I still have a hard time believing that we have already reached the end of 2014. Although it is hard to qualify the entire year in a single blog post, this edition of *OMC Weekend Review* will be the second to last post of 2014 here on *OffMyChess.com*. The final post of the year for the blog will appear on Christmas Day. I have enjoyed the many tournaments and games throughout the past year and I look forward to experiencing many more years of fine chess play from some of the world’s greatest players down to myself, who could be considered the world’s worst player. 🙂
So, grab a cup of coffee and join me as I present the final two annotated games of the year here on *Off My Chess*:
The first game I annotated was going perfectly and I was on track to win the game until an accidental mouse click doomed me. This was a terribly frustrating experience considering how well the game had been going. Look for the blender on move 40.
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[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.12.20”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “1186”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B06”]
[WhiteElo “1061”]
[BlackElo “1186”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “106”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 c6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Ng5 {This was a reactionary move.
Much better would have been to develop another piece instead of moving the
Knight a second time.} f6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Bc4 e6 8. O-O {Castling is important
within the first 6 to 10 moves, but better would have been to capture the e6
pawn, win material, and secure a foothold in Black’s territory.} d5 9. exd5
cxd5 10. Bb5+ Nd7 {Black’s best response to protect the King and maintain
tempo.} 11. Bf4 Ne7 12. Bd6 O-O 13. h3 {A move to force the Bishop to reveal
its intentions. I expected Black to exchange the Bishop for the Knight, which
he did.} Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Re8 15. Rae1 Nf5 16. Qf4 a6 17. Bd3 {The e-file is
shaping up to be the epicenter of this battle. White is much better, but only
if I maintain my composure and watch out for traps.} Nb6 18. Bxf5 exf5 19.
Rxe8+ Qxe8 {Sacrificing the Rook was the only sensible response since the
Bishop is protected and White retains a Rook capable of entering the fray.} 20.
g4 Nc4 21. gxf5 Nxd6 22. Qxd6 {Black was obviously pushing toward the endgame.}
Rd8 23. Qe6+ Qxe6 24. fxe6 {A Queen exchange gives a powerful passed pawn.} Re8
25. Re1 f5 26. Nxd5 Bxd4 27. Nc7 Re7 28. Nd5 Re8 29. c3 Bg7 {White needs to
find a way to get the Bishop off of the a1-h8 diagonal or else his plans of
dominating Black’s Kingside will not come to fruition.} 30. f4 h6 31. b4 Kh7
32. c4 Bd4+ 33. Kg2 h5 34. c5 Kh6 35. h4 Bg7 36. e7 {Black’s Rook is frozen in
place or else White wins a Queen.} Bf6 37. Nxf6 Kg7 38. Nd7 Kf7 39. Nb6 Rxe7
40. Re6 $4 {This was a monumental blunder on my part. My intention was to
capture the e7 Rook and complete the exchange, but I clicked the wrong square
and literally gave my Rook away.} Rxe6 {The game is over for White.} 41. Nd5
Re2+ 42. Kf3 Re4 43. a4 Ke6 44. Nc7+ Kd7 45. Nd5 Kc6 46. Nf6 Rxb4 47. a5 Rc4
48. Ke3 Rxc5 49. Kd4 Rxa5 50. Kc4 Rc5+ 51. Kb4 Rb5+ 52. Kc4 a5 53. Ne8 a4 0-1
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This subsequent live game has some excellent tactical principles as I was able to make use of some key exchanges to gain momentum and advantages on space.
[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.12.20”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “985”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C01”]
[WhiteElo “1068”]
[BlackElo “985”]
[PlyCount “135”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e5 Qe7 {At
this point, White has a control of the center and Black is severely limited in
his responses.} 8. Nb5 Qd8 {My intention was to play Kc7+ and capture the Rook,
but Black saw through the move and responded appropriately.} 9. Bc4 a6 10. Nc3
b5 11. Bd3 b4 12. Na4 a5 13. Bb5 Ne7 14. O-O Nd5 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. dxc5 {As
time has progressed, I have become more cautious and calculating about these
exchanges. I am still hesitant to trade Queens, but Rook and Bishop trades
are a necessary evil on the way to victory.} c6 17. Bc4 Nf4 18. Qd6 {I
remember seeing a game similar to this recently and was hesitant to make this
move, but it was the best way to paralyze Black’s King and prevent him from
castling…for the moment.} Qe7 19. Qc7 O-O {Black manages to castle and get
to safety.} 20. Rad1 Re8 21. Rd6 Qd8 22. Qxd8 Rxd8 {The Queens are traded and
the endgame approaches.} 23. Rfd1 {Connecting Rooks more than doubles their
power. White is in definitive control of the d-file.} a4 24. b3 axb3 25. cxb3
Rxa2 26. g3 Nd5 27. Nd4 Nc3 28. Nxc6 {Black will not dare to capture the
Knight with his pawn or else his King is toast.} Re8 29. R1d3 Ne2+ 30. Kg2 dxc6
31. Rd8 Rxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kg7 33. Rxc8 {Finally, some movement! I won the Bishop
and now just have to wrap a bow on the endgame.} Nd4 34. h4 Rb2 35. Rb8 Nxb3
36. Rxb4 Kh7 37. Rb7 Na5 38. Rxb2 {Being up a Bishop and a Rook devastates
Black’s position and the game is over.} Nxc4 39. Rb7 Kg7 40. g4 Nxe5 41. h5
Nxg4 42. hxg6 Ne5 43. gxf7 Nxf7 44. Re7 {Black’s Knight is pinned to the King.}
e5 45. Kf3 Kf6 46. Rc7 Ng5+ 47. Kg4 e4 48. Rxc6+ Ne6 49. f4 e3 50. Kf3 h5 51.
Kxe3 h4 52. Kf3 Kf5 53. Kg2 Nxf4+ 54. Kf3 Ne6 55. Kg2 Nd4 56. Rd6 Ne2 57. Kh3
Kg5 58. c6 Ng1+ 59. Kg2 h3+ {Not sure what Black’s intentions were here, but
the Knight and pawn are officially lost.} 60. Kxg1 Kg4 61. c7 Kg3 62. Rg6+ Kf4
63. c8=Q h2+ 64. Kh1 {I was not interested taking the last pawn, so securing
it safely on the h2 square was good enough to finish off Black.} Kf3 65. Re6
Kg3 66. Qf8 Kh3 67. Rg6 Kh4 68. Qh8# 1-0
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