Poly Chess Championship Game 4: Sir Ralph - MtG

[Harovan]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+

[DrSpike]

Graphic?

[MichaeltheGreat]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6

Position at move 37:

[Harovan]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6

[MichaeltheGreat]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6 Nd7

[Harovan]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6 Nd7
39 Bg4

[MichaeltheGreat]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6 Nd7
39 Bg4 Nc7

[Harovan]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6 Nd7
39 Bg4 Nc7
40 Qh3

[MichaeltheGreat]

1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 e3 b6
5 Nge2 Bb7
6 a3 Be7
7 d5 e5
8 e4 d6
9 Ng3 Nbd7
10 b4 a5
11 Bd2 c5
12 bxa5 bxa5
13 Rb1 Ba6
14 Bd3 Nb6
15 Nb5 Bc8
16 O-O O-O
17 Qc2 Ne8
18 Ne2 Ra6
19 f4 f6
20 f5 Bd7
21 Nbc3 Nc7
22 Rb2 Be8
23 Rfb1 Nca8
24 Ng3 Qd7
25 Be2 Bd8
26 Nb5 a4
27 h4 Nc7
28 Nc3 Nca8
29 h5 h6
30 Qd3 Rf7
31 Nf1 Kh8
32 Nh2 Be7
33 Nf3 Bf8
34 Nh4 Re7
35 Nd1 Qd8
36 Nf2 Rea7
37 Ng6+ Bg6
38 fxg6 Nd7
39 Bg4 Nc7
40 Qh3 Ne8

Position:

[MichaeltheGreat]

I resign. Good game.

When I started moving the knights, I'd mostly focused on you capturing hxg6 after the eventual check at Ng6+. I didn't look nearly enough at what you could do by the fxg6 capture once the knights stopped shutting your rooks out. Dumb mistake on my part, after the almost as dumb 7 ... e5 move.

I think once your knight was well away from the b5 square, I could have contained your k-side attacking potential with the rooks, queen and bishop.

[Harovan]

I was focused on hxg6 myself, but in every variant I calculated you ended with Qg7 and Kg8 and me with a knight less and no attack left. Then I was playing around with fxg6 and pressing your terribly weak white tiles, with the threat of an attack at your king omnipresent. That decision took a while, but in the end I deemed it the better move. By all means, breaking with my rooks in the 7th or 8th row would decide the game.

It was a classical maneuver fight. In a closed position and with a good advantage in space, it took to create two weaknesses at different sides and quickly move the main threat from on flank to the other. In most cases, that brings the side with less room in trouble.

It was a good game and I thank you.

[DrSpike]

I haven't analysed it properly but early on, even before you put your rooks on the b-file I thought black looked doomed, and was looking at neanderthal style attacks on the King. Quite possibly these were premature and had defences, but there were some promising lines I thought.

Did you look for direct kingside plans arround move 22?

[Harovan]

No, I deemed this premature. I had a thought or two for it, but then decided to increase the pressing on the queens side first, trying to bind as many black pieces there as I could. In closed positions time doesn't matter that much. You need patience.

In move 27, I begun preparations for the second front. Goal was not a direct attack, but to force the creation of a second weak point on the kings side. I got even 2, the weak tile g6 and the threat of a sacrifice at h6. There were several kinds of threats present, the brute force break in over h6 was only the most obvious.

The opening of the diagonal c8-h3, which is very weak for black, made the black defense very difficult, if not impossible. I can break in at will with my bishop via e6-f7 (after which the sacrifice at h6 is crushing), the threat Qc3-c1, and Ng4 becomes dangerous and still my rooks dominate the b file ready to break in at the 7th or 8th row and decide the game. To prevent it will already cost black material.

[MichaeltheGreat]

No need to get that elaborate. 41 Bd7 followed by 42 Rb8 (regardless of how black recaptures at d7) ends things by a much more direct approach. The two white rooks can double up on b8 and c8, and black can't defend the knight and/or bishop.

When I started maneuvering the knights on their little death ride several moves back, I didn't look into the fxg5 capture in enough depth to see the coordinated entry possibilities from h3-c8-b8.

At a8 and b6, the knights were ugly, but they did shut down the rooks and have at least a potential threat against the c4 pawn.

after .... e5, which was bad, Kh8 was just a wasted tempo, and two if you consider Kg8 as a potential response to Ng6+. Even so, had I sufficiently considered the h3-c8-b8 potential, I would have tolerated the knight on g6 as an additional irritant, or let you exchange it off against the dark square bishop.

If I had retained any real sense of how to play the game, I think I could have held the position (even though if I had any real sense of how to play, I wouldn't have gotten into it ), by not moving the King prematurely, keeping the knights where they were, and once your second knight was firmly on it's way to the K side, using those tempi to move the rooks to b7 and a7, with the assumption that if you sac a piece at h6, I can countersac the exchange to break up your attack.

A very well played game on your part, and a good lesson for me in the current weaknesses in my game I need to address if I want to be half decent again.

Thank you.

Dr. Spike - I was hoping for quick, Nearderthal-style attacks on the K-side. I could defend against those and come out material ahead, and have an opening to gain back initiative.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
No need to get that elaborate. 41 Bd7 followed by 42 Rb8 (regardless of how black recaptures at d7) ends things by a much more direct approach. The two white rooks can double up on b8 and c8, and black can't defend the knight and/or bishop.

That is true after your last 3 moves, but wasn't yet my intent when I played fxg6, which was what I described.

after .... e5, which was bad, Kh8 was just a wasted tempo, and two if you consider Kg8 as a potential response to Ng6+.

True. But you had to go back to g8 in order to prevent me from taking your Bh6 with my queen with check.