Louis Arquie (1875) - Mike Splane (2229)
Some nights I see absolutely everything tactically. More often I struggle to analyze and I miss moves. Tonight was one of my better nights.
1. e4
d6 2. d4
Nf6 3.Nc3 g6
4. Be2 Bg7
5. f4 c5
I play this system as White, so I know that castling early is a mistake that exposes Black to a strong attack. After the game I checked this position in an online database and learned that Black won 55% of the time.
6. dc
If 6. e5 Nfd7 and White’s center collapses. If 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. e5 Bb5 8.ef Bf6 9. Nb5 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 cd and Black wins material.
6. … Qa5 7. Bd2?
He should play 7. Qd3. The bishop belongs on e3.
If 7. cd Ne4 8. de Nc6 is great for Black.
If 7. e5 Ne4 is strong.
7. … Qc5 8. g4? h5!
After the game, he told me that he was expecting 8. … h6 and didn’t consider this move.
9. gh
If 9. .g5 Ng4 10. Nh3 Ne3 (with two threats) 11. Be3 Qe3 12. Ng1 Qf4 13. Qh4+ is too strong.
After 10. Bg4 hg (threatening 11… g3) 11. Nfe2 Be6! (prevents 12. Nd5 and if 12. Bc1 g3! 13. Ng3 Bc3+ 14. bc Qc3+ 15. Bd2 Qg3+ 16. hg Rh1+ wins a piece.) 12. Ng3 Nc6 and White is virtually in zugzwang.
I didn’t analyze this far during the game, I just saw that I would have strong pressure down the h-file. I didn’t see how important it was to stop 12. Nd5, when White gets untangled, so I might have missed 11. Be6 if he had tried this line.
9. … Nh5 10. Nf3?
He had to meet the threat of … Ng3 with 10. Bh5 Rh5 when Black has the two bishops, better pawns, and safer king. The h pawn will be a permanent weakness.
10. … Ng3 11. Rg1??
He had to try 11. Na4 Qc6 12. Nc3! a6 13. Rg1 Ne4. A spectator suggested 11. … Qc7 which wins the e-pawn with the added benefit of misplacing White’s knight.
11. … Rh2!
Crunch!
This wins a piece. He
said that he missed the mate threat.
If 12. Rg3 Qf2#.
If 12. Nh2 Qg1+ 13. Nf1 Nf1 14. Bf1 Qg3+ 15. Ke2 Bg4#.
12. Be3
I suppose he was hoping for 12. … Qe3 13. Nd5 with some counter-play.
12. … Bc3 13. bc Re2+
13. … Qe3 is good too, but the rook check wins a couple of extra pawns. After 14. Qe2 Qc3+ 15. Qd2 Qa1+ 16. Kf2 Ne4+ 17. Kg2 Qg1+ wins everything.
If 16. Qd1 Qd1+ 17. Kd1 Ne4
and if 15. Bd2 Qa1+ 16. Qd1 Qd1+ 17. Kd1 Ne4 forces further simplification due to the dual threats of 18. … Nd2 and 18. … Bg4
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