Chess XIV

Thaniri

1264 Posts

March 28 2016 20:13 GMT

Would anyone be interested in me streaming some chess play? I've been told my voice is pleasant to listen to. At least I can guarantee it is more pleasant than my chess play.

The secret to getting better at chess is to stop playing. I started playing a lot of blitz again out of boredom this past month and my rating fell to 900 then back up to 1150. I'm 100 points higher than I was more than 2 years ago, whilst having played almost no chess except for the past month. 1150 is now my lifetime peak in blitz rating, ignoring the calibration starting at 1200.

I couldn't tell you what sort of magic happened, or what I've been focusing on in practice, so this preamble will be cut short by:

I recommend that the blog be read like this, so that you can read my comments throughout while also being able to see the board for yourself.

+ Show Spoiler +

reginaldo_teodoro vs Thaniri
www.chess.com

1.e4 e6 2.e5 d5 3.d4 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nge7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxe7 Bxe7 8.Na3 Qb6 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Qb3 c4
11.Qc2 a6 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.O-O Kd7 14.b4 cxb3 15.axb3 Rhb8 16.c4 Qc7 17.c5 b5 18.b4 a5 19.Nb1 axb4 20.Qb2 Rxa1 21.Qxa1 Ra8 22.Qb2 Qa5 23.Nfd2 Qa4 24.Nb3 Qa2 25.Qxa2 Rxa2 26.Re1 Rb2 27.Na5 Bg5 28.Nxc6 Kxc6 29.h4 Bxh4 30.Kf1 b3 31.Rd1 Rxf2+ 32.Kg1 b2 33.Rd3 Rc2 34.Rb3 Rc1+ 35.Kh2 Rxb1 36.g3 Bg5 37.Kg2 Be3 38.Kf3 Bxd4 39.Kg4 Bxe5 40.Kh5 Bxg3 41.Rxg3 Rh1+ 42.Kg4 b1=Q 43.Kf4 Qb4+ 0-1

1.e4
1..e6
2.e5
2..d5
3.d4
3..c5

Unsurprisingly, I opened with the french for the umpteenth time. Many people don't seem to know how to hold on to their d4 pawn it seems, or the position gets extremely claustrophobic if they do manage to hold on to it, which is a situation I am no longer bothered by.

4.c3

This move I feel like comes from a player who wants the position to open up a little bit. They want me to play cxd4 so that they can play cxd4, opening the c file a little bit. However, it is not in my best interest to take that d4 pawn until I know I win the counting game.

4..Nc6
5.Nf3
5..Nge7

Here is where the first big decision can occur. Right now my c5 pawn is hanging, as Nge7 blocks the black bishop. White has 3 supports for the d4 pawn, while black has 2 attacks on it. White looks to have to very interesting decisions in that case. To pursue an advantageous attacking position, or to fortify an advantageous defensive position.

Should black take on the c5 pawn, I'm not sure how he can continue to hold on to it. The two supporting moves he can play would be b4 and Be3. Be3 can be threatened by black playing Ng6, and the pawn on e5 has only the knight protecting it.

He chose instead to play Bg5, pinning my knight to my queen. No big deal, I will simply play for a closed position in that case, and I will push up my kingside pawns. Castling should not be necessary.

6.Bg5
6..h6
7.Bce7
7..Bxe7

8.Na3 is an awkward move by white. The pawn on c3 makes it difficult to move forward. The knight is looking for the b5 square, but even if it gets there it is not threatening the c5 pawn or the d4 pawn, which continue to be the most important part of the board. Perhaps fiancetto-ing his bishop or playing Bb5 would be more conducive to focusing attention on the center. It would also allow him to castle if he so wished.

8.Na3
8..Qb6
9.Bb5
9..Bd7

These are reasonably expected moves after 8.Na3. White is not pushing his advantage over the center however, and is being distracted for some reason on the queenside. I don't know what the goal is. This is potentially the big thematic blunder of the game.

10.Qb3

If this isn't an admission of error, I don't know what is. White has now dedicated 15 points of pieces to achieving nothing at all. He will lose a lot of tempo correcting this error.

10..c4
11.Qc2
11..a6
12.Bxc6
12..Bcx6
13.0-0
13..Kd7

10..c4 can't be answered by white without losing 2 points, as such the queen is pushed back. My goal of closing the position is achieved with this move, as such after the bad but necessary bishop trade by white I played my king up in order to connect my rooks.

The plan from here is to push the b and a pawns and queen either one. The issue I can potentially run into is that I've got two bishops to his two knights, which puts me at a disadvantage in playing a closed position. My white bishop is clearly the bad bishop in this case.

Though theoretically he has the better pieces for this position, there is not much I can do about it. Playing Bxa3 would make it impossible for me to pass a pawn, and my white bishop isn't going to be useful any time soon. I believe however that my tempo advantage and a more central king will allow me to break his queenside.

14.b4
14..cxb3
15.axb3
15..Rhb8
16.c4
16..Qc7

Now the position is opening up very quickly. The a and c files are both half-open. White's knight on a3 has only one defender, and I have rooks on both the b and a files getting ready to support a big push.

I stopped at this move because I believed it to be significant. White wants black to play 16..dxc4, weakening blacks central control and simultaneously increasing white's center control. However, I believe the correct move is to ignore it and hope that white instead takes with cxd5 and responding with Bxd5 to give the white bishop more room to breathe.

Qc7 is an obvious move to get out of the way of the b pawn.

The best move for white to play is c5, and he plays it. Closing the position a little bit, and continuing to stifle my bishops.

17.c5
17..b5
18.b4
18..a5
17.Nb1
19..axb4
20.Qb2
20..Rxa1
21.Qxa1
21..Ra8

After this chain of events, a few things happen. Black gains a decisive advantage because:

+a file is cleared
+b file has passed pawns
+white is down a point
+remember than knight on f3? It's trash and has nowhere to be good.

but:

-1 both bishops suck
-the passed pawns are doubled.

The pawns can be supported by qa5 after white's queen is forced to b2, and from there all black should have to do is be patient and slowly try to queen one of the b pawns.

22.Qb2
22..Qa5
23.Nfd2
23..Qa4
24.Nb3
24..Qa2
25.Qxa2
25..Rxa2
26.Re1
26..Rb2

The rook on the b5 file is important in aiding my pawns with their quest to b1. It also forks both knights. What my opponent does to save his knight on b3 is to play Na5, which I disagree with. It should be his plan to get his king onto the b file, and to support b1 in the meantime. If he had played Nd2 in stead, Black's appropriate response would be to play Bg5. Had he played Na1 he has a few more options to maneuver with the knight.

After Na5 he trades the knight for a bishop, which only brings my king closer to b1, and is a bad trade for him.

Skipping forward to 29..Bxh4

At this point, both of us had about 2 minutes left on our clock. perhaps he was feeling the pressure, but this move was the beginning of the end. Now 2 points down, black is even more poised to take the game.

31..Rxf2+
32.Kg1
32..b2
33.Rd3
33..Rc2
34.Rb3
34..Rc1+

This is the winning move.

Due to white's poor development, several forcing moves can be played here. The knight can not move for threat of queening a pawn, and the king is easily harassed.

Rc1+ I thought was clever because of the fork between then knight and king. This gives control to the b1 square and ultimately wins the game for me.

Thanks for reading, I think I might pursue chess once again. I've been playing just for fun and having good success so I would like to continue that streak.

I know I'm a narcissist for posting my wins, I promise the next ones I do will be about my losses. I just wanted to share that my rating has increased in spite of not practicing ^^

JieXian

Malaysia4677 Posts

March 29 2016 05:42 GMT

nice music man

don_kyuhote

3006 Posts

March 29 2016 06:05 GMT

Welcome back.
I missed your Chess blogs.

Thaniri

1264 Posts

March 29 2016 06:40 GMT

@JieXian

Maybe I should have a disclaimer that I didn't write it. Don't want to get copy right banned or something!

@don_kyuhote

This time around I'll probably be a lot more laid back. I should probably focus on much more detailed analysis of my games because re-reading my blogs usually only takes a couple of minutes. It's just not very dense. I'll experiment with a 5-10 minute video next time around.

sertas

Sweden874 Posts

March 29 2016 11:46 GMT

at move 7 black should have a better possition by many ways but im pretty sure u bungled it when you played c4 and Kd7.

mdb

Bulgaria4058 Posts

March 29 2016 12:26 GMT

Never liked 5... Nge7, I prefer 5 ...Qb6

Thaniri

1264 Posts

March 30 2016 01:41 GMT

@mdb

I experimented a lot with Qb6 in the past, if the opponent decides to play a closed position on the queenside all that ends up happening is wasted tempo because the queen can not do anything.

There are a lot of opportunities to get a free pawn, but I don't think that is solid play.

Titusmaster6

United States5933 Posts

March 30 2016 19:29 GMT

That was great. I really miss chess and your commentary was very easy to follow and informative.

Lebesgue

4542 Posts

March 31 2016 01:29 GMT

On March 30 2016 10:41 Thaniri wrote:
@mdb

I experimented a lot with Qb6 in the past, if the opponent decides to play a closed position on the queenside all that ends up happening is wasted tempo because the queen can not do anything.

There are a lot of opportunities to get a free pawn, but I don't think that is solid play.

5.Qb6 is probably the most popular move in the advanced variation. I would be happy to play white side if black chooses not to pressure my d4 pawn. It means I can easily get my white bishop developed to d3 which is the best square for it.

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