Every so often, a chess player experiences a game that challenges them to move beyond basic strategy and tactics to explore the core of what embodies the fighting spirit of chess. For the first edition of *Move by Move*, we will examine a game that I played in December of 2014 against a player with an ELO of 1057 on [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1005851832).
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[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.12.21”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “1057”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C47”]
[WhiteElo “1066”]
[BlackElo “1057”]
[Annotator “Wesley Surber”]
[PlyCount “51”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
1. e4 {One of the most common opening moves in chess. This move grabs control
of the d5 and f5 squares while simultaneously activating the light-squared
Bishop and White’s Queen.} e5 {Black answers by blocking with e7-e5. White
retains control of its squares, but the advancement of the e4 pawn is halted.}
2. Nc3 {White’s development adds protection to the e4 pawn, gains control of
the a4 and b5 squares in addition to increasing pressure on the d5 square.} Nf6
{A solid developmental move. Black controls the h5 and g4 squares while
putting pressure on the e4 pawn.} 3. d3 {White’s move activates the
dark-squared Bishop and adds another defender to the e4 pawn.} Nc6 {Black has
worse moves than developing the c6 Knight, but this position limits the scope
of Black’s possible piece development and adds risk to the d5 square with:} 4.
Bg5 (4. Nd5 Nxd5 5. exd5 Ne7 6. c4 {And White has a solid pawn defense in the
center.}) 4… d6 {This move comes a little too late for Black to gain any
significant advantage over White. The light-squared Bishop is activated, but
does not have a solid control of the c8-h3 diagonal.} 5. Nf3 {Material and
position remain relatively balanced at this point. The major downside to
developing the Knight is that it cuts off the Queen’s control of the diagonal,
but the developing piece frees up a space for future castling once the
light-squared Bishop moves.} d5 $16 ({Deep Fritz 14 recommends:} 5… Be7 6.
Be2 O-O 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. Nd5 Be6 9. c4 Bxd5 10. cxd5 Ne7 11. O-O c6 12. dxc6
bxc6 13. Qd2 h6 14. Rac1 Rb8 15. b4 Qb6 16. a3 c5 17. Qa2 cxb4 18. axb4 Qxb4
19. Qxa7 $11) 6. Bxf6 {White is willing to sacrifice the Bishop in order to
eliminate one of Black’s threatening Knights.} Qxf6 {White expected gxf6, but
Qxf6 creates a new dynamic for Black. Now that his Queen is out in the open,
he must utilize it carefully or lose momentum and material in a hurry.} 7. exd5
{The slaughter of the innocents. White wants a passed pawn that will force
Black to retreat to his back rank.} Nd4 8. Ne4 {This was an aggressive move in
which White ignored some basic chess principles and engaged in an overt attack
on Black’s matriarch.} (8. Nxd4 exd4 9. Ne4 Qe5 {Is death for White.}) 8… Qf4
{Black simply moves his Queen out of the way and threatens to invade White’s
back rank.} 9. g3 $4 $19 {[#] This was a serious blunder for White and it
should have cost him the game. White disengages its defense of the f3 square
and clears the way for Black’s Queen to infiltrate further into White’s
territory. There is no defense against the imminent Qxf3 since Qdxf3 would be
met with Nxf3.} ({Deep Fritz 14 prefers:} 9. Be2 Nxf3+ 10. Bxf3 Bd7 11. O-O
O-O-O 12. c3 Kb8 13. Re1 h5 14. Qd2 Qxd2 15. Nxd2 f6 16. h4 g6 17. b4 Be7 18.
a4 a6 19. d4 Bf5 20. dxe5 fxe5 $14) 9… Qxf3 {The unavoidable and devastating
loss of White’s Knight should have ended the game, but victory in chess often
comes to the player that makes the last blunder. White was about to
experience more destructive losses on the Kingside before finding momentum to
make a comeback.} 10. Be2 $2 $19 {Deep Fritz 14 disagreed strongly with this
move and encouraged a Queen sacrifice, but White risked losing the game to
lure Black into a clever trap.} Qxh1+ {This was the better of Black’s two
options. Taking the Bishop would have resulted in balanced counterplay and
have given White an opportunity to play for a draw. Instead, Black attacks
the Rook and threatens to dominate White’s King for the next few moves.} 11.
Kd2 {White moves his King out of the way and prepares for an exchange with
Qxd1 Qxd1 Rxd1, but Black had other plans.} Qxh2 $4 {Black refuses the
exchange and begins picking off the Kingside pawns. However, this move
essentially hands the iniative to White.} 12. c3 {White challenges Black’s
Knight to make his intentions known. Only two squares offered protection for
the Knight, but the e2 Bishop is too appetizing to pass up.} Nxe2 {Black
exchanges Knight for Bishop since White easily recaptures with his Queen.} 13.
Qxe2 {Practically forced.} Qh6+ {Black misses an opportunity to further
develop his pieces by finding a superficial check on h6. White has easy
counterplay.} 14. Kc2 {Moving the King to the c2 square opens up the d-file
for White to begin his primary counterplay.} f5 {Despite missed development
opportunities, Black’s position is still considerably better than White.} 15.
Nd2 {Retreating the Knight to the d2 square protects the piece with the King
and Queen while allowing the Queen to gain control of the e-file.} g5 $2 $19 {
Black commits a serious blunder by ignoring White’s threat on the e5 pawn. If
White can execute careful counterplay, it is all over for Black.} ({Deep Fritz
14 was not happy. Better was:} 15… Qd6 16. Nc4 $19) 16. Qxe5+ {[#] White
challenges Black’s unprotected King. His counterplay is extremely weak with a
Queen on the h-file and a forked Rook.} Be6 $19 {Blocking the check was the
only way for Black to retain the possibility of castling at a later time.} ({
Deep Fritz 14 prefers:} 16… Kf7 17. Qxh8 Qg7 18. Qxg7+ Kxg7 19. f4 Bd7 20.
Nf3 gxf4 21. gxf4 Bd6 22. Ne5 Ba4+ 23. b3 Be8 24. Rh1 h5 25. Kd2 Kf6 26. d4 Rd8
27. Ke3 Bf8 28. c4 a5 29. Kf3 Bb4 30. Ke3 Bf8 31. Kf3 Bb4 32. Ke3 $19) 17. Re1
$2 $19 {Deep Fritz 14 was not happy with this move, but the suggested
variation line did not take into account White’s desire to strengthen the
e-file to assault the King.} Bd6 $2 $18 {Black challenges the White Queen for
control of the e-file, but leaves the h8 Rook hanging.} ({Deep Fritz 14 x64:}
17… O-O-O 18. dxe6 Be7 19. Nc4 Rhf8 20. Na5 c6 21. Qe3 Kb8 22. Qe5+ Bd6 23.
Qe2 Rfe8 24. Nc4 Qf6 25. Kb1 g4 26. d4 h5 27. Ka1 f4 28. Nxd6 Rxd6 $19) 18.
Qxh8+ {White delivers a crushing blow to Black by capturing the h8 Rook. If
Black moves his King, then he loses the chance to castle and will lose his a8
Rook.} Bf8 $2 $18 {Black panics and misses a chance to engage counterplay
against White’s invading Queen. If Black had moved his Queen to e8, White
would have been forced into a retreat or forced to advance his Rook a little
too early.} ({Deep Fritz 14 recommends:} 18… Qf8 19. Rxe6+ Be7 20. Qxh7 Qf7
21. Qh8+ Qf8 22. Qe5 Kd8 23. Nf3 f4 24. g4 Rb8 25. Nxg5 Bxg5 26. Qxg5+ Kc8 27.
Rf6 Qe8 28. Qf5+ Kd8 29. Rf8 $18) 19. dxe6 $2 $16 {This is another move that
Deep Fritz 14 was not happy with, but White felt that creating a passed pawn
with an anchored Rook and looming Queen attack was the best way to proceed.}
O-O-O $2 $18 {Black gets the opportunity to castle, but White continues to
threaten with his Queen and passed pawn.} 20. Qe5 {White retreats his Queen to
avoid a trap by the Bishop, Rook, and Queen combo.} Bd6 $18 {Black has become
desperate and is trying to keep the White Queen and Rook from remaining
connected.} 21. Qxf5 {A safe move that allows White some breathing space and
sets up for a discovered check.} Rf8 $2 {Black takes the bait and launches a
premature attack on White’s Queen. If Black had considered his options, he
would have noticed that White never intended to capture the Rook, but had a
discovered check waiting in the wind. White has mate in 3 moves.} 22. e7+ $1 {
[#] White opens a devastating discovered check on the Black King and drives
him deeper into a corner.} Kb8 {Black is doomed.} 23. Qd7 $2 $18 {Deep Fritz
14 was not happy with this move, but White’s move also ensures an end to the
game.} ({Deep Fritz 14 preferred:} 23. e8=Q+ Rxe8 24. Rxe8#) 23… Bxe7 {Once
again, Black refuses to engage in any significant counterplay.} 24. Rxe7 {
White gobbles up Black’s last line of defense and the noose is about as tight
as it can get.} Rc8 $2 {Black re-establishes a castled position in a
last-ditch effort to defend the King.} ({Deep Fritz 14 preferred:} 24… Qc6
25. Qxc6 bxc6 26. Ne4 h5 27. Rh7 h4 28. gxh4 gxh4 29. Rxh4 a6 30. f4 Ka7 31.
Nc5 Rf7 32. d4 Kb6 33. Rh8 a5 34. Rb8+ Ka7 35. Rb7+ Ka8 36. Kb3 Rxf4 37. Rxc7
Rf6 38. Nd7 Rf2 39. a4 Rg2 40. Rxc6 $18) 25. Re8 {Black’s only option for
salvation is b7 to allow the King an escape route.} Qf6 {Black assumes that
White’s intention is to play a piece on d8, but wih mate in 1, there is no
need. Black’s Queen is in a powerless position and the game is over.} 26.
Qxc8# {The speed at which the initiative in this game changed made it an
incredible experience. White was facing a lost position, but managed to
manipulate key tactical sequences to pull off a dramatic win.} 1-0
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