(1) Yes, White can force a repetition since 35.Rd7+ Kb8??? 36.Nc6+ followed by mate

(2) White can win a piece (I think!) with 35.Nd7 (double attack on the trapped Bishop) I was looking at 35...Kc6 36.Nxf8 Nb7 37.Rc8+ Kb5 38.Bc3 Nd6 39.Rb8+ Kc4 40.Nd7 Rxb8 41.Nxb8; This could be flawed, but I didn't like it; there was another move-order too where this theme nets a piece, but its not enough; Note here too, White can't play Bxg7 since Black can pin the White Bishop; Its maddening, White has to watch out and not his own knight pinned on f8, so he has to allow the rooks to go off, and this draws;

(3) I didn't think that Rxa7 led anywhere since now you have time to play g6, followed by Bg7, freeing up your pieces

(4) I'm thinking that White should've played 13.Nd6+ followed by 14.Nxb7+ just like in the real game; Even though Black has 14...Qxb7 due to your improvement, Black is all tied up after 15.Bg2

Thats all for now; I didn't get as much done yesterday as I wanted

However, I did see 25.Re8 (at the last minute before settling on 25.Rd4), which had me excited for a few minutes due to the threat 26.Qd8+ and the Knight fork; Unfortunately, its too late due to 25...h2+ 26.Kh1 and now the simple <26...Be4+> (Instead of your clever 26...Bd3) pushes white off the cliff; The point here is one of the White Knights gets traded or has to move, so there's no more Queen fork on d5 Plus the Bishop is covering d5 now: After 27.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 28.Ng2 Black captures the rook at the end of the combination, not at the beginning <28...Nxe8> and White loses, down a whole rook.

You made some very fine moves, especially with your King, to stay just ahead of a checking combination; You always had one more resource; For example, when I offered a Knight with <27.Bb4>, you had the simple 27...Qg1+ giving one pawn back

I already mentioned that I thought 29...Nd7 planning 30.Ba5+ Nb6 and Black wins was better than 29...c5;

Again, I felt White had an excellent chance after <31...Be4>; The point is after 33.Nxe4 Nxe4 34.Ne5, I thought Black was forced to play 34...Ng5 ready to answer 35.Nd7 with 35...Ne6 and Black's Bishop is extra protected; but you found the simple 34...Nd6 and Black is able to defend his King plus the f-pawn is retained; Very Good!

So, it looks like both 25.Re8 and 25.Rd7+ fall into the same category: No better than draw; But it sure would've been more spectacular to finish the draw starting with 25.Rd7+ :)

Part 1:

<1.e4 d5> While no computers were allowed, the players could access OE or an opening manual; I found a trap that Black followed up to move 10

<2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5> Recommended is 6...Bxf3 to avoid the ensuing complications

<7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 c6 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Qf3 Bxc2 11.Bf4> If now 11...Qd8, then 12.Qe2 Bg6 13.Nd6+ Kd7 14.Nxb7 and White has a winning attack

<11...Qd7> Black improves on 11...Qd8, but still ends up in a bind with his King stuck in the center and his King side pieces undeveloped

<12.Qe2 Bg6 13.Bd6> A tough decision that I spent much time on; Having sacrificed my c-pawn, Queenside castling is too riskly due to Black's WSB; The transfer of the DSB to the Queenside is an effort to 'play both sides of the board' shoring up the Q-side; However, the extra tempo allows Black to barely stay in the game; For a piece, White can keep the momentum with 13.Nd6+ Kd8 14.Nxb7+ Qxb7 15.Bg2

<13...Na6 14.Ba3 O-O-O> I completely overlooked this possibility; I was expecting either 14...h5 or 14...Nd5 trying to exchange off a piece

<15.Ne3> I spent much time on this move; 15...Nd5 worried me since 16.Nxd5 Qxd5 and now I can't castle K-side safely since both Knight and rook are attacked;

<15...Qxd4> I didn't expect this since it allows White to eliminate Black's only developed pieces; I expected 15...e6 activating his DSB

<16.Rd1 Qf4> Again a surprise; I expected 16...Qb6 17.Rxd8+ Qxd8 when Black looks safe; He is is up two pawns planning to activate his remaining pieces via 18...e6 or possibly 18...Nc7 first, then 19...e6

<17.Rxd8+ Kxd8 18.Qd1+ Kc7>

<19.Bxa6> Here, I noticed the Black King and Queen can be forked from <d5> if either the pawn or Black Knight is deflected; However, once Black plays e6, d5 is shored up and he is freeing his game; Hence, it looked best to eliminate one of Black's developed pieces leaving his King side pieces in a bind

<19...bxa6 20.Qe2> Down 2-pawns, White must keep up tempo attacks to keep Black off balance

<20...Kb7> Prudent: Black cannot allow 21.Qxa6

<21.O-O> This risky move, which tosses the K-side pawns, is the only way to bring the rook into action; However, I felt this more than offset the loss of the pawns once the rook arrived at d1

<21...h5 22.Rd1 hxg4 23.Rd8 gxh3?!> Cooly played, but it appears 23...Rxh3 wins outright; I was preparing for 23...Rxh3 24.Nf1 (forced) when I felt White had just enough time to take the Bishop; but after 24...Ne4 25.Nd1 (25.Nxe4 Bxe4 and Black wins) 25...g3 and White's position is being overrun with threats like 26...Qh4 or 26...Bh5

<24.Qd1> Threatening 25.Qb3+; If now 24...h2+ 25.Kh1 Be4+ 26.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 27.Ng2 Black has a hard time preventing White from starting a series of dangerous checks; for example 27...Kc7 28.Ra8 and its hard to see how Black can break in

Part 2

<25.Rd4> A move made after much thought; The main point is not to attack the Black Queen, but to allow 26.Bb4 with the big threat 27.Ba5+; 25.Rd4 also adds protection to e4 diluting Black's threats

However, two poweful options were overlooked: I looked at the first option, 25.Re8. trying to deflect the Knight. Clearly, after 25...Nxe8 26.Nd5+ cxd5 27.Nxd5+ followed by 28.Nxf4, White has now worse than a draw; However, at the time, I felt 25.Re8 fails to 25...h2+ 26.Kh1 Be4+ 27.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 28.Ng2 Nxe8; However, what I missed was 28.f3! with the deadly threat 29.Qd8+;

Sadly, for some reason, I didn't see option (2) namely the deflection 25.Rd7+, which since this is a checking move, is more forcing the 25.Re8; In this case, Black can decline the capture with 25...Kc8 and proceed with his attack on the White King; Ironically, in this case, the less forcing move, 25.Re8 appears to be more dangerous

<h2+ 26.Kh1 Qxf2> In this unbalanced position, Black is up 5-pawns, but his DSB and K-rook are still undeveloped!

<27.Bb4> Again, the point behind 25.Rd4; White's DSB goes active;

<27...Qg1+> Best; Black gives one pawn back forcing the Queen's off

<28.Qxg1 hxg1=Q+ 29.Kxg1 c5> A slip; 29...Nd7 was much better; after 30.Ba5+ Nb6 White is down too much material

<30.Ba5+ Kc6 31.Rd8 Be4> Black is playing for g6 followed by Bg7 which forces either the exchange of rooks, or White's rook must leave the back rank

<32.Nc4> It was tempting to play 32.Nxe4, but I calculated the White King could walk to safety after 32...Rh1+; The text threatens to weave a mating net

<32...Kb7> After 32...Rh1+ 33.Kf2 Ng4+ 34.Kg3 Rg1+ 35.Kf4 Black is losing material

<33.Nxe4 Nxe4 34.Ne5 Nd6> I was expecting 34...Ng5 protecting the f-pawn; and if now 35.Nd7, then 35...Ne6 and Black avoids the loss of a piece; White could continue 36.Rb8+ Kc6 37.Ne5+ Kd5 (not 37...Kd6 38.Nxf7+ winning the Black rook) 38.Nxf7 followed by 39.Ra8 and I felt the game was very drawish since Black's extra pawns are isolated

Keep in mind, that <DcGentle>'s thoughtful analysis capitalizes on the position in a different way: namely targeting <f7> with Bc4 and playing the Q-rook to <c1>; I went a whole different path with 13.Bd6 & 14.Ba3; Whats striking is White's Q-rook should go to <c1> whether the Black Queen is on <d8> or <d7>

That is very interesting the freeing technique placing your rook on <g8>. The only plan I considered was <g6> followed by <Bg7>. Did you consider that plan?

Whats also curious is no mention of winning a piece immediately with 35.Nd7; perhaps my intuition was right, at least in that one case! :)

Well, thanks also to you for a fun game! You are White this go around

<Yes. Using Opening Explorer, I discovered we were following the Horowitz game...> I didn't know that until you pointed it out! I found the trap in an opening book (on traps) written by Horowitz; so I guess he was too modest or humble to footnote himself!

<I'll have to pass this invitation to a rematch for the time being, Morf! perhaps later in the year. We are off on a trip shortly, and I have discovered that correspondence chess is more time-consuming than I had expected. Chess is a good servant but a bad master!>

NP, I look forward to another game at your convenience. One big benefit from our game (at least for me), is the lessons learned related to 'Thought Process' in correspondence play.

I would like to digress a little here and touch on a few points. The past 2 years at <CG> have been a real chess education for myself. I was solely an OTB player at time controls varying from G/15 to 40/2. I was a very poor 'puzzle solver' or simply 'solver' but with the help of members like <Patriot> & <sevenseaman> I have improved in this area. 'Solving' is different than 'playing'. In other words, someone could be a great 'solver' but not a very good 'player' and vice versa. I sought to improve my solving ability.

With that said, I then began pursuing different methods of 'chess study', for example, working tactical problems on a daily basis. I also aggressively engaged in 5-min chess as a means of increasing calculating speed. Some GM's state this is good training in preparation for regular, tournament time controls [ie: 40/2].

But what I wasn't doing was playing enough regular games or slow games. Your time and effort in our first game has been vary valuable as this has sparked a new interest for me in a new area of chess! And for that, I owe you a big thank you!

Perhaps in our next game, we should have no time limit, hence no pressure, whatever. Doesn't make sense to have any induced tension when one is trying to achieve a high quality or standard

Take care and I hope you enjoy your trip!

[Event "Morf's forum"]
[Site "Chessgames.com"]
[Date "2013.19.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Morfishine"]
[Black "David2009 aka DavidMMIX"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "B01"]
[EventDate "?"]
[PlyCount "69"]

Credit for this idea goes to <SwitchingQuylthulg>: see his post on March 6 2013 to DcGentle chessforum.

To compose this post I also needed to replace the special character #: its replacement is "&#35;"

I'll take a look at your game with Morf. I see you are making a habit of answering 1 e4 with ... d5, but Morf played the more regular exd5.

click for larger view

was won by Black: Queens were exchanged and then the passed Pawns were too strong.

Playing out the ending Crafty vs Crafty, White also ends up losing: the Q side passed Pawns are too strong. But the win for Black isn't easy. Here's the position just before 42...Qc7 colours reversed:

click for larger view

I understand completely what you were alluding to regarding OTB vs correspondence play. Makes perfect sense

I agree there were some slightly surprising lessons from our game. I didn't expect I would be playing ... a5 so early either, but it is quite logical against the English attack after the usual 6 ... e5 7 Nb3. I had my eye on the c file as a place for my major pieces, and also possibilities with b4 as an outpost for the N. But I was uncertain about where to develop the QN. I think it was book up to ... Na6 at least. Even if Na6 wasnt, it again seemed logical. I needed to avoid playing it to d7 to keep that free for the other N after the thematic g5. You had the awakward choice, allow ... a4 or play a4 leaving the hole on b4.

I think at move 15 we definitely departed from the book. I was expecting the profilactic Kb1 before h4 and I sensed you might be vulnearble to a counterthrust on the K side. Slight surprise to me, the analysis gave ... f5 as as inaccuracy, ... Qc7 was preferred. I didn't like it as it meant that after Kb1 you'd be threatening Nb5 and I'd have to make a 3rd Q move. Also ... f5 was more "in your face".

The critical phase began about move 22 and we both made mistakes. I was probably a bit over enthusiastic about getting all 3 major pieces on the c file, and 22 ... Ra6 which is give n a "?" and rightly so. I overlooked 23 Nb5 which forcing the Q to retreat (if ... Qc6? 24 f3). At the time I though 23 Na1 was a clever defensive manouvre but it allows me to play ... Rc6 with impunity, cementing my advantage.

Although you lamented 24 b3 the analysis shows it is perfectly playable, possibly even best in a now really imbalanced position. ... Bxb3 does not of course win a piece but leads to a tightrope situation for both sides. Objectively it is better for me but I needed to play rather acurately in the next few moves. ... Bxh7+ was foreseen but the retreat to f7 and ... Rc4 took some finding. I could very easily have gone wrong here.

After that the right moves are probably easier for me to find than you, but I missed an elegant win 33 .. Rxc2. I had pondered it but couldnt see all the outcomes and was worried that if I overlooked something I'd be a piece or exchange down without compensation. 33 .. Bxc5 was playable but not a decisive.

I've played Najdorf 3 times in internet games and each time I was met with the English attack. I agree it is appealing for W, as the moves can be rattled out mechanically and it is B who has to play creatively to turn the tide. Against that it is very hand-showing. Personally I prefer 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4, but then B can go straight into some very sharp lines, Poison pawn, Polugayevsy. Or else continue steady development and on to ... b4 "daring" W to make sac Nd5 with labyrintine complexities.

My game with <morf> has reached an interesting stage, after some steady development and positional play he openied it up. We'll see what happens. At the same time I have a tough game a B, again Najdorf/English. It's in the balance right now.

I hate to make excuses, but this is one is too funny to resist: When I first looked at the position, I thought White was moving down the board for some reason; Really makes no sense, but I remember thinking after 1...Qc3+ White simply plays the astounding 2.d4!!! but then Black has the simple 2...Qc5+ and wins the rook on f5 and the game.

But then I thought "Hold it, White is moving up the board you dummy" but by then I'd so confused myself, I completely overlooked a mate-in-1! But thats ok, Ivanchuk once overlooked a mate-in-1, although that was in a blitz championship :)

In any case, if you want to play some real time chess, we need to coordinate the time-zones as you are ahead 6 hours (I think).

I hope we have a good fight at the BOB! Its great to have you on Team White!

PS: I accepted your friend request and sent an invite....now we just have to coordinate the time zone difference! In general, I am on ChessCube in the afternoon around 5pm EST which is about 11pm your time. I can look for you in the morning here, which would be between 10am - noon your time.