Games, 8/28/06

I'm confident in my 1.c4 repertoire, but I didn't understand one position in my 1.e4 d5 lines. I'll retrain my opening book and continue to work on my thought process. At least my rating's up!

Win: likesforests(1494)-chesszq(1618)

1. c4 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nf3 e6 5. e4 b6 6. O-O Ba6 7. d3 Nge7 8. Qa4 Qc8 9. Be3 Bxb2 10. Nbd2 Bxa1 11. Rxa1 d5 12. exd5 exd5 13. cxd5 Bxd3 14. dxc6 b5 15. Qd4 O-O 16. Qxd3 Nxc6 17. Qc3 Qe6 18. Bh6 f6 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. Qxd4 a6 1-0

When Black avoids 1...e5 or 1...c5 I'm aiming for a Botvinnik Setup. This is almost one. Next time I'll deploy my knights to c3 and e2.

9.Be3 was a tactical error, losing the exchange. I forgot to do a checks / captures / threats check before moving.

I tied the game again with 14.dxc6, exploiting Black's pinned knight. I gained the lead by the bishop/rook fork 15.Qd4. Next I used the mate threat 18.Bh6 to win the exchange. I forced a knight trade with a queen/knight fork. Finally, I skewered their queen.

I did well tactically. With a clear thought process I'd be unstoppable.

Loss: santjuan(1616P)-likesforests(1485)

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bc4 Bf5 7. Bd2 e6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Qe2 Bxc2 11. Bc3 Bf5 12. d5 Qd8 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Rd1 Nd7 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Rxd8+ Rxd8 18. Qxe5 Rd7 19. O-O Rg8 20. Qb8+ Kf7 21. Qxa7 g6 22. g3 h5 23. h3 Be7 24. g4 hxg4 25. hxg4 Bf6 26. Bxf6 Kxf6 27. a4 Rh8 28. b4 Rdh7 29. Qd4+ Kg5 30. f4+ Kh6 31. Kg2 g5 32. Rh1+ Kg6 33. Rxh7 Rxh7 34. Qe4+ Kh6 35. fxg5+ Kxg5 36. Qxh7 Kxg4 37. Qxb7 1-0

This was a mainline Scandinavian until 10...Bxc2. Snatching a pawn while behind in development was not wise and got me a lost position. White played the refutation given in my opening book.

15...Nd7 was a tactical error, losing a knight. 19.Rg8 was another tactical error, which could have lost my rook. The good moves were hard to find, since almost every move lost some material.

I regained lost ground, and created a rook battery to threaten mate.

29...Kg5 lost faster than 29...Ke7, but I think it was the right move. To have any chance of winning, I needed to confine White's king.

White played well. He traded rooks, then won easily.