Annotated chess game

1...d5 2.c4 justifies white's bizarre first move. 1.e5 is correct.

I thought I would be annotating this game, but I was waiting for it to finish before transferring my notes onto the machine. The machine dates the annotations from when you start entering them, not from when you hit the 'Publish' button. +++++ The Sodium Attack, so called, is not an attack. Rather, it avoids main lines, and indeed any kind of early commitment. However, White won't be sorry if the opportunity arises to exchange pawns on c4 and retake with this eccentric knight.

Instead of 2.e4, white should play 2.Nc4 while he has the chance, though after 2...e5 3.d3 d5 4.Ne3 black has no problems.

There is a gambit line that Black might consider after 2.Nc4: 2...Nc6 3.e4 f5!? 4.exf5 d5. Instead of 2...Nf6, by the way, Black could seriously have considered ...Bxa3!

Good; grabbing a sizeable chunk of the centre. Instead of 3.Bd3 I would have preferred 3.d3 or maybe 3.Nc4. Now that ...d5 has been played, if White responds 4.exd5, then 4...Bxa3 5.bxa3 Qxd5 with an edge.

No need to give up a perfectly good bishop for a piss-poor N. Black should play the simple 4...c6!, and white has some big problems to solve if he wants to complete his development. Note 5.exd4 loses to 5...e4! (6.Bxe4 Qe7!). if 1.Na3 e5 2.c3 d5 3.Nc2 c5, black's pawn center will be hard to deal with.

(!) Our 200 rating point difference notwithstanding, I have to disagree with hityerclock here. Even on positional grounds, this exchange is well worth considering. But there are compelling tactical reasons to applaud this capture. 4.Qf3 was a mistake, and White ought to have played 4.exd5 instead, as mentioned in my previous comment.

(?!) White is in big trouble, and, relatively speaking, this might not have been the best response, obvious reply though it is. Now Black could have played 5...dxe4! with consequences that will be revealed... Maybe better was to bite the bullet with 5.exd5 after all.

(?) Much better was 5...dxe4!! The double attack (fork) on Bishop and Queen wins material: 6.Bxe4 Qd4!, forking Bishop and Rook.

Black can maintain his advantage with 5...O-O, threatening to open up the center and attack white's king. The pawn is doing fine on d5, no need to push it. ***** EDIT ***** ionadowman is right, I didn't see 5...dxe4.

Now black tries to to swap off his best piece!

For what appears to be White's best piece... ?

Fortunately for black, white doesn't see 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.Qb3!

Agreed. This check simply loses time. The quick sequence hityerclock mentions would have been rather annoying for Black, though 8...Qc8 seems to keep things together. If Black didn't like that passive response, he might have tried (7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.Qb3) 8...0-0 instead, with this idea in mind: 9.Qxe6ch Kh1 10.Qxe5?? Re8! and White would be in serious trouble.

Black is clearly better. If the pawn were still on d5, he would winning since he would be able to quickly open up the center to exploit his better development.

Much the better game: a pawn ahead, bigger stake in the centre, marked lead in development.

This blunder loses a piece, as it steals the b3 square from the B.

Also good for Black was 9...Nd7, but Black would have been fine either way. But White's response makes the bishop move even better than it ought to have been. 10.Qd3 was the only reasonable response.

You planned to lose a piece?!?

The bishop, White's only really active piece, is trapped. As Black already had a distinct edge, this can only make White's game nearly impossible. Note that 'nearly'. Very important, that 'nearly'!

Best chance, of course.

White is completely lost here. His best bet is to close up the center before it's too late with f3 & d3, which would force black to come up with a plan to secure the win. White doesn't even have a way to create counter-play in this position.

The possibilities at e5 and b7 are mirages. White has to consolidate a defensive position, and then begin to look around for counterattacking possibilities. The pawn moves suggested by hityerclock are good consolidating moves - just about essential now...

Oops. 13...Bxe7 14.Kxe7 Rb8 and white won't make it to move 20.

Of course, hityerclock means 13...Bxe2 14.Kxe2 Rb8. But Black had a very good winning play also in 13...Nc5! with 14...Nxe4 to follow. Here is a possible (though unforced) line: 13...Nc5 14.Qb5 Nfxe4! 15.f3!? Bxf3!? 16.gxf3 Qh4ch 17.Ng3 ... [or 17.Kd1 Nf2ch 18.Ke1 Nfd3ch 19.Kd1 Qe1ch! 20.Rxe1 Nf2 - a spectacular smothered mate.] 17...Nxg3 winning.

(?!) OK-ish, but 14...Nf6 was better, and had the virtue of low cunning. If White then played 15.Qxe5?? then 15...Bxe2!? would walk away with a piece, but much, much better would be 15...Re8!! To survive (for a given value of 'survival') White would just about have to give up Q for R (16.Qxe8ch).