing more and more of the board with every move. |
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6. e3
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Defends d4 and activates the lsb. Alternative: 6. Bg5?! Be7 7. e3 Nc6 (Black can also castle here) 8. Bb5 0-0 9. 0-0 ... |
1 comment
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6... Be7 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Bxd7+
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?! - Perhaps Be2 would've been better here. Think the exchange favors Black long term as this bishop seems very strong. Though it does weaken my e6 pawn so that's probably what white was thinking. |
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8... Qxd7 9. O-O
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Was expecting Ne5 here, but at least the king is protected. Alternative: 9. Ne5 Qd6 10. f4 Nc6 11. Nb5 Qb8?! 12. Nxc6 bxc6 |
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9... Nc6 10. a3 e5 11. b3 e4
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Adding more and more space while capturing more of the center. |
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12. Nd2 O-O
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Forcing white to play reactionary chess instead of making his own plans. Black has a significant development lead and the rooks are connected. White is suffering from a cramped position, but has a rigid structure making counterplay on the queenside almost impossible. This makes Black plan to attack the kingside and create weaknesses there. |
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13. Bb2 Rad8 14. h3 Qf5 15. Ne2
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Coming to the aid of his King... |
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15... Nh5
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Forcing white to think before coming to his aid. Notice how g4? weakens the kingside pawn structure significantly for very little gain. |
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16. Ng3 Nxg3 17. fxg3 Qg5
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! - The long-term plan of weakening the kingside is looking good. Attacking the weak squares of g3 and e3, as well as attacking Rf1. |
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18. Qe1
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!? - Defends both pawns. Probably white's best option here. |
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18... Bd6 19. g4 Bc7
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?! - Looking back, I probably should have exchanged rooks at this point and kept the pressure on white. |
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20. Qe2 Rfe8
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? - Alternative: 20. ... Qe7 21. Rxf8+ Qxf8 22. Rd1 Qd6 --This move offers counterplay options along the f-file for white. |
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21. Rf5 Qe7 22. Raf1 Qd6
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! - A response that forces white to react and play defense once again. |
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23. Rf1f4 Qe6 24. Rf4f1 b6 25. Rf5f7 Re7 26. Rxe7
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? - Perhaps stronger for white would've been retreating to f5. |
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26... Qxe7 27. Rf5 Qd6 28. g5
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?? - One of the bigger mistakes that white makes. By not carefully looking at the board, he overlooks my queen+bishop combo directed at his weak kingside. Alternative: 28. Nf1!! Qe6 29. Nd2 Re8 |
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28... Qh2+ 29. Kf1 Bg3 30. Qb5
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?? - Creates a mating net now for white. The correct response for white is Nf3! Sacrificing the knight gives white room to escape allowing play to continue. |
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30... Qh1+
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A well played game despite being out positioned. A very unusual blunder to miss for White but nonetheless I still believe taufiq is very capable of becoming a very strong player here and over the board. |
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game