Alex Levitan (2021) – Mike Splane (2223) 2/21/2008
1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3. e3 cd 4.ed d5 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Be2 0-0 8. 0-0 Nc6
We were in the same position 3 weeks
before. That game went
9. h3 dc
10. Bc4 Ne8. I decided, if I got into this
position again, that I would play 10. … Na5, 11. B6 and 12. … Rc8 . Unfortunately, Alex improved on his previous
play.
9. Re1!
This move provides a retreat
square on f1 for his bishop. After 9. … dc 10. Bc4 Na5 11. Bf1 he has pressure on several critical squares
on the e-file. I decided to take advantage of the possibility of a knight fork
on c2 to develop my bishop on f5. Another idea is Bg4. I don’t know which one is better.
9. … Bf5 10. Nh4
Most of the games I found in
chesslab.com went 10. Bg5. This is a natural move, threatening to capture on f6
and d5.
10. …. dc
I didn’t mind him doubling my
pawns on f5. It gives me more control of the center and opens the g file for my
rook.
11. Nf5 gf 12. Bc4
This loses a pawn, but after 12.
d5 Ne5 it looks like I can play Rc8 and hold onto the c pawn.
12. … Nd4 13. Bg5 e6
He was threatening 14. Nd5
14. Ne2!
My knight is dominating the position,
so he hastens to trade it off.
14. … Rc8 ?
Costs me a critical tempo by
un-guarding my a pawn.
I was hoping for 15. b3 weakening the long
diagonal.
15. Rc1 Ne2+
Perhaps this is a mistake; I can safely
retreat the knight to c6. To my surprise, even though I am a pawn up, the piece
trades in this game all seemed to help him. If he can reach an ending with two
bishops versus bishop and knight he can probably hold the game.
16. Qe2 a6
I want to play … Qb6 or … Qd4, but
then Be3 will attack the a-pawn. If the rooks were both still on the a file, I could have played … Qd4 with the idea of
swinging the queen to g4. He spots my idea and uses his extra tempo to stop it
with…
17. h3! Qb6
Guarding against
bishop sacs on e6.
18. Be3 Qd6 19.
Bb3 Qe5 20.
Qf3 Rc1 21.
Rc1 Ne4 22.
Rc2 Qa5
This maneuver is designed to
prevent Bb6 so I can safely play my rook to d8, and it frees e5 for my
bishop. I’m also threatening Qe1+
23. Qe2 Rd8 24.
g3 Qb4 25.
Rc4 Qd6 26.
Kg2
I was hoping for 26. Bc2? b5
26. …. Be5
I thought he was completely tied
up. My plan was to follow up with … Kh8 and … Rg8 with a killing attack
on the g3 weakness.
27. Rc1!
This stops the sacrifice on g3,
27…. Bg3? 28 Rd1. And I don’t have time for the ... Kh8 plan, 28. Rd1
will force off the rooks. In fact Rd1 is an immensely powerful move that stops
every single one of my ideas.
27. … Nd2 ??
As soon as my hand left the piece
I saw the hole in my analysis, but it was too late.
There was another trap I could
fall into. 27. … Nf6 28 f4
I was up most of the night trying
to figure out what I should play here. I don’t recall ever being in a similar
type of position. I’d like to keep everything on the board, and pursue a
kingside attack. If I want to trade anything, it would be queens and the knight
for either bishop. I have a lot of weak squares in my position, so I really
need to keep the rooks on. With that in mind, I should have played 27. … Qb8 28. Rd1 Rc8 29. Bd4 Bd4 30. Rd4. I didn’t want to trade my bishop, it was
controlling several key squares, but the resulting position favors me. His
bishop is garbage, and my knight can go anywhere.
This was an extremely useful
blunder for me, because it helped me recognize a pattern. Almost all of my
blunders occur in a sequence.
A. I evaluate the position as winning for me.
B
My opponent makes a strong, solid move that I underestimated in previous
analysis.
C. I suddenly see that my opponent
has equality.
D. I lose my composure and stop
looking at tactics.
E. I make a blunder and hang
material.
Now the question is, how do I avoid this in the future? Do I need to improve my
positional judgment, or do I need to improve my self control?
28. Rd1
If 28. Bd2 Qd2
29 Qd2 [29. Qe5 Qc1 30. Be6 Qc6+]
Rd2 I’m winning a second pawn. The opposite color bishops won’t save him.
If 28. f4 Nb3 29. fe Nd1
28. … Qc6+
The alternative,
28. … Bb2 is also hopeless. After 29. Kg1 Nf3+ 30. Kf1 I’m back on top, but he finds….
29. f3
… when I
have to resign. First I try one cheapo.
29. … f4
Hoping for 30. Bf4? Bf4 when I can save the knight.
30. Rd2 1-0