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11. Qxe4+
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Check! And now as I looked at this on the board I thought 'well great, now he gets a free developing move!' And this, I realised, was probably why Ne4 was premature and weak. I tried to look for positives and thought, 'OK, my queen is strong and he is weakened on his kingside now. I can play e3 and develop both bishops in one fell swoop'. Still I kind of fancied my chances in this position.
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11... Be7
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One free move for black. I did know about this before I played Ne4. But I thought that a loss of tempo for a strong initiative (my next move) and greater development (black is lagging) was an OK trade for this stage of the game.
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12. e3
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I think Rd1 was my other move here but I just wanted to get my bishop to d3 and warn (the computer) against castling kingside. I was also sick of seeing black pawns on d4 and c5. I think that this move was forced in a non-literal sense (follow my reasoning..?!) due to my recent loss of tempo.
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12... dxe3
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I must admit I didn't expect the computer to take here. Opening the d file for my rook, allowing pressure against c5. I did hope for this when I played e3 and now I felt that I can get a dominating position quite quickly. However, as often in chess you think 'Yes, this position is just great, he has no moves to play against me to challenge my immediate plans,' and out comes lightening from a clear blue sky!
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13. Bxe3
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Beautiful. Rd1 is coming. Bd3 is coming. 0-0 is coming.
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13... f5
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OUCH. At first I thought 'Wow, nice light squares...what a stupid computer. Why would anyone do this?' and then I started considering where to put my queen. Maybe black will castle queenside. Hmm not so clear what I should do anymore. Oh no, black has a fast f4, 0-0 and Bf5. Erm... 'Time to resign?'
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14. Qc2
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Of course I considered Qd5 but my strategy when playing the computer is to keep my queen on for as long as possible. (Another flaw related to chess-closed-mindedness?) If f4 next I was considering either Bd2-c3 or Bc1, b3 and Bb2. But of course f4 means black can go 0-0 and Bf5 very easily indeed, so I was quite concerned about f4. I thought better for black now. Shouldn't have chickened out of 0-0-0...
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14... O-O
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But thankfully this gives me some time and some targets. The d-file is offered to me now free of charge. The pawn on h7 also looks pretty weak. Now f5 was looking a slightly odd advancement to me. I really wanted to play Bd3 and 0-0!
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15. Rd1
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These queenside pawns become a worry a little later.
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15... Qa6
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This annoyed me for a long while. I don't want to play b3, because my queen will be forever tied down to defending a2. I thought about all kinds of ways to sacrifice this pawn but in the end my calculation skills are just not that good. So eventually I thought 'why not just a3, it defends itself and stops the imminent black threat of Nc6-b4'. I like multi-purpose moves.
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16. a3
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However, once played I could forsee some trouble against my weakend c4 pawn. So it seems I accepted control of the d-file (short term success) for a weakened queenside (long term problem). Hmm... maybe a3 could have been played sooner. Still not so happy with my position.
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16... Nc6
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I also had half an idea of Ne5 and f4, but black could play f4 himself (itself). This move calms things down in the centre anyway.
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17. Bd3
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Thanks to a3 there is no fork on b4. Getting somewhere now...
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17... Qa5+
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Whenever I see the computer check me and the squares on the screen light up red I immediately panic. Red means danger. What have I missed!? Then I swallowed hard and opened one eye. I was confused. 'Huh? I have a perfect excuse now to execute my goal of a bishop re-route to c3.'
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18. Bd2
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Black must be re-routing the queen to a more active position on c7 where it would control some central squares. Thankfully still no f4 threat.
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18... Qa6
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But no. What is this? I think this utterly pointless excursion lulled me into complacency. My next move is a clear oversight which blows the advantage I currently perceived myself having.
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19. Bc3
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I hate this move. First of all I considered 0-0 which would have been grand, why did I not just castle? But now once again I have given the computer a free developing move with the consequence that I lost lots of time on my 20th move. I surprised myself with the amount of disgust I felt when reflecting on this decision after the computers next move.. because after all, this was my masterplan... was it not?
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19... Be6
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I have blocked defence of that weak c4 pawn. I got up and walked out after this move because I was poised with my hand over my king ready to castle immediately. Now what do I do?
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20. Ne5
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I really did not want to play b3 and weaken my queenside even further (I saw b3 Qxa3 Ra1). But b3 Rad8 is asking for a bad position. I really did not want to play Ne5, but I thought that his was my most active continuation. I admit I didn't give serious consideration to Qe2, it just looked potentially suicidal and a move that would lead to another free developing move for black eventually (any rook to e8).
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1 comment
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20... Bf6
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This I expected, and now I was committed to some forced trading.
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