07/03/2012 - C.Sreeves vs A.Burnett

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5[/pgn]
Spoiler here>> I made my bed a few moves ago, and now I have to lie in it! Distract the bishop from f4 and then push pawn to f4 myself. I don't think white can ignore b4 (21.exf5 Bxf5 and d3 hangs -black should be fine in the complications after 22.Bd5+)

I think I have enough activity here to keep white occupied (even 21...f4 22.gxf4 Rxf4 23.Bd2 Qf8!? might be possible e.g.24.Bxf4 Qxf4 25.Nf3 Ne5 26. Nxe5 Bxe5 27. R-? Bh3!?) I will have to check these lines in more detail if/when they appear - for the moment I HAVE to get f4 in.

OK, scrub all that! (I don't half talk a lot of pi*h sometimes, eh?
I have just noticed a very nasty threat after 20...cxb4 namely 21.c5! (intending Qa2+). I don't mind giving up material to a knight fork if it's his bishop which has to recapture e.g. on f7, but if his queen lands there it's pretty nasty. 21...b3 doesn't help because he has 22.Qb2 with the same idea.

So, back to plan B! The knight looks good on g4, but if the tactics fail then it has to go to e5 (defending f7 in a lot of lines) and attacking d3

How about this line?! 21.Qa3 cxb4 22.Bxb4 f4 23.Bxd6 f3 24.Bxf8 Bxf8 25.Qb3 fxg2 26.c5+ Kg7 27.Kxg2 Bxc5 ?! looks fine to me (for me!) What else? 23. gxf4 Rxf4 24.Bxd6 Rxh4 and g5 hangs. Maybe now 25.f4!? Rxf4 26. Rxf4 Qxg5 27. Bxe5 Qxe5 (do I have enough here? c8 bishop could be a problem, so b7 falls, but my 2 passers might be strong!?

A lot of long messy lines i'm afraid! Sorry folks. OTB, if I realised my intended ...cxb4 was flawed, I would play ...Ne5 instead almost immediately and since I can't see a better way of getting counterplay...it'll have to do : )
<<Spoiler here

[andyburnett]

I may be offline for a day or 2 while I move house =o

[Clement Sreeves]

1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3



Spoiler here>> As I mentioned in my previous note, Qa3 is the logical move here, defending d3 while counter-attacking c5. I was actually wondering for a while what my threat was, since 22.bxc5 dxc5 23.Qxc5 Nxd3 isn't so good. However I managed to overcome my hate of pushing f-pawns in these positions to realise that 22.f4 would simply net a pawn. Playing around with the position a bit I then discovered that I actually have an incredibly strong positional threat: let's say 21...Qe7 to defend the pawn, 22.f4! Ng4 23.bxc5 dxc5 24.e5! and Black should be completely bust. I've not found a decent defence yet, but again that's his problem <<Spoiler here

[andyburnett]

Sorry for the delay. House move, holiday and missing modem - normal service will be resumed ASAP...hopefully!
Andy

[andyburnett]

Finally back online properly! Life without internet access is very strange =|
Apologies to Clement and everyone else following this game, should be making a move very soon :U
Andy

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7[/pgn]

Spoiler here>> So, I still don't trust taking on b4 unfortunately so I think 21...Qe7 makes more sense here. Abandoning the queenside probably wasn't the best idea but the game is still very unclear <<Spoiler here

[Clement Sreeves]

1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5



Spoiler here>> It's been a while since I last looked at this position! I quickly double checked my idea that I mentioned in the last note, and I still really like it. 22.bxc5 straight away is slightly more forcing than 22.f4, but I think it makes no difference. 22...dxc5 23.f4 Ng4 (maybe Nf7 is better trying to trade off, but I'm still clearly better) 24.e5

It's obvious that I have a crushing advantage here- my knight is great, my light squared bishop is great, and I can pile up on the b7 pawn. <<Spoiler here

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5 dxc5[/pgn]

[Clement Sreeves]

23.f4

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e4 h5 7. h4 Nd4 8. Nce2 Ne6 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. O-O a5 11. b3 O-O 12. a3 c6 13. Bb2 c5 14. Bc3 Nd4 15. Nexd4 exd4 16. Bd2 Ng4 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 f5 20. Ng5 Ne5 21. Qa3 Qe7 22. bxc5 dxc5 23. f4 Ng4[/pgn]

Spoiler here>> So, I have to admit that my strategy has been, on the face of it, unsuccessful.
However, all is not yet lost! I think I should play my knight back into g4. It could prove useful for defending my q-side on c6, but there is counterplay available with it on g4.
I imagine white will follow-up with (23...Ng4) 24.e5 blocking my bishop out of the game and allowing the g2 bishop to become a bit of a monster.
I should therefore reply with 24...Bh6 threatening to chop on g5. If Clement allows this, I have counterplay with a possible ...h4, and a knight sac on e5 if he drifts all of his pieces to the q-side (Bd5, Rb1, Qa7, Bc1-a3. My idel defensive set-up in such a position would be placing the rook on c7 (via d8-d7) leaving the B on c8 and keeping my queen and knight attacking e5 to threaten a sac there.
If he avoids the exchange on g5, I will go Bd7-c6. e.g.23...Ng4 24.e5 Bh6 25. Nf3 Bd7 26. Ne1?! Nxe5!?
Anyway, I should start with 23...Ng4 and see what happens - it might not be as bad as it looks! <<Spoiler here