An Annotated Game from a Patzer

Hi! I'm pretty sure this game is riddled with errors but I was hoping someone could comment on whether or not I played the 'correct' plan in this game. Help would very much be appreciated ! Thanks in advance. (Takes a deep breath) Here we go!

Pieces played: White

1. e4 e6

2. d4 d5

3. Nd2 Nf6 

4. e5 Nfd7

5. Bd3!

At that time , I was still playing 5.f4 and it turns out that the White's light-squared Bishop is no better than Black's french Bishop. ( It should be noted of course that this move is very natural and to attach a exclamation  mark to this move is because it was a revolutionary idea at that time , to me. )

5. ... c5

6. c3 

This is one of the many advantages of developing White's Queenside Knight to d2. As we shall see however, in the game, I did not fully capitalize on all the advantages that the Knight on d2 had.

6. ... Nc6

7. Ngf3?

Natural and bad. Of course, White should try to develop all his pieces but here, more appropriate is 7.Ndf3! followed by 8. Ne2. As we shall see, White now gets into serious trouble as Black has serious counterplay against White's pawn on d4.

7. ... Qb6! 

Splendid! With one move, Black attacks d4 and at the same time, eyes b2 ( which at the moment is well-defended ).

8. Qa4

Already, White has to resort to this Queen manoeuvre to protect the d4 pawn. The other possibility, sacrificing the d4 pawn , with 8. 0-0 did not appeal to me. True, White gets a lead in development but this is not so important in a closed position like this. Furthermore, Black has not yet castled Kingside and the pawn sacrifice is hence,bad. 

8. ... cxd4?

Weak. Black should have maintained the tension in the centre until he was ready to make use of the open c-file at the least. More promising therefore, would have been the simple 8. ... Be7, 9. ... 0-0, 10. ...f6 attacking the head of the pawn chain. (Of course he also has to make sure that he can then push the e6 pawn to e5 or at the very least, defend the e6 pawn adequately.)

9. cxd4 Qb4??

But this is just terrible. With the Queens on board, Black clearly maintatins an advantage by keeping the tension.Trading the Queens also helps White as his Queen was akwardly placed anyway.

10. Qxb4

Played gladly.

10. ... Nxb4

11. Bb1 Nb6

So this then is Black's plan. He intends to control the c4 square with moves like ...Bd7 and ...Rc8 so as to provoke a weakness on c3 (by provoking White to play b3). As we shall see however, Black has also a weak c5 square. (Update: This is not true. The c5 square is not a 'weak' square. It could have been defended by ...b6. Sorry, Mr. Silman! I tried my best to follow your instructions but it turns out that I did not understand your material fully. Will re-read 'How to Reassess Your Chess')

12. a3 Nc6

13. Bd3!

A fine move. White does not want the Black Knight to come to c4.

13. ... Be7

14. b4!?

The correct plan. White chooses to defend the c4 square with his pieces rather than his pawn. Usually, such a plan is dubious but here one important feature makes such a plan possible. White controls the c5 square twice with pawns whereas Black only controls the c4 square with one pawn. It follows therefore, that Black should actually try to play ...b5 but this leads to dull and unimaginative play. Stronger is the attempt to play agains the White's a3 pawn by ...a5. However, this must only be played when White has moved his Rook away from a1 so that White cannot play b5 and follow it up a4.

14. ... Bd7

15. Bb2 0-0 

16. 0-0 Rac8

17. Rac1?!

The correct idea but not the right move. White intends to manoeuver his Knight to b3 but before doing so, he wants to ensure that Black's Knight cannot come to c4. Hence, he moves his Rook to c1 but here stronger is 17.Rfc1 keeping both Rooks on the Queenside. As we shall see, this move gives Black the chance to save his skin.

17. ... f6?

17. ...a5! was in order. Now Black has another weakness, the pawn on e6 that he has to watch over. The Knight manoeuvre b3-c5 gains strength as it attacks b7, d7 and e6 now.

18. gxf6 gxf6

19. Rfe1 a5?!

Not the right time to play it. Possibly 19. ...Rfe8 first was better.

20. b5! Na7

21. Nb3 a4?

Wrong again! 21. ... Na4! is scary. I failed to see this Knight manoeveur earlier. I think White has to sacrifice a pawn here by 22. Ba1 (possible also is the following line: 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Bc1 saving the pawn on a3 but then White has no way of ever making the move Nb3-Nc5. But then, the pawn on a5 will be hanging and here 23. ...b6 is forced. (Not, of course 23. ...Bd8 24.Bd2) The Knight on a4 is then lost in the wrong side of the equator.)

22. Nc5 Bxc5

Black merely converts White's advantages....

23.dxc5 Na8?

Black effectively 'loses' one piece now. Better of course is to accept the loss of a pawn by 23. Nc4

24.b6 Bb5?

What do you do if you're a piece up??

25.Bxb5

Why, you trade, of course!

25. ... Nxb5 

26. Rxe6 Kf7?

Black just gives up. As will be seen later, he had a chance to come back but missed it.

27. Rxf6+ Ke7 

28. Rxf8 Kxf8

29. Nd4?

The correct idea but tactics show that Black's Knight can now escape his 'cage'

29. ... Nxd4

30. Bxd4 Re8?

Why, 30. ...Nxb6! would have allowed Black a chance for the draw. 31. Rb1 Nd7 32. Rxb7 Nxc5 33. Bxc5 Rxc5 34.Kf1 and maybe the d4 pawn might be a threat (although White now also controls the 7th rank.)

31. Kf1 Re4

32. c6!

Nope, Black's Rook cannot leave his first rank.

1-0

I have analyzed this game by myself and without the help of a computer so my analysis is merely my 'thoughts'. Comments would very much be appreciated. Thanks !

Oh yes, I forgot. How do I add the chessboard in it?

Sorry for the trouble !

You sound pretty sure of yourself in your notes so I'm not sure what you need advice for...

No no no! I always write like this in my games. This is probably because I read a ton of annotated master games. At any rate, if you could please take a look at this game and see whether my notes are accurate, I would be very grateful.

Thank you, AndyClifton.

It would help all of us greatly if you would add the game in the board format.  Click on that board-icon thingie and then "ENTER MOVES" (I think it is) and play them into it.

Oh I see your point AndyClifton, I am almost 'sharing' this game with you as if I am already correct. I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention. My intention was to leave the notes and see whether they are 'accurate'.

Thanks and sorry, I do not mean any offense!

Hi. I'm sorry. How do I do this exactly? 

I clicked the chessboard, then clicked on 'a game or a sequence of moves', then clicked on a 'start with a blank chessboard', then clicked 'enter moves' but the pieces now 'refuse' to move. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Wow, I have no idea how to insert the chessboard. I have been trying like mad. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks !

Not sure what the problem is.  Works fine for me. 

Hm, Na8...that's pretty depressing. 

Yeap . 

However, do you think my notes were accurate? Was I 'following' the game, so to speak?

White's dark squared bishop is a poorly placed piece. It should have been moved to f4, where it still maintains control over e5. Also black's e6 pawn is not so weak , he has the chance to exchange the rooks and play e5 at the right time

Thanks! I agree with you. The thing is, moving to f4 would require first moving the Knight on d2 and as I've already mentioned in my notes, I did not want Black's Knight to infilitrate on c4. 

However, I believe you're correct. My idea was weaker and c5 itself was not such a weak square a I had originally believed in the game.

Thanks for your input, coolnandu1989! Much appreciated.