I just finsihed a VERY EXCITING GAME and I won MY WAY like you told me to.

I did it just like you said... I asked permission to go to the washroom, I came out and shot them both in the head, then I walked, not ran, out of the restaurant, letting the gun fall out of my hand,

I"m off to Sicily now, I can't give you my address cuz then <a judge could prove you have knowledge of my whearabouts>.

I left a sutitably hysterical message at your house.

I'm just going to put my Engine on it to see how <not actually brilliant> my win was....

Oh well I have to know the FACTS.

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 exd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 Be7
6.Bc4 o-o
7.o-o

<All main line Philidor theory, of course, leading to this very familiar (to me anyways) position:>

click for larger view

7…c5?
8.Ne2 a6

<I give 7…c5 a question mark, and not just cuz it’s not in the Opening Explorer. OK it might gain a tempo by kicking my Knight, but I’ve seen this before and my Knigh t is fine on e2 specially cuz it can re-route to control the NOW VERY WEAK d5 square. 7…c5 makes the d5 square permanently weak for Black and now my strategy revolves around controlling that square. My SHREDDER prefers 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nc6 10.Re1, but I’ve played that variation before and I’m not comfortable with it- I never know what to do with that displaced pawn, it’s not too hard for Black to pick it up later. Anyhoo, I have a plan to dominate the d5 square I want to try it out.>

9.Nd5? b5

<SHREDDER frowns on me giving up my e-pawn for nothing here but I figure (wrongly, no doubt) that it’s worth it to get the bishop pair—I have no other excuse. As it turns out she wanted to expand queenside right away and kick my LSB so she didn’t bite on this one at any rate>

10.Nxf6+ Bxf6
11.Bd5 Ra7

<and now I’m already plotting to use my bishops together and throw everything but the kitchen sink at his kingside—TIME is what I want now. And I’m willing to be reckless to get it>

12.Be3? Be6?

<Ok no way is this sound but bear with me—I got an angle…anyhow she seems to be hell-bent on getting my LSB off the board, sitting on his nice outpost there- the weak d5 square. I think it’s clouding her judgment. Anyhoo I’m not concerned about my b-pawn anyways>

13.Nf4? Bxd5
14.Nxd5 Bxb2
15.Rb1 Bf6

<Bringing us here>:

click for larger view

<Laugh if you will! However, SHREDDER evaluates this position about minus a third of a pawn, even though I’m down a pawn and my queenside pawn structure is a wreck. What is my compensation? Well my Knight outpost on d4 is MONSTROUS and I can pile up on the d-file, the backwards pawn on d6 is a permanent liability that I’m hell bent to exploit. Plus throw all my pawns at his king, quite soon now. Also, I wanted my DSB out and working-- I'm already eyeing crazy tactics on the d-file in some variations-- my mind is racing moves ahead here... no idea if they are sound ideas yet though. I give up my b-pawn ON SPECULATION>

<Case in point: 15.a4! was actually strong here but I didn't even consider it. After 15.a4 bxa4 16.Rxb8! Qxb8 17.Nxf6+ Black is actually in trouble, believe it or not. Check the line out! My SHREDDY sees it but I didn't. Instead I played>

16.Qd2 Rd7

<16...Re8 is surely better>

17.Rbd1

<And now I'm praying for him to play the very "natural" looking 17...Nc6-- I gave up my b-pawn for this chance to mess with my DSB on d-file tactics...>

17...Nc6?

<NOPE.. Allows>

18.Bxc5!

<heh- Bishop is immune cuz of my control of the d-file and the tempo-gaining tactic of Nxf6+... Believe it or not my mind flashed ahead to this "variation" when I played Be3 in the first place. Like a premonition or something. I just thought that with my Knight on d5 and his Bishop on f6 there would be opportunities for discovered attacks, etc... pins... AS GOD IS MY WITNESS. Course I’m playing “hope chess” ever since my 12.Be3? but sometimes dreams come true. He has to play something like 17…Re8 or b4, if he did then I’m down a half- pawn but still VERY ALIVE imo… I’m never resigning prematurely again after that last fiasco I posted in here>

18…Ne5
19.Bd4 Bg5
20. f4 Nc4
21. Qf2 Bh6
22.g4? f6
23.Qg3 Rdf7
24.h4?

<well, there’s no point stopping now. It’s CRAZY TIME>

click for larger view

24…g6
25.Nxf6+!! Rxf6
26.Bxf6 Rxf6
27.g5

<I saw he had the Queen check on b6 before I started this exchange, but planned to just play Rf2 and I still get the fork. SHREDDER says 26…Qxf6 was better for Black but it doesn’t defuse the main tactic- I still get the fork>

27…Qb6+
28.Rf2 Re6
29.gxh6 Rxe4
30.Kh2? Ne3
31.Rdd2 Nf5

<I should have played 30.h5! straight off here- that’s the plan, obviously, but I wanted to unpin my f-Rook first>

32.Qg5 Re7?

<This allows 33.Rg2 which wins on the spot but I missed it!!! I considered the move, but was afraid of him playing 33…Ne3 which is totally ridiculous because his Rook in en prise. HOW EMBARRASSING>

33.Rfe2 Kf7?

<This allows 34.h5! AGAIN but of course I missed it. HOWEVER. White is winning in pretty much every variation here. There are no “Rabbits” for Black to pull out of a hat. All I have to do is NOT PULL A BIG BONER and I win>

34.Rxe7+ Nxe7
35.Re2 Qc7

<ok I SEE now that I miss another easy win AGAIN. I'm being overcautious, looking to NOT MAKE A MISTAKE cuz I know I'll win-- but perhaps putting the win in jeopardy by missing winning moves. Can you spot the win on move 35 for White? I BET YOU CAN!>

36.h5 <FINALLY> Nf5
37.hxg6+ hxg6
38.Rg2 Ne7
39.Re2 Nf5
40.Rg2 Ne7

<heh… can’t make up my mind how to crack the nut here>

41.f5 d5+
42.Kh1 Qd6
43.fxg6+ Qxg6

<43.h7 wins on the spot and believe me I looked at it for a LONG time. But I didn’t look hard enough>

44.Rf2+?

<Qxe7+! wins his Queen-- But did I see it? NO>

44...Ke8

45.Qxg6+ Nxg6

<Black can resign here but she played on a bit more>

46.Rf6 Nh8
47.RxA6 Kf7
48.Rd6 RESIGNS

<Well I can hardly be accused of ACCURATE play in this one—but it was a thrilling contest nonetheless, and I’m very proud of finding <<<18.Bxc5!>>> and 25.Nxf6+. Those were exhilarating moves to spot and play. AROOOOOO>

Dang it of course that's <16.a4> there, not <15.a4>:

After 18.Bxc5, though, your opponent missed the counter-strike 18...Bg5(!), after which things should remain more balanced. If I have to point to a later single error that caused Black's demise it would be 31...Nf5, which almost forces you to make a strong move (Qg5) - after which, as you pointed out, you steadily keep a big edge even when you miss several tactical shots. After 31...Qc5 or d5 instead White still has the advantage, but things are not so clear.

About move 8 in the opening - generally, if an engine prefers a certain move at this early stage not by a very big margin (say, 0.60 compared with 0.30 for another move) it really doesn't mean much. And your 8.Ne2 instead of SHREDDIE's recommendation of Nf5 certainly makes sense - btw, chessbase database contains some 40 games where 7...c5 was played, and Nf3/Ne2 appear to be the more popular options. Still, 8.Nf5 does have its points. It forces Black to part with one of the bishops; in case of 8...Bxf5 9.exf5 the absence of Black's LSB can help control of d5; and the pawn on f5 gains space and may help a kingside attack, especially combined with an advance of the g-pawn. Here are some games from the database that demonstrate how dangerous this line can be for Black (though in all of them Black played rather badly...):

[Event "AUS-ch23 corr"]
[Site "Australia"]
[Date "1999.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "McKenzie,Colin D"]
[Black "Lovejoy,David W"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C41"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nc6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Qd7 12.g4 Rad8 13.c3 Kh8 14.Re1 Bh4 15.Qf3 Rde8 16.Bf4 Re7 17.g5 Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Qxf5 19.Bxd6 Qxf3 20.Bxf3 Rd8 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Bxc5 Bxg5 23.Bxa7 h6 24.Bd4 Ra8 25.Ra1 Be7 26.a4 c5 27.Be5 Ra6 28.a5 1-0

[Event "IECC Swiss email"]
[Site "IECC email"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Newton,Hobart E"]
[Black "Agnew,George Hartwell"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C41"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bc4 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nc6 10.Bf4 Qd7 11.g4 Nd4 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Qb5 14.Re1 Rfe8 15.c3 Nc6 16.g5 Kf8 17.Qh5 Kg8 18.g6 hxg6 19.fxg6 Nd8 1-0

[Event "Navalmoral op 6th"]
[Site "Navalmoral"]
[Date "2000.12.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Sanz Alonso,Francisco Javier"]
[Black "De Paz San Martin,Jose Angel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C41"]
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Be7 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nc6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Qc7 12.c3 Rad8 13.Qh5 Ne5 14.g4 Nd7 15.g5 Nb6 16.g6 1-0

[Event "Steinfurt Bezirksklasse 0607"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Baltes,Manfred"]
[Black "Schneider,Karl Heinz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "C41"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Be7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bc4 0-0 7.0-0 c5 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nc6 10.Nd5 Rb8 11.a4 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 Nd4 13.Qd3 Qd7 14.g4 h6 15.c3 Nc6 16.f4 Kh8 17.Qh3 Kg8 18.Rf3 Qd8 19.Qh5 Qe8 20.g5 Kh7 21.f6 Bxf6 22.gxf6 g6 23.Qh4 Qe2 24.f5 g5 25.Bxg5 1-0

12. Be3 - Although a4 is good here, it's not messy enough for my girl. For max mayhem and hilarity, look at 12. Bf4 Bxg2 13. Bxd6 (heh).

21. Qf2 - Qc3 is winning. 21...Bh6 22. Nf6+ (wheee) gxf6 23. Bxf6

24. h4? - The ? is so undeserved. An exclam might be in order.

29. gxh6 - 29. Qg4 Rxe4 30. gxh6 Qe3 31. h5 Re6 32. Qg2 is probably winning and produces this amusing position.

click for larger view

Ok why not.

Just give me the day <korean time>, and Yahoo room.

I'll be <jessica_fischer_blitz> ID.

That's what you get for calling me Tom. Heh.

I left a reply at the center upon your kind words there...

I fully support <Boomie>'s advice btw (as usual)

CAN'T BE BAD!?

;-)

I've been "investigating" and kibbutzing on a <virgin game> in the data base=

<Game 3> from the first <Spassky-Petrosian> World champion Match...

Any help or participation, comments on the game page would be HUGELY appreciated...

I'm trying to understand the <Caro Kan> better and also the "why and how" about deliberately giving yourself an <isolani>....

very HIGH quality play in this intriguing contest--

I went (for while it lasted) into the c5 lines that avoid the isolani, at move 5,6,7 in the Caro-Kann Panno Attack Opening...

I posted it at the Center (very interesting- but even more- educative), but it is not specifically aimed at the game you are analysing...