Perhaps it's the lingering traces of chess romanticism obtained from studying the games of the old masters, but I'm in favor of White's push to e5, attacking the Black knight in Alekhine's Defense. It seems a bit passive, not to mention unromantic, for White to give Black's knight a pass. At any rate this is what my opponent did in the following game, which I like because I feel I played strong moves, relative to my ability. In truth, if my opponent had found better moves, he could have easily drawn the game or even won the game, but he played too passively and lost as a result of that and a blunder involving a knight-and-bishop combination of mine.
[White "anon"]
[Black "igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1857"]
[BlackElo "1870"]
[TimeControl "900"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. d3
Had White pushed the e-pawn, I would have retreated my knight, choosing the Brooklyn Defense, which most players believe cedes an advantage to White. Perhaps it does. I am curious to find out. If GM Joel Benjamin favored it, then it cannot be that bad, in my opinion, and the regular Alekhine's isn't all that great, either, with the King's knight exiled to Siberia on b3.
It is better to lose than to play boring chess.
2. .. e5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 O-O 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Ba5 7. b4 Bb6 8. Na4 d5 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Be2 Bf5 12. O-O e4 13. dxe4 Bxe4 14. c4 Nf6 15. Bg5
My Queen is in a sticky situation here. I spent a lot of time on the next move, a quiet move intended to avoid the trade of Queens and permit a rook to be placed on e8. I suspect that with better moves, White may have obtained an advantage over me, because he has a potential pin of my bishop.
15. .. Qe7
16. Re1 h6
I sense danger. A trade would be to my advantage, so h6 does not lose time. I planned to follow up with g5, if necessary, to drive the accursed bishop away. However, g5 weakens my King position.
17. Be3?
White obliges me and negates the need for g5 by placing his bishop on a passive square. This is clearly a mistake, handing me the initiative.
17. .. Rfd8!
I seize an open file.
18. Qc1 Ng4
I begin my attack using the unpinned, idle knight.
19. h3?
I do not understand why White wastes a move in this way. I blogged recently about my detestation of such moves.
19. .. Nxe3!
Eliminating that pesky bishop and along with it White's two-bishop advantage. The knight on f6 had been too passive.
20. Qxe3 f5!?
I am not altogether sure about my aggressive f5 push, but it proved extremely useful later. White salivated at the idea of trapping my bishop, but did not find the right moves. Perhaps such a trap was possible, but I did not see it on the immediate horizon.
21. Nh2
I believe the safer route for White would have been to initiate a trade of bishops and knights. It is commonplace to trade down in order to neutralize an attack, and this situation is no different. In an end game, White might have a small advantage due to my doubled pawns.
21. .. Nd4
Threatening a deadly fork of his Queen and rook. White does not view this threat with sufficient urgency.
22. Rac1
The trap White lays is transparent and easily countered. He expects me to launch the fork immediately and risk my Queen. I think not.
22. .. Qe8
Now my lady is secure.
23. f3?
My opponent figures a bishop and knight for a rook is a good deal, but he neglected to note that my knight has a suicide attack.
23 .. Nc2 24. Qb3 Nxe1 25. fxe4 Nxg2!
This is the pivotal move that launches a killer attack against White's King, which is no longer safe.
26. Kxg2 Qxe4+
White has already lost, but does not know it yet. All of the pieces are already in place, and there is no possible way he could win. It is almost like magic how all the pieces are aligned perfectly to my advantage. I must confess that I did not foresee everything unless it was by intuition. I am not clever like a computer. I wouldn't say the win was luck, but I just aimed for general positional and material advantages, and somehow everything lined up to my advantage.
27. Bf3 Rd2+ 28. Kh1 Qf4 29. Bg2
White defends his King in a competent manner, but it only delays the inevitable.
29. .. Rxg2 30. c5+ Kh8 31. Kxg2 Qxc1 32. Nf3 Rxa3
My material advantage is mounting in sync with my positional advantage.
33. Qf7 Qc2+ 34. Kg3 Qe4 35. Qh5 f4+!
Now the f-pawn serves a most valuable purpose.
36. Kh4 Rxf3 37. Qg4 g5+ 38. Kh5 Qe8+ 39. Kxh6
I spent over two minutes studying the next move, because I was well ahead in time and did not want to make a careless error that might lose my game, as I have done in the past through overconfidence and a desire to press a time advantage. It is better to play slowly and carefully when one has the time available to do so. Arrogance does not win games.
39 .. Qf8+ 40. Kxg5
White does not have a better move than this.
40. .. Rg3 41. Qxg3 fxg3 42. h4 g2 43. h5 g1=Q+ 0-1
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