[Event "Live Chess - Chess960"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [White "visualdennis"] [Black "FM Tjktiger"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2336"] [BlackElo "2537"] [TimeControl "600+2"] [Variant "Chess960"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/visualdennis"] [FEN "rkrnbbqn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RKRNBBQN w KQkq - 0 1"] [SetUp "1"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/V3hGm7Ko/HFo0CQYb"] [Orientation "white"] { As usual, i first think about 3 things: 1. Problem pieces 2. Center 3. Where the game is likely to develop (Kingside or Queenside) } 1. e4 { Bishops in the center are always a bit problematic and also the knight on h1. Few questions to ask: Where do i want my queen to be? Where do i want my knight on h1 to go? Do i want to develop my bishop on f1 on h1-a8 diag via g3-Bg2 or on somewhere on f1-a6 diag. These last two questions are closely connected. Playing g3 deprives me of Ng3 so putting my bishop somewhere on f1-a6 diag makes more sense. Other knight will go to c3, which means i m likely to develop my bishop on either via Bd2 or f3-Bf2. If i gonna play f3, that opens the diag for queen as well so i ll probably develop my queen via this diagonal. Rooks and my King look okay, castling depends on how successfully i ll implement my development plan for other pieces. Taking all these considerations into account, e4 looks like the most logical move that supports all of these small ideas and also directly fights for center. } { [%clk 0:09:52] } 1... c5 { I think this move is too committal to play this early. It opens king already. Makes queenside easier for me to attack in case of 0-0-0. So this is basically saying i want to castle kingside. But then there are 4 pieces to move to make a room for castling kingside! } { [%clk 0:09:44] } 2. f3 { [%clk 0:09:47] } 2... Ng6 { [%clk 0:09:27] } 3. Bg3+ { So i changed my plans about g3 square. Bishop makes more sense now there than knight and creates already problems for black. } { [%clk 0:09:47] } 3... d6 { [%clk 0:09:25] } 4. Nc3 { [%clk 0:09:48] } 4... h5 { h4 doesnt scares me, on the contrary im happy to provoke it as it gives me another target to attack later. } { [%clk 0:08:49] } 5. a4 { with h5 black is saying no i dont consider 0-0. So i feel confident about hunting the king on queenside. If we stop now and look for a second to compare pieces only after 4th move, whites bishops are already looking dangerous: pin on d6 and other bishop have lots of room: 5 squares potentially! With pawn on c5, means that there are also other drawbacks than the pin (Nc6 Qxc5 etc.) such as that there is now only a7 pawn guarding b6. So i start to think how can i do something about these b5 and b6 squares? if i can force him to play a6, then b6 will be quite a weakness. If i get to play a6 myself and force him to play b6, then blacks king seems super unsafe. my knight on c3 is doing much better job than knight on g6. My queen looks already good on g1, while its unclear where blacks queen should go. Playing with f pawn while other is on d6 does not seem good and f6-e5 leaves a very sad bishop on f8. } { [%clk 0:09:40] } 5... h4 { [%clk 0:08:49] } 6. Bf2 { [%clk 0:09:41] } 6... Nc6 { [%clk 0:08:50] } 7. a5 { Now going all in those light squares. b5-c4-d5 are in my control now. If i get to a6, then i ll control b7 as well. if he plays a6, then Na4-b6 is a huge problem. } { [%clk 0:09:33] } 7... e6 { [%clk 0:08:29] } 8. a6 { [%clk 0:09:32] } 8... b6 { [%clk 0:08:30] } 9. Bb5 { Bishop on b5 makes more sense than on c4. Considering my domination on light squares, im happy to exchange light squared bishops, the only piece that can defend his light squares most. } { [%clk 0:09:29] } 9... Be7 { [%clk 0:08:29] } 10. g3 { [%clk 0:09:26] } 10... hxg3 { I can capture with four pieces, so how to decide? Ng3 looks least logical, since it doesnt have good places to go, as f5 and e4 are not available now and h5 is no good. I want my queen on the g2 for the potential threats on b7 in case of opening the center and the diagonal. This means i want to play f4-e5 at some point to open the diagonal for my queen on g2. Then it does not make sense to capture g3 with bishop if i gonna play f4 later. Also why ruin my pawn structure? Opening h-file is also good for me since if i have queen on g2 i can reply Qh7 with Rh1 later. Only thing i need to solve now is h1 knight. Obviously it will go to f2 now, so i need to make a room for it with Be3. } { [%clk 0:08:29] } 11. hxg3 { [%clk 0:09:20] } 11... Qh7 { [%clk 0:08:29] } 12. Be3 { [%clk 0:09:07] } 12... Nge5 { [%clk 0:08:25] } 13. Qg2 { [%clk 0:09:04] } 13... Bd7 { [%clk 0:07:14] } 14. Nf2 { [%clk 0:09:03] } 14... Qg6 { [%clk 0:06:05] } 15. Rh1 { [%clk 0:08:43] } 15... Nd4 { [%clk 0:05:29] } 16. Bxd7 { [%clk 0:08:42] } 16... Nxd7 { [%clk 0:05:28] } 17. f4 { [%clk 0:08:20] } 17... Nc6 { [%clk 0:05:21] } 18. g4 { Queen on g6 looks very awkward and i threaten f5 to make life for the queen even harder. Exchange on f5 serves my plans for my queen on g2. } { [%clk 0:08:01] } 18... f6 { [%clk 0:04:45] } 19. f5 { My knight on f2 now starts to dream of that e6 square, as it is the only piece that needs improvement. And exchange on f5 means that i almost reached all of my goals. } { [%clk 0:06:36] } 19... exf5 { [%clk 0:04:16] } 20. exf5 { [%clk 0:06:36] } 20... Qf7 { [%clk 0:04:18] } 21. Nd3 { [%clk 0:06:16] } 21... Nde5 { [%clk 0:03:34] } 22. Nf4 { Now that the knight is coming after that sweet e6 square, the weakness of g7 pawn, which is fixed by f5, becomes more evident now. I have full control now over on the both sides of the board, on the light squares and my queen is a monster. What more can i ask for? } { [%clk 0:06:14] } 22... Bf8 { [%clk 0:02:38] } 23. Ne6 { [%clk 0:06:10] } 23... Nd8 { Almost all of my pieces seem to be placed on the squares they belong to. I believe, tactics are not coincidental opportunities but they are the results of correct the arrangement of the pieces that enables the possibility of tactics when the pieces are exactly on the squares, where they are needed. So, tactics occur when pieces are at the right place at the right time. Here, i felt like i ve improved enough and i need to transform my advantage into something concrete with the help of tactics. Feeling that there should be a way to do that, i started to look deeper and luckily i was able to spot the cute mating idea on c8 in advance, which was also played in the actual game. So i entered into this line starting with Rh8. The main theme is the distraction of the queen from b7 and overloading it as it is the only piece doing all the job of protecting f8, b7 etc. } { [%clk 0:02:25] } 24. Rh8 { [%clk 0:05:57] } 24... Nxe6 { [%clk 0:01:14] } 25. fxe6 { [%clk 0:05:57] } 25... Qc7 { [%clk 0:01:16] } 26. Nd5 { [%clk 0:05:39] } 26... Qc6 { [%clk 0:01:16] } 27. e7 { [%clk 0:05:40] } 27... Bxe7 { [%clk 0:01:16] } 28. Nxe7 { [%clk 0:05:37] } 28... Qxg2 { [%clk 0:01:18] } 29. Rxc8# { [%clk 0:05:38] } 1-0