Sicilian struggle, coffeehouse style...

[alexpgp]

Nothing like starting on "someday" right now. :^)

(These are initial notes, made without actually setting up a board or analyzing variations.)

[Date "2006.12.18"]
[White "Alex"]
[Black "John"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.f4 {The McDonnell Attack.} Nc6 {2...d5 3.exd5 Nf6, the Tal Gambit, is considered by some as Black's best response.} 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bc4 Bg7 8.O-O O-O 9.Be3? {What was I thinking?} Ng4 10.Nd5?! {Else go down meekly.} Nxe3 11.Nxc6?! {Trying to keep things mixed up and my opponent off-balance! I can tell from his body language that he did not expect my 10th or 11th moves.} 11... bxc6 {It was better to take the Queen on d1, as in the end, the attacking strength of White's knights isn't what it might look like on the surface. Then again, "false evidence appearing real" comes into play, here, and is one of the reasons why anayzing one's own games is valuable.} 12.Nxe3 Bxb2? {I think Black would be better served looking to his backward development.} 13.Rb1 Ba3 14.f5 Bc5 15.Qf3 Bxe3+ {I think this is a bad move, as it relieves the pin for no good reason.} 16.Qxe3 e6?? {Fatal. Opens a hole that I exploit immediately.} 17.f6! {With this move, I threaten mate in two. I see no salvation for Black.} Kh8 {Forced.} 18.Qh6 Rg8 {Forced.} 19.Rb3 {Heading for the h file.} Qf8 {Forced.} 20.Rh3 Qxh6 {Forced.} 21.Rxh6 d5 22.exd5 exd5 23.Bd3 {23.Rf4!} c5 24.Rf4 Bf5 {Black has no counterplay.} 25.Bxf5 gxf5 26.Rfh4 {1-0}

Cheers...