Solent Rapidplay (1.2), 06.06.2008.
I have done some research and found that my opponent - who has returned to chess after a break - was last rated ECF 196, and this explains why I had such difficulty and also why my opponent was so fast and insightful in the after-game analysis.
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 e5 Rare. [3...Bg4 4.Be2 e.g. 4...Nc6 5.d4; 3...Nc6 4.d4 (or 4.Nc3 Qa5 (4...Qh5 5.Nb5) 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.0–0) ; 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Qa5 can transpose to main line, however there are interesting independent lines 5.d4 (5.Be2 c6 6.h3; 5.Bc4 c6 6.d4; 5.g3 c6 6.Bg2) ] 4.Nc3 Qa5 [maybe 4...Qd6 is perhaps better.] 5.Be2 A tad passive. [We looked at 5.Bc4 after the game, and decided it was strong.; 5.d4 can't be bad. 5...Bg4 (5...exd4 6.Qe2+ Probably the most interesting. (6.Nxd4 Bb4 7.Bd2 Qe5+ 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Bxe2) 6...Be7 7.Nxd4 c6 8.Bf4 Na6 9.0–0–0) 6.Be2 Nc6 7.0–0] 5...Nc6 6.0–0 Bg4?! Tactically dubious. 7.Nxe5 It takes Fritz surprisingly long to decide on this. First it suggests Re1 but then changes to this after a while. I could see that whatever happened I'd be at least equal so I gave this a try, especially as it may shock my opponent a bit. [7.d4 After a couple of minutes, Fritz changes to this move. 7...0–0–0 8.Nxe5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nxd4 A complicated position, e.g.: 10.Qh5 Bb4 11.Qh3+ f5 12.Nf7 Nf6 13.Nxh8 Rxh8 14.Bd2 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 Ne2+ 16.Kh1 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Ne4 This must be significantly better for white.] 7...Bxe2 [7...Nxe5 8.Bxg4 Nxg4 9.Qxg4 Good pawn up and prevents castling.; 7...Qxe5 8.Bxg4 Good pawn up and threatening Re1, (also bishop pair).] 8.Qxe2 Qxe5 [8...Nxe5 9.d4 e.g. 9...Ne7 10.dxe5 0–0–0 A good extra pawn. 11.Bg5 Kb8 Crushing for white according to Fritz.] 9.Qxe5+ Nxe5 10.Re1 f6 During the game I thought there may have been a better move for black. [10...0–0–0 11.Rxe5 Ne7 12.d3 Nc6 might be better, with the knight heading for d4, e.g. 13.Rf5 Nd4 14.Rxf7 Nxc2 15.Rb1 Rd7 16.Rxd7 Kxd7 17.Bd2 a6 18.a3 Be7 19.g3 Rf8 I'm not sure what's going on here but white is a pawn up.] 11.d4 0–0–0 12.dxe5 fxe5 [12...Bb4 This definitely looks to be black's best defence. 13.Bf4 The alternatively are too weak. (13.e6? a poor decision 13...Ne7 14.Bf4 g5 15.Bg3 Rhe8; 13.exf6 better than 13.e6, but doubtful the best 13...Nxf6 14.Bg5 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Rd5 16.Be3 White's material advantage looks negligible now that his structure is severely weakened.; 13.Re3?? trying to protect the q-side pawn structure fails 13...Bxc3 with Rd1# threatened.) 13...Bxc3 14.bxc3 fxe5 15.Rxe5 Nf6 16.Rae1] 13.Rxe5 It was pleasant to play quite a long forcing variation (starting on move 7) probably unexpected to my opponent. This final detail - with Nf3 covering d1 was however not forseen and was a nice surprise. 13...Nf6 [Again, 13...Bb4 appears to be better. The idea is very good; threatening to remove the guard against back rank mate, and threatening a major weakening of the white q-side pawns. 14.Be3 Nf6 (14...Bxc3 this seems more logical to me 15.bxc3 Nf6 16.Bd4 Rhe8 17.Rae1 Rxe5 18.Rxe5 b6 preparing c5 (not 18...c5?? immediately since 19.Rxc5+) 19.Kf1 c5 20.Be3 Ng4 21.Re7 Nxe3+ 22.fxe3 (22.Rxe3 less active rook) 22...Rd2 23.Rxg7 Rxc2 24.Rxh7 Rxc3 25.g4 Rxe3 26.g5 Re6 27.Rxa7 c4 28.Ra3 Kd7 29.h4 Obviously white is the one with winning chances.) ] 14.Bg5 Bd6 15.Re6 I didn't want to give anything back by playing passively, but a rook in a place like this is in danger of being trapped if white is stupid enough, as happened in the game. [15.Re2 Rhe8 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Rxe8 Rxe8 liquidating.. however there is some concern that the bishop will be superior to the knight in this wide open position. 18.Kf1 inviting the Fischer blunder 18...Be5 (18...Bxh2? 19.g3 Rd8 20.Ke2 Fritz sees no hurry in capturing the bishop, since Rh1 will do the job, and this keeps the black rook out of the 7th rank. However, in a practical situation I would probably use the king to capute the bishop to prevent anything silly from potentially happening. 20...Re8+ 21.Kf3 Rd8 22.Rh1 Rd2 23.Rxh2 Rxc2 24.Nd1 Rd2 25.Rh1 Rd5) ] 15...Rde8 [15...Rhe8 similar 16.Rxe8 Rxe8 17.Kf1 Kd7 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Nd5 Be5 20.Rd1 Kc8 21.c3 c6 22.Nb4] 16.Rae1 Rxe6 17.Rxe6 Ng4 The next move took a while to decide. I'd like to kick the knight back but h3 allows Nh7 or Bh7+, but now that I look at it, these both seem bad. [Objectively 17...Kd7 may be better, but my oppoenent's move is more potentially trappy. 18.Re1 Rf8 19.g3 h6 20.Bd2 There doesn't seem to be scope for black tricking the opponent.] 18.g3 this isn't a bad decision, removing any back rank problems. [18.h3 in retrospect there was no threat of Nh2 or Bh2, but Ne5 proves problematic leaving white unlikely to be able to win. 18...Nh2?? This has many refutations. a) 18...Ne5! threatening Kd7. The rook looks in trouble. 19.Bf4 Nf3+ (19...Kd7? is no good 20.Rxe5) 20.gxf3 Bxf4; b) 18...Bh2+?? 19.Kh1 winning a piece.; 19.g3?? (19.Rxd6 cxd6 20.Kxh2 +-; 19.f4 this also refutes the move 19...h6 20.Bh4 Bxf4 21.Ne2 Bd6 22.Bg3 Bxg3 23.Nxg3 Ng4 24.hxg4; 19.Nb5 the strongest refutation according to Fritz 19...Bc5 20.Kxh2 +-) 19...Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Nxg5; 18.Re4 Fritz marginally prefers this, e.g.: 18...Nf6 19.Re2 Kd7 20.Nb5 Bc5 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Nc3 c6 23.g3 Bd6 white definitely has some good winning chances in this endgame.] 18...Rf8 I was getting concerned about the pressure on f2 which was one of the main motivations of my hasty next move, (I spent a while deciding on it but played it too hastily without checking forced variations). [18...Ne5 fritz is torn between this and the game continuation. This seems logical, imprisoning the rook, but it doesn't seem to lead to much. 19.Bf4 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Nd4 21.Re4] 19.Ne4?? [19.Re2 is absolutely fine. 19...Be5 20.Kg2 Bxc3 21.bxc3 h6 22.Bd2 Kd7 23.c4 Rf5 24.Bc3 ...] 19...Kd7 I instantly knew I was lost, but spent a minute or two looking again and again for any unexpected escape, such as Nc5+ or Rxd6, but nothing works so I resigned. A very frustrating loss, although my strong, (or very strong), opponent had me under some pressure trying to not squander my advantage in the technical stage. After the game it became clear very quickly that my opponent was much stronger than I am used to and corrected me instantly on any suggestions I made that were wrong, (and I could see he was right every time, tactically and positionally). Therefore it is a shame I didn't win this since I get the feeling my opponent was very strong and that I did well to find the earlier forced variation from move six that gave me the advantage. (I was very tired from exams and out of practice for the same reason, so hopefully this lack of technical strength in this game and others on the same day was a product of this factor). 0–1
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