RAMONE VS 1800 rated player
Ramone Kok
Hi,
This is a game which I just played using the white pieces. I gained a huge winning advantage but I didnt see a stalemate trap and fell into it. Thus game drawn.
What a waste. Dont be too overconfident when you have a completely winning position as a stalemate might occur.
1. c4 Nf6
2. g3 e6
3. d4 d5
4. Nf3 Bb4+
5. Bd2 Be7
You might be asking why is the black bishop moving twice. Bb4+ is a disruptive check and disturbs my development. Once my bishop comes on d2 to fend off the check, it can be said to be on the "wrong square" as my dark square bishop has to be developed outside the pawn chain before i play e3, trapping the bishop. So a better square would be on f4 or g5.
6. Bg2 O-O
7. O-O c6
I played the catalan in the opening and this is one of blacks most solid setup against the catalan with a slav like pawn chain with black pawns on c6 and d5 which hems in my catalan g2 bishop. Here I decided to gambit (sacrifice a pawn to gain a positional advantage) a pawn which is my c4 pawn and invites him to take with his d5 pawn as opening up this g2-a8 diagonal breathes life onto my g2 catalan bishop. Very often if black takes the c4 pawn, he would have problems developing his queenside due to the pressure from my catalan bishop as the game shows.
8. Nc3 dxc4
9. Bg5 Nbd7
My bishop looks silly on d2 so I had to bring him out to g5 before playing e3 and then trade this bad bishop of mine for one of his knights as the nature of the position is fairly closed so a bishop pair advantage would not amount much and this is where knight play can shine.
10. e3 Ne8
I feel blacks retreat Ne8 is a blunder as this gives up control of d5 and e4. Now I can play the thematic pawn break in the center with e4 and then d5 where the position is more open and he has not finished his queenside development yet. However blacks intention here is slightly justified. He has a cramped game and wants to exchange off pieces to give his side more space to manoeuvre. However I immediately take advantage of this mistake.
11. Bxe7 Qxe7
12. e4 Nc7
13. d5 cxd5
14. exd5 exd5
15. Nxd5 Nxd5
16. Qxd5 Nf6
17. Qxc4 Be6
18. Rfe1 Rfd8
Now my plan is to put more pressure on e6 whilst simultaneously targeting his weak b7 pawn and make my catalan bishop look more menacing.
19. Ng5 Bxc4
20. Rxe7 Rab8 .
21. b3 Bd5
Here, you might wonder why play b3 and not just snap up his pawn on b7? Well doing so with the rook aint hot cuz after Rxb7 Rxb7 Bxb7 Rb8 then there will be a discovered attack on the b2 pawn after the bishop retreats. On the other hand, playing Rxb7 exchanges off my powerful rook on his 7th rank with that black sucker passive rook on b8. Secondly why not just take with my bishop then, Bxb7? Well, he can play Rd7 and my rook and bishops are targeted. Id have to play Rxd7 Nxd7 and again my b2 pawn is an issue. These lines were calculated rather quickly during the game and if u feel theres something else i could have done, do tell me. TQ.
So playing b3 here maintains my initiative and protects my queenside pawns from his bishop. My catalan bishop still has pressure and my rook on the 7th rank is placed on the 7th heaven where it guarantees my advantage at least for now.
22. Rd1 Bxg2
Rd1 here I felt was an important move to bring all my pieces out. Not Rc1 as he can play Bxg2 Kxg2 and then Nd5 where my rook on e7 will have to evacuate its 7th heaven and my initiative just evaporates. Not Rae1 as well cuz of the above variation. So the reason of Rd1 is to remove his d8 rook should his bishop move and then he must recapture with his b8 rook and then my rook can attack his b pawn as the b8 rook is not there.
23. Rxd8+ Rxd8
24. Kxg2 Rf8
Here the game is already mine to lose. I was very confident of the win as im going to get connected passed pawns the queenside. This is where my play deteriorates as I simply played the remaining moves without much thought. So, although ur position is totally winning, pls treat it as if the game is equal and play it with all ur heart and focus. If dont wanna listen to me, see what happens in the game below.
25. Rxb7 h6
26. Nf3 a5
27. Ra7 Re8
28. Rxa5 Ne4
29. b4 Rb8
30. b5 Kh7
31. a4 Rb7
32. Ne5 Nc3
33. Nc6 Nxa4
34. Rxa4 Rxb5
35. Ra7 Rc5
36. Nd8 Rd5
37. Nxf7 Rd2
My oppoment is getting crushed but little did I know hes pretty good in setting stalemate traps.
38. h4 Kg6
39. Ne5+ Kf6
40. Ng4+ Kg6
41. Kf3 Rd6
42. h5+ Kxh5
43. Rxg7 Rd3+
44. Ne3 Rxe3+
Oh GOD, most horrible blunder of the game. I lost a knight for no reason. If i take, do guess what happens. LESSON LEARNT.
45. Kg2 Rb3
46. f4 Rb2+
47. Kf3 Rf2+
48. Ke4 Re2+
49. Kd5 Rd2+
50. Kc6 Rc2+
51. Kd5 Rd2+
52. Ke6 Rd6+
53. Kf7 Rd7+
54. Kg8 Rd8+
55. Kh7 Rh8+
56. Kxh8 1/2-1/2
RAMONE MIKGAIL KOK