Game of the Week

M.Rohe–M.Wittje
River Valley Community Chess Club
Spring Green, WI., March 16, 2011
Time Control: G/30

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5
French Defense - Advance Variation

3...Bb4+
c5 is the most common response for Black in this opening.

4.c3 Ba5 5.Nf3 Ne7 6.Bd3 a6 7.0-0 Bd7 8.Ng5
White has castled and has space on the kingside, so starts a premature attack (he should have completed his development first).

8...Nf5
Black blocks the bishop's diagonal (h7 driving the knight away would have been better).

9.g4 Nh4
White drives Black's knight to a vulnerable square, opening up the double attack on the h-pawn.

10.Nxh7 f5
Black tries to block the knight's support. Better would have been Ng6, which breaks the support as well as getting the knight out of danger.

11.exf6 gxf6
White captures en passant in order to keep the pawn structure (& hence his attack) from being blocked.
Shredder evaluates White's best move as Bg5, albeit the position becomes more complicated.

12.g5 Rg8
Black's rook pins the g-pawn.

13.Nxf6+ Qxf6
White overlooks the pin and attempts a knight fork, but leaves the knight free for the taking. White should have played Qh5+ winning black's misplaced knight.
Shredder agrees with Qh5+, evaluating White +8.5 at this point in the game.

14.Qh5+ Ng6
A major mistake by black, as the knight breaks the pin on White's g-pawn, which allows that pawn to capture Black's queen. The game is now back within reach for Black.

15.Bxg6+ Rxg6
White retains the "phantom pin" image and completely misses black's hanging queen.
Shredder has White +19.5 with gxf6, -2 with the chosen move.

16.Kh1 Qg7
Shredder likes Qf7 slightly better, as it breaks the pin on the rook.

17.Nd2 Nc6 18.Nf3 0-0-0 19.Nh4 Rh8
Black hurries to get his king safe, while White maneuvers his knight to the kingside, attacking the rook twice (defended only once). Black counters by attacking the queen with his other rook, but White can simply wins the rook by taking with his queen. Black would have been better off guarding the rook with another piece (such as Ne7), although this still loses the exchange (rook for knight). This move turned out to be the key move for White to regain the advantage.

20.Qxg6 Rg8
Black would have been better off keeping the queens on the board, Qe7 looks better.

21.Qxg7 Rxg7
With two passed pawns on the kingside, and owning the exchange (rook vs bishop), White likes his endgame chances, so trades queens.

22.Rg1 e5 23.Be3 Bb6 24.Rd1 e4
White wants to keep the queenside locked, in order to prevent counterplay by Black.

25.f4 exf3
The 2nd en passant capture in the game!

26.Nxf3 Bf5 27.h4 Be4 28.Rf1 Ne7 29. Kh2 c6
Black opens a line for his dark bishop, so that it can join the defense on the kingside.

30.Ne5 Bc7
Shredder likes Nf5 much better, keeping the rook on the f-file at bay.

31.Rf8+ Bd8
White ties the bishop down and has several pieces in strong outposts.

32.h5 Rg8
Nf7 would have been stronger for White (winning a piece), while Rh7 would have been stronger for Black (avoiding a trade of rooks).

33.Rxg8 Nxg8
White is happy to trade pieces and continue marching the passed pawn duo.

34.Kg3 Bc7 35.g6 Nf6 36.Kh4 Bd8 37.Bg5 Bf5
White breaks the potential discovered check and Black brings his light bishop back to defend.

38.g7 Ng8
Rf1 wins a piece for White.

39.Bxd8 Kxd8
White is again happy to trade more pieces. Note how the knight and g-pawn can keep Black's king away from the action. It's only a matter of time before a pawn promotes.

40.Kg5 Be6 41.h6 Ke7 42.h7 a5 43.h8(Q) Nf6 44.Qf8#

Italicized analysis performed by Shredder.