Checkmate Tournaments Chess Extras -
My Chess Games, Chess Game 1 (3-3-2010) Sicilian Defense
1. e4 c5 (See Board)
This is called the Sicilian Defense. It is a strong opening for Black that gives black the strongest chance of winning. Keep in mind that Black is normally playing to draw, as he begins the game losing. White has the first move and is winning. Among most kids and starting players, this is too small of an advantage to consider.
Keep in mind that the Sicilian Defense is a very tricky opening. This is filled with traps that can quickly decide the game. Even in the first few moves you need to be very careful as you can lose your pieces in a short number of moves.
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 (See Board)
I always recommend to the kids to stick with the open games. This is where at least one center pawn is exchanged (like in this game), and the pieces can move more freely. When the center pawns stay on the board movement is restricted and the game goes slower. Exchanging the pawns and opting for a faster game has several advantages for kids: for one it is easier to understand, since it is easier to understand it is also easier to learn from, and most importantly it is more fun.
Another good thing about White’s moves is he has put his knight in the center of the board. Knights can be very dangerous if moved to the center or near the enemy king.
4. … Nf6
Whenever possible develop with attacks. Black is getting his minor pieces (Bishops and knights) out as quickly as possible and he is moving them out while attacking White’s pieces. If you can keep your opponent on the defense then it will be harder for him to attack you. If he can’t attack you, best case you win; worst case is you get a tie. Good deal!
5. Nc3 g6
6. Be3 Bg7 (See Board)
This variation of the Sicilian Defense is called the Sicilian Dragon. Black’s dark squared bishop is referred to as the Dragon Bishop and can be very dangerous. After Black moved his pawn to g6 last move, White immediately prepared to trade his dark squared bishop for Black’s dark squared bishop. If he can trade off the Dragon Bishop many of his problems will disappear.
7. Bc4 Nc6
Many kids will see that Black can capture their center knight and immediately move their center knight away. This is a mistake as it waists time and demotes their knight. Once the knight is out of the center it is less powerful, if Black does capture the knight, we can recapture and stay even. Never be afraid to lose your pieces, just make sure you get a fair trade if someone captures them.
8. Qd2 O-O
9. O-O-O Bd7 (See Board)
By moving the White Queen to d2, White intends on forcing the exchange of the dark squared bishops by moving the bishop to h6. If Black retreats his bishop to h8, White would be able to capture the rook, a more valuable piece.
Notice White’s pieces are closer to the center then Black’s pieces. Black light squared bishop, for example, is very weak at this moment. Sometimes capturing pieces is not necessary to gain an advantage, instead place your pieces on squares that make them more powerful then your opponents.
10. h4
White can safely force the exchange of dark squared bishops, but instead he makes some other preparations. Often when kings castle opposite directions, like in this game where White castled to the left and Black castled to the right, players will often advance their pawns toward the enemy king. The idea is to get them out of the way so the rooks can attack the enemy king. White plans to either give away his h pawn, or even better trade it for a pawn in front of the black king.
Imagine the three pawns in front of the black king gone, and the three pawns that are facing those pawns gone. The rooks would safely be able to harass the black king and likely checkmate in a few moves.
10. … Rc8 (See Board)
The black rook that just moved to c8 is now staring at the white bishop on c4, if the black knight on c6 were to move, the rook could capture the bishop on c4. Notice that no one is protecting this bishop on c6. This is a problem that if ignored could be very bad for White. The best thing to do in these situations is fix the problem immediately.
11. Bb3
White moved the bishop out of the line of fire and to a square protected by pawns, excellent move. Kids will often ignore their opponent’s moves and plans; this obviously can only spell disaster. Ignore your opponent’s threats at your peril.
11. … Ng4 (See Board)
Terrible news for White. Black intends to trade his knight for White’s dark squared bishop. This would be very bad as Black’s Dragon Bishop will be much harder to get rid of. This is a common move for Black when White makes a mistake. White should of prevented this move by moving his pawn forward to f3, now it is too late and he must think hard on how to prevent this exchange.
12. Nxc6 Rxc6
13. Bd4 (See Board)
Excellent combination. Notice that when White captured Black’s knight he also put Black’s queen in danger. If the queen were not in danger then Black could ignore the capture and capture White’s dark bishop instead. Since Black’s queen was in danger he must capture the knight first.
Sometimes anyone in a bad situation will be tempted to give up, many times I have been coaching or playing kids and they will see the problem and assume there isn’t a solution. Always look for it and if you can’t find it look again. If you are in trouble, this is when we must spend extra time trying to keep any advantages we can.
13. … Ne5
Black wants to keep his cool Dragon Bishop so he throws his knight in the line of fire, better to trade the knight then the Dragon Bishop.
14. f4 Ng4
15. Bxg7 Kxg7
White has now traded off the dark squared bishops and no longer has to fear tricks and traps from the Dragon Bishop. This does not mean he is won, however, the board still remains relatively even and no one has any large advantages.
16. h5
White continues his plan of forcing the h file open and trading off pawns to expose the enemy king. Always attack the most valuable piece you can, in this case White is going after the king.
16. … Qb6 (See Board)
Some nasty tricks have been set up for White. Notice the knight can now move to f2 attacking both rooks simultaneously. This is called a fork, because Black would be attacking two pieces at once. White could not capture, because then Black would recapture with the queen. If White moves one rook out of the way, he will lose the other. White must prevent this from happening.
17. Nd5
White harasses the queen; if Black tries to fork he will lose his queen. Black could simply move his queen and try to fork again, but instead he decides to offer a queen trade. Also notice White is looking to win a free pawn, Black best move is probably moving the queen back to d8 where she is safe and protecting the e7 pawn from the white knight.
17. … Qf2 (See Board)
Black offers White a queen trade, notice White does not need to capture, he can instead wait for Black to capture. Capturing the black queen would be terrible as then Black would recapture with the knight and fork the rooks.
18. hxg6 Qxd2+
Always look for what is called in between moves. They are the mark of a really good player. Black does not recapture the pawn right away; instead he captures the queen first, knowing that he will be able to recapture the pawn next turn. Kids take note of this move, but be very careful when using this idea in a game as it can backfire.
19. Rxd2 hxg6
20. Nxe7
White has finally gained an advantage, this is a very small advantage, but enough to win the game.
20. … Re8
21. Nxc6 Bxc6 (See Board)
For some reason Black either didn’t see the attack on his rook, or decided to ignore it. White is now up a pawn and the exchange. A rook is generally worth 5 points where a knight is worth 3; this is a very valuable advantage. If we include the pawn, White is up 4 points.
When you are winning you should try to hold on to every advantage you have. Kids don’t get lazy now or you will see all of your advantages slip away, and possible lose the game. Black is now trying to win a pawn and has two pieces attacking it. We cannot defend it with two more pieces in one turn, there is only one way to save it.
22. Bd5 Bxd5
23. exd5 (See Board)
White puts his bishop in the way and saves the pawn. If the rook were to capture, he would again lose the exchange when the bishop recaptured. Also notice that when White recaptured the bishop, the pawn moved to safety.
One problem with this move is it prevented white from capturing the d6 pawn. Now that the white pawn is blocking the attack on this d6 pawn, capturing it will be much harder now.
23. … Re4
24. g3 Re3
25. Rg1 (See Board)
Black has put White on the defensive. This is really good for Black, bad for White. As long as White’s pieces are busy defending these pawns Black will be safe from attacks. Letting Black capture them would be even worse however as the pawns next to the king would have an easy time promoting. The white pawns on f4 and g4 are White’s best defense against the black pawns.
25. … Nf6
26. c4 Nd7
27. Kc2 Nc5
28. b4 Ne4
29. Rd3 Re2+
30. Kb3 b6
31. Rc1 Nf6
32. a3 Nd7
33. Ka4 a6 (See Board)
White is desperately trying to get his king into action, but Black has prevented the king from helping by blocking his path. White should of seen this coming and done something else.
34. Rcc3
When your plan fails, make a new one. White has connected his rooks and plans to kick the black rook out. White can safely move his rook to e3 grabbing the open file, this is the line of squares without any pawns on it, by doing this he will allow his rook to begin to attack the black king and black pawns. Black is no longer attacking and now must defend.
34. … a5 (See Board)
Awful move. This lets the white king invade and attack pawns at will. Notice White does not need to capture, he can let Black capture first and then recapture. Either way he will get two black pawns for one of his own.
35. Kb5 axb4
36. axb4 Re4
37. Kc6 (See Board)
Nothing Black can do now, his knight is in danger and so are his pawns. White will capture the knight, both pawns, or all three. Then White will push the pawns to the end of the board and get a new queen. Black sees this and gives up. Much better to give up in a hopeless position then force your opponent to torture you to the end.
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