Chess Pundit

The first time I played last night's opponent, a 2046 rated expert. I was black and lost convincingly. This time I was white and the opening was a Sicilian. I aggressively (dubiously) gambited a pawn in the opening. When you gambit material for initiative, you really have to consistently find great followup moves. Often one mediocre move on your part can relieve pressure. I guess conversly, the defender also must stubbornly defend. Here, he cracked first, and I was able to squeeze out the win.

My 2005 record against experts was a measly 3-11. After this game, so far this year, I've now managed 4-4 against experts.

some compensation for the pawn but it's a not full pawn. If he is forced not to castle, I think I do have that compensation. However, if he plays Qd7, I think my best option is to play back to d3 and opt for the repetition. |36:18. ... fxg5? ; I think Ne7 is his best move.|37:19. Qxg6+|38:19. ... Qf7|39:20. Qxf7+ ; I was looking at this line, at I had originally planned to play Qxg5 and almost quickly did, but I forced myself to stop and re-evaluate the position. Siegbert Tarrasch once said when you find a good move, wait until you find a better one. For a change, I did and the obvious popped out a tme. |40:20. ... Kxf7|41:21. Nxg5+ ; Now his e6 pawn fails. Obviously, if Ke7, then Rf7+ wins the bishop.|42:21. ... Kg6|43:22. Nxe6|44:22. ... Rac8|45:23. Nxg7 ; I was quiet happy to take off his bishop. |46:23. ... Kxg7|47:24. dxc5 ; I can isolate his pawn and leave his rook in a so-so spot.|48:24. ... Rxc5|49:25. c3|50:25. ... Rb5|51:26. Rf2|52:26. ... Re8|53:27. Rd1 ; I was tempted to play Kf1, but after Rf8, I have to play the passive Rb1. |54:27. ... Re5|55:28. Kf1 ; Now I can play it. |56:28. ... Kg6|57:29. Re1|58:29. ... Rf5|59:30. R1e2 ; Now the trade is essentially forced. I can march my king out to d3 via c2. Additionally, this move order allows me to keep my rook on the f-file, prevent his king from moving into play.|60:30. ... Rxf2|61:31. Rxf2|62:31. ... Ra5|63:32. a3|64:32. ... Rb5 ; I thought Ra4 followed by d4 would have been better.|65:33. Ke1|66:33. ... Rb6|67:34. Kd1 ; I'm just continuing with my plan unless he forced me to change it. |68:34. ... Re6|69:35. Kd2|70:35. ... Re4|71:36. g3 |72:36. ... Kg5|73:37. h3 ; I need to prevent Kg4 and Kh3.|74:37. ... d4|75:38. cxd4 ; Sure, he gets to trade off his weak isolated pawn, but it is okay. 38. c4 Re3 just gave him too much counterplay.|76:38. ... Rxd4|77:39. Ke3 ; I can march my king into the center and eventually over towards the queenside pawns.|78:39. ... Rd6|79:40. Ke4|80:40. ... Ra6 ; An odd square. I was expected Rd1. |81:41. Rf5+|82:41. ... Kg6|83:42. Rb5 ; Now he is either forced to play b6 blocking in his rook or fall into my "trap." Traps are alright to set if it is essentially the best move anyway. |84:42. ... Ra4 ; He falls into the trap. Post game analysis, proved he was losing anyway. If he plays b6 then I can play Kd5 and march my king over to b7. Subsequent attempt to save his pawns will fail. If 43...Ra4 44. Rb4 Ra5 45. a4! and after 46. b3 there is Rb5 and there is nothing he can really do anyway. |85:43. Rb4 1-0. Either he takes the rook and goes into a losing pawn ending, or he drops a second pawn.">This browser is not Java-enabled.