[Event "ERC Dual Rated Swiss"] [White "Weber,Whit"] [Black "Kromm,Derek"] [Site "Bel AIr"] [Round "2.1"] [Annotator "Allman,Matt"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "2023.04.20"] [WhiteElo "1495"] [BlackElo "1081"] [PlyCount "72"] {A01: Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening} 1. b3 {Right out of the gate, Weber scoffs at Kromm with some hypermodern crap.} e5 {Kromm stakes his claim on the center. Will Weber regret that week ass opening.} 2. Bb2 {Yeah well that was obvious.} Nc6 {Derek defends and develops with classic moves.} 3. c4 {Does Weber regret conceding the center? He attempts to stake a claim on the d5 square.} Nf6 { More classic development, Knights before Bishops.} 4. a3 $15 {Is Weber completely underestimating Kromm? Remember, ratings are only an ESTIMATE of playing strength. BTW did you know Derek is playing in USChess rated online events. You never know what your opponents are up to.} ({Perhaps Weber should think about things like} 4. e3 {as it would free up his Bishop a bit and prepare for d4. Just sayin'.} )g6 {Is that the best post for the Bishop? While putting Bishops on long diagonals remains a good principle, perhaps not in this case.} (4... d6 5. e3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. d3 O-O 8. Nd2 h6 9. b4 a6 10. Qc2 Bd7 11. Bf3 Rb8 12. Ne2 Nh7 13. O-O Ng5 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. f4 Ne6 16. f5 Qg5 17. e4 gxf5 18. Rxf5 Qe3+ 19. Kf1 {Handke,F (2518)-Bok,B (2488) Germany 2012 1-0 (35)} )(4... d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Be7 7. e3 Be6 8. Bb5 O-O 9. Nge2 f6 10. O-O Nxc3 11. Bxc3 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Ng3 Qd3 14. b4 c5 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Qa4 Rfd8 17. Rab1 Qd6 18. Ne4 Qe7 19. Nxc5 {Ryzhkin,V-Kuznetsov,V Irkutsk 2012 0-1 (55)} )5. e3 $146 {Perhaps a move late.} (5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. e3 O-O 9. Ne2 Be6 10. Nbc3 f5 11. O-O Qd7 12. b4 e4 13. Na4 Ne5 14. Nc5 Qc8 15. d3 Rd8 16. Nd4 Bf7 17. dxe4 fxe4 18. Qc2 a5 19. b5 Nf3+ {Cvek,R (2460) -Studnicka,T (2300) Plzen 2004 1-0 (33)} )Bg7 6. Nf3 d6 (6... e4 $5 {[%cal Re4f3] } 7. Nd4 O-O $15 )7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 {The position is equal.} Nxd4 9. exd4 O-O {Derick now has a nice classical fortress for his King.} 10. Be2 { Prevents Ng4.} Re8 11. O-O b6 12. Bf3 d5 13. Nc3 {[%cal Rc3d5]} Bb7 14. Re1 Rxe1+ 15. Qxe1 Rb8 {[%cal Ya8b8,Yb8b7,Yb7d7] Can Kromm pull off this Rook journy to an ideal square?} 16. Rd1 dxc4 {[#] White must now prevent ...Bxf3.} 17. Bxb7 ({Reject} 17. bxc4 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Ne8 $17 )Rxb7 18. bxc4 c6 19. d5 cxd5 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. cxd5 $11 {Perhaps if Whit took that pawn, put it in a box and shipped it to the south pole it would be more isolated, but I doubt it.} Rd7 {YES! Kromm can maneuver the Rook to the ideal square!} 23. Qe5+ Qf6 24. f4 {} ({White should play} 24. Qe2 $11 {} )Re7 $15 25. Qd4 { [#]} (25. Qxf6+ $15 { } Kxf6 26. Kf2 )Re1+ $3 $17 26. Kf2 {Intending Qxf6+ and mate.} Rxd1 27. Qxd1 Qxf4+ {What's the cost of defending an isolated pawn? In this case, the f pawn.} 28. Qf3 $2 { Down a pawn and Whit offers to exchange Queens???} (28. Kg1 $17 { was worth a try.} )Qxf3+ $19 {Derek jumps on this!} 29. Kxf3 {KP-KP} Kf6 30. Ke4 {Kromm has pawn majorities on both the King and Queen sides and Weber has to keep his King near this pawn adrift by itself in the middle of the board.} Ke7 31. g4 { At this point the score sheets diverge.} (31. h4 Kd6 32. a4 a6 )(31. Ke5 {is not much help as} f6+ 32. Kd4 h5 {[%csl Rc5,Re5,Rf5,Rg4,Rg5]} )h6 32. h4 Kd7 33. a4 a6 {[%cal Ya7a6,Ya6b5]} 34. h5 gxh5 {Black mates.} ({Whit entices Derek to make a mistake but Derek will not bite.} 34... Kd6 35. g5 Ke7 36. gxh6 Kd6 37. h7 Kc5 38. h8=Q f5+ 39. Ke5 )35. gxh5 b5 36. axb5 axb5 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.96/Black=0.26 (precise)} (36... axb5 37. Ke5 b4 38. Ke4 f5+ 39. Kd3 f4 {Whit cannot stop both pawns.} )0-1