I liked the idea behind 25 e5 (trying to open up Black's king a bit more). Unfortunately though it ends up giving him some play; after 26... Ka8 he now would have h4 and g5 to drive your pieces back (while furthering his attack).
At first I thought 26 Bf5 looked an intriguing alternative to 26 Bf4. Now if 26... gf 27 Rxc6 Qxc6 28 Qa7+ and 29 Rc1 might well prove promising. 26... Qc7 had me stymied for a bit, once I got to 27 Rxc6 Qxc6 28 Qa7+ Kc7 29 Bb6+ Qxb6 30 Rc1+ Qc6 31 Rxc6+ Kxc6 when Black has the suddenly dire threat 32... Bc5 looming.
But (going back a bit) there's the goofy idea 26... Qc7 27 Qa7+ Nxa7 28 Bxa7+ which appears good.
At any rate, none of this matters all that much...since it looks like 26... gf 27 27 Rxc6 d4 is probably turning the tables for Black.
At first I thought 26 Bf5 looked an intriguing alternative to 26 Bf4. Now if 26... gf 27 Rxc6 Qxc6 28 Qa7+ and 29 Rc1 might well prove promising. 26... Qc7 had me stymied for a bit, once I got to 27 Rxc6 Qxc6 28 Qa7+ Kc7 29 Bb6+ Qxb6 30 Rc1+ Qc6 31 Rxc6+ Kxc6 when Black has the suddenly dire threat 32... Bc5 looming.
But (going back a bit) there's the goofy idea 26... Qc7 27 Qa7+ Nxa7 28 Bxa7+ which appears good.
At any rate, none of this matters all that much...since it looks like 26... gf 27 27 Rxc6 d4 is probably turning the tables for Black.
So what to do?
I like 25 Bb3. It threatens a pawn and also that queen-winning business. Plus there's Bd5 and probably a4 as well.
I like 25 Bb3. It threatens a pawn and also that queen-winning business. Plus there's Bd5 and probably a4 as well.
I'm too lazy to read what the NM wrote above, so I'm sorry if I'll repeat something:
I'd like to just pin-point ONE detail: In the Ruy López, *if* Black has pushed his a- and b-pawns (in the manner just like the game in question), White, in principle, wants to advance his a-pawn 2 (!) squares! And because Black has castled Queenside that a-pawn advance seemed even juicier than normal.
Hope that helps, even if just a tiny bit! :-)
I'd like to just pin-point ONE detail: In the Ruy López, *if* Black has pushed his a- and b-pawns (in the manner just like the game in question), White, in principle, wants to advance his a-pawn 2 (!) squares! And because Black has castled Queenside that a-pawn advance seemed even juicier than normal.
Hope that helps, even if just a tiny bit! :-)
Hi
After Black castled queenside on move 11, you played Ng3.
Although this (Nb1-d2-f1-g3) is a standard knight maneuver in the Spanish, that is - I believe - if Black castles kingside.
In same-side castled Spanish positions, White usually plays on the kingside, so it makes sense to bring as many pieces there as possible. Black then plays on the queenside, infiltrating there and then tries to flank towards the White king.
But in opposite castled positions, usually pawnstorms can occur, as these pawnsmoves usually don't leave their king less protected.
In this position, Black has pushed his pawns in front of his king (or rather: castled into that situation): a huge weakening as White can open up a line towards Black's king by playing 12.a4!?
Another option was to play a more centralizing move with the f1-knight. 12.Ne3!? This would bring an extra piece into the center covering d5.
It also doesn't provide Black with a tempo-target. That's what I call a piece that can be forced to move. In this case with h7-5-4. These are moves Black would like to play, and after Ng3, he has even more incentives.
Lastly, by castling the Black-player undefended his f7-pawn. Although it is a bit risky to take it with 12.Bxf7!?, I believe you can hold as I see no great discovery-attacks with the e7-knight. Most promising (without an engine) looks 12...Ne7-g6, threatening to take the Bishop (13...Qxf7) and if White dares to take the knight (13.Bxg6), Black gets an open h-file too.
And if White doesn't take the knight, that knight may very well jump into f4, after which you probably will have to give up the bishop pair.
So Black will get some play for the f7-pawn, but a pawn is a pawn...
Later in the game you missed some double attacks, but I wanted to point out that 12.Ng3 is - IMO - a positional blunder. It is an interesting one, as I think you reacted to a non-standard situation (Black castling long) with a standard maneuver (as if he had castled short).
When your opponent makes a move that is not normal, that is a type of a critical situation in which you should take some time to devise/revise a plan.
After Black castled queenside on move 11, you played Ng3.
Although this (Nb1-d2-f1-g3) is a standard knight maneuver in the Spanish, that is - I believe - if Black castles kingside.
In same-side castled Spanish positions, White usually plays on the kingside, so it makes sense to bring as many pieces there as possible. Black then plays on the queenside, infiltrating there and then tries to flank towards the White king.
But in opposite castled positions, usually pawnstorms can occur, as these pawnsmoves usually don't leave their king less protected.
In this position, Black has pushed his pawns in front of his king (or rather: castled into that situation): a huge weakening as White can open up a line towards Black's king by playing 12.a4!?
Another option was to play a more centralizing move with the f1-knight. 12.Ne3!? This would bring an extra piece into the center covering d5.
It also doesn't provide Black with a tempo-target. That's what I call a piece that can be forced to move. In this case with h7-5-4. These are moves Black would like to play, and after Ng3, he has even more incentives.
Lastly, by castling the Black-player undefended his f7-pawn. Although it is a bit risky to take it with 12.Bxf7!?, I believe you can hold as I see no great discovery-attacks with the e7-knight. Most promising (without an engine) looks 12...Ne7-g6, threatening to take the Bishop (13...Qxf7) and if White dares to take the knight (13.Bxg6), Black gets an open h-file too.
And if White doesn't take the knight, that knight may very well jump into f4, after which you probably will have to give up the bishop pair.
So Black will get some play for the f7-pawn, but a pawn is a pawn...
Later in the game you missed some double attacks, but I wanted to point out that 12.Ng3 is - IMO - a positional blunder. It is an interesting one, as I think you reacted to a non-standard situation (Black castling long) with a standard maneuver (as if he had castled short).
When your opponent makes a move that is not normal, that is a type of a critical situation in which you should take some time to devise/revise a plan.
18. b4 would have won a knight for a pawn. Instead, you played 18. d4??, allowing Nc4! which is a real pain for white to deal with because 1) Likely loss of bishop pair 2) well placed knight if the exchange for the bishop on e3 doesn't occur. The computer suggests exchanging the knight on c4 for the bishop on e3, which makes sense because it removes a lot of pressure on black. Also 12. Ng3 was a positional blunder because the knight is on the kingside, but black has castled queenside. Instead 12. Ne3! prepared an eventual Nd5, aspecially after black's pointless c5 pawn push plan that occurred right after that. You also missed some opportunities to trap the opponent's knight other than 18. b4.
11...O-O-O makes no sense: why castle towars a side weakens by pawn advances ...a6 and ...b5?
a4 is a strong move even after ...O-O, much more so after ...O-O-O
a4 is a strong move even after ...O-O, much more so after ...O-O-O
@tpr I agree it's not the most logical move, but it's not entirely unreasonable. Shirov tried something similar in 1987 against Klovans, for example. The (obvious) idea is just to attack on the Kingside. Although, that example was slightly more reasonable in my opinion, with the Bishop on the Queenside helping to secure Black's King.
#8
Thank you for sharing this. Maybe I am too dogmatic about ...O-O-O. Yes, indeed Bb6 plays a key role there.
Thank you for sharing this. Maybe I am too dogmatic about ...O-O-O. Yes, indeed Bb6 plays a key role there.
Wow, so just analysis on my game. Who knew lol.
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