Last night was the last round of the “Summer Solstice” monthly swiss. I mentioned in my last grinch report who I suspected I was to be paired against. I was victorious against this little guy thrice before and I knew the law of averages were against me. On top of being tired, my coach was there to watch me go down in a blundering blaze.
I was black and played the caro-kan. He had prepared a gambit line I never seen before:
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Bc4 Bf5 5. Nge2 Nf6 6. 0-0 Bg4 7.Qd2 e6 8 Ng3 Bb4 9.Qf4
Black to move
My coach suggests NOT to take on d4 …but greedy ole’ grinch wanted the second pawn. This created problems on my king side:
9…Qxd4 10. Ncxe4 e5 ( note: I can’t take the Bishop because of the crippling knight check on d6 with my queen en-prise) 11. Nxf6+ gxf6 12. Qxf6 Rf8 13. Bb3 …and then … here is where I pulled this howler: 13…0-0-0??????????? thinking of king safety and if he goes Qxh7 I had some play on Rh8 etc… all things below the Mason-dixon line of the board… Had I gazed my sights north and played some “real” chess I would have seen the demise. 13...Be7 was the better alternaitve.
14. c3 OUCH! I played a few more moves before I resigned and spent the rest of the evening with my coach. The grinch needs a full serving of humble pie filled with crow in order to keep his perspective. I never played against this C-K gambit before and I was impressed. I need to fix this hole in my armour.
I am off to the WORLD OPEN!!!! I plan on blogging on the road periodically on life in the trenches of the U1800 section. Which to me will be MORE important because it will be about…well… ME :) and how well or how bad I am doing. I also plan on relaying the untold stories of life in the class sections… this is where the “real” everyday chess players are.
If you are expecting how Nakamura is standing or others playing in the rafters…I suggest following along Mig’s website or watching the games in the controversial Mon Roi site.
Well, enjoy. I'll catch you all on the otehr side.
-BP
6 comments:
Break a leg!
BDK,
Thanks
Incidentally teh Nxe4 should be Ncxe4 ( Knight on c-file).
Wow. If black is really required to play Bg4 and Bb4 in this line, one wonders where the catch is for white. The whoville whatsit fella seems to get a lot of development for nothing, as he's going to recoup his pawn investment with a good position. Could you maybe play 6...Be7 and just say to heck with the pawn with play proceeding as 7.Ng3 Bg6 8.Re1 0-0. I mean, with c6-c5 on the cards and white castled kingside with no capacity to bring the c-pawn into the fray, you're probably strategically equal at the least, but that doesn't seem like just punishment for a gambit, does it?
Thanks Joshua,
In hindsight... I really wasn't required to play Bg4/Bb4 those were merely wasted moves. Not familiar with the gambit line, I was attempting with a tired mind to reach some familiarity/common ground with thee bishop moves.
Be7 was definitely an Ideal location and I should have juts played that there in the first place.
Bf5 versus Bg4 again that might have been better to develop the other knight or use the lever c6-c5. Although, I didn't like the exchange on f5 ( N vs B) and opening the diagonal for his bishop.
Now that I am better rested, it seems clearer.
Sorry to hear about your result. I lost to your opponent last week.
I look forward to seeing you at the World Open! I'm playing the four-day schedule, first round Sunday morning.
Steve Eddins
Bon chance!
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