SenseiDanya (1651) vs aquilaungula (1452)

1620Episode 13 · 1-0

During the gameIn the review

  1. Sicilian Defense: Taimanov Variation, 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 Nge7 7.Bg2
  2. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6
  3. 3. d4 The open Sicilian, for once Opening The series has met the Sicilian with c3 nearly every time; this once he goes for the open main line instead.
  4. 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6
  5. 6. g3 Fianchetto against the Taimanov Opening White can set up in more ways than anyone could list, and the bishop can go to almost any square. His own preference is the fianchetto: the bishop is out of the way there and still bears down on the centre. A matter of taste, he stresses - neither the best line nor a bad one.
  6. 6... Nge7 Nge7 is there to swap knights Opening A very typical move. The usual follow-up is to take on d4 and bring the other knight to c6 in place of the first.
  7. 7.Bg2 d6 8.O-O
  8. 8... Qc7 Development done: find a plan General Development is done, so now the job is to probe the position and find a plan. Two pieces are still to be deployed - the bishop, and the rook, which could go to e1 to line up against the king.
  9. 9. b3 Unsure where a piece goes? Not the obvious square Piece play Where does the bishop go? On f4 it walks into a knight capture on d4 and a fork with e5. On e3 it is merely developed and not doing much, and he thinks it has a better future elsewhere. On g5 it just gets chased by h6. So the general advice: when you cannot tell where a piece belongs, one option is not to develop it the obvious way at all. Fianchetto the second bishop as well. It costs two moves rather than one, which hardly matters with everything else already out. In the review he calls this the key early position: e3 is no mistake, but the knight can come to a5 and c4 and the bishop often has to go home to c1. The long diagonal is simply a better square.
  10. 9... g6 How Black should have set up Opening The review's verdict is that this is bad. Black should take on d4 and play the other knight to c6 - that swap is the whole idea of developing to e7 - and then there is no need to fianchetto: the bishop goes to e7 and Black castles.
  11. 10.Bb2
  12. 10... Bg7 An undefended bishop facing yours Tactics He had been expecting this, and it was part of why he fianchettoed: now there is a move that all but wins. How to see it: the bishop on g7 has nothing defending it. If both white knights were off the long diagonal the bishops would face each other, which already suggests a discovered attack. The review is blunt about it: this move is what lost the game.
  13. 11. Ndb5 Sacrifice one knight, not two Tactics Taking on c6 is the tempting way. The better one gives up only a single knight rather than both. This knight, because it also exploits where Black's queen stands. The logic: the knight leaves the diagonal as a sacrifice, and after the recapture the other knight comes to b5 hitting the queen, so Black has to deal with that while the bishop on g7 falls with an attack on the rook. Which knight goes first matters too. With the other one Black could decline and move the queen, and declining here still loses to the capture on d6 - his main reason for choosing this knight.
  14. 11...axb5 12.Nxb5 Qd7
  15. 13. Bxg7 Take on g7 with tempo, not d6 first Tactics Getting clever with the capture on d6 first lets the king step to f8 and protect the bishop. Taking on g7 is plenty: it hits the rook.
  16. 13...Rg8 14.Nxd6+ Kd8
  17. 15. Bf6 Keep the queens on to finish the attack Attack Another pawn is there and he would leave it. Taking on f7 lets the king go to c7 and drifts into a queen trade, and he does not want a trade - he wants mate. So the bishop drops back with two pawns already in hand. Trading would not be wrong either; with queens on, the attack is just easier to finish.
  18. 15...Rf8
  19. 16. Qd2 Double on the file, then discover Attack Now bring the rest in. The d-file is the natural road to the king: double rooks there, then look for discoveries made by moving the knight.
  20. 16...Kc7
  21. 17. Rfd1 Don't kill an ant with a cannonball General The other rook stays behind to guard a2, and the search for knight moves begins - a check on b5, then moving the queen with an attack on Black's queen. The chat says the g2 bishop is idle; in these positions it often joins in, and he had thought about e5 to open its diagonal. Tripling with the queen to d3 is fine but unnecessary. He reaches for a Russian saying about killing an ant with a cannonball - or using the quadratic formula on an equation you could factor. Two rooks are enough.
  22. 17...Ng8
  23. 18. Nb5+ Move the queen out of the rook's x-ray Tactics Now the rook looks through White's queen at Black's, so any queen move leaves Black's queen hanging. Where should it go?
  24. 18...Kb6 19.Qe3+ Kxb5
  25. 20. Bf1+ Drive the king outward, not back Attack The king on b5 is lost already and does not need the queen won; its only way back is a6. Pushing a4 also wins but lets it back there. The bishop to f1 drives it further out instead. There is a bishop check on c3 as well, but there is a simpler mate in two.
  26. 20...Ka5 21.Qc5+
  27. Black resigned
End of episode 13 · 1-0 ← 12. vs CuriousChimpanzee (1615)All games at 162014. vs Balzdeep802 (2044) →