Monday, 4 January 2010

The Best Bits of 2009

As 2009 turned into to 2010 I found myself pondering (as I always do), what did I learn about chess this year. Then I think about all those crucial lost games that got away and, eventually, I think about the ones I was most happy with.

If I had to pick one highlight from this year then it would be my discovering how to play a particular variation of the French Defence that I've been wrestling with for a couple of years. I've had the chance to test it several times in the last 12 months and I haven't lost a game with it... yet!

Anyway, here is the game from 2009 that I was most pleased with in the aforementioned line. It took place on Red Hot Pawn where the strength of your opening repertoire is tested to the limit against the better players.


Red Hot Pawn.com: Correspondence Game
Intermezzo (1894) vs. Calexico (2101), 3 days per move
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
abcdefgh
0
(black to move)
1.e4e6
2.d4d5
3.Nd2Nf6
4.e5Nfd7
5.c3c5
6.Bd3Nc6
7.Ne2cxd4
8.cxd4f6
9.Nf4Nxd4
10.Qh5+Ke7
11.exf6+Nxf6
12.Ng6+hxg6
13.Qxh8Kf7
14.Qh4e5
15.Nf3Nxf3+
16.gxf3Bf5
17.Bxf5gxf5
18.Bg5Qa5+
19.Kf1Rc8
20.Kg2Be7
21.Rac1Rc6
22.Qh3g6
23.Bxf6Bxf6
24.f4e4
25.Qb3Rb6
26.Rc7+Be7
27.Qh3Qb4
28.Rhc1Qd6
29.Qh7+Kf6
30.Qh8+Kf7
31.Qh7+Kf6
32.h4Qe6
33.h5gxh5
34.Qxh5Qg8+
35.Kh2Ke6
36.Rg1Qf8
37.Rg6+Bf6
38.Rxf6+Kxf6
39.Qg5+
 


All in all, a pretty nice game for me as I made only a few small errors against a strong opponent.

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