An interesting game in the Sveshnikov.

did you resign here? You definately should have played on, I think you had great chances of at least a draw, he would probably have to give up his bishop for a pawn or two i think.

Rb1+ followed by mate.

oops, my bad

Bxb5 is a move that I would have liked to play! But I think its wouldnt be likely to be bad bishop if it retreats to e2 or c2 where it has more options.

Yes, I was pleased with Bxb5, but in the game explorer all three games went Nc2, with three wins for white.

I certainly felt the f4 was a very strange move by him, anyone have any idea why it was played?

Well it has its pros and cons. As you mentioned, it does block in the dark squared bishop, but it turn it makes your light squared bishop bad, gains space and opens the diagonal for his bishop, although it was probably going to go to b7 anyway so it probably wasnt the greatest move..

Why not 20. c5?

Just for the record, I'm 170 ECF...

..Also, my comments are made without reading any other post in this thread or looking at the whole game then commenting (i.e. I didnt make them with hindsight)


14. f4 "Leaves theory - certainly seems like a poor move. The dark sqared bishop looks awful. Better would have been 0-0."

I think this is an unfair critisism of this move, while it might make his bishop bad, there also appears to be compensation: an open file, the threat of f3, and light square bishop+Queen could quickly enter the fray.

also interesting is how that weak bishop could become strong: if white allows f3 then Bh3 grabs a diagonal.


[b][15. Bxb5] I like this move, although possibly not objectively correct, white gets a lot of pressure. Better would have been Nc2, however I was concerned about my bishop becoming bad, so decided to give it up for two pawns and the iniative.[/b]

IMO, this is a completly incorrect assessment: Bxb5 does not create pressure, nor does it give white the 'iniative'.

[b][20. Rac1 Bf8][/b]

To my suprise, white does appear to have good pressure at this point (maybe the above was a little too hasty?), but Black probably has/had improvements (i.e Black might have been better off sacing the d-pawn for activity)  

[b][21.b4...][/b]

Rxh2 with Qh4 refutes this: a better try was probably just a3, since black has made all his pieces passive defenders white can probably afford to give up a tempo without completly losing the pressure.

20. c5 doesnt work against d5.

Then why did you play it two moves later when it still doesn't work?

Because i didnt see Qh4

Thankyou for your comments Blackadder, I appreciate a far stronger player having a look at my game.