[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2009.09.19"]
[White "eberger"]
[Black "KyleMayhugh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1410"]
[BlackElo "1297"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Opening "Giuoco Pianissimo"]
[TimeControl "3000+0"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5
Look at us following a classic opening: The Guioco Piano
4. d3 h6 5. c3 Nf6
Okay, we've transposed a little on the move order (well, I did, by playing h6 because I'm so paranoid about that knight-fork on f7 even though it should be easily defended).
6. b4 Bb6 7. a4 a6 8. O-O d6 9. Nbd2 O-O
Now I think things have gotten very interesting. This is a really cramped position on my queenside with his advancement of quite a few pawns. But I feel like I have solid escape squares for all my pieces set up if they become needed and I'm thinking very carefully to avoid dropping any pieces.
10. h3 Be6
Offering to clear off that pesky light-squared bishop. If he takes, I can open up the f-file for my rook and save myself a break move.If he doesn't, I can do it and at least unclog the center a little.
11. b5 Bxc4 12. Nxc4 Na5 13. Nxb6 cxb6
I'm not comfortable trading a bishop for a knight even when the situation here says it isn't bad (lots of pawns still on the board, he doesn't get the paired advantage because we already traded the partners). I also get that open file I've been looking for. I continue to believe that, as some of the training videos I've watched have said, doubled pawns are not a big deal at this level of play.
14. Be3 Rc8 15. c4 Nd7
At this point I figure I've got plenty of time in this closed position, so tempi are not an issue. I want to manuever that knight around to a more active square, going from f6 to d7 to e5 and then possibly on to b3.
16. Re1 Nc5
He took a full 7:37 on Re1. I admire his patience. I took three minutes on Nc5, so that's a good sign. I seriously considered Qe7, Qe5 and especially my break move of f5 here.
17. Rb1 f5
Okay, time for the break. I got pretty nervous at this point. Breaking is attacking his king here, and I remember one of the great players, I forget whch, saying you should only start an attack when you have a positional advantage, and I'm not sure I have one here.
18. exf5 Rxf5 19. g4 Rf8
I made this move too fast, 26 seconds, and really Rf7 was a much better option, leaving f8 for the other rook to slide in behind, or perhaps the queen. Definitely a hole in my game that needs filling.
20. Qd2 Qf6
Okay, here's where I got a little stupid. I spent a lot of time before he made Qd2 (took him 4:31 to decide on it) trying to examine all of the possible responses to my planned move of Qf6, threatening to overload on the knight. I then failed to notice that he actually hung the freaking knight I was planning to overload. I could have just taken it.
He was threatening some scary things with the bishop-queen battery, but he would have just been trading his bishop for my two pawns while his queen attacked with no support, and neither of his rooks were close to getting into the attack, so I should have been just fine.
21. Nh2 Nab3 22. Qc2 Nd4
I didn't think he'd take the trade here, but he did.
23. Bxd4 exd4
Now we've got a very interesting position. Material is dead even and symettrical. I've got some loose pawns, but I've also got better attacking chances and more pressure on his king.
I thought seriously about trying to sacrifice the knight to pull his queen away from the defense of f2, something like
24. ??? Nxa4
25. Qxa4 Qxf2+
26. Kh1 ????
But as you can see, on the sixth ply I run out of steam one square short of the mate and no way to bring support in to the attack.
24. Re2 a5
That ends those thoughts anyway. I feel like a5 locks up that little corner of the board which had the potential to give me troubles that I didn't want to have to deal with while focusing on the attack and the rest of the board.
25. Rbe1 Nd7
26. Re6 Qh4
This response took me awhile to come up with, and I'm still not thrilled with it.
27. Kg2 Rf6
Here's a move I was a little more proud of. I know that lifting the rook puts my back rank under a bit of pressure, but I thought pretty hard about the possibilities and was sure he couldn't do any real damage.
28. Nf3 Rxf3
Nf3 was a very nice move, and I must admit one I had not considered seriously.
Even now I can't see any better reply than to trade the rook, but really I feel like I get good compensation for it: a knight, two pawns, and the initiative. At this stage in the game, I felt the material I took was worth more than the rook, but without symmetry we are now probably destined for a decisive outcome when a draw would have been just fine with me against a stronger opponent with me playing black.
29. Kxf3 Qxh3+ 30. Ke2 Qxg4+
31. Kd2 Qf4+
I'm kind of vaguely thinking about if he'll accept a perpetual here.
32. Kd1 Rf8 33. Re8 Ne5
If he wants to trade, we can do it on my terms, and I think closing off that file was very worthwhile, especially as I'm about to be rookless.
34. Rxf8+ Kxf8 35. Qe2 Kg8
I felt like he wasn't close to any real attack so I had time to get my king to a slightly safer spot.
36. f3 h5 37. Qe4 Qg3
I really don't want to trade queens. I don't think my two pawns and knight can hold off his rook in that situation, it's just too powerful.
38. Qxb7 Nxd3
This was a major blunder on my part. I didn't realize how big of one until after the game. I realized in a few moves this probably would cost me material because I was looking for checks after his rook check was parried and I missed out Qe4+, forking the knight. Big mistake.
What we both failed to notice, and the computer now points out, is that this also offered him mate in 3.
39. Re8+ Kh7 40. Qe4+ Kh6
There it is, dropping the knight.
41. Re6+ g6 42. Qxd3 h4
At this point I'm sure I've lost. But endgames seem simple when in fact they are very hard, and the computer thinks both players made some questionable decisions from here on out and missed some big opportunities.
My passed pawn on the h-file is my hope now.
43. Qd2+ Kh5 44. Rxd6 h3
Hello, McFly? He hung his rook here and I completely missed it. I played this move in four seconds. There is just no excuse for that. I never noticed until the computer pointed it out. So, so far to go in my hopes of becoming a good chess player.
45. Rd5+ g5
46. Rd8 Qxf3+
Kudos to me for not getting so caught up in racing the pawn that I missed the possibility of mate here. Had to clear some space for my king, and bought some initiative. With that pawn gone, I now have connected passed pawns on the G and H files, which means that I have some chances despite the material disadvantage.
47. Kc2 Qc3+
I felt that Qc3+ was a very nice move here. Earlier, I had wanted to avoid exchanging queens. Now I wanted to clear them off, because I know that a lone rook can have problems with the connected passed pawns, especially with my king in there to support as well.
Crafty disagrees and feels this move loses more quickly than other options.
48. Qxc3 dxc3 49. Rd1 g4 50. Kd3 g3
51. Kxc3 g2
He can no longer prevent at least one of my pawns from promoting and resigns.
0-1
I finish the game with 17:47 left on my clock, meaning I averaged 38 seconds per move for 51 moves. That's nowhere near where I want to be but nonetheless an improvement.
Current rating: 1304
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