From a misplayed attack to a positional exchange sacrifice

Edward Dean
Theodore Mirra
Result: 1-0

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Date: December 11, 2012
Location: Pittsburgh Chess Club
Tournament: Robert P. Smith Memorial
Round: 5
Opening:
Submitted by:
Published on: November 20, 2024

[Event "Robert P. Smith Memorial"]
[Site "Pittsburgh Chess Club"]
[Round "5"]
[Date "2012.12.11"]
[White "Edward Dean"]
[Black "Theodore Mirra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator ""]
[ECO ""]
[WhiteElo "0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[Puzzle "0"]
[DateTime "2012.12.11"]
	1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 {I play the English a lot, and so does my opponent when he has the white pieces. So I decided to give us something different to think about.} 2...c5 3.Bb2 Nc6 4.e3 e6 5.c4? {An early poor move. Since I have no intention of exchanging on d5, this really just gets in the way of my development. I didn't even like it when I was thinking about it, yet I played it anyway. I'm not sure why I do that, but I do that.} ( 5.Bb5 ) 5...d5 6.d4 cxd4 7.exd4 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 Ne4 9.a3 Nxd2 10.Nxd2 ( 10.axb4 Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 Nxb4 12.Ra4 Nc6 13.Be2 {I strongly considered going this route, playing for the bishops and better pieces in general. But I ultimately decided I didn't want to invest a pawn for it.} ) 10...Be7 11.Nf3 Bf6 {Black has the typical bad bishop, but otherwise his game is solid, and in the long run that shouldn't be a big obstacle for him to overcome. I did my best to get something going here, and in the game I got my chance later when Black was too hasty with action in the center.} 12.c5!? {A rather committal choice, but not a bad one, I think.} 12...a5 {Black understandably doesn't want White to push b4, and then on to b5 as well probably. But I think hitting c5 with an immediate ...b6 was likely a better response.} 13.Bb5 O-O 14.O-O Bd7 15.Bd3 {White has more space, and Black could have trouble getting the light-square bishop into the game. Black wants to break with ...e5, and White will want to discourage this.} 15...Qc7 16.Re1 Rfe8 17.Re3!? {Superficially, it looks like Black is ready to free his game with the central pawn thrust. But I saw that he can't actually get away with it yet without opening himself up to a vicious attack. Unfortunately, I bailed on the proper continuation down the road a bit.} ( 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Be7 19.Bd4 {I first considered playing this way, until I realized that Black wasn't actually ready to push ...e5.} ) 17...e5? {Taking the bait. This was played rather quickly, and I think Ted thought at this point that he had a good game. In reality, Black is in big trouble.} 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Bxh7+? {No! Forgoing the crushing follow-up that I had planned when I played Re3. There was one defensive try against my intended move to which I couldn't see the proper answer, and so I bailed out with another approach.} ( 20.Qh5! {This was my original intent when I played the sneaky Re3. But then once I got to here, I became convinced that ...f5 would defend adequately, even though it was so ugly I felt it had to fail. I couldn't see the full answer, so I bailed out with the alternative Bxh7+.} 20...f5 ( 20...g6 21.Bxe5 Qxc5 ( 21...gxh5 22.Bxc7 ) 22.Qg5 ) 21.Rae1! g6 {I saw this line up to here, but couldn't find a good move in my head at this point. This is the position that led me to reject Qh5.} 22.Qh6! Bxb2 23.Re7 {Obvious once you're in the position, but I couldn't picture this right when deciding on Qh5. Woulda been sweet!} ) 20...Kf8 ( 20...Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Bxe5 {White's attack spells many problems for Black here.} ) 21.Rxe5 Rxe5 22.Qd4!? {The consolation prize for letting slip my direct attack, is that I got the chance to play what I consider to be a very pleasing positional exchange sac. I have an extra pawn, a lot of dark square control, and no weaknesses. Moreover, Black has trouble getting his pieces in play in general, while White can slowly try to take aim at certain targets. If nothing else, I'm happy with the creative aspect of how I handled the game from here on.} ( 22.Bxe5 Qxe5 23.Bd3 Bg4 24.Qe1 Qd4 ) 22...f6 23.f4 Re7 24.a4 ( 24.Qxd5? Be6 ) 24...Bc6 {Played, I believe, at least in part to quelch any ideas of c6 and play on the a3-f8 diagonal. Note how poor Black's bishop looks; it's not done ambling around and returning to c6.} 25.Bg6 Be8 26.Bd3 {No thank you.} 26...Bc6 27.Bc3 {The pawn on a5 will be something of a sore spot throughout. Black's queenside rook never does develop actually, which indicates some of the merit behind White's exchange sacrifice.} 27...Qd7 28.Rf1 Qe6 29.Rf3 Ke8 30.Bd2 Kd7 31.Re3 Qf7 32.Bf5+ Kc7 33.Rg3 Bd7 34.Bd3 {No thank you.} 34...Bc6 {Again the bishop returns home to be a big pawn.} 35.Bc3 Qe8 36.h3 Qd7 37.Bf1 Qf5 38.Qd2 {After some gentle maneuvering, finally White gets down to serious business, taking aim at a5. Black should let the pawn go, and it is then clear that White has the much better game.} 38...b6? 39.cxb6+ Kxb6 {Now White's control of the dark squares turns into a very strong attack that will lead to a decisive material advantage.} ( 39...Kb7 40.Bd4 {Also no fun for Black.} ) 40.Qd4+ ( 40.Bxa5+! {My move is good enough, but this is much nicer and more direct.} 40...Rxa5 41.Qb4+ Kc7 42.Qxa5+ Kd7 43.Qa7+ Kd6 44.Qb8+ Kd7 45.Ba6 ) 40...Kb7 41.Qc5 Qd7 42.Bxa5 d4 43.Qb6+ Kc8 44.Ba6+ Rxa6 ( 44...Bb7 45.Bxb7+ Qxb7 46.Qd8# ) 45.Qxa6+ {Now White is up two connected passed pawns, with more to follow. Opposite-color bishops will be no help, and it really is a matter of technique from this point on.} 45...Qb7 46.Qc4 Kb8 47.Qxd4 Rd7 48.Qb6 Qxb6+ 49.Bxb6 Rb7 50.Bc5 Bd5 51.b4 Bc4 52.Kf2 Rd7 53.Re3 {I don't have the rest of the score; we each had under 2 minutes at this point, but White's play is so straightforward I was basically insta-moving anyway. I traded the rooks off, and created a third passed pawn that sealed the deal. All in all, an interesting game, with one big missed opportunity after a well-laid trap, and then what I think was a well-conceived positional exchange sac.} 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 {I play the English a lot, and so does my opponent when he has the white pieces. So I decided to give us something different to think about.} 2...c5 3.Bb2 Nc6 4.e3 e6 5.c4? {An early poor move. Since I have no intention of exchanging on d5, this really just gets in the way of my development. I didn't even like it when I was thinking about it, yet I played it anyway. I'm not sure why I do that, but I do that.} ( 5.Bb5 ) 5...d5 6.d4 cxd4 7.exd4 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 Ne4 9.a3 Nxd2 10.Nxd2 ( 10.axb4 Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 Nxb4 12.Ra4 Nc6 13.Be2 {I strongly considered going this route, playing for the bishops and better pieces in general. But I ultimately decided I didn't want to invest a pawn for it.} ) 10...Be7 11.Nf3 Bf6 {Black has the typical bad bishop, but otherwise his game is solid, and in the long run that shouldn't be a big obstacle for him to overcome. I did my best to get something going here, and in the game I got my chance later when Black was too hasty with action in the center.} 12.c5!? {A rather committal choice, but not a bad one, I think.} 12...a5 {Black understandably doesn't want White to push b4, and then on to b5 as well probably. But I think hitting c5 with an immediate ...b6 was likely a better response.} 13.Bb5 O-O 14.O-O Bd7 15.Bd3 {White has more space, and Black could have trouble getting the light-square bishop into the game. Black wants to break with ...e5, and White will want to discourage this.} 15...Qc7 16.Re1 Rfe8 17.Re3!? {Superficially, it looks like Black is ready to free his game with the central pawn thrust. But I saw that he can't actually get away with it yet without opening himself up to a vicious attack. Unfortunately, I bailed on the proper continuation down the road a bit.} ( 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Be7 19.Bd4 {I first considered playing this way, until I realized that Black wasn't actually ready to push ...e5.} ) 17...e5? {Taking the bait. This was played rather quickly, and I think Ted thought at this point that he had a good game. In reality, Black is in big trouble.} 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Bxh7+? {No! Forgoing the crushing follow-up that I had planned when I played Re3. There was one defensive try against my intended move to which I couldn't see the proper answer, and so I bailed out with another approach.} ( 20.Qh5! {This was my original intent when I played the sneaky Re3. But then once I got to here, I became convinced that ...f5 would defend adequately, even though it was so ugly I felt it had to fail. I couldn't see the full answer, so I bailed out with the alternative Bxh7+.} 20...f5 ( 20...g6 21.Bxe5 Qxc5 ( 21...gxh5 22.Bxc7 ) 22.Qg5 ) 21.Rae1! g6 {I saw this line up to here, but couldn't find a good move in my head at this point. This is the position that led me to reject Qh5.} 22.Qh6! Bxb2 23.Re7 {Obvious once you're in the position, but I couldn't picture this right when deciding on Qh5. Woulda been sweet!} ) 20...Kf8 ( 20...Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Bxe5 {White's attack spells many problems for Black here.} ) 21.Rxe5 Rxe5 22.Qd4!? {The consolation prize for letting slip my direct attack, is that I got the chance to play what I consider to be a very pleasing positional exchange sac. I have an extra pawn, a lot of dark square control, and no weaknesses. Moreover, Black has trouble getting his pieces in play in general, while White can slowly try to take aim at certain targets. If nothing else, I'm happy with the creative aspect of how I handled the game from here on.} ( 22.Bxe5 Qxe5 23.Bd3 Bg4 24.Qe1 Qd4 ) 22...f6 23.f4 Re7 24.a4 ( 24.Qxd5? Be6 ) 24...Bc6 {Played, I believe, at least in part to quelch any ideas of c6 and play on the a3-f8 diagonal. Note how poor Black's bishop looks; it's not done ambling around and returning to c6.} 25.Bg6 Be8 26.Bd3 {No thank you.} 26...Bc6 27.Bc3 {The pawn on a5 will be something of a sore spot throughout. Black's queenside rook never does develop actually, which indicates some of the merit behind White's exchange sacrifice.} 27...Qd7 28.Rf1 Qe6 29.Rf3 Ke8 30.Bd2 Kd7 31.Re3 Qf7 32.Bf5+ Kc7 33.Rg3 Bd7 34.Bd3 {No thank you.} 34...Bc6 {Again the bishop returns home to be a big pawn.} 35.Bc3 Qe8 36.h3 Qd7 37.Bf1 Qf5 38.Qd2 {After some gentle maneuvering, finally White gets down to serious business, taking aim at a5. Black should let the pawn go, and it is then clear that White has the much better game.} 38...b6? 39.cxb6+ Kxb6 {Now White's control of the dark squares turns into a very strong attack that will lead to a decisive material advantage.} ( 39...Kb7 40.Bd4 {Also no fun for Black.} ) 40.Qd4+ ( 40.Bxa5+! {My move is good enough, but this is much nicer and more direct.} 40...Rxa5 41.Qb4+ Kc7 42.Qxa5+ Kd7 43.Qa7+ Kd6 44.Qb8+ Kd7 45.Ba6 ) 40...Kb7 41.Qc5 Qd7 42.Bxa5 d4 43.Qb6+ Kc8 44.Ba6+ Rxa6 ( 44...Bb7 45.Bxb7+ Qxb7 46.Qd8# ) 45.Qxa6+ {Now White is up two connected passed pawns, with more to follow. Opposite-color bishops will be no help, and it really is a matter of technique from this point on.} 45...Qb7 46.Qc4 Kb8 47.Qxd4 Rd7 48.Qb6 Qxb6+ 49.Bxb6 Rb7 50.Bc5 Bd5 51.b4 Bc4 52.Kf2 Rd7 53.Re3 {I don't have the rest of the score; we each had under 2 minutes at this point, but White's play is so straightforward I was basically insta-moving anyway. I traded the rooks off, and created a third passed pawn that sealed the deal. All in all, an interesting game, with one big missed opportunity after a well-laid trap, and then what I think was a well-conceived positional exchange sac.} 1-0

Dean – Mirra 2012.12.11