First of all, I apologize for not putting up a post in a long time. A month. I’ve been really busy, and I’ll post more often now.
We go to a few of the stranger positions I have recently had. (sorry if this seems a tad egotistical)
golddog2-HikaruShindo RHP 2015
Here golddog2 sportingly resigned. However, I was hoping for a chance to round up the h- and g-pawns. Black would then have seven (!) passed pawns, along with a strikingly bad pawn structure.
HikaruShindo-Luscke69 RHP 2015
It appears that the only piece White has moved is the queen.
HikaruShindo-ZorroTheFox RHP 2015
An underpromotion to a bishop!
The next game, from the Mikelom Memorial, is an excellent lesson in development.
vandervelde-oldfool RHP 2015]
1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 d6 {Fine, but I’m not a fan. This blocks in the bishop.} 3. d4 Qd8f6 {Black now blocks the knight and exposes his queen to be kicked around.} 4. Nb1c3 {Simple and good development.} a6 {To block the phantom threat of 5. Nb5. Black’s position is now critical.} 5. Bc1g5 Qf6e6 6. dxe5 {Black is busted.} dxe5 {The final nail in the coffin.} 7. Qd1d8 1-0
greenpawn34, two blogs ago, (365 puzzles+A 125 year old Trap+Mike Lomax) showed a Joseph Gallagher loss. Unfortunately, (sorry, Joe) I will now do the same, as it is instructive. I came across this while doing some research on different Sicilian lines.
Andrei Kharlov–Joseph Gallagher 2001 (12th Goodricke Open)
1.e4 c5 2.c3 {The c3-Sicilian. What an imaginative name. Good thing it is also referred to as the Alapin Sicilian.} Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 {Gaining central space.} cxd4 {Black is practically forced to take. Otherwise, White’s position is too strong.} 5.cxd4 d6 {Challenging the center.} 6.Nf3 {Both sides finally develop.}Nc6 7.Bc4 e6 8.O-O Be7 9.a3 {Prevents Nb4 and perhaps prepares b4.} O-O 10.Re1 Qc7 11.Bd3 {Getting out of the queen’s path and moving to a more useful diagonal} dxe5 12.dxe5 Rd8 13.Qe2 g6 {Black eliminates all possibility of a Bxh7+ sac. The dark squares are not too bad because they can be protected by the Black bishop.}14.Bd2 b6 15.Nc3 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 Bb7 17.h4 {Preserving the possibility of an attack.} Rd7 {Preparing to double.} 18.h5 {If 18…gxf5, 19. Qc2 shatters the Black kingside.} Rad8 19.Bb5 Qc8 {Bolstering a6 so the White bishop can be shunted.} 20.Qe3 a6 21.Bf1 Bc5 22.Qf4 Ne7 {Preparing a move to f5.} 23.hxg6 hxg6 {I like 23…fxg6 a wee bit better because it opens up a file for Black to occupy.} 24.Ng5 Nf5 25.g4 Nh6 {After Joe is forced into this awkward position, he is worse.} 26.Bg2 {Trading off the strong Black bishop.} Rd3 27.Ne4 Bxe4 {Black shouldn’t give up this active bishop.} 28.Bxe4 Rh3 29.Rad1 Rh4 30.Bf3 Be7 31.Kg2
Rxd1 32.Rxd1 Qc7 {Here Black resigned, as the rook and knight are stepping all over each other and White will soon win material.} 1-0
Don’t tangle up your pieces willingly! Keep them active!
Daniel Harrwitz-Adolf Anderssen 1848
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 {The King’s Bishop’s Gambit. White gains time by allowing his king to be kicked around.} Qh4+ 4.Kf1 {If 4…Ke2 d5! and Qg4+ follows after a capture.} Bc5 {A very weak move. Although Black threatens mate, he gifts White another tempo. Harrwitz takes over.}5.d4 Bb6 6.Nf3 Qe7 7.Nc3
Nf6 {Simple development by both sides. White, however, is already winning due to his lead in development.} 8.e5 Nh5 9.Nd5 Qd8 {The Black queen is short of squares. 9…Qf8 Ng5! is even faster.}10.g4 fxg3 {Black has no other moves to avoid the loss of a piece.} 11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 gxf6 {g2+, hoping to unbalance the White king, had to be tried, but Anderssen could not stop the tide even then.}13.Ne5 O-O 14.Qxh5 {Anderssen castles into mate, but there was no alternative worth playing. A brilliant game by Harrwitz.} fxg5+ 15.Nf6+ Kg7 16.Qxh7+ Kxf6 17.Ng4# 1-0
Develop those pieces!
Until next,
HikaruShindo
