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1. Nf3
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Round 4 of the 2007 Alabama State Championship begins, and I've got the white pieces against an old nemesis. I'm 0-3 lifetime vs. Miles, and my attitude about this tournament starts to falter a little. I really want to finish day 1 with a 3/4 score, but this is gonna be tough. I play my new favorite, 1. Nf3. |
 
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1... Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. c4
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Offering up the gambit pawn. |
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3... Bg4
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Nf6 also popular. |
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4. e3
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Temporarily blocking in one bishop while activating the other. |
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4... e6
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Black gets his other bishop in the game, and I entertain ideas of trading off my DSB........... |
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5. Nc3
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.......but development comes first. |
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5... Nf6
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5...Bb4 6. a3 was what I was hoping for. |
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6. cxd5
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I go ahead and nab one of his central pawns, and plan Rc1 as quick as I can. |
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6... exd5 7. Bd2 Bd6
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Perhaps he sees Bb4 as a weak investment, and simply develops in the center. |
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8. Bb5
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Completing development, and introducing the threat of doubling his c pawns - which fits in nicely with my plans of Rc1. |
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8... O-O 9. O-O Ne4
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Jumping onto his natural post straight away, and preparing a cute little tactic that I failed to see. |
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10. Nxd5
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?! Here I get all excited because I think I have won a pawn, but I am only dreaming. Obviously, I see that 10. NxN exN looks ugly - but I really should have played the awkward looking Nb1. |
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10... Bxf3
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! Oopps....now I see what he is up to. I'm about to get forked. |
1 comment
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11. Qxf3
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?! Allowing the fork which loses the exchange. 11. gxB perhaps deserved a little more consideration. |
1 comment
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11... Nxd2 12. Nf6+
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? I go into a deep think here and come up with a truly stupid idea. As I mentioned, I've played this guy 3 times before, and each time I simply got worn down in a endgame. I've never gotten into a tactical shootout with him before. My goal here is to sack the knight to double his f pawns, then BxN to double his c pawns if I can. Then, I reason, that I can gets my rooks vertical quicker than he can to snag a few targets. This whole upcoming sequence just doesn't work out like I envision it...... |
1 comment
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12... Qxf6 13. Qxf6 gxf6 14. Rfd1
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Saving the exchange. |
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14... Ne4 15. h4
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!? Striking out on the kingside while limiting his knight. |
1 comment
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15... f5
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I can tell that we are both analyzing what happens after I play f3, but Ng3 works for black. |
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16. f3 Nf6
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?! Black gets a little conservative, and takes a little breather to regroup. I thought for sure he would keep his knight close to my king. I now entertain the idea of a massive pawn push on the kingside if I can double his c pawns first. |
1 comment
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17. Rac1
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? Disregarding my own intentions. BxN was the plan and I ignored it. So much for the c pawn stack...... |
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(1700)