Never Give Up! Part 1

I want to share a game with you. I played it today in a team match. I was a member of our clubs team. In this tournament Clubs faceoff on seven boards and the winner gets to continue on. This was the longest game today and the result in a way decided if we could continue in the tournament

I try to write this in english because I think that we could offer more material in our blog for you who don’t know finnish. I also want to share this with the beginners who have joined or just visited our club, or just this website.

My analyses on this game are pretty light on purpose. I have not used any computer help and I don’t claim them to be all true. My opinions mostly. This game is not the most accurate one. There is a lot of mistakes and errors but there is a lot of fun too! Some tactics and lessons for you who want to get deeper in to chess. I would like to make this interactive, so please ask, comment and share your ideas. Also the advanced players out there please share your views on this!

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5

My opponent chose the Caro-kann defence. I play the exchange variation where white plays exd5. Its often considered as a draw opening or just a plain boring one. Its true that it’s a kinda slow and safe opening but if black does not answer correctly white is gaining advantage move by move. Playing patiently but building up for an attack.

4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Nc6 6.c3 e6

Usually black moves his bishop out before playing e6. It might be harder to develop it later in game. ( 6...Bg4 7.Nf3 e6 8.Nbd2 Be7 )

7.Ne2 Be7 8.Ng3 O-O 9.Nd2 e5

Because I didn’t have to worry about the bishop coming to g4, I decided to try to build up an attack on blacks castled king. I started by maneuvering my knight to g3. But I should have played f4 to lock the center. ( 9.f4 h6 10.h4 )

Take your time and think. What is the idea behind h4? Why sacrifice a piece? Tactics and attacking play is a great way to learn. I think I have learned my small chess knowledge by attacking castles!

Back to the game.

10.dxe5 Nxe5

Now black has among other things a good knight in the center. At this point I would have to say the position favors black. Next moves are pretty forced for me.

11.Bc2 Re8 12.O-O Qb6

I don’t know if move Qb6 was good for black. My knight is going to b3 and from there to d4 anyway, so I get to defend my b-pawn and improve at the same time.

13.Nb3 h6 14.Be3 Qd8

More slow moves, I think. Blacks queen goes back to the starting grid. Better would have been c7.

15.h3 Nc4 16.Rb1 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Qc7

Finally I gain at least some control over blacks strongpoint. Notice that both his knights and his bishop is aiming on g4. With a knight there and his rook on the e-file he could seriously pressure e3 and my king side. By playing h3 I gave up the bishop pair but at that moment I considered it less of the two evils. It could well be that h3 was a weak move. What is your opinion?

18.Rf3 Bd6

The rook seems to be safe there. I hope to get some play on the f-file. Reason I like my game here is blacks weak bishop on the white squares. He can play it to e6 to protect his weak pawn but I can play my knight to d4 and try to create more weaknesses on blacks position. Other choice for him would be to play the bishop to b7. That takes more time and maybe that’s why he took the first option.

19.Ne2 Be6 20.Qd3 Ne4

To be continued...

And please send feedback! All languages are okay for answering! :)