Excitement

Two weeks ago I played this match at my local club. As it started with 1. e4 c5, the opening I dislike against stronger players I am quite happy with the result. Besides that, it was a very interesting game to play, making it rather exciting for quite a while as both sides had the chances to win the match. I hope my first contribution is good enough. I added my own annotations to the match, talking you through my thoughts during the game.

Any comments are welcome!

Interestingly you don't need to defend e4 immediately (whites move 4) because of the Qa4+ fork. However it is difficult to see what else to do since both Bc4 and d4 block the fork and lose e4. I probably would have played d3 as well.

I don't think 14.exf was the best because it brings his bishops into the battle quickly. It would be easier to defend the pawns and let fxe open the d file for you.

14.g4 was very dangerous for white since balck could start dismantling the King side pawns or simply attcak along the f-file which is now harder to defend.

Round about move 25 black should have doulbed on the f-file to make thtreats against f2-f3. Trading rooks its good for white becuase blacks are more active. In this sort of position black has to drop e5 and go for broke otherwise he'll get crushed.

30...h4 was the final straw for black who no longer has any real way to pressure g4 and white's King.

37.g5! was exactly the sort of move black should have made earlier: attacking at any cost.

44...Rxf is risky but has to be played otherwise black will end up a piece down and passive.

Over all I would say Black was scared of losing to an "officially" weaker player and this is why he lost. A finely played game by white.

Thanks for your thoughts!

As to defending e4 on move 4, I don't particularly like to play my Queen that early in the game, I used to do that a few years ago and always seemed to end up playing a couple of moves with my Queen, while my opponent simply attacked it all the time while developing. I only dare playing with my Queen early if it's a match with a time control of 25 minutes or less. Also considering my Knight couldn't develop to c3 anymore, I was happy to open up d2 for it. I know you probably would've played it too, but I'd just explain my own reasoning!

I had been thinking about playing g4 for quite some time, as I also thought it was rather risky to play, but at the same time his Bishop already having 'broken' through on that side of the board, I desperately wanted it to go back to where it originated. I didn't like waiting for him to take my e pawn, which I could only take back with dxe4, leaving my c4 pawn only covered by my white Bishop and allowing him to dangerously play d5. I didn't like the prospect of that outcome. I agree though, g4 was risky, however later on that pawn is well defended by my Bishop and Knight, making it a rather strong pawn. f2 is really weak because of this though.

I was pleasantly surprised by blacks move on 25. I didn't want to take it by myself, as his e pawn would've been very strong in that case, but trading them off was very good for me indeed. I was expecting him to double up his Rooks, which could've become a serious threat.

When h4 was played, I responded with my already intended Nh2. I hadn't "needed" to play it yet until then. Though I believe I should've played it sooner.