Sunday, July 29, 2007

Pearson-Smith, G. 07.26.07 1-0

My postgame thoughts were here. If you'd like to view the game, paste just the moves into the pgn viewer. For some reason the header is messing it up, though it looks fine to me...anyway, this one is short enough that you might try following it "blindfolded" and see how you do.

[Event "Reno CC Blockbuster Swiss"]
[Site "Reno, NV"]
[Date "2007.07.26"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Pearson, Robert"]
[Black "Smith, George"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1600"]
[BlackElo "1430"]
[ECO "D15"]
[Annotator "Pearson, R."]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 { An unusual move order, but White has no special advantage by steering away from the Slav Defense. So... } 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bf5?! { Known to lead to trouble for Black, though Capabalnca once beat Janowski with it (New York 1916) and then passed over the move in his notes. I thought I knew the refutation... } 5. cxd5 cxd5 { Nxd5 is thought to be better but after 6. Nd2 and a quick e4 White has a big edge. } 6. Qb3 b6? { Bc8 is the only decent move--I remember facing it years ago in an Alaska tournament. White is obviously doing very well after that, however. Now we reach a curious juncture; I thought I remembered a refutation that begins 7. e4(!) but I see that Yermolinsky in his "Road to Chess Improvement" gives 7. Bf4 and it's "very hard to continue" for Black. Both lines are probably very good for White, but remember, I "thought" I knew a killer sequence. } 7. e4 dxe4 8. Bb5+ { No, no! Ne5! threatens mate and forces e6, then the bishop check is much stronger; 9. ...Nfd7 10. g4 Bg6 11. h4 h5 12. Nxg6 and 13. Qxe6+. } Bd7 { Now I was sure I'd transposed and missed out, but I'm pleased that instead of worrying about any of that I just played the position. I figured I still had the advantage, so screw the past, let's play good moves! } 9. Ne5 e6 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 { Going down my main line. Perhaps Bd6 offered more chances but White's still on top after 12. Bf4. } 12. Qxd5 Bb4+ 13. Ke2 Bxb5+ 14. Qxb5+ Nd7 15. Rd1 { More accurate than Nxd7 followed by Qxb4. } O-O 16. Qxb4 Nxe5? { He had to get the queen out and try to cause confusion. } 17. Rxd8 Raxd8 { He resigned without waiting for my reply } 1-0

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