Rapid Time#1: Dancing Pieces

I’ve moved from blitz primarily to rapid time controls, either 15|10 or 15|5 if possible, because it has more educational value. In the long run making deeper and more thought provoking moves will benefit me more over the board in tournaments in the months to come. I realized from the adventures in blitz I often traded pieces and was too passive in most positions, in the game here I refused to trade only looking to complicate the position more. I made two primary mistakes,  a loss of a pawn in the beginning of the middle game due to me being a step ahead of myself and  the other was a knight in the end game while there was sub 30 seconds on the clock and time scramble was relevant.  In the end I was able to add enough time to the clock to work through a way to draw the game if my opponent wasn’t careful. Lucky for me he was in a rush to promote his pawn and overlooked the stale mate that was coming.  As this is a rapid game that played to a draw it is much longer than most others that I have posted.

//www.chess.com/emboard?id=3539874

[Date “2017.07.20”]
[White “Jtrot79”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteElo “1073”]
[BlackElo “1103”]
[TimeControl “900+10”]
[ECO “D50”]
[Termination “Game drawn by stalemate”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. Bg5 e6 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 Nc6 7. e4 e5 8. d5 Na5 9. Qd3 a6 10. Nf3 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. b4 Bxb4 13. a3 Bd6 14. Rb1 b5 15. Qd2 O-O 16. Bxb5 axb5 17. Nxb5 Nb7 18. Qc3 Nc5 19. Nxc7 Rac8 20. Nb5 Nxe4 21. Qd3 Nc5 22. Qe3 Rb8 23. Nc3 Bf5 24. Rxb8 Rxb8 25. O-O Rb3 26. Nd2 Rxa3 27. Nc4 Rb3 28. Nxd6 Qxd6 29. Rd1 Ne4 30. Qd3 Rxc3 31. Qe2 Rc5 32. f3 Nc3 33. Qe1 Nxd1 34. Qxd1 Rxd5 35. Qe2 Rd1+ 36. Kf2 Rd2 37. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 38. Kg3 Qf4+ 39. Kf2 g5 40. g3 g4 41. gxf4 exf4 42. Kg2 h5 43. fxg4 hxg4 44. h3 f3+ 45. Kg3 Kg7 46. hxg4 Bxg4 47. Kf2 f5 48. Kg3 Bh5 49. Kf2 Kg6 50. Kg3 Kg5 51. Kf2 f4 52. Ke1 Kg4 53. Kf2 Kh3 54. Kg1 Kg3 55. Kh1 f2 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Bg5 [A slight inaccuracy as I should have played e3 and attacked the pawn immediately however I noticed in other Queens gambit games I have a problem with the bishop being trapped behind my pawn chain]

…e6 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 Nc6 7.e4 e5 8.d5 Na59.Qd3 a6 10.Nf3 h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.b4 [Here is the first inaccuracy that I feel was a major part of the struggles to come. In the QG the pawn attack on the Queen side is very important. Taking turns castling after Be2 was the way to go instead as the uncastled king is a bit of a problem later on while the pieces are dancing about]

…Bxb4 13.a3 Bd6 14.Rb1 b5 15.Qd2 O‑O16.Bxb5 [Here is where I decided to let loose and see how my opponent would handle the sac of the bishop. I wanted to castle and I wanted to clear the way in extravagantly]

…axb5 17.Nxb5 Nb7 18.Qc3 Nc5 19.Nxc7 [The computer doesn’t like this move and neither do I but I wanted to continue to be a little outlandish and see if my opponent would slip up at any point]

…Rac8 20.Nb5 Nxe4 21.Qd3 Nc522.Qe3 Rb8 23.Nc3 Bf5 24.Rxb8 Rxb8 25.O‑O Rb3 26.Nd2 Rxa3 27.Nc4 Rb3 28.Nxd6 Qxd6 29.Rd1 Ne4 [White played decently well throughout this whole time, the advantage remained on his side with a fluctuation from -10 to about -4 at this move. If I had played more accurately myself the game would have taken an even more interesting depth]

30.Qd3 [This is just bad, time started kicking in and I was looking to attempt to run his clock down more and complicate the position but in the end I just lost a piece]

…Rxc3 31.Qe2 Rc5 32.f3 [Unfortunately I miss the fork coming between my Queen and Rook, it’s quite obvious but having less than 30 seconds on the clock and definitely cause problems]

…Nc3 33.Qe1 Nxd1 34.Qxd1Rxd5 35.Qe2 Rd1+ 36.Kf2 Rd2 37.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 38.Kg3 Qf4+ 39.Kf2 g5 40.g3 g4 41.gxf4 exf4 42.Kg2 h5 43.fxg4 hxg4 44.h3 [All these moves were made in the goal to simplify the position and attempt to gain some time while forcing my opponent to consider if the recapture was sound or not]

…f3+ 45.Kg3 Kg7 46.hxg4 Bxg4 47.Kf2 f5 48.Kg3 Bh5 49.Kf2 Kg6 50.Kg3 Kg5 51.Kf2 f4 52.Ke1 Kg4 53.Kf2 Kh3 54.Kg1 Kg3 55.Kh1 [The idea with these moves was to keep my King in the corner and hopefully Black would fall for the stalemate that I could see as my only way out]

….f2 [A draw in the end was good enough for me considering I had quite a bit of fun sacing and throwing my pieces everywhere]

Blitz Adventures #4: Questionable Kings

[Date “2017.07.15”]
[Black “Jtrot79”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “987”]
[BlackElo “942”]
[TimeControl “600”]
[ECO “A07”]

Today I decided to jump into a little blitz fun, having chosen to stop playing the Sicilian quite as much I wanted to see what would feel natural against 1.d4 2.Nf3 without really looking into the books. The last two games I got as black transposed into the King’s Indian Attack from the Black Mustang Defense and overall felt really good on this side of the board, less passive and similar to the lay out I’m comfortable with.

//www.chess.com/emboard?id=3532228

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. g3 e5 3. d3 d5 4. Bg2 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 Nf6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. O-O d4 10. Bxc6+ Qxc6 11. c3 Rd8 12. Nd2 b5 13. f3 Be7 14. g4 Bg5 15. Ne4 Bf4 16. Re1 g6 17. h4 f5 18. gxf5 gxf5 19. Nd2 Rg8+ 20. Kf1 Qg6 21. Ne4 Qg2#

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.g3 [With white playing this I was able to equalize immediately in the center]

…e5 3.d3 [ I don’t feel as though white wanted to play d3 but even less would be black playing e4 killing his light squared bishop and gaining space]

…d5 4.Bg2 Bg4 [These two moves are why I enjoy this opening so much, it allows for black to have both pawns in the center and a bishop attacking the knight]

5.h3 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 [Removing the Knight was a plan I wanted to do early on as I felt like an attack on the King side would be the goal in the middle game with White having already weakened it]

…Nf6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 [While not the most accurate line I wanted the Queen on the King side in preparation for an attack]

9.O‑O d4 [I should have castled long here, no doubt about it considering the King side attack and defending the d pawn]

10.Bxc6+ Qxc6 [Keeping the pawn structure intact]

11.c3 Rd8 12.Nd2 b5 [Looking to keep the Queen side under control before switching to the King side]

13.f3 Be7 14.g4 Bg5 15.Ne4 Bf4 16.Re1 g6 17.h4 f5 [I never castled short as I was looking to put the rook on the g file and bring a piece into the attack if White took. The other plan after 18.Nd2 would be to castle into the f file]

18.gxf5 gxf5 19.Nd2 [My opponent played Nd2 but only after it was too late and mate in 4 was unstoppable]

…Rg8+ 20.Kf1Qg6 21.Ne4 Qg2#

Blitz Adventures#3: Mini King’s Indian (ft. Bishop Sac)

[Date “2017.06.16”]
[Black “Jtrot79”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “954”]
[BlackElo “954”]
[TimeControl “600”]
[ECO “A45”]

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 d5 3.g4 { A45: Indian Game: Paleface, Gedult Attack } 3…g6 4.a3 { (0.00 → -0.60) Inaccuracy. A better move was 4. Bf4. } ( 4.Bf4 4…c5 5.e3 5…Bg7 6.Nc3 6…Nc6 7.Qd2 7…h5 8.g5 8…Nh7 ) 4…Bg7 5.c3 O-O 6.b4 Nc6 7.Bg5 e5 8.Bxf6 { (-1.71 → -4.29) Mistake. The best move was 8. b5. } ( 8.b5 8…h6 9.Bh4 9…Ne7 10.Nh3 10…e4 11.Nf2 11…a6 12.bxa6 12…Rxa6 ) 8…Bxf6 9.e3 exd4 10.cxd4 { (-3.39 → -5.58) Inaccuracy. A better move was 10. exd4. } ( 10.exd4 10…Bg5 11.Be2 11…Re8 12.h4 12…Bxh4+ 13.Kd2 13…Qe7 14.Kc1 14…Bf2 ) 10…Re8 11.Ne2 Rxe3 12.Kf2 Qe8 13.Qd2 Bh4+ 14.Kg2 { (-4.70 → -10.15) Mistake. The best move was 14. Ng3. } ( 14.Ng3 14…Bg5 15.Qd1 15…Qe7 16.b5 16…Na5 17.Ra2 17…Bd7 18.Kg2 18…Re8 ) 14…Bxg4 15.fxg4 Qe4+ 16.Kg1 Qxg4+ 17.Bg2 { (-16.45 → ♚ Mate in 4) Mistake. The best move was 17. Ng3. } ( 17.Ng3 17…Rae8 18.Nc3 18…Nxd4 19.Bg2 19…Bxg3 20.hxg3 20…Qxg3 21.Rf1 21…Nf3+ ) 17…Rxe2 18.Qxe2 Qxe2 19.Bf1 Qf2# 0-1

//www.chess.com/emboard?id=3491348

I wanted to post a quick analysis of a quick game. The King’s Indian is my current go to defense against 1.d4, I like it for its ability to transpose to the QGD which I know the lines of fairly well. In this game here my opponent made severe opening mistakes, for example his first 6 moves were all pawn moves. At the point when they developed their bishop I already had my King safe and a very comfortable position. I simply pushed forward and attacked before their pieces could be developed properly ending the game by move 17. A few points and positions I’ll highlight that I thought were important to this game.

 

1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. g4 g6 4. a3 Bg7 5. c3 O-O 6. b4 Nc6 7. Bg5 e5 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. e3 exd4 10. cxd4 Re8 [Here is a main problem with having an uncastled king, if I was allowed Nxd4 the pawn would be pinned by the rook on e1 further more the Knight would be protected from a Queen recapture by the Bishop]

11. Ne2 [This move changes nothing in the sense of a pin and allows me to develop my rook right into the fight negating the Knight and adding pressure to the center King]

…Rxe3 12. Kf2 Qe8 13. Qd2 Bh4+ [While not the best sequence of moves on my part, I wanted to see what my opponent would do under time pressure and piece pressure. He make a mistake here by moving to g2 cornering himself and cutting more of his squares off]

14. Kg2 Bxg4 [I was pretty happy about this move here, I was in an attacking postion and needed to get a little more power in the fight, a check from the Queen on e4 would be superb and a removal sac did the trick]

15. fxg4 Qe4+ 16. Kg1 Qxg4+ 17. Bg2 Rxe2 [This capture also felt quite nice, it was lose the Queen or allow mate]

18. Qxe2 Qxe2 19. Bf1 Qf2#

Blitz Adventures#2: An English Queen

[Date “2017.06.10”]
[White “Jtrot79”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “926”]
[BlackElo “954”]
[TimeControl “600”]
[ECO “A40”]
[Termination “Jtrot79 won by resignation”]

1.d4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 { A40: English Defense: 2.c4 Bb7 } 3.Nf3 a5 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Bb4 6.Be2 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.Qc2 Ne4 9.O-O f5 10.Ba3 d6 11.Qd3 O-O 12.d5 exd5 13.cxd5 Ba6 14.c4 Nd7 15.Nd4 c5 16.dxc6 Ndc5 17.Bxc5 bxc5 18.Ne6 Qf6 19.Nxf8 Rxf8 20.Rab1 Bxc4 21.Qxc4+ Kh8 22.Rb6 Nd2 23.Qc1 Nxf1 24.Bxf1 Rc8 25.Qe1 d5 26.Qxa5 Rxc6 27.Rb8+ 1-0

https://lichess.org/embed/lmyzqvcn?theme=auto&bg=auto

This is one of those games that I feel fairly proud of considering I’m not much of a blitz player. I would rather take my time to think lines through and consider the best possibilities, in this game I was able to find a happy medium between line depth and 10 minute timers.

After all the games of the Queens gambit I’ve played, I’ve never encounter the English opposition to it. Generally the Slav, QGD or Marshall are all I’ve seen with a mix of things I’m not really sure have a name. To my eye it seems like it isn’t the most suited opening to oppose the Queens Gambit, in this game my idealistic opening wasn’t hindered at all. I had pawns on c4, d4 and e3, a knight on f3 a knight on c3 and a bishop with an open diagonal. 5…Bb4 was really the first attack on my structure and the trading of a bishop for a knight allowed me to bring my wing pawn into the center and open my Queen side.

1.d4 b6 2.c4 Bb7 { A40: English Defense: 2.c4 Bb7 } 3.Nf3 a5 [This is a standard opening until a5 which is a waste of tempo, Nc3 shuts down the idea of  a pawn going to b5]

4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 [While e6 isn’t the best move, it is the structure I’m most familiar and comfortable with in going into the middle game]

Bb4 [This is the first attack on my position and the worst result would be trading of minor pieces and a pawn moving into the center, I considered a3 but there was no reason to delay castling and moving pawns so early]

6.Be2 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.Qc2 [Another move that wasn’t the best but another position which I have been in quite a few times and I had ideas involving the Queen later on]

Ne4 [No threat in this move, even solidifying it with a pawn wouldn’t make it imposing]

9.O-O f5 10.Ba3 [This is something I really enjoy doing to my opponents, taking away their ability to castle indirectly by throwing a bishop on the diagonal. It forces them to deal with the problem and most times it is a sub par solution costing time or structure]

d6 11.Qd3 [This is my first inaccuracy of the game, I was looking to push the d6 pawn into the enemy camp and unstack my pawns. The best move would have been c5]

O-O 12.d5 exd5 13.cxd5 Ba6 14.c4 [This is the exchange I wanted and the attack from the bishop to my Queen allowed me to further push my c pawn to support d5]

Nd7 15.Nd4 c5 [My opponents first mistake, perhaps he assumed I didn’t know En Passant which allowed me to break his pawn structure and attack the knight]

16.dxc6 Ndc5 17.Bxc5 bxc5 18.Ne6 [I saw this fork a while back when I first moved the Knight to d4, this line allowed me to take advantage of it]

Qf6 19.Nxf8 Rxf8 20.Rab1 Bxc4 [I’m not sure what the idea was here, just a miscalculation under time controls]

21.Qxc4+ Kh8 22.Rb6 [While this is technically a mistake, my whole plan from here on out was to push this pawn to promote and let my opponent deal with it. The best move was c7 pushing now instead of waiting]

Nd2 23.Qc1 Nxf1 24.Bxf1 [Trading was fine for more as I was already up in material and threatening to promote]

Rc8 25.Qe1 [A slow move, looking to attack the pawn and support the rook already pushing with the pawn, better to have played Ba6 attacking the rook]

d5 26.Qxa5 Rxc6[ The final mistake leading to mate in 3]

27.Rb8+ 1-0