Mike Splane (2258) –
David Childress (1788)
Kolty Chess Club
1. e4 c5 2. c3 g6 3. d4 cd 4. cd Bg7
I really dislike this system for Black. The trade of the c-pawns gives him no effective way to challenge the center, unless he wants to try a French Defense pawn structure. To his credit, my opponent does find this plan.
5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Be3 0-0 8. g4?
This is the right idea, but I played it too early. Rc1 or f4 first make more sense.
8. … Qa5 9.
Bf3?
This is a mistake; the bishop is exposed here to attacks down the f-file. There is nothing wrong with the solid 9. f3.
9. … Nc6
10. g5 Nd7 11. Nge2 e6
Whew! I was much more afraid of … f6, opening the file with tempo. By now I realized I had misplayed the opening.
12. h4 Ne7 13. a3?
Weakening my queenside for no reason. Rc1 or Ng3 made more sense.
13. … d5 14. b4 Qb6
When Black played this move I was shocked. I didn’t think it was possible. At this point I realized I was not seeing the board. Flustered, I immediately made a blunder.
15. ed?
Of the three possibilities, this is by far the worst. I win a pawn but in exchange he activates all of his pieces. I might just have well have handed him an extra queen. Plus I’m opening the center when my king has nowhere to hide.
A good plan is 15. e5 followed by h5 and h6, killing his bishop, but I thought he might be able to play Rd8 and Bf8 to keep his piece alive. Still, it’s hard to believe that Black can survive long-term with this cramped position. White can also wait on h6 if Black moves the rook, first shifting his queen to the h-file, when hg is a killing threat.
And just sitting tight in the center is fine. I rejected this idea because I didn’t want to give him the d5 square for his knight after an exchange on e4, but I’ve played dozens of IQP pawn positions with this pawn structure and I knew it was highly advantageous for White.
So why did I play this lemon? See the next note.
15. … ed 16. Nd5 Nd5
17. Bd5 Qd8
I saw the idea of Qd8 and Nb6, attacking my bishop with the queen, but missed that it would also attack it with the knight. I was planning to play 18. Qb3 when I decided to capture on d5.
18. Bb3 Nb6 19. h5
I have no center, no king safety, poorly positioned pieces, so I attack! Seriously, I need to get some counter-play to compensate for my weaknesses.
19. … Bg4
20. hg hg 21. Rh4 Bf3
Again he played a move I didn’t see as a possibility. It’s a miracle I survived this game.
22. Qd3 Bd5
23. Rc1 Bb3 24. Qb3 Nd5 25. Bd2
I liked this move, keeping my pieces active, but the knight on d5 is a monster so maybe I should let him swap on e3. I thought the bishop was needed for defense and also missed that he could maintain the knight on d5. I expected to chase it away with Rc5.
25. … Qd7
Now the knight is invulnerable. I really liked the way that David played this game, keeping his pieces concentrated on the center. I considered Qh3 here, but wasn’t sure I could win the ending.
26. Kf1 Rad8
27. Ng3 Rfe8 28. Qf3 Qb5+ 29. Kg1?
29. Kg2 is better, of course. I was worried about ghost checks by the knight, or pins along the c6-f3 diagonals.
29. … Re7
30. Ne4 b6 31. Kg2?
After his next move, Nf6+ always loses a pawn. Here it can be safely answered with …Kf8, so I kept the move in reserve.
31. … Re6 32. Rch1 Kf8 33. Rh7 Qd7 34. R1h4 Rde8
I actually hung the d-pawn, but if he takes it I can play
Nf6 or Bc3, obtaining access to h8 for my rook.
35. Bc1?
I wanted to play a4 and b5, and then stick the bishop on a3. The bishop was well posted on d2, guarding e1 among other things. On c1 it is exposed to attack on the file. The immediate 35. a4 Qa4 36. b5 Qb5 opens a3 square for queen checks on the diagonal, but I didn’t see any urgency to give away two pawns.
35. … Qe7 36. Qh3 Qd8
36. … Qc7 is very good too. I’d have to play Nf6 to avoid losing a piece.
I thought the text move was a blunder, allowing mate, but I was suffering from a retained image. I thought the king would still be on f8, blocking the escape square for the king I was planning to mate on f7.
37. Rg7?? Kg7 38. Rh7+ Kf8
Now I thought for about fifteen minutes, leaving myself short of time. The only halfway promising line I could find was 39. Nf6 Nf6 40. gf Rf6 41. Rh8+ Ke7 42. Re8+ Ke8 43 Qh8+ Ke7 44. Qd8+ Kd8 45. Bg6 Ke7 46. d5 winning the rook. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have to capture on f6, 40. .. Qd5+ is very strong. If his king was already on e7, then gf would be a check. So I checked him up to e7, but then discovered to my horror that I couldn’t trade the major pieces.
39. Qh6+ Ke7
Nothing left for me now but to take the draw while I still have it.
40. Rf7+ Kf7 41. Qh7+
This is where the retained image came in. When I captured the bishop I thought this position would be mate.
41. … Kf8 42. Qh8+ Kf7
He actually thought a while before making this move. I held my breath. Could he actually have been considering Ke7, allowing mate in one?
43. Qh7+ Kf8 44. Qh8+
Draw