Well friends, vacation time is over and it is back to work for me! It has been a while since I posted game commentary and much of that had to do with prepping for my vacation time as well as covering some extensive and stressful last-minute family items. Now, all that is gone and the grind has returned, although now I feel my batteries are recharged and I am ready to go!
The following game was annotated on the Carnival Magic cruise liner while at sea in the Bahamas! I have the sunburn to prove it! It was played on [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com) in late March and I chose to annotate it because it has some cool tactical plays, it demonstrates how the balance of power on the board can change in a moment’s notice, and it ends with a exceptional Queen sacrifice. Play through the full game at the bottom of this post after the move-by-move commentary.
**1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Nc3 Be7 5. d4 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. dxe5 Bxb5** In an unusual counter move, Black ignores the dangerous advancing pawn and challenges White’s relatively solid Queenside by taking the Bishop on b5.
**8.Nxb5 d5 9. exf6 Bxf6 10. Bf4 Qd7 11. Nxc7** Black is powerless to stop the Knight from destroying the a8 Rook. Black’s best move here is to further develop his pieces to minimize the damage.
**11…Nc6 12. Nxa8 Rxa8 13. Qd2 Rd8 14.Rad1 Bxb2 15. exd5 Ne7 16. Ne5 Qb5 17. d6** Now, White has a deadly passed pawn in enemy territory and his Queen-Rook battery remains intact.
**17…Nd5 18. Bg5 Rxd6 19. Rfe1 f6 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Qh6 Bxe5 22. Rxe5** A devastating blunder! I felt my heart sink when this move was made. Trading the Rook for the Bishop in this case made almost no sense whatsoever.
**22…Qb2 23. Re8+ Kf7 24. Qf8+ Kg6 25. Qxd6 Nc3 26. Qg3+ Kf5 27. Qf3+ Kg6 28. Rg8+ Kf7 29. g3 Nxd1 30. Qxd1 Kxg8 31. Qd8+ Kg7 32. Qe7+ Kg6 33. Qe4+ Kf7 34. Qxh7+ Ke6 35. Qg8+ Kf5 36. Qd5+ Kg6 37. Qg8+ Kf5 38. Qh7+ Ke6 39. f4 Qc1+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kh3 Qe2 42. Qg8+ Kd6 43. Qf8+ Kd5 44. Qf7+ Kd4 45. Qxf6+ Kc4 46. Qf7+ Kc3 47. Qc7+ Kd2 48. Qa5+ Kc1 49. Qa3+ Kd2 50. c3 Qh5+ 51. Kg2 Ke2 52. Qe7+ Kd2 53. Qd6+ Ke2 54. Qe6+ Kd2 55. g4 Qb5 56. Qd6+ Ke2 57. Qe5+** White thought long and hard about this move. Until this point, Black had been unwilling to accept any significant trades or sacrifices. If he foolishly chose to save his King by Kd2, then his Queen is lost and the game is over. On the other hand, capturing the e5 Queen is just as deadly since the recapture by the f-pawn guarantees a new White Queen and game victory.
**57…Qxe5 58. fxe5 Kd3 59. e6 Ke4 60. e7 1-0** The King’s futile race to stop the pawn is over. Black resigned and the Queen sacrifice brought White a clear and decisive victory.
[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.03.27”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “870”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C41”]
[WhiteElo “865”]
[BlackElo “870”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “119”]
[EventDate “2015.??.??”]
[TimeControl “10”]
1. e4 {One of the most popular opening moves in chess. This move gives White
maximum initial ownership of the central squares.} e5 {Black counters by
blocking the pawn’s advancement.} 2. Nf3 {White threatens the advancing Black
pawn although the move is more developmental than confrontational.} d6 {Black
responds by advancing the d7 pawn to further develop control of the central
board and also to defend the e5 pawn from any premature attack from White’s
i aforces.} 3. Bb5+ {The Bishop attacking on b5 moves the game into the Phildor
Defense of the King’s Knight Game. The Bishop itself is no serious threat to
Black, but it does indicate White’s desire to go for blood.} Bd7 {The Bishop
blocks the check and threatens the b5 Bishop.} 4. Nc3 {Planning against an
assault on the Bishop, White develops his Knight to defend against a loss of
material.} Be7 {Preparing a defense against a Bishop challenge on g5.} 5. d4 {
The first real threat of the game as White challenges the weaker Black e5
square. In some of these lower rated games, I have seen players take the bait
quite often and quickly lose ground in the center.} Nf6 {Black responds by
adding an attacker to the e4 pawn.} 6. O-O {A critical move that should
usually be made within the first six moves.} O-O {Black responds in kind.} 7.
dxe5 {White launches the first rearl attack of the game.} Bxb5 {In an unusual
counter move, Black ignores the dangerous advancing pawn and challenges
White’s relatively solid Queenside by taking the Bishop on b5.} 8. Nxb5 {White
captures the b5 Bishop to complete the exchange.} d5 {It is unclear here what
Black’s plan is or if he even has a real strategy in the game. The advance of
the d6 pawn results in an immediate loss of material, tempo, and advantage for
Black.} 9. exf6 {White easily gobbles up the free Knight. If Black does not
do something about the advancing pawn soon, he will have some serious trouble
on his hands.} Bxf6 {Black finally eliminates the advancing pawn, but now he
is left with a gaping hole in the center and is down a Knight thanks to the
unfortunate d5 move.} 10. Bf4 {White reognizes Black’s increasingly precarious
position and moves in to capitalize on the vulnerable Queen.} Qd7 $5 {I am
beginning to wonder if Black is even in this game! Qd7 protects the Queen
from direct attack, but needlessly sacrifices the a8 Rook!} 11. Nxc7 $1 {Black
is powerless to stop the Knight from destroying the a8 Rook. Black’s best
move here is to further develop his pieces to minimize the damage.} Nc6 {Most
likely the best move available.} 12. Nxa8 {A huge win! White has easily
infiltrated Black’s back rank and has devastated the Queenside.} Rxa8 {
Fortunately for Black, he is not content to sit back and let his forces
continue to be picked off.} 13. Qd2 {White’s Queen enters the fight to defend
the f4 Bishop and to make way for activating the a1 Rook.} Rd8 {It seems that
Black is anticipating entry of the a1 Rook and moves to create a battery on
the d-file.} 14. Rad1 {The d-file is an atomic war waiting to happen with both
sides prepared to strike using their Rook-Queen battery combinations…} Bxb2 {
Black’s Bishop goes for a material gain.} 15. exd5 {This move has two purposes.
The first is to challenge Black into the battery duel and the other is to
threaten the c6 Knight. In either event, Black must make a positional
concession if he wants to get ahead.} Ne7 $1 {This is a well executed tactical
maneuver by Black. With the Knight as a threat to the d5 pawn, Black’s battery
is (for the moment) stronger.} 16. Ne5 {In this game, White prefers to force
his opponent into positions that are terribly difficult and tricky to maneuver.
In this case, Black can take the d5 pawn, but his Queen and the game would be
over.} Qb5 {Black misses the capture with the Bishop on b2 and allows White to
push another pawn deeper into his territory.} 17. d6 {Now, White has a deadly
passed pawn in enemy territory and his Queen-Rook battery remains intact.} Nd5
{Black blocks the d6 pawn’s primary defenders and prevents the battery from
attacking without heavy losses. This is where things get tricky.} 18. Bg5 {
Realizing that the pawn has served its purpose and is lost, White engages the
Rook with his Bishop, a move that effectively forces the pawn’s capture.} Rxd6
{The Rook moves to safety and wins the pawn.} 19. Rfe1 {White’s Rook is now
activated and threatening the increasingly unprotected Black King.} f6 $3 {A
devastating fork! White loses a piece and remains in danger for losing more.
The choice between Knight and Bishop is never easy because they each perform
an important function on the board.} 20. Bxf6 {The Bishop is sacrificed to
open up the King’s defenses.} gxf6 {White is now down heavily on material, but
his King remains much more protected than his opponent.} 21. Qh6 {At this
point, White is out for blood. Bringing the Queen to the h-file is meant to
threaten material gain as well as hopefully distract Black from the growing
gap in the center.} Bxe5 {White continues to see his material (and his game)
slip away.} 22. Rxe5 $4 {A devastating blunder! I felt my heart sink when
this move was made. Trading the Rook for the Bishop in this case made almost
no sense whatsoever.} Qb2 $4 {Really? Did that just happen?! Black complely
missed an elementary move and let the Rook live despite White’s horrific
blunder.} 23. Re8+ {If Black realized his mistake, it was too late to do
anything about it. The e-file Rook engages Black’s King and White is once
again in control.} Kf7 {Black’s only option.} 24. Qf8+ {White made this move
much too soon. He should have reinforced the e-file Rook with Rde1! before
engaging with the Queen.} Kg6 {Black moves easily to safety.} 25. Qxd6 {Black
loses another Rook and now faces a serious material disadvantage. In a
professional game, Black would have most liekly resigned here.} Nc3 {Black
removes the Knight and forces the d-file Rook to a new position.} 26. Qg3+ {
White is in a very dangerous position since his King is stuck. If Black
manages to remove the defending Rook then the game is immediately over for
White.} Kf5 {Black’s King moves to safety.} 27. Qf3+ {The White Queen
continues to make life difficult for Black. The Rook remains under threat,
but forced moves will keep Black’s King busy for awhile.} Kg6 {Without a solid
plan of attack, the Black King retreats once more.} 28. Rg8+ {White adds
pressure to his opponent’s position by bringing the Rook into the battle.} Kf7
{Black’s King moves to safety while challenging the g8 Rook. White should
have taken time to address the attack on the Rook. but more immediate matters
required attention in his own territory.} 29. g3 {Strategically, this is a
sound move since it gives the White King options to escape in the event that
Black tries to trap him behind the pawn stucture.} Nxd1 {As expected, the Rook
is gone.} 30. Qxd1 {Black’s last Knight is finished.} Kxg8 {As Black destroys
White’s last real advantage, both players settle in for an extended Queen and
pawn endgame.} 31. Qd8+ {White continues to assert his dominance and
aggression. This check takes advantage of White’s position while setting up
opportunities to win material.} Kg7 {This move puts Black’s King out of danger
while protecting the valuable f6 pawn.} 32. Qe7+ {At this point, White is
operating with half of a plan. The forced moves will keep Black occupied, but
White needs more of a solid plan to capitalize during the endgame.} Kg6 {Black
continues to defend the f6 pawn.} 33. Qe4+ {Another forced move, this time in
an attempt to skewer the h7 pawn.} Kf7 {An unfortunate move for Black. It
continues defense of the f6 pawn, but abandons the h7 pawn and threatens the
loss of more material.} 34. Qxh7+ {White needs to be careful in these
situations because material greed without active work to mate can be disastous.
} Ke6 {Black contiues his merry-go-round trip to protect the f6 pawn.} 35. Qg8+
{White engages the Black King to prevent any futher piece development.} Kf5 {
Forced.} 36. Qd5+ {Continuing to push the King.} Kg6 {Forced.} 37. Qg8+ {
Something different in an attempt to stop the merry-go-round.} Kf5 {Still
unwilling to give up the f6 pawn.} 38. Qh7+ {White pushes the King again.} Ke6
{Forced.} 39. f4 {White needs to close the circle and prevent Black’s King
from continuing to evade.} Qc1+ {Black takes advantage of the first non-forced
move and forces White’s King off the back room.} 40. Kg2 {Preparing to escape
via the h-file.} Qd2+ {Probably frustrated with the number of forced moves in
the game, Black begins to systematically chase the White King.} 41. Kh3 {
Escaping to the h-file ensures that Black cannot continue to force moves.} Qe2
{Black’s Queen moves to prevent the White Queen from moving to e4 and
beginning a new series of forced moves.} 42. Qg8+ {White continues to exploit
the unprotected King.} Kd6 43. Qf8+ Kd5 44. Qf7+ Kd4 45. Qxf6+ {Another pawn
falls and the King is forced to move again.} Kc4 46. Qf7+ Kc3 47. Qc7+ Kd2 48.
Qa5+ Kc1 49. Qa3+ Kd2 50. c3 {The pawn move in this moment serves a dual role
as it further develops White’s remaining pawn structure and pins the King to
defending the Queen in the current position.} Qh5+ {Sensing danger, Black’s
move forces the White King to retreat.} 51. Kg2 {No other choices.} Ke2 {Out
of options for the moment. Black moves his King closer to tighten his grip on
the White King.} 52. Qe7+ {Another forced move.} Kd2 53. Qd6+ Ke2 54. Qe6+ Kd2
55. g4 {With Black frustrated and preoccupied with his King defence, White
challenges the Black Queen.} Qb5 {A rather weak retreat as there are no easy
advantages for Black in the current position.} 56. Qd6+ Ke2 57. Qe5+ {White
thought long and hard about this move. Until this point, Black had been
unwilling to accept any significant trades or sacrifices. If he foolishly
chose to save his King by Kd2, then his Queen is lost and the game is over.
On the other hand, capturing the e5 Queen is just as deadly since the
recapture by the f-pawn guarantees a new White Queen and game victory.} Qxe5 {
Black captures the Queen and chooses the lesser of two evils. Black is lost
in this position.} 58. fxe5 {The deadly e5 pawn will now rush unopposed to e8.
Black should resign.} Kd3 59. e6 Ke4 60. e7 {The King’s futile race to stop
the pawn is over. Black resigned and the Queen sacrifice brought White a
clear and decisive victory.} 1-0[/pgn]