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Poly Chess Championship Game 2: MichaeltheGreat-Jaguar Warrior

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  • Thanks.

    The only move that would have kept you in the fight was Rc7 instead of the Ne2+, which is what I was aiming for - getting your most active piece tied to a defensive role, or exchanged off, so I could process the g and h pawns with a minimum of further harassment.

    You played pretty well except for that h-pawn business. I'm working on a post mortem of the game, and some suggestions on general areas you could improve your play considerably. Until I get that done, here's the quickie:

    Along the lines of what Solver asked me (he wondered why I took the knight at e5 instead of playing Ng7+, there was a much better line you could have pursued coming out of that combination. I'd been aiming at that for a while, hence the odd knight deployment, but the h5 move threw things off a bit. If you'd accepted the second knight sac directly, without returning a knight at e5, the best you could have hoped for a knight for three pawn exchange, with me getting protected-connected passed pawns. I expected to get more than a knight back for that, so answering at Kde5 followed by Be6 was the best line. I launched that combination more than half for psychological reasons, because you seemed to be pretty aggressive and confident, and those players are often the easiest to shake up when you spring a hard surprise on them.


    The best line following on the combination was: (instead of 17 ... h3)

    17 ... Ne5 (I was extremely surprised you didn't play this - it also makes a real threat out of h3 because of the pain that Nf3 could inflict in a number of ways, whether it's a checking move or not when you played it)

    18 Bh4 Nd3+
    19 Ke2 Nb2 (losing the b pawn is preferable to losing the f-pawn for the support it gives my passed h-pawn and the general light square harassment your knight could inflict with the light square bishop supporting it.)
    20 Rb1 Na4 (no worries about the b5 pawn due to the fork relationship with the King at e2)
    21 Bf6 Rh6
    22 Bd4 Kd7 (on it's way to c6, followed by clearing the rook from a8)

    At this point, I've got a Bishop pair against Bishop and Knight and I've got a protected passed pawn, but it's an h-pawn, material is equal, I have isolated Q-side pawns, and your pieces are active and working well together. The Bishop pair and passed pawn still give white an advantage, but it's only a little more than the initial first move advantage white starts with.

    The position would have been this:
    Attached Files
    When all else fails, blame brown people. | Hire a teen, while they still know it all. | Trump-Palin 2016. "You're fired." "I quit."

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    • The moves that really killed you were

      17 ... h3?

      and

      18 ... Bg4?

      With those two moves, you (a) kicked my bishop to where it could defend against the d3 weakness, (b) allowed me to defend my e pawn with f4, which unifies my K-side pawn chain, gives my king access to f2 if/as needed and preserves my one pawn gain from the combination that originated with Ng5, (c) protects the f pawn from potential nastiness if you'd gotten into the d3 square, (d) allows me to exchange off light squared bishops to get a much more advantageous dark bishop v knight ending (note that all the potential passed pawns in the game - your c pawn, and my f or h pawns, all queen on dark squares), when your light squared bishop was the most effective defensive piece you had, (e) gets my king off the first row, connecting my rooks, (f) assures I'll eventually pick up a two pawn lead, by making your h-pawn both unexchangeable and undefendable in the long term, and (g) I get to do this all with a net gain of tempo, since your bishop moves twice and exchanges itself off. The net result, after you remove both light square bishops, is I get to play f4 and Ke2 while you play h3, and it's still your move.
      When all else fails, blame brown people. | Hire a teen, while they still know it all. | Trump-Palin 2016. "You're fired." "I quit."

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      • Nice analysis. I could tell things were going awry around the h3 move, but I thought that I was cutting my losses.
        "You're the biggest user of hindsight that I've ever known. Your favorite team, in any sport, is the one that just won. If you were a woman, you'd likely be a slut." - Slowwhand, to Imran

        Eschewing silly games since December 4, 2005

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        • The last couple of posts were my thoughts as things unfolded during the game.

          Later on (tomorrow or Monday), I'll post mortem the opening and give you an idea of what I was aiming for, and also give you some suggestions on small changes to play technique that I think will help you improve. You definitely have A-player potential, depending on how much you keep playing.

          The next games should be interesting, as we'll both be playing black.
          When all else fails, blame brown people. | Hire a teen, while they still know it all. | Trump-Palin 2016. "You're fired." "I quit."

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          • Since Sir Ralph is better than muxec, and you're better than me, it would logically follow that muxec should play the same moves as Sir Ralph, on the assumption that the move Sir Ralph chooses will be better than his, and I should counter with your moves, because the move you choose will be better than mine.
            "You're the biggest user of hindsight that I've ever known. Your favorite team, in any sport, is the one that just won. If you were a woman, you'd likely be a slut." - Slowwhand, to Imran

            Eschewing silly games since December 4, 2005

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            • MTG, why didnt you take Ne6 after g5 ?
              money sqrt evil;
              My literacy level are appalling.

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              • JW, you still can win the champ if you win me and Sir Ralph and SR will draw with MTG
                money sqrt evil;
                My literacy level are appalling.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by muxec
                  MTG, why didnt you take Ne6 after g5 ?
                  I need the second knight in the attack and to overload the black bishop on g5 via the fork relationship if black takes after Ng5, because with only one knight, black has no problems taking the knight and emerging a piece ahead.

                  For example:

                  12 ... g5
                  13 Ne6 fe
                  14 Qe6?? Nde5 traps the Queen

                  12 ... g5
                  13 Ne6 fe
                  14 Ng5 Nde5
                  15 Ne6 Nd3+ followed by

                  16 ... Be6
                  17 Qe6 Qd6

                  or black can simply play defensively with
                  14 ... Nf8 defending everything and threatening a pin on the knight by Rg8 which white would have to answer with f4. The resulting bishop for knight exchange after that would shatter white's K-side pawn structure, and still leave white a piece down with no followup attack.
                  Last edited by MichaeltheGreat; August 10, 2003, 12:22.
                  When all else fails, blame brown people. | Hire a teen, while they still know it all. | Trump-Palin 2016. "You're fired." "I quit."

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