Annotated chess game

@ruachessnut2 : Nd4 is better. It keeps the attack potential : moreover blacks would not choose to exchange their bishop with this knight. I f I am to try a piece exchange, then with regard to blacks pawn I'd rather try to kill the blacks bishop that travels the light squares. In the end game, that way blacks wo'nt be able to defend his pawns which are almost all in the light squares.

But 23. Bxg7+ Kxg7 trading the dark squared bishops since all his pawns are on light squares. 24. Nd4 now you can take the outpost without blocking your bishop. The bishop on the same color squares as the pawns is called the bad bishop because it is blocked by it's own pawns. For example Be7 has only 4 legal moves.

I'm inclined to agree with the annotator here. The exchange on g7 will bring the passed pawn to the 6th rank, but it's not so easy thereafter to find a clear path. Centralising the knight keeps the pressure on.

The move 25.Qh4 also appears on the agenda... given a suitable opportunity.

Threats, like beauty, lie in eye of the beholder. White doesn't intend Ba5, but the idea is present, and clearly Black thought it worth a response. Had Black not done so, the move might have created problems for Black at that. White's position is very strong - so strong that he can choose from an attractive range of options.

Did Black have to give up the Exchange? After 25...Bxc3 26.bxc3 Bxe6 27.dxe6 or 25...Bxc3 26.Qh4!? Bg7 (26...Be5 27.Ng5 h5 28.Nxh5 with a promising looking attack) 27.Nxg7 Kxg7 28.Qxe7+ Kh8 29.e6 (Qd8 30.Qe4+). It seems Black would have had no quiet life after 25...Bxc3.

b is a file & 7 is a rank.

i thought it means what the french say : diagonale.

OK, White is inducing Black to open the b-file, as Black is unlikely to want two White passed pawns standing side-by-side on the 5th rank (Black's 4th rank). Although the Exchange sac has left Black with exclusive control of the a1-h8 diagonal, White has accumulated other advantages.

No, but I do see the squares e5 & c7 which are on the same diagonal. Files are a-h & ranks are 1-8.

thanks ! : lack of terminology.

I hope my previous note makes the nomenclature clear. Incidentally, the c7-square doesn't look available to the Black Queen, though a3 (and its occupying pawn) is... sort of...

There's more to this than the masked battery against the Black Queen. The White Queen's influence stretches along the entire h2-b8 diagonal. Black probably has to play 29...Be5. Useless is 29...Qe5? 30.Rxb8+ Qxb8 31.Nxg6+ etc. But after 29...Be5 30.Nxg6+ hxg6 31.Qxg6 Bxe6 32.Qh6+ Kg8 33.dxe6 and White has a very strong attack.

@ionadowman : If 29..Be5, my reply was to be Qg5. It's not obvious to me what will happen after that, but the fact that I saw it keeps the pressure (via threat RxN) lead me to accept Qg3. In your line 30.Nxg5 would be bad : Remember Andrew : there is Ne7 which attacks g6 in case of 31. Qxg6. Anyway ..

Good tactical game. Once White seized the initiative, Black seemed unable to get back into the game. (Come to think of it - I once played hansdevries myself...).