Richard Cribb
He does monologues
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2003
- Messages
- 4,291
So my first tournament game in some years ended in a success, sort of. Anyway I won. It was not a great game, but it had so funny moments, so I will take the liberty to post it, with some instant notes which I must emphasize are not necessarily very high quality, since they are based mostly on a brief post portem session. I am also so old-fashioned that I don't use computers for analyzing...
luceafarul - A.N.Other, Lillehammer 13.1.2005
1.a3! Anderssen's opening - my historical studies pays off! The good professor used this move three times in his match against Morphy, getting a clearly superior position every time. Later he played it from time to time and Steinitz also used it with success in his tie-break match against Blackburne Vienna 1873. This opening is of course not especially dangerous but there is some clever transpositional possibilities. Besides my opponent is a rather promising junior who likes sharp lines he has memorized well, so it seemed like a good idea to channel the games into a bit more uncharted territory. d5 Morphy played e5, and then one point of the opening was revealed, after 2.c4 white has a Sicilian with an extra tempo. 1...d5 is a decent move, but the most subtle seems to be 1...g6, since on 2.b4 Bg7 is akward for white, and a3 is not necessarily a very useful move in King's Indian. I had intended 2.g3 and something untheoretical. 1...f5 is also interesting. 2.Nf3 Also now white can transposefavourably. Nf6 If 2...c5 3.c4 or 3.e3 followed by 4.c4 with a Benoni with an extra tempo. 3.b4 So some sort of Polish Defence (1.d4 b5) in advance has been reached.It offers fair chances for white. a5!? An interesting plan, but I prefer 3...c6 with the idea a5, since white now gains space on the queen-side. 4.b5 a4?! And this is a bit frivolous. Why not just development? White can now win useful tempi with attacking the pawn on a4. 5.e3 Bd7 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c6 9.0-0 9.Rb1!? is a good alternative.cxb5 10.Nxb5 Qa5 In the same reckless style. Doesn't young people learn to develop their pieces anymore? 11.Rb1 Na6!? 11...Nc6 looks more natural, but after 12.d4 white is clearly on top. 12.d4 Nc7 13.Bd2 Qb6 14.Nc3!? I couldn't find anything better, so I just contended myself with a nice position.Qa7 15.Bc1!? Boy, am I deep...
I looked a bit on 15.e4!?, found some variations with good compensation, and...decided to play it safe. If he can move his pieces back and forth, why can't I follow suit? Qa5!? Still sticking to tactical play. 15...Be7 16.e4 is good for white. 16.Qd3 Rb8 17.Ne5 Bd6 18.f4 Something I picked up from Pillsbury. 0-0 19.Ne4 Seemed to be the clearest. 19.Nf3!? folowed by e4-e5 also looks interesting. Bxe5 20.fxe5 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Bc6 22.Qc2! 22.Qg4/h4 looks more natural, but in that case black gets counter-play with Qc3. Now I think I am almost winning due to my space advantage and attacking chances. Precisio, however, is required. Nd5 23.Bd3 h6 24.e4 Ne7 25.Be3 Doesn't ruin anything, but the most precise was 25.Qb2. I only spotted the right plan after black's next move... Rc8 25.Qb2 Ng6 27.Bd2 Qd8 28.Bb4 Re8 29.Bd6 Pity it is not a knight...Qh4 30.g3 Qg5 31.Qf2 Nh8 32.Qf3 Now the threat of d5 can't be countered, but I had used a lot of time on those mostly obvious moves and here I had about 2 minutes left on the next 8 moves so black was still hoping... h5 33.d5 exd5 34.exd5 Bd7 35.e6! The most precise, and with some attractive variations in mind.fxe6 36.Rxb7 exd5 The point was 36...R(any)d8 37.Rxd7! Rxd7 38.Qf8+! Rxf8 39.Rxf8# A pity he didn't allow me this finish, I am not spoiled with fancy checkmates in my games! 37.Rxd7The rest is silence.Black lends a helping hand with a blunder. Qh6? 38.Qxd5+ Re6 39.Bf4 Qf6 40.Bf5 And with 20 seconds left on my clock I missed the most precise: 40.Bg5. However black resigned, he is losing more material.
I know I shouldn't be proud of this, but I am. To quote Steinitz after having won a game as a veteran against a young player" I may be old, but if somebody stick their finger in my mouth; I'll bite!" And fortunately I also have some teeth left...
luceafarul - A.N.Other, Lillehammer 13.1.2005
1.a3! Anderssen's opening - my historical studies pays off! The good professor used this move three times in his match against Morphy, getting a clearly superior position every time. Later he played it from time to time and Steinitz also used it with success in his tie-break match against Blackburne Vienna 1873. This opening is of course not especially dangerous but there is some clever transpositional possibilities. Besides my opponent is a rather promising junior who likes sharp lines he has memorized well, so it seemed like a good idea to channel the games into a bit more uncharted territory. d5 Morphy played e5, and then one point of the opening was revealed, after 2.c4 white has a Sicilian with an extra tempo. 1...d5 is a decent move, but the most subtle seems to be 1...g6, since on 2.b4 Bg7 is akward for white, and a3 is not necessarily a very useful move in King's Indian. I had intended 2.g3 and something untheoretical. 1...f5 is also interesting. 2.Nf3 Also now white can transposefavourably. Nf6 If 2...c5 3.c4 or 3.e3 followed by 4.c4 with a Benoni with an extra tempo. 3.b4 So some sort of Polish Defence (1.d4 b5) in advance has been reached.It offers fair chances for white. a5!? An interesting plan, but I prefer 3...c6 with the idea a5, since white now gains space on the queen-side. 4.b5 a4?! And this is a bit frivolous. Why not just development? White can now win useful tempi with attacking the pawn on a4. 5.e3 Bd7 6.c4 e6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c6 9.0-0 9.Rb1!? is a good alternative.cxb5 10.Nxb5 Qa5 In the same reckless style. Doesn't young people learn to develop their pieces anymore? 11.Rb1 Na6!? 11...Nc6 looks more natural, but after 12.d4 white is clearly on top. 12.d4 Nc7 13.Bd2 Qb6 14.Nc3!? I couldn't find anything better, so I just contended myself with a nice position.Qa7 15.Bc1!? Boy, am I deep...
I looked a bit on 15.e4!?, found some variations with good compensation, and...decided to play it safe. If he can move his pieces back and forth, why can't I follow suit? Qa5!? Still sticking to tactical play. 15...Be7 16.e4 is good for white. 16.Qd3 Rb8 17.Ne5 Bd6 18.f4 Something I picked up from Pillsbury. 0-0 19.Ne4 Seemed to be the clearest. 19.Nf3!? folowed by e4-e5 also looks interesting. Bxe5 20.fxe5 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Bc6 22.Qc2! 22.Qg4/h4 looks more natural, but in that case black gets counter-play with Qc3. Now I think I am almost winning due to my space advantage and attacking chances. Precisio, however, is required. Nd5 23.Bd3 h6 24.e4 Ne7 25.Be3 Doesn't ruin anything, but the most precise was 25.Qb2. I only spotted the right plan after black's next move... Rc8 25.Qb2 Ng6 27.Bd2 Qd8 28.Bb4 Re8 29.Bd6 Pity it is not a knight...Qh4 30.g3 Qg5 31.Qf2 Nh8 32.Qf3 Now the threat of d5 can't be countered, but I had used a lot of time on those mostly obvious moves and here I had about 2 minutes left on the next 8 moves so black was still hoping... h5 33.d5 exd5 34.exd5 Bd7 35.e6! The most precise, and with some attractive variations in mind.fxe6 36.Rxb7 exd5 The point was 36...R(any)d8 37.Rxd7! Rxd7 38.Qf8+! Rxf8 39.Rxf8# A pity he didn't allow me this finish, I am not spoiled with fancy checkmates in my games! 37.Rxd7The rest is silence.Black lends a helping hand with a blunder. Qh6? 38.Qxd5+ Re6 39.Bf4 Qf6 40.Bf5 And with 20 seconds left on my clock I missed the most precise: 40.Bg5. However black resigned, he is losing more material.I know I shouldn't be proud of this, but I am. To quote Steinitz after having won a game as a veteran against a young player" I may be old, but if somebody stick their finger in my mouth; I'll bite!" And fortunately I also have some teeth left...
I have just fixed it, now it should make sense. I apologize for my sloppiness.
By the way, could you repost your game (on the other thread) also, I wasn't able to play it thru.
