BEST BULLET GAME EVER
Sort:
[Event "CCC 17 Bullet: Qualification (2|1)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.04.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Stoofvlees"]
[Black "Igel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[PlyCount "157"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[TimeControl "120+1"]
1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 {All of these moves were mandatory.} 4. Bb5 Bd6 5.
f4 f6 ({Of course not} 5... exf4 6. Bxg7 {+-}) 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qh4 {White induces
a further weakening of the a1-h8 diagonal for his bishop on b2.} 7... exf4 8.
Nf3 {The first sacrifice. White focuses on rapid development. This is still
theory and has been played over 20 times.} (8. exf4 Kf7 {is another line.}) 8...
fxe3 {This is the critical try, grabbing material. It is the most common move in
correspondence chess.} 9. O-O Bd7 (9... exd2 10. Nbxd2 Bd7 11. Rae1+ Kf7 12. c4
{gives White a huge initiative against the weakened black king and the
undeveloped black army.}) 10. Nc3 $146 {The first new move, but it's logical to
develop the last minor piece.} (10. Bd3 {The predecessor:} 10... Qe7 11. Nc3 Nb4
12. Bxg6+ hxg6 13. Qxh8 O-O-O 14. dxe3 Qxe3+ 15. Kh1 Ne7 16. Qxf6 Nf5 17. Bc1
Qe8 18. Bg5 Be7 19. Qe5 Bxg5 20. Qxe8 Rxe8 21. Nxg5 d4 22. Nce4 Bc6 23. Rf4 {has
been played twice in correspondence; one game ended in a draw and White lost the
other. ½-½ (39) Bochev,K (2401)-Davidov,A (2307) ICCF 2013}) 10... Nce7 11. dxe3
c6 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. e4 {White tries to open the center to make use of his lead in
development and the black king in the center.} 13... O-O-O 14. exd5 cxd5 15. Kh1
{Always a good idea after pushing the f-pawn to avoid checks on the diagonal.}
15... h5 {Black has aggressive intentions of pawn-storming the kingside with
...g5 coming next.} 16. a4 {White ignores it and continues with queenside
expansion.} 16... a6 17. b4 g5 $2 {Igel - "-1.14" Stoofvlees - "+.33"}
(17... Nh6 $1 {was better. The point is that the knight threatens to win tempi
against the queen either via ...Nf5 or ...Ng4.} 18. b5 g5 19. Qd4 (19. Qf2 {This
is the game continuation, but here we see the point of including ...Nh6.} 19...
Ng4 20. Qa7 Bc5 21. Qa8+ Qb8 {and Black is doing fine.}) 19... Bc5 20. Qxf6 Ng4
{with very active play for Black now, but the position is equal.}) 18. Qf2 Bxb4
{This is not just a greedy move. Black takes the pawn defensively to prevent
b5.} (18... g4 19. Nb5 $3 Bxb5 (19... axb5 20. axb5 b6 21. Ng5 {Using the pin on
the long diagonal.} 21... Nh6 22. c4 {Now the engine finds a brute-force win.}
22... Bf5 23. c5 Bxd3 24. Rfc1 g3 25. Qf3 Bf4 26. cxb6 $18 {And White wins the
queen and the game.}) 20. axb5 gxf3 21. bxa6 b6 22. Bd4 $14 {with similar play
to the game, although here White does not have Ra6 to pile up on the b-pawn.})
19. Nb5 $3 $18 {Stoofvlees - "+1.12." Even without the b-pawn, White uses the
b5-square with the first piece sacrifice. When it is taken, the a-file is
opened.} 19... axb5 {There is no choice but to take the knight.} ({An attempt to
decline the sacrifice falls very flat after} 19... Qc5 20. Bd4 {and now the
black queen is trapped. Qc6 fails to a fork.} 20... Qc6 21. Na7+ $18) 20. axb5
b6 {Virtually forced, to prevent the queen from infiltrating or b6 from being
played.} 21. Ra6 $2 {Preparing to double, and of course, the b-pawn is a target.
However, this is a mistake and lets Black into the game.} ({Stronger was} 21.
Bd4 $1 Kb7 22. c4 $1 {The point of delaying Ra6. It is stronger to start play on
the c-file with the tempo because the a-file alone will not lead to victory.}
22... Nh6 23. Ra6 Ng4 (23... Nc8 {as played in the game loses as well due to}
24. Qa2 $18 {with the threat of Rc1 and c5, White will break through.}) 24. Qb2
$1 {Gaining a tempo on the b4-bishop.} 24... Ba5 25. c5 $1 bxc5 26. b6 Bxb6 27.
Rc1 $18 {White crashes through on c5 the next move and wins.}) 21... Kb7 22. Bd4
{Piling up on the b-pawn.} 22... Nc8 (22... Bc5 23. Rfa1 Nc8 24. c3 Re8 25. Ra8
Nge7 26. Qa2 {There isn't a great way to prevent Qa6#. The engine suggestion is
...Qb8, which already says enough.}) 23. c3 Ba5 $1 {a strong defensive move to
plug up the a-file.} (23... Bc5 24. Rfa1 {+-}) 24. c4 $1 {See the note on move
21 to discove
r that White could have gotten this move in much faster. White
plays to open the c-file.} 24... g4 $1 {Counterattacking.} 25. Rxa5 $6 {As Tal
once noted, the opponent can only accept one sacrifice at a time. While it was
tempting to give this a !?, and I would if it were played by a human, in a game
between computers this should give Black an advantage now.} (25. Ng1 {This was
stronger, but of course it wouldn't win Stoofvlees style-points.}) 25... bxa5
(25... gxf3 26. Raa1 fxg2+ 27. Qxg2 Re8 28. Qa2 {It seems once the a-file is
opened, Black is toast.} 28... Qb8 29. c5 Kc7 30. Rfc1 Re6 31. Bf5 {By this
point, the engine findsa no better than to give material in return for finishing
development.} 31... Nge7 32. Bxe6 Bxe6 33. Bxf6 $18) 26. b6 Qd6 $2 {This is a
pretty bad move for a computer to play. It walks straight into a free tempo.
Instead, the queen needed to stay eyeing the h2-pawn for a very specific
tactic.} ({Prepare yourself for a beautiful line. Here we go:} 26... Qb8 27. Nd2
h4 28. Nb3 Qxh2+ $3 {A brilliant way to simply trade the queens.} 29. Kxh2 g3+
30. Kh1 gxf2 31. Nc5+ Kb8 32. Na6+ Kb7 33. Nc5+ Kc6 34. cxd5+ Kxd5 35. Bxf2 Nge7
$17 {With the queens off the board, the extra exchange is certainly more felt by
Black.}) 27. c5 {White has full compenstion, but it shouldn't be more than that
for now.} 27... Qc6 28. Nd2 a4 29. Nb3 $3 {A third piece sacrifice, and all of
them have been to open the a-file! The threat of Na5+ forces Black to take.}
29... axb3 30. Ra1 {In the notes to move 26, you could see that Black would have
already been in time with counterplay on the kingside. Now it is not so simple,
although Black still should be in the game.} 30... Nd6 $1 {The defensive moves
these engines come up with are insane. The idea is to open the c-file for the
queen and in some cases to block the h2-b8 diagonal with white's own pawn.} 31.
Ra7+ Kb8 32. cxd6 Qc1+ 33. Bf1 Nh6 $4 {This is the losing move. Did Black
overpress, thinking they were better?} (33... Re8 {would have led to a
more-or-less forced draw.} 34. Rxd7 Re1 {Black threatens to win the game with
Rxf1. White cannot defend against this threat, but they can give perpetual.} 35.
Rd8+ (35. Kg1 $4 {The "winning attempt" gives the opposite result.} 35... Nh6
36. Qxf6 Rxf1+ 37. Qxf1 b2 $19 {and Black wins.}) 35... Kb7 36. Rd7+ Kb8 37.
Rd8+ Kb7 38. Rd7+ $11 {Kc6 cannot be played because Rc7+ would win the queen on
c1. Thus, Black cannot escape the checks.}) 34. Qe2 Qc6 35. Qa6 {This is the
cathartic moment where White gains control over the a-file, an objective they
sacrificed three pieces for.} 35... b2 36. Qa2 {Igel - "2.47." White removes
the queen from a6 so that b7 can be pushed.} (36. Bxb2 $2 Rde8 37. Qa1 Re4
{Preparing to double.} 38. Bb5 Rhe8 $11 {And Black has enough play on the e-file
to hold the ballance apparently.}) 36... b1=Q (36... Nf5 37. b7 {+-}) 37. Qxb1
Nf5 38. b7 {Technically another piece sacrifice?} 38... Nxd6 (38... Nxd4 39.
Ra8#) 39. Ra6 {This traps the queen elegantly.} 39... Nxb7 (39... Qxb7 40. Rb6
Bc8 41. Ba6 Qxb6 42. Qxb6+ Nb7 43. Be3) (39... Qc7 40. Ra8#) 40. Rxc6 Bxc6 41.
Bxf6 {Black is still technically up a bit of material, but the pieces are
discoordinated and the king is weak, fatally so.} 41... Kc7 42. Kg1 $1 (42. Bxh8
Rxh8 43. Qg6 {is also plus minus, but White need not cash in yet.}) 42... Rh6
43. Bg5 Rdd6 44. Bf4 Re6 45. Qa1 Re4 46. Bg3 Ra4 47. Qh8 Kb6 48. Bxd6 Nxd6 49.
Qxh5 {Now the pawns drop and Black's pieces will still have trouble
coordinating. Harry and Garry will win the day for White.} 49... Nc4 50. Qxg4
Ne3 51. Qe6 Nxf1 52. Kxf1 Kb5 53. Qd6 Re4 54. g3 Re8 55. h4 Rh8 56. Qf6 Rh7 57.
g4 Kc5 58. h5 Bb5+ 59. Kf2 Bd3 60. Ke3 Be4 61. Qf8+ Kc4 62. h6 Kb3 63. g5 Rb7
64. Qd6 Rh7 65. Kd4 Rh8 66. g6 Rxh6 67. Qb8+ Kc2 68. g7 Bh7 69. g8=Q Bxg8 70.
Qxg8 Rd6 71. Qf8 Rd7 72. Qf5+ Kd1 73. Qxd7 {It looks like someone taught Igel
the rule of never resigning.} 73... Ke1 74. Kxd5 Kf1 75. Ke4 Kg2 76. Qg4+ Kf2
77. Kd3 Kf1 78. Ke3 Ke1 79. Qe2# 1-0