Game 8 of 10
[Event "Battle of the Kings"]
[Site "?"]
[Round "8"]
[White "TheKing Alabama"]
[Black "TheKing Normal"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.c3 a6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Nf6 7.d3 Be7 8.e5 Nd7
9.Nbd2 Qc7 10.Re1 O-O 11.Nb3 a5 12.Bf4 b5 13.Qe2 a4 14.Nbd2 Nb6 15.Ne4 Nd5
16.Bg5 Bxg5 17.Nexg5 a3 18.b3 Nxc3 19.Qc2 b4 20.d4 f5 21.exf6 gxf6 22.Ne4 cxd4
23.Nxd4 e5 24.Nxc3 bxc3 25.Ne2 Be6 26.Rac1 Kh8 27.Qxc3 Bd5 28.Ng3 Qa7 29.Ne4
Rg8 30.g3 Qg7 31.f3 Rad8 32.Nc5 h5 33.Kf2 h4 34.Rg1 Qh6 35.Rh1 Bf7 36.Ne4 f5
37.Qxe5+ Rg7 38.Nc3 Rd2+ 39.Ne2 Rxa2 40.Qxf5 Bxb3 41.Qe5 Rb2 42.Rhe1 Qg5
43.Qxg5 Rxg5 44.Rxc6 Re5 45.Rc8+ Kg7 46.Rc7+ Kf6 47.Rc6+ Re6 48.Rxe6+ Bxe6
49.Ke3 h3 50.g4 a2 51.Nc3 Rxh2 52.Kf4 Rg2 53.Nxa2 Bxa2 54.Re8 Kg7 55.Re5 Bf7
56.Re1 h2 57.Rh1 Kf6 58.Ke4 Kg5 59.Ke3 Be8 60.Kd4 Bc6 61.Ke3 Ra2 62.Re1 Ra3+
63.Kd4 Bxf3 64.Rb1 Bg2 65.Kc5 Rf3 66.Kd4 Bf1 67.Rb8 h1=Q 68.Rg8+ Kf6 69.Rf8+
Ke7 70.Re8+ Kxe8 71.Ke5 Re3+ 72.Kd6 Qh6+ 73.Kc5 Kd7 74.Kb4 Qd6+ 75.Ka5 Ra3# 0-1
The Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack was played.
HIARCS15 Analysis:
White: 1 blunder, 1 mistake and 7 inaccuracies.
Black: 2 inaccuracies.
In this game, KingA had a slight edge for the first half but then was outplayed for the remainder of the game. In the following position KingN (Black) played 33…h4
The idea being if 35. gxh then White’s in trouble! However, H15 thought 33…Qg6 was better.
White then played 34.Rg1 Obviously concerned with his Pawn on g3, but this takes the Rook away from the center. Better would have been 34.g4.
Play continued with 34…Qh6 (see diagram)
Here, White played 35.Rh1?! This does not serve much purpose, there is still pressure on the g3 Pawn. But, KingN is not without issue. He misses a chance to put White into real trouble:
From this position KingN played 35…Bf7?! Better would have been 35…Bc4 White dare not capture this Bishop! If 36.bxB Rd2+ 37. Ke1 Rgd8 and it’s looking grim. If instead he captures with his Queen then 36.QxB is even worse. 36…Rd2+ and White cannot retreat with 37.Kf1 as it will be mate in 2, so the only option is 37.Qe2 and the outlook is bleak. However, this is academic as things just worsened for White.
Here is an example of poor endgame play this time from KingA:
It’s not looking good for White, he’s going to lose but from this position he moved 52.Kf4? Better would have been 52.Ne4+ Kg6 53.Nf2 blocking off Black’s Rook. However, actual play continued with 52…Rg2 (see diagram):
Now it was White’s move and KingA blundered with 53.Nxa2?? Why sacrifice his Knight? 53.Ne4+ would have given a bit of a fight! At move 66 KingN announced mate in 12, and at move 67 KingA saw that it would be mated in 14. It took 18 ply moves in the end.
Current Score 6 – 2 to KingN