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12. Nxc7
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and here is where I believe white played into the true spirit of Black's aims in Latvian gambit - he goes for material superiority at all costs. It was from here on out that I began to understand this opening and why Black allows this dreadful position to arise in which none of his remaining pieces are developed, his king is using the other guy's pawns as shelter, and his rook is about to be taken off the table. |
 
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12... Qxg6
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First things first, Black gets rid of that pawn, and hopefully he can exchange queens to lessen the threats to his exposes king. |
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13. Qxg6+ hxg6
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Ok, mission accomplished. Now take a look at this position. True, none of Black's remaining pieces have moved from their starting positions, however he has massive amounts of open lines. By virtue of the fact that Black has only five pawns to White's seven pawns, Black has open lines for his h8 rook, his c8 bishop. And though the f8 bishop is blocked in, it won't be for long. By comparison, White has all of his pawns in their original positions (except for the one that took part in the gambit) and his one active piece is about to corner itself all the way back on a8. |
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14. b4
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This move serves two purposes: it opens a line for the c1 bishop (threatening to check at b2 and win the exchange for Black's h8 rook) and it seeks to advance further to give the knight an escape after it captures on a8. |
1 comment
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14... Kh7
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This is the only responsible move. Black needs to contest that a1-h8 diagonal. |
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15. b5
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Probably a bad move. White should have played 15. Bb2 to get "first dibs" on that long diagonal. His text move shows that he is too concerned with getting a free rook out of the transaction on a8. |
1 comment
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15... Bg7
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Obviously this is the best move. Black gets his bishop on that nice diagonal with a gain of time since white will have to take a move to get his rook out of the way. |
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16. c3
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But white chooses to close off the diagonal. Not the best decision for two reasons: (1) since white is less developed than Black (remember, Black has lots of open lines for his pieces, even though his pieces have not moved) he should encourage exchanges of material; (2) white no longer has his light squared bishop, so he will be unable to defend this light squared weaknesses he has created with this move (this is exacerbated by the fact that Black still has his light squared bishop); (3) By moving the c2 pawn to c3, white has obstructed the mobility and influence of his bishop. It would have been better to simply exchange it. |
1 comment
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16... e3
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Based on the errors made in the previous two notes, Black plays in the spirit of this opening and sacrifices another pawn. This is why: (1) that e4 pawn was simply in Black's way. It was doing Black more harm than good. The reason for this is that Black wants his c8 bishop mobilized to f5 to take advantage of all of those juicy light squared weaknesses. |
2 comments
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17. fxe3
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white has to take with the f pawn otherwise he would lose a pawn and a rook if he took with the d pawn. |
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17... Bf5
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occupies the light squares and plans to head for d3. |
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18. Nxa8
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White carries through with his material acquisitions. Black is now down five points (equivalent to a rook). |
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18... Nd7
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This was not the best move. better was an immediate 17. ...Bd3, preventing White from castling, but Black suspected that White would not castle on the next move anyway, as he has played to gain that rook for free for the past several moves. |
1 comment
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19. Nc7
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White gets the knight out unscathed. But what has he gained for this five points? who stands better? |
1 comment
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19... Bd3
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Black stands better because now White cannot castle and he cannot even use f1 as a post for his h1 rook ad he can't mobolize his a1 rook either. |
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20. a4
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So white starts to make some room for his pieces. |
2 comments
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20... Nc5
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Black moves quickly to take advantage of his superiority in development as he is down a whole rook. This move is designed to shield the d6 pawn from white bishop that is about to jump to a3. |
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21. Ba3
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practically the only move available. |
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21... Ne4
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Now Black's knight jumps to an active position and it protects the d6 pawn. |
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22. Ne6
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Good move for two reasons: (1) it threatens Black's g7 bishop (remember that white would love to begin wholesale exchanges here so as to realize his material superiority) and (2) it takes the coveted f8 square from Black's rook. |
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