Chess.com annual tournament, round 2, game 1
I'm doing these posts in the form of a diary, where I quote the thoughts as I had them during the game, and then augment them with the computer analysis. My thoughts during the game are in italics.
16th of March
An early priority is a player called wolffromegypt, where I’m up against the London system – which I’m not a big fan of with either colour.
This is where I’m at:
7. Ne5, the last move, was not played before, so I’m looking for reasons why. Usually, white plays Nbd2 first to cement Ne5, so 7...Qc7 merits heavy consideration. White will probably have to play Bb5, and I think black solves its usual problems in the London system down that line. Qc7 it is.
Black also could just take on e5, which the engine prefers a bit. Against a strong player, it would be the best option, but in a game like that, where I was shooting for a quick win, I'd rather stay with Qc7 or Qb6.
17th of March
White played f4 the next morning.
It’s already out of the opening book, and I did not anticipate the f4 move he just played – yesterday, I only looked at Bb5. He has built a solid wall there, and I’m a bit worried about the fate of Bc8, and my king after castling. I could repay in kind, and go for Ne4, followed by f6 or f5.
Because I’m short on time this morning, I’ll just castle, as I can’t do any Ne4+f6 ideas anyway until that happens. Even briefly considered castling long, but that seems a case of solving one problem by introducing a few others.
The engine is ok with this choice, which - considering I had another 15 games going on - was the right one.
In another hour, we find ourselves here:
Now, there is a choice to make. I could go for Ne4 immediately. Or, play slow with g6, Nh5/d7, f6. I feel more at peace with the g6 plan. Ne4 closes the position up, and I might have an unwanted draw in my future.
The engine is ok with the g6 idea, but after cxd4. If white takes with the e pawn, the f4 pawn goes under pressure. If with the c pawn, Bd3 is going to be exchanged.
White's next move was Bh4.
The main move is Nh5, after which I need to analyze g4.
The engine slightly prefers Ne8. I think the reasoning here is that the knight is destined to g7 anyway, so it might as well do it without giving white g4 options.
18th of March
White played Bg5 as the next move:
The last one looks strange, as it’s inviting a fork. I’m not winning a piece due to Nxc6, but it takes things into an unexpected and positive direction.
Bc8 comes to life, the opening of the position is in my favour, and Ne5 is gone. What’s not to like? I’ll just play cxd4 first, so we won’t have to worry about any dxc5 zwischenzugs. (Not that I see those).
While I don't win a piece, the eval here is -2.65 (and the game will bear this out shortly). I'm not sure how white arrived to Bg5, as there were much safer ways to develop (Na3, for example).
A couple of hours later, we went down the forced line, then white played 17. Rf1 which I only glanced over before.
I still like my chances here considering how open white’s king is. Time to calculate again.
Qb6 works similarly to the lines I was looking at against castling. In fact, Rf1 seems even a bit “better” for me.
The engine is wondering why I didn't just take on f4. I was a bit fixated on Qb6 at that point, and, as can be seen from the lines above, was certain white won't benefit from taking on e5.
Bxg4 is is what I planned originally, but I need to do a sanity check. For example, what about Bb4+d4?
There’s a touch choice. I’m sure the engine would prefer Bb4, but I’d rather play Bxg4. White has more dangers to navigate, and I feel there can be a surer and faster win this way.
The engine actually prefers Bxg4 as well. Both options win: the difference is between -2 (Bb4) and -3 (Bg4), so it wasn't such a tough choice either. Sometimes having too many winning options creates unnecessary dilemmas.
19th of March
The black game is done, as he just did a big blunder with Qc3. Waiting for the resignation (or mop-up duty).
Yep, white just gave up his queen.
20th of March
The game has finished with a mate.
So, not a very difficult game, but it had a couple of interesting calculations, and gave a bit of mileage for me with the London system. In tournaments with mixed level of players, it's always good to find fast-moving players who can grant a couple of points.