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12... Kb8
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So, I don't have a computer chess program to tell me if black could have just left his King safely where it was, and used this tempo to get his own attack rolling. He's been reacting, and perhaps he just doesn't have a plan. Someone said on one of their games that a bad plan is better than no plan, and that's right, especially for amateurs, because it's how we get better at it. |
 
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13. Qe2
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Partially prophylactic. That rook on d8 is no longer targetting my queen indirectly after this. Remember, that's a half open file, for black. Later on tactics could have been unpleasant with my queen on d2, hence my move. Also, this allows my queen to be on a more useful diagonal and connects the rooks. I need to keep supporting the bishop too. For all of those reasons, that is why I made this move. Now, perhaps the better players would have already had a plan moves ago, but I waited to make a plan until black castled. If I learned the openings better, I'd be able to make my plans sooner. Do I really think of all this stuff while I play? Most times, yes. I seldom calculate. Yeah. I'm lazy. ;) |
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13... Bh2+
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Okay, I don't understand black's thinking here. Why does he want my King on h1? I don't see any obvious threats right now. It's like giving me a free move, after he retreats his bishop. At this point, I don't fear his knights, and now the black bishop can't check me again. The only thing I would not like right now is is if black could crash his pawns down on the kingside with his rooks beind them. It's worth noting that black could have played Ne5 for several moves now, getting rid of my white bishop. Because he didn't, it comes back to haunt him. |
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14. Kh1 Bd6
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That made no sense to me. Instead of it being black's turn, now it's my turn again, in this same position save the white king is on h1 instead of g1. I think this was a wasted move, especially since those kingside black pawns have a long way to go before they contribute to pressuring my kingside. |
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15. a4
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Now at this point, my plan was to get the b pawn rolling too. And perhaps use one of those two knights to open up black's queenside. Here is a basic lesson: most chess books advocate countering in the middle or other wing, when one's opponent launches an attack on one side of the board. The reason for this is because one's counter play, and own attacking chances can cause your opponent to leave off from his attack to defend. But in this position, black doesn't do this. Instead, he tries to oppose what I will do. |
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15... a5
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I am suspicious of this move. Perhaps black doesn't like all my pieces pointing his way; but if so, why didn't he try to trade some off earlier? You know what, and I bet you'll say the same thing: when we lose games, it's often because our opponent beats us to the punch. Now, in order for me to achieve my goal, what square do you think it is that I want to control? If you guessed b4, you're right. Because if I have b4, then further pushes will become very possible and very uncomfortable for black. |
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16. Bd2
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Preparing for launching those pawns and knights. |
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16... b6
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This is positionally very bad in my opinion. It loosens up black's king's safety, and black has not forseen yet that I'll let a knight jump up there regardless of the extra protection for a5.... Black ought to get rid of that white bishop in this position but instead... |
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17. Na2
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And now I am prepared to sacrifice the knight. There are a lot of tactics involving c6 in play now. I'm not sure what black has been thinking about this all. |
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17... h5
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Black finally begins to assault the white king, but... |
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18. Nxa5
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He has to deal now with his kingside. |
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18... bxa5
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And so now it's the b pawn's turn. |
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19. b4
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This position is looking bad for black now; white has torn open black's king pawn with his help. I think accurate defense can still save black, but it wasn't to be. |
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19... axb4
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Now, I have a choice: knight or bishop. I wanted to keep the knight because of the forks; but at this point I thought, well, the knight will pry the position open because of the threats, and the bishop won't necessarily. Surely black would take the white knight with his black bishop, because of the danger. And I wanted that, so my rooks could harass that king sooner rather than later. But black had other ideas. |
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20. Nxb4
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Black MUST take with the black bishop, because of the dual threat here; Nb6+ forking the queen and Nxc6 forking the rook. Ne5 fails now due to the first fork; black can only stop both by taking with the bishop. But by this point I had over five minutes, and black was under a minute on his time. He got confused trying to keep all the lines straight, and sadly, made this unfortunate move: |
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20... Qa7
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Well he resigned after white's next move. |
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21. Nxc6+
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And he wasn't rated that low. This is why I don't mention his name. We all blunder, it's part of the game. I blunder. More important to me here is I really wish I could have seen the bishop take, my bishop take, and then the scramble by black to defend the King as I brought my rooks into play. Would I be able to get enough material back after the knight sacrifice? Because it looks like black's king will escape to safety. I wish I had a chess computer so I could look more closely at 20. ...Bxb4. But except for the last blunder, and a few miscues, black played well. I could have made better moves too. But that's what makes chess FUN! ;) Hope you enjoyed this one. |
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