My Best Games #4: Katalimov Sicilian | If you don't develop you'll regret it...
Yesterday I went to the beach so I couldn't post a game, it was a very nice day and the perfect time to go to the beach.
The game today is a very interesting one. It's another Sicilian that I played as white. This time I played the Open Sicilian. I was very surprised when my opponent played the offbeat 2... b6, the Katalimov. It was the first time that I had ever faced it, so I played by my instinct and made good, solid developing moves. I think that 2... b6 isn't a very good move because it allows white to get a huge lead in development and start n attack right out of the opening. That's exactly how the game went. My opponent played way too many pawn moves on the queenside and neglected his development, and I punished him by a thematic knight sacrifice on d5, opening the e-file, starting an irresistible attack, sacrificing my QUEEN, and then winning back enough material to win the game. Unfortunately at the end I lost a piece in time pressure when my opponent forked two of my pieces with his lone king, a little flaw in this game, but it didn't really matter as I was still left a rook and piece up.
Also, thankfully the annotations feature is working now so I get to place punctuation after moves!
Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how to destroy slow development and make your opponent regret developing slowly!
So many Sicilians...
Well, that's the main game for today.
I'm going to share with you another game, this time without annotations because it doesn't really need them. I posted this game in the SPL forums as my 5th game, but I don't really think it deserves to be labeled as one of my best because all it shows is my opponent falling for a cheap trap. It's a pattern that we should all remember, though, so I'll post it here in full for you too see and remember. This is my first and only time I've ever played the Kan. I'll probably play it again sometime...
He resigned because if Qxe4, Bc6 wins the queen and the game, and if he doesn't take I'm left with an extra piece.
In the upcoming blogs there will be two games analyzed in each post. I already posted some games with analysis in the SP forums, so I will post them again, but I will also analyze a new game each time.
As always, thank for reading, tell me what you think in the comments below, please follow the blog, and I'll see you next time!
colorfulcake
