Back to Basics / Reader annotations I held my breath—he did not hesitate.
18. ... Bxb3 I was right! At that moment I knew the
chess gods were smiling on me and I could do no wrong. Let the game begin! Perhaps Lou didn’t like the complications
after 18. ... Qxg2 19. Nxe6! Qxh1+ 20. Ke2 Qxa1 21. Nxd8 Kxd8
Another discovery—24. ... Bf1+!—wins at least an Exchange.
25. Kc1 g5 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Kxd1
I felt that my opponent wanted to
exchange the heavy pieces and go into the endgame where he would escort me to the back door. But after his play at move 18, I had no anxiety—I entered the endgame very confident.
28. ... h5 29. Ke2
I wanted to keep my pawn chain solid for the push that was coming. 29. ... a5 30. c4 Bb1 31. a3
48. ... Ke4 49. Nd5 Kd3 50. Nf4+ Ke4 51. Nxh5 Kf3 52. c5 Kxf2 53. c6, Black resigned.
ANALYSIS DIAGRAM
22. Qxb7, and decided to outplay his lower- ranked opponent in a favorable-to-Black ending.
19. Nxe4
31. ... Ba2 What a difference one little square
makes! After 31. ... Bc2, White will be in big trouble.
32. Nd2
The black bishop is trapped for the duration. 32. ... b6 33. a4 Bd6 34. h3 Be5 35. Kd3
19. ... Bc4 Also promising is 19. ... Bd5.
20. Nd2 Bd3 21. Nf3 f6 22. Rd1 Now I was the one in carefree mode. 22. ... c5 23. b3 Be7
To prevent 35. ... Bc3, threatening my knight to free his bishop. 35. ... Kd7 36. g3 g4 37. h4 Bb2 38. Kc2
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Preventing 38. ... Bc1.
38. ... Ba3 Now both of my opponent’s bishops are
24. Kd2
A blunder in a worse—but not yet lost— position. 24. ... Be4+
out of action. My pawns are well placed and the bishop is free to travel.
39. Bh6 f5 40. Bg7 Ke6 41. Bc3 Kd6 The black king offers no assistance. 42. Nf1 Ke7 43. Ne3 Ke6 44. Nd5 Bb4 45.
Make sure your game (or part of
it) and your notes will be of interest to other readers. Do not send games with only a few notes, as they are of little instructive value and can’t be used. Writing skills are a plus, but instructiveness is a must!
www.ChessWithLev.com I don’t think that Don’s “carefree mode”
(say, after 20. Rd1) is in any way responsible for his eventual victory. After all, that mode didn’t prevent Don’s blunder on move 24, when the right discovered check would immediately win the game for his opponent. Eventually Black missed an opportunity
to get excellent winning chances with 31. ... Bc2, self-trapping that bishop instead with 31. ... Ba2. Later, Black made his game even worse by misplacing his second cleric (38. ... Ba3). Still, the game, and Don’s comments (despite some exaggera- tions), are indeed very instructive!
Bxb4 cxb4 46. Kb2 Bxb3 47. Kxb3 Ke5 48. Nxb6
My c-pawn is now able to leisurely stroll to queendom.
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