Annotated chess game

White's queen is gone! She only has two pieces and a pawn for it! Of course it's a true gambit.

12.0-0 is much better as it gets the white king to safety and eliminates the fork threat. If Nxc2 follows all it does is open up the C file for white to attack the black king.

yeah I would probably give this a ?!

The problem with what you are suggesting jkarp is that I may never be able to get my knight out again

When you waste opportunities, act as if you can't get them back (unless you are extremely lucky). Charleshiggie was demonstrating that if you continue with the same plan over and over again, you are on your way to being lost. White's Kingside is weaker, so Black's attacks should primarily target the Kingside, not the Queenside. The problem with 13...Nxa2? is 14.Be6! and the Knight is forever lost.

Surely, jkarp, as you say 13....Nxa2? then 14.Be6.Nxc1 White plays 14.Rxa5 winning the black Queen!! Try looking deeper into the positions!

Wait a minute- hold on. After 14.Be6 (see davroy's comment above) there's 14...Nc3+!, correct?

Nxa2 is a bad move. You don't want to waste your time to grab rook pawns why you are trying to protect you king. You also don't want to open up some files for your opponent.

I agree with Richard. Plus I would never get that knight out again, and my queen would be tied up protecting it

This move makes 13...Nxa2 a ridiculous move after 14.Ne4xc5, threatening dangerous attempts to shift materials into the right places, preparing to launch an assault. Black would lose a more important pawn than the one he wins.

the only ray of hope for 13...Nxa2, 14 Ne4xc5.... is 14.....Nc3+?! followed by 15.....Qxa1.

Nxa2 loses due to the fact that it wastes time.

@jkarp look at my previous comment.

I haven't fully worked out the continuations yet but I wonder if d4!? was worth a shot, of course this was probably better but erhaps someone could annalyise and see if there is anything to be gained with d4 instead, trying to take advantage of blacks queen making an early foray into the queen side.

My search engine likes Re1 instead of d3. The thing with d4, as well as opeing up the centre to attack black's king, it is also opening up files against white's king!

I would play either 14.d4 (as thereaper1 suggested) or 14.a3!? preaping a knight sac on c5 followed by b4. I don't like an immediate 14.Re1.

Both Re1 and a3 are good but I would preferr a3 because of it's dynamic qualities and expliots vulnerable position of the black queen.

@jkarp: in this position her knight is much more powerful than Black's DSB because it is very active while Black's DSB is still undeveloped. So exchanging would be bad for White.

@jkarp: your comment looks at only 50% of the situation. the other 50% is what i-d-j was specifying.

Yeah Bh3 was more in keeping with the theme, I dont think white is quite ready to wage out full war yet so keeping control over e6 was probably the way to go.

I also wonder why not 15.Bh3? This allows black king to go to d7.

Not strictly true. The most dangerous type of check in my opinion is double check,although it all depends on position.

The fact that all double checks are subvariants of discovered ones aside... I agree with both bishop moves here. As Black, I would be highly nervous at this point. I'm not developed very well here; my only active pieces sit on the a file and guard mostly only the weak pawn. My DSB can't move either way. Suppose Bh3 were done instead, now White controls e6 and still brings a certain pressure on my Q-side that I wouldn't be ready to defend against. My K-side hardly looks any better. I'd say White has a pretty favorable positional advantage in spite of the loss of her queen.

The computer is not so strong in assessing these kind of positions, so I'm not sure what the computer analysis is worth.

I agree. This is a very complex and unclear position.

Computer may even suggest a move that loses by force. It can't understand such positions at all.

At a quick glance of the board I would say that this is a draw with slightly better chances for white. Despite being down a pawn white's position just looks more solid than black's. EDITED: It turns out that when I analysis the position using Rybka and Houndini, Rybka has trouble seeing the position clearly however, Houdini see the draw after 15 seconds.

It also increases the power of the LSB and freezes black's pawns on both sides of the board. It is interesting how the momentium has swung so quickly in this game.

I am wondering since your bishop is under acheiving that maybe 16. ...Bh6 can be looked at as an alternative. If 17. Bxb7 Rab8 18. Bd5 Nb4 is ok for black.

I agree with elyhim, 16. ...Bh6 attacks the N pair and if she plays Bxb7 it opens up an attacking file for black

possibly too slow, Be3 may have been better IMO. it adds pressure against c5 and allows for possibly tactics based on the blacks king and queen positions.

After 17.Be3?! Bh6 with possible exchange on g5 when needed, Right? I prefer 17.b3 or Re1.

Yes Be3 prevents my Nc7 exchanging, as then the pawn c5 is hanging. It is hard to see how black will untangle then.

Why advance a pawn that is not threatened! Surely to goodness white has more useful moves. I like 18. Re1 firmly entrenching the knight on e6. It also allows white to meet a possible Bh6 with Nf7.

@elyhim If 17. Re1, then yes, ...Bh6 18. Nf7 looks nice at first, but then if ...Rh7, what next? It must move, but back to g5 (if Ne5+, Kxe6 and if Nfd8, then Rxd8, Nxd8, Qxd8 and both knights have fallen!) which just leads us back to Nfg5, Bxg5, and perhaps fxg5 with white seeming to lose tempo, and fast.

this move now has teeth because the knight on e6 is not very safe looking now

Is there really no way for White to have prevented this?

Why not 18...Bxg5 19.Nxg5 (19.Bxh8? loses to Qxe6) Rhf8.

Or 18. ...Rhf8 19. Nxf8 Rxf8 20. Nh3 Bxf4 21. Nxf4 Rxf4 and black may be better. What do you think

The presence of the threat of Bxg5 undermines the security of the knight on e6. So 19. Re1 gives support to e6 just in case black makes good on his threat.

But in this case White's knights are stronger because they are far more active than the DSB, as I had mentioned earlier.

Agree, with more pieces exchanged, the easier your game  

I am not convinced, White has equal control of the centre, a more solid pawn structure, greater control of the only half open file and more centralized pieces, equal control of space. The moves a4 and g3 lock things down so that black can not touch white's pieces.

Except the point of the Grand Prix is to lock down Black into an open unreassuring position in exchange for the Queen earlier. Black is down two bishops (and a pawn) for a Queen, but the BK is relatively a lot more safe at this point and even the underdeveloped Ra8 is looking fair due to White's counterpart being completely trapped in like that. While it is clear that White has plenty of active pieces on the center, Black now has more than enough room and time to respond. And it doesn't look like White can do much this time to reclaim the momentum she once held. I also have to wonder if a4 and h3 really delay Black all that much in the long run...