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My go to repertoire in response to blacks e5 > Nc6 is the Ponziani Opening. 3... a6 This was definitely an unexepected move in this opening play. Perhaps black was anticipating Bb5 then Bxc6, followed by d4 after? black can immediately strike back with 3... d5. 4. d4 what I like about this setup is both bishops are ready to be developed and not blocked by any pawns this early in the game. 4... exd4 5. cxd4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 another unexpected move in this setup, and in my surprise I responded with a hasty move of my own which potentially loses my e4 pawn. 7. d5 7. Bd3 the pragmatic and sensible move is to immediately protect the e4 pawn. 7... Na7 and black does not see my mistake. 7... Ne5 keeping the knight central would have been a better play here. 8. Qd4 threatening the g7 pawn while creating some tension on black's dark squared bishop. 8. Bd3 Stockfish and Deep Fritz both still prefer Bd3 here. 8... Bc5 and black fails to realise the g7 threat. With a rook and a pawn up at this point, the advantage was clearly in whites favour. Black's kingside has been decimated, the c8 bishop still has not developed and is blocked by the pawns before they can even think of castling. 11. d6 leads to an interesting position 11... Bxd6 12. Nd5 creating some pressure on the f6 square while also making sure black is worried about the c7 fork. this was a clear mistake as I simple blitzed this move simple because of over confidence in the position. There was certainly better moves here to have kept on decimating blacks kingside like Nh4 or e5, or even Bg7. 12. e5. 12. Bg7. 12. Nh4. despite the Qg7 blunder, the position was still favourable for white. 13... hxg6 14. Na4 Bb4+ 15. Nd2 15. Nc3 this preserves the option to castle in case black had decided to capture knight on d2. my idea was I was losing a knight here, but I was also taking out blacks bishop pair. However this is not optimal as black could have played Bxd2 which loses me both my knights after Kxd2 then bxa4. So I certainly survived throwing away the advantage at this point. 16. Nc3. 16... Ba5 A missed opportunity, black could have equalised with this line. 16... Bxd2+ 17. Kxd2 bxa4. and I was happy to get rid of black's more active bishop. after the somewhat chaotic opening, it was time to prepare for castling. 19... d6 19... f5. 20. O-O and get my rooks connected The plan here was to attack the g-pawn, and clear any pawn push on the kingside. Black indeed has more central pawns but I didnt see thier pieces coordinated enough to create a problem in the center. 21... fxe5 21... Bf5 22. Bxb5+ axb5 23. exf6. a decent fair move, but looking at it now f4 is more aggressive and challenges blacks pawn chain. 23. f4 this is just more provocative than Rfc1 Black was beginning to push back here 25. g3 25. Bf1. 25. Be4 defends the pawn but blocks a square that the knight can jump into. I was anticipating black moving their bishop away from h3, getting their knight onto g4 and putting some pressure on the h2 pawn. 27. Ng5 27... Bg4 27... Bf5 perhaps a bishop trade would have been a better option for black. I felt it was overdue to bring the second rook into play. Stockfish seems to like Rb4, but I am seeing Ne6 which could be more troublesome for black here I think. 30. Ne6. 31. Re4 this is the prefered engine move from stockfish/deep fritz 14, but with h4 (an innaccuraccy) I wasnt keen on giving up my kingside pawns yet. 32. Re4 engine(s) still prefer Re4 here, but I was worried about 32... Rxf2. Even though a minor piece up, I felt more on the defensive here, and black was doing well to keep me on my toes. 33. a6 engine suggests to cheekily push the a6 pawn for promotion 33... Bxe4 34. Rxe4 Nf6 35. Rb4 Ra8. 34. Rexe4. I favoured my chances in a Rook vs Knight endgame. 35... Nxe4 36. Rxf8 Nxg3 37. a6 I appreciated how the d-pawn has been an inconvinient annoyance for black's king, with the a6 pawn push. 37... Ne2+ 38. Kf2 Ke7 39. Rb8 39. Rh8 with a threat of Rh7+ and taking the c7 pawn 39... Kf6 40. Kxe2 and the knight is won 39... c5 40. dxc6 d5 41. c7 d4 42. Kxe2 When I had played 41. c7, it had blanked my mind for a second that black's knight was there for the taking. d4 got me looking at the whole board again as I had momentarily been blindly focused on pawn promotion. There was no way black's pawn push was going to yield any results from this point onwards. 42... e4 43. c8=Q d3+ 44. Ke3 d2 45. Kxd2 e3+ 46. Kxe3 b4 47. Rxb4 I missed a mate in 3 here 47. Rb6 b3 48. Qc7+ Ke8 49. Rb8#. There was plenty of options for faster mate here, but to keep it safe I was going to do it the slow way I knew how and avoid chances of stalemate. 48. Ke4 Ke7 49. Qc7+ Ke6 (49... Ke8 50. Rb8#) 50. Rb6#. 48... Kc6 49. Rg4 Kc7 50. Qf6 Kc8 51. Qf7 Kb8 52. Rg8# I respect black's will to play till the end. Even after their initial blunder in the opening and down a piece for most parts of the game, they managed to keep the game interesting that any major blunder on my part would have got them back into the game. 1-0 Annotator(s): Vladimir Mabhena. Source(s): Vladimir Mabhena, via Craig DuBose. Event information: Tournament report. |
