Mike Splane  (2221) – Ray Ferguson (1881)

Kolty Chess Club     February 28, 2008

 

I spent the ten days prior to this game working through about 50 tactics puzzle per day. The practice helped me see a lot of tactics during this game. This game is a good effort from me, combining sharp tactics with good positional judgment.

 

1. e4 c5       2. c3 g6       3. d4 cd      4. cd d5!    

 

It’s important to play this now, before I can play Nc3 to stop it.

 

  5. ed Nf6

 

I’ve seen similar positions in the Caro Kann, but White has already played Qb3 and Black has played Bg7.  In that position the normal plan would be to fianchetto the king’s bishop, hold onto both d pawns until the time is right, then play d6 to open the  h1-a8 diagonal.  Here I’m losing the pawn back right away, so my bishop belongs on c4. It took me 5 minutes to make this decision. I chose to play 6. Nc3 first, so I could transpose back into Caro Kann lines if he plays 6. … Bg7. I was reluctant to play it because he can trade knights on c3, but finally decided that I would have to accept that possibility.

 

6. Nc3 Nd5      7. Bc4 Nb6

 

Somewhere Black goes wrong in this opening, either he mishandles the knights or he delays castling too long. 7. … Nc3  8. bc Bg7 gives him good pressure on my center pawns, but I’ll have a solid center, open files for my rooks, and good diagonals for my bishops. I am happy to play this type of position. 

 

8. Bb3 Bg7       9. Be3 (?)

 

I found five games with this move in Chesslab.com’s database and White did poorly. Black can play Nb8-c6-a5-c4 attacking b2 and e3.

 

9. Nge2 has been played here, but that can’t be right, it’s too passive.

 

 9. Nf3 is the right move.   Of course he can’t play 9. Nf3 Bg4?    10.Bf7+ Kf7   11. Ng5+ and 12. Qg4. The same tactic comes up after my next move.

 

9. …  Na6

 

Clever idea, swinging the knight to d5 via c7.

 

I thought about 10. a4 Nc7  11. a5 Nbd5 gaining space, but decided I didn’t have a good follow up plan.

 

10. Nf3 Nc7

 

Now I have a decision to make. I thought for 14 minutes here. Should I allow … Nd5 or stop it with 11. d5? 

 

I looked at 11. d5 Bc3+   12. bc Ncd5   13. Bb6 Nb6   14. Bf7+ Kf7   15. Ng5+ Ke8    16. Qd8+ Kd8   17. Nf7+ winning the rook, but didn’t see a good follow-up to 15. … Kf6. So I would have to play  11. d5 Bc3+   12. bc Ncd5   13. Bb6 Nb6   14.Qd8+ Kd8   15. Bf7 when his weak e-pawn and exposed king give me a slight advantage.  The problem is he can castle first, and then the d-pawn becomes a weakness. 

 

11. Ng5

 

He said he was expecting 11. Ne5, but g5 is a much better square.

·        It prevents ideas with … Be6 or …Ne6

·        The knight can assist with attacking h7 if he castles.

·        The knight can be exchanged off on e5.  Because of his space advantage White doesn’t want to allow any piece trades.

 

11. …   e6 (?)

 

We both thought I could push the h-pawn so we were both delaying castling, but it’s probably the right move here.  Now he has dark square weaknesses without any counterplay. 

 

12. Qf3 Qf6 (?)

 

Forces me to where I want to go.

 

13. Qg3 Nbd5

 

He sees the obvious threat but misses the deeper one. He had to play 13. … Qe7 so 14. Ne4 doesn’t come with tempo. 

I would have played 14. Nce4 0-0   15. h4 when White has an attack but no forced win. 

 

14. Nce4 Qe7     15. Nd6+ Kf8

 

The alternatives are worse. If 15. … Kd7   16. Ba4+ b5   17. Nb5 his king is too exposed.

 

16. Ngf7 

 

This is the right knight. The knight on d6 is extremely well posted; I won’t trade it for anything less than a rook.

 

Rg8     17. Nh6

 

This changes the knight from a tactical liability into an active aggressive piece.

 

17. … Rh8

 

If 17. … Ne3   18.    Ng7 Nf5     19. Nf5 ef+     20. Ne7. Of course he can’t play 17. … Bh6  18. Bh6+ winning the exchange.

 

18 Bg5 Bf6     19. h4

 

In some lines I can bring my rook into play via h3, to try and take advantage of the open f file.

 

Kg7     20. Rc1

 

I didn’t think long enough here, using less than a minute. There are lots of tempting alternatives.  Still this is a good move, bringing up the reserves.

 

20. … e5      21. Bf6+ Qf6

 

If  21. … Nf6  22. Nf5+  It may be better to recapture with the king, but he sees a tactic that he thinks will save him.

 

22. de Qf4     

 

Attacking the knight and rook, and if I trade queens, he will be threatening … Nd3+. Unfortunately, his d5 knight is overworked.

 

23. Rc7+  Kh6

 

If 23. … Kf8  24. Bd5 Qg3  25. Rf7 is a nice mate.

 

24. Qg5+

 

24.  Nf7+  Kg7 also works, but this is better.

 

Resigns

 

After 24. … Qg5   25. hg+ Kg5   26.  Bd5 wins a piece, but  26. Rf7  (the idea is 27. Ne4+  28. fe+ mates) Bf5  27. Nf5 gf  28. g3 threatens both 29. Rg7 mate and 29. Bd5, so the position is clearly hopeless.

 

This was my 200th win with the White pieces.