Challenge Companion #2March 2-4, 2001 |
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Black, playing in his first tournament, plays a solid opening but runs into some trouble in the middle game. 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 |
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A fairly quiet, solid game. 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. e3 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 I looked at 28. Qc5 but couldn't see that I gained much if Black decided not to trade queens. Even with the queens off the board, I thought the position looked drawish--I might get a bit more play, but with the pin on Black's g-pawn released he can defend his f-pawn with ... g6, so I lose the pressure there. I decided to go for the quick draw. |
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1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Ngf3 Nf6 6. exd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. White wants to get his rook over to defend, but this move prevents the queen from helping in the defense. Without this move, Black will have trouble maneuvering his queen and bishop without losing one or the other. |
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My reward for scoring 2.5 in the first three rounds of the tournament was to face a former Indiana State Champion. Here he shows why he has a reputation as a tactical player. In Indiana, 1. e4 followed by 2. Qh5 is half-jokingly known as the "Parham Attack." 2... Nf6 3. Qh4 d5 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Qg3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. f4 b6 8. Nf3 Bb7 9. d4 Qe7 10. Na3 a6 11. Bd2 c4 12. Bxc4! Opening lines. I've played the French enough to know that I can't allow a white knight at d6. But White gains tempi as he maneuvers the knight over to the kingside. Preventing 15... O-O-O The final assault begins. 17... Bc8 18. Rf2 h6 19. fxe6 Bxe6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Qg6+ Kd8 22. Qxe6 Qd7 23. Qg6 Nd5 24. e6 Qd6 25. Nf5 Qc7 26. Raf1 Nde7 27. Nxe7 Qxe7 29. Qe4! 1-0 |
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Here I lose a piece in the early going of a Staunton gambit, which I only recently started playing, and don't have much to offer in the way of a defense afterwards. 1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nc6 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Nxe4? Too soon. 6... Qe7 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Qe2 Nxd4 9. Nxf6+ Kd8 10. Qxe7+ Bxe7 When I played 6. Nxe4 I had seen up to 10. Qxe7+, but then only looked at 10... Kxe7 11. Nd5+ followed by 12. Nb4 or(12. Ne3) stopping the fork at c2. I had missed the possibility of 10... Bxe7, winning a piece. 11. |