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13... e6
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[!] Blunting the c2-c4 thrust as 14.c4 Nb4! is now possible, disrupting White. |
  1 comment
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14. Rhe1 Bd6
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White is fully mobilised (developed); Black very nearly so. There doesn't seem to be much in it, eh? But White does have a move that might have occasioned Black something of a headache... |
1 comment
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15. Ne5
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[?!] This isn't it, though it's an OK move. Instead 15.Nf5! attacking the g-pawn and threatening the bishop would have placed Black in some difficulty. Could he contemplate undeveloping the bishop (...Bf8)? The line is extremely complicated and hard to see: 15.Nf5! Nh5! 16.g4! ... (16.Nxd6 would be OK if White was prepared to settle for a game little more than equal) 16...Nf4! 17.Qb3! ... The string of fine, unexpected, moves leaves White attacking b7 and g7, and still with the c4 thrust to consider. However unclear and murky the position arising from 15.Nf5, I reckon White must have had an edge. |
3 comments
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15... Qc7
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Castling K-side came into consideration. Now that Black has established communications with both his rooks, White has to concern herself about her willingness to commit to one sector at a time when Black can switch his King to somewhere less exciting. |
1 comment
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16. Ne4
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Talk about centralisation! You can not get pieces more centralised than White's right now. Even so, I still like 16.c4 here: 16...Ne7 17.c5 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Rd8 19.Qa3, with a White knight likely very soon to come in at d6. |
2 comments
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16... Nxh5
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Decentralisation in the face of White's plan looks like a misjudgement. Possibly Black hoped to unbalance the game, pick up a pawn and trust in the vagaries of blitz play to survive an attack. Maybe. At any rate, White obtains a small edge. |
1 comment
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17. Nxd6+
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[?!] More forcing would have been 17.c4. White's game seems to be crying out for this move to be played. White's game is healthy enough that without it she can still keep Black under constraint. Yet 17.c4 Ne7 (evidently Black loses the knight after ...Nf6 or ...Nb6) 18. c5 Bxe5 19.dxc5 0-0 20.Nd6 ... led to a fine game for White. |
2 comments
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17... Qxd6 18. a3
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'Preparing' c4? But that oft-mentioned thrust was playable immediately, as 18.c4 Nb4?? 19.Qb3 would be horrible for Black. Instead of 18.c4, also possible would have been 18.Qf3, with threats against the knight at h5 and the pawn at f7. |
2 comments
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18... Qc7 19. g4 Nhf6
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Also possible was ...Nhf4. The text seems the more circumspect, though. |
1 comment
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20. Qf3
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Also 20.c4 was still good. But White seems now poised to bash her way through the centre to come at Black's King. In the light of that, Black's next is understandable. |
1 comment
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20... O-O-O
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[??] A terrible misjudgement. Black has been keeping up, pretty much, for the whole game so far, though 16...Nh5 did some self-inflicted damage. With 20...b5! Black could finally have stymied White's delayed c2-c4 thrust, and been left with a reasonable game. |
1 comment
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21. c4
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[!] At last! And still strong. |
1 comment
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21... Nb6
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The only retreat, as after 21...Ne7, 22.Nxf7 would have been good enough to win. |
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22. Bf4
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Creating what I call a 'masked battery' against the Black Queen. The idea is that the masking piece - the e5-knight - moves aside to attack something else (Ng6 attacking the h1-rook), exposing the bishop's attack on the Queen. The unmasking of a battery is usually so deadly, the defender has to do something about it before the unmasking. |
2 comments
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22... Qe7
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On this occasion, there was in fact nothing to be done about it about White's threat ...Ng6. By saving the Queen in this way, Black will lose his King! 22...g5 would not have helped much (23.Bg3! and the threat remains), but Black might have been able to contain the damage in this line: 22...h5! 23.g5 Ng4 24.Nxg4 hxg4 25.Bxc7 gxf3 26.Bxd8 Kxd8, leaving White the Exchange ahead in the end game. |
3 comments
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23. Nxc6
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[!] One of those moves that 'leaps to the eye' of a tactician. Black is busted. |
1 comment
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23... Qe8
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Abandoning her consort. No good was 23...bxc6 24.Qxc6ch and mate nest move. But it is mate in two, now, as well. |
3 comments
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24. Nxa7+ Kd7 25. Qxb7#
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A sudden and drastic finish. During the course of the game, at no time was White under any real pressure or at a disadvantage. Possibly that explains the strong opponent's lapses in tactical and strategic judgement. A fine win to White. |
2 comments
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