Another Saturday game, annotated...

I made the time yesterday morning to go play some chess. This time, I decided to actually record games as I played them, rather than reply on memory to reconstruct them when I got home.

The following game was enjoyable (I did, after all, win), but I had miscalculated a move sequence in medias res, so I sat down to analyze it afterward, and was humbled.

[Date "2009.03.28"]
[White "AlexPGP"]
[Black "Arthur"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nc6

{Not so good, as it allows White, who already starts the game with a small initiative (the first move) to kick the momentum up a notch.}

3.d5 Ne5 4.f4

{Chasing the Knight again. Black's tactic works in an opening called Alekhine's Defense, which starts 1.e4 Nf6, but ends up not working here.}

4...Bg4

{At attempt at a zwischenzug - or in-between move - that seems ill-advised.}

5.Be2 Bxe2

{Forced, as both Black pieces were under attack.}

6.Nxe2 Ng4

{I think 6...Ng6 was the better move.}

7.Ng3 Qd7 8.Nc3 N8f6 9.Qe2 g6 10.h3

{Time to force the Knight back, which also quashes any idea of pushing the pawn in h7.}

10...Nh6 11.Be3

{White has a firm grip on the center, is well developed, and can castle on either side. I like my game.}

11...Bg7 12.O-O-O c5? 13.e5 dxe5?

{Black's previous move removed a support for the pawn on d6; this move releases the tension in the center and removes the defender from the pawn on c5.}

14.fxe5 Nfg8 15.Bxc5 b6

{Black's only piece with any scope is his Queen. Materially, he is only down a pawn; overall, though, I think he has a lost game.}

16.Bd4 Nf5 17.Nxf5 Qxf5 18.Rhf1 Qc8

{White owns the center and his heavy pieces are bracketing Black's King.

}

19.Rxf7?!

{This looks like a pretty sac, but is actually premature. Not only that, but I miscalculated the continuation when I played it. After the game, I found 19.d6 Qe6 (19...e6? 20.Qf3! Kd8 21.d7; 19....exd6 20.exd6+ Kf8 (20...Kd8 21.d7; 20...Kd7 21.Rxf7+) 21.Rxf7+ Kxf7 22.Rf1+) 20.Nb5 and White is sitting pretty.}

19...Kxf7 20.e6+ Kf8

{The reply I didn't see. }

21.Bxg7+??

{This lets Black dig in, probably deep enough to weather the storm and win. Despite the dubious sac on move 19, I think White can hang on with 21. Qf3+ Bf6 (22...Nf6 23.d6 Rb8 24.dxe7+) 22.d6 Kg7 23.dxe7}

21...Kxg7 22.Qe5+ Nf6 23.Ne4 Rf8??

{Black's position would have gotten a big boost with 23...Qc4!}

24.d6 exd6 25.Rxd6 Qc7??

{Loses the game pretty much instantly. Sadly for White, it's not as if Black had no other resources, as 25...Qc4!! would have actually won the game. Here's what the board would have looked like:


For example, 26.Rd7+ Kh8 and there isn't enough time to get any steam up again, because Black's Queen will use the check on f1 as a springboard to defend her King, e.g., 27.Nxf6 Qf1+ 28.Kd2 Qxf6, after which Black's material superiority would prevail. The rest of the game consists of Black's postmortem spasms.}

26.Rd7+ Qxd7 27.exd7 Rad8 28.Qe7+ Rf7 29.Qxd8 (1-0).

Cheers...

Working Sunday...

I translated 3700 target words and have 3000 source words left for tomorrow.

Did some thinking about the current LJ Idol requirements. It took a while to hunt down my previous entries and collect them, but I did. I was a little surprised to see they weigh in at about 35,000 words so far.

Determining which of my essays is my favorite is going to be interesting. Is it the one that was most cathartic in its conception? The one I thought was most aesthetically pleasing? The one I thought was best written, technically? The one that felt most natural in the writing? The one that received the best reception?

On the other hand, it was pretty easy to nail down a few pieces that I feel could have been better, but the trick here is to find one I think I can pick up and run with in a different (and better!) direction.

I'm not trying to make this difficult, really, I'm not.

Because I am such a Nathan Fillion fan (read: browncoat), I downloaded the first episode of his new series Castle from iTunes. I liked the chemistry between the characters, and just pray they - whoever "they" are - don't ruin it.

The remaining 3,000 words need to be translated without delay tomorrow, so I better get some rest and rise early.

Cheers...