Here is a correspondence chess game I played here at SquirrelChess.com against dwv16. The game started with a Colle-Zukertort setup and I tried to exploit the attacking opportunities this opening frequently gives on the kingside. However, dwv16 defended fiercely and I messed up ultimately losing the game.


[Date "2007.01.08"]
[White "Sciurus"]
[Black "dwv16"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 b6 8.Bb2 Bb7 9.Ne5 Bxe5 10.dxe5 Nd7 11.f4 Ne7 12.Nd2 c5 13.f5 f6 14.Qh5 Qe8 15.Qh3 h6 16.fxe6 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 fxe5 18.Rxf8+ Qxf8 19.Rf1 Qe8 20.Rf7 Bc8 21.Qg4 g5 22.Bg6 Nxg6 23.Qf5 Qxe6 24.Qxe6 Bxe6 25.Rf1 Rf8 26.e4 Rxf1+ 27.Kxf1 d4 28.h3 Nh4 29.Kf2 Kg7 30.g3 Ng6 31.g4 Bc8 32.Nc4 Ba6 33.Nd6 Ne7 34.a4 d3 35.cxd3 Bxd3 36.Ke3 Bc2 37.Nf5+ Nxf5+ 38.exf5 Kf6 {White resigns.} 0-1

Post edited by: Sciurus, at: 2007/05/14 11:00

I think this is the first mistake I made in the game. However, I found it only using the Shredder engine and frankly I don't understand why the move 13. alternative suggested by Shredder is a good move for White.


In the position shown on the right, Shredder recommends 13. Qh5 threatening mate instead of the text move 13. f5 played in the game (see previous post). However, I don't really understand why this leads to an advantage worth a pawn after 13. ... g6 14.Qh3 Nf5 15.c4 d4 16.Bxf5 exf5 17.exd4 cxd4.

(13. ... Nf5 14. Bxf5 exf5 15. Qxf5 wins a pawn for White)

In contrast to Shredder's suggestion, I tried to avoid exchanges to keep the material needed for an attack.

Post edited by: Sciurus, at: 2007/05/14 11:14

I don't know. Maybe because it loosens up the pawns around my king?

I'm going to try to go through and annotate this game for what it's worth, and we can compare my delusional thoughts to Shredder. It will take a few days.

I think I simply did not look far enough into the variations. In the variation shown above after 17. ... cxd4 White wins a pawn by 18. Bxd4 (BTW, you can move the pieces around by clicking on them).

In addition, White's position looks better to me, too, now that I thought about it a bit longer. Firstly, White's Q is developed which gives the white rooks more space on the back rank. Secondly, the Q on the h-file and the dark-squared B on the long diagonal threaten to invade the black castle via Qh6 sometime in the future.

What do you think?

I wouldn't have played 15...Nf5

In fact I probably wouldn't have played 13...g6, but rather h6.

Here are my "thoughts."

1.d4 Nf6 Using an opening I don’t understand.

2.Nf3 e6 Probably should have played g6.

3.e3 Nc6 More evidence that I don’t understand the opening.

4.a3 d5 This may actually be some kind of opening.

5.Bd3 Bd6 Or not.

6.O-O O-O Couldn’t think of anything else to do.

7.b3 b6 Preparing to fianchetto on the wrong side.

8.Bb2 Bb7 Following through on my improper preparation.

9.Ne5 Bxe5 Giving up the bishop pair, but maybe the position will stay semi-closed.

10.dxe5 Nd7 Forced.

11.f4 Ne7 Swinging over to help defend the kingside and freeing the advance of the c pawn.

12.Nd2 c5 Gaining space on the queenside.

13.f5 f6 Attempting to hinder the K-side attack but probably going to lead to open lines.

14.Qh5 Qe8 Trying to trade off queens.

15.Qh3 h6 Trying to put the kibosh on the attack.

16.fxe6 Nxe5 Keeping material even and hoping to take away one powerful pawn while eventually trapping another, or at least leaving them doubled.

17.Bxe5 fxe5 There’s that open file I was worrying about.

18.Rxf8+ Qxf8 Forced. It was this or Kxf8, but I assume Rf1 was coming and my king is too lazy to move that often.

19.Rf1 Qe8 Forced.

20.Rf7 Bc8 Bc8?! Disrupting the communication between R & Q. At this point I was so proud of my pawn structure that I neglected to consider my opponent’s attacking possibilities. So what to do? I’m thinking maybe Kh8, which Fritz considers before e4. Fritz evaluates the position after 20. Rf7 as +-(6.07) and after 21. Qg4 +-(7.57). So maybe it doen't matter what I did. Just for grins I checked after 20…Bc8. +-(7.28). Ouch!

21.Qg4 g5 Pooping my pants, praying for a miracle. 22. Qf3 and what could I do? Sac my queen? Pretty much anything else then 23. Bh6+ Kh8 and 24. Qf6++. Considering resigning.

22.Bg6 Nxg6 Maybe there is a god!

23.Qf5 Qxe6 A little tactics to simplify.

24.Qxe6 Bxe6 I’m a simple man.

25.Rf1 Rf8 Trader Dave’s the name.

26.e4 Rxf1+ As Thoreau said, “Simplify, simplify.”

27.Kxf1 d4 Not a big fan of doubled pawns.

28.h3 Nh4

29.Kf2 Kg7

30.g3 Ng6 I don’t know if this series of moves accomplished anything.

31.g4 Bc8 Intending to get this bishop into the game.

32.Nc4 Ba6 Again trying to trade.

33.Nd6 Ne7 Ready to trade if Nf5+

34.a4 d3

35.cxd3 Bxd3 Now the bishop is working.

36.Ke3 Bc2 Threatening to eat some pawns.

37.Nf5+ Nxf5+ Getting rid of last potential threat.

38.exf5 Kf6 Clogging up any chance of White promotion K-side. {White resigns.} 0-1

Cool. I am too tired to think much right now but I will try to do the same and then compare notes with your analysis.

May be I should try to make notes during all my correspondence games. Then it would be easier to figure out after the game why I made this or that mistake.

OK, here are my thoughts on the game, including some computer analysis:


1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6

I never encountered this move before but it is the second most popular according to my games database. For now, I decide to simply continue with the Colle-Zukertort setup.

3.e3 Nc6 4.a3

After Black's rather uncommon choice of 3. ... Nc6 I played a3 to prevent ... Nb4. This was probably a waste of time because ... Nb4 poses no real threat and White would have been better off developing pieces.

4. ... d5 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 b6 8.Bb2

So far neither side made any real threats but rather concentrated on piece development. Black is clearly planning a queen-side fianchetto and I was worrying for a while if my center is vulnerable but decided that I am safe here.

8. ... Bb7 9.Ne5

The classical way to start the king-side assault in this type of setup. I am always unsure if it wouldn't be better to develop the other knight to d2 first. I ended up playing Nd2 in move 12 and in hindsight I believe it would have been better to develop this N before starting the attack.

9. ... Bxe5

Black goes for the exchange. After the recapture White is saddled with a doubled pawn but is still able to keep the center closed and has space to bring pieces to the king-side for the attack.
( I prefer this more agressive line for Blackhere: 9...Ne4 10.Nd2 Qh4 11.Nef3 Qg4 )

10.dxe5 Nd7 11.f4

With the idea to move the rook to f3 and then to h3.
( 11.Qh5 h6 12.f4 Nc5 13.Be2 )

11. ... Ne7

I think it would have been better to play ... Nc5 instead to force White's light-squared bishop to move.

12.Nd2?!

Waste of time and I don't remember why I made this move, may be to connect rooks? It would have been better to move the rook in position with Rf3.

12. ... c5?

This loses a pawn which is rather difficult to see (take a look at the variations later on). In fact, I wouldn't have noticed it without the help of a computer.

13.f5?

During the game I thought the pawn advance would help with the attack. However, all it does is enabling Black to weaken my attack by exchanging pieces and not expoiting the mistake Black made in the previous move (which I did not see anyway).
( 13.Qh5 g6 ( 13...Nf5 14.Bxf5 exf5 15.Qxf5 {winning a pawn Shredder 9.11: +1.20})
14.Qh3 Nf5 15.c4 d4 16.Bxf5 exf5 17.exd4 cxd4 18.Nf3 Bxf3 19.Qxf3
Nc5 )

13. ... f6?

( 13...Nxf5 14.Bxf5 exf5 15.Rxf5 {-0.56} )

14.Qh5

"Complicated. But somehow I feel like attacking, so I did not spend too much time on this. Probably a blunder?" These were my thoughts during the game. It was not really a blunder but not a good move either. Shredder comes up with some better variations here but it seems to be complicated indeed:
( 14.fxe6 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Rxf8+ Qxf8 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.Rf1 Qe8 20.Rf7 )

14. ... Qe8 15.Qh3 h6

I guess it would have been better to simplify starting with ... exf5.

16.fxe6 Attempting to remove the shield from the black king.

16. ... Nxe5 17.Bxe5 fxe5 18.Rxf8+

I wasn't really sure what to do here. The main idea was that after exchanging rooks I could force the black Q to retreat from f8 gaining a tempo that can be used to position my remaining rook right next to the black king.

18. ... Qxf8 19.Rf1 Qe8 20.Rf7 Bc8

... e4 would have been a better choice because it blocks the diagonal for the B on d4.

21.Qg4 g5 22.Bg6??

The plan was: ... Nxg6 23. Qf5 and then 24. Qxg6. Too bad that I overlooked that after ... Nxg6 both the Q and the B point to e6.

22. ... Nxg6 23.Qf5

Not paying enough attention I am simply continuing with my flawed plan, which is in reality a suicide attack.

23. ... Qxe6 24.Qxe6

I finally woke up but too late. With only few pieces left the game is lost.

24. ... Bxe6 25.Rf1 Rf8 26.e4 Rxf1+ 27.Kxf1 d4 28.h3 Nh4 29.Kf2 Kg7 30.g3
Ng6 31.g4 Bc8 32.Nc4 Ba6 33.Nd6

Desperate to maneuver my last remaining piece into enemy territory hoping for a mistake.

33. ... Ne7 34.a4 d3 35.cxd3 Bxd3 36.Ke3 Bc2 37.Nf5+

Trying to exchange Ns to get a passed pawn. But I have no pieces left to protect it.

37. ... Nxf5+ 38.exf5 Kf6 0-1