[Event "WZ/OC/21"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2018.12.30"] [White "Irons, Robert"] [Black "Whittle, Philip"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1866"] [BlackElo "1274"] [Annotator "Irons,Robert"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defense"] [StudyName "Check is in the Mail: September 2023"] [ChapterName "Irons, Robert - Whittle, Philip"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/5lK7nI0w/mCzgApsv"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f6?! $16 { This weakens the a2-g8 diagonal while also depriving the kingside knight of its best square. } 4. Bc4 Ne7?! $18 { Now Black's king is trapped in the middle with no place to hide, and his only developed piece is adding to the problem rather than helping. White has two pieces in play to Black's one, and that one he would prefer to have some place else. All White needs to do is open lines to make the best use of his advantage in time. } 5. dxe5 Bd7?! { Recapturing is catastrophic: } (5... dxe5? 6. Bf7+ Kxf7 7. Qxd8 { White is clearly winning. }) (5... fxe5 6. Nxe5! dxe5 (6... Nbc6?? 7. Bf7#) 7. Bf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxd8 { and again White is clearly winning. }) 6. exf6 gxf6 7. Nh4 (7. Nd4 { is even better than the text. }) 7... c6?! (7... Qc8 8. Qh5+ Kd8 { and }) (7... h5 { are both better alternatives. }) 8. Qh5+ Ng6 9. Nxg6 Bg4 10. Bf7+! { Setting up a double-check! } 10... Kxf7 (10... Kd7 11. Qxg4+ { is just as deadly. }) 11. Nxh8+ Kg8 12. Qxg4+ Bg7 13. Bh6 d5 14. Qxg7# { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0