Help me analyze this somewhat disappointing game!

[Narz]

http://www.queenalice.com/game.php?id=195262

1. e4 c6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Qa5+ 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bd2 Qxe5 6. Nf3 Qe7 7. Bd3 d6 8. Qe2 Bg4 9. O-O-O Nd7 10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 Bg6 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. f4 Nxd3+ 14. cxd3 Bxc3 15. Bxc3 h6 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. gxf5 f6 18. Rhg1 O-O-O 19. Qg4 Re8 20. e5 d5 21. Qxg7 Qxg7 22. Rxg7 Ne7 23. exf6 Nxf5 24. Rg6 d4 25. Bb4 Rh7 26. Rdg1 Rf7 27. Kd2 b6 28. Rc1 Kd7 29. a4 c5 30. Ba3 Re3 31. b4 Rxh3 32. bxc5 Rh2+ 33. Ke1 Rh1+ 34. Kd2 Rxc1 35. Kxc1 bxc5 36. Bxc5 a6 37. Kb2 Ke6 38. Be7 h5 39. Bd8 Rh7 40. f7+ Kxf7 41. Rf6+ Ke8 42. Bb6 Rf7 43. Re6+ Kd7 44. Re5 Kc6 45. Re6+ Kd5 46. Re5+ Kc6 47. Re6+ Kd5 1/2-1/2

His opening was a bit weird but I also think mine could have been a bit more aggressive. By move 22 I had won a pawn with a potential passed pawn (or two) but black got his knight placed pretty well and I felt like I lost the initiative somewhat (I was somewhat distracted during the days of my moves from the late twenties to mid thirties ). I finally thought I had a winning idea when black moved his rook away from the front of my pawn with 40. f7 discovered check. The king would take I figured, then check, then he'd attack my bishop, then I'd move the bishop to attack the d4 pawn, then he'd move his knight and I'd win the pawn. I forgot the elementary 42 ... Rf7 which pretty much thwarted that idea. Then his king went over for my bishop. With my king to far out of play, my bishop cut off from the right side of the board and my opponent's h pawn feeling dangerous to me (though maybe my fears were misguided) I could think of nothing better than to concede to a draw.

What are you thoughts on the game (and endgame in particular)?

Cheers,
Narz

 

[Panzar75]

His opening play was indeed a bit unusual.

One interesting idea is to simply protect the e5 pawn after 4... Bb4 with 5. Nf3 and if 5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qxc3+ 7. Bd2 white has a huge lead in development for a small pawn weakness. The pawn on e5 makes it hard for black to catch up in development any time soon and the Queen must move again before he can even start to think about how to go about that. The computer would play this line and gives about +1.80 or so which is practically winning, if you're a computer that is.

Black could have played 19... Rd7 to protect the g7 pawn. Instead he plays 19... Re8 which does absolutely nothing. Why on earth didn't you just play Qxg7 immediately? To insert e5 just makes his Rook move look reasonable instead of just useless. It's his job to open lines for his Rooks, don't do the work for him. Even if you're still much better, when you can grab a pawn for nothing, don't complicate matters.

Here's the star move you missed: 24. f7!

He can't take the Rook, 24.. Nxg7 25. Bxg7 and white is threatning both rooks and will be up a piece. And if 24... Ref8 white answers 25. Rdg1 Nxg7 26. Bxg7 with a fork on the Rooks, again, white is up a piece for a pawn. And finally, if 24... Rd8 then 25. Rg6 followed by Rf6 is pretty much winning for white.

You should probably have played Be7 at some point. Instead black had the chance to play 29... Re3 with a clear advantage. Instead he played c5 which gave you an interesting option to play 30. Bxc5 bxc5 31. Rxc5 Ne3 32. Rg7 which may or may not be good but is probably better than 30. Ba3 where the Bishop does nothing anyway.

Even if you missed 42... Rf7 there were a lot of other possibiliteies for black here. Rb7 for example. Even just Ne7 and pushing the h-pawn is enough for a draw at least.

The fact is that after 30. Ba3 black is just better but he misses quite a few strong moves and you were lucky to escape with the draw. Your worries about the h-pawn were certainly justified, this pawn is the reason black is better. In fact, black should have pushed this pawn on move 44 instead of the weak move 44... Kc6

 

[Stegyre]

Here's the star move you missed: 24. f7!

It's the innocent ( ), little moves like this that make my day. When I start seeing them for myself (instead of being on the receiving end), I will be so happy!

 

[Narz]

Thanks Panzar. I thought black was better at the end too, which is why I forced a draw (well, I don't know for sure that it was forced but he might have had to make bad moves to avoid it).