[Event "The Scandinavian Defense -- 2...Nf6 Var"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2019.07.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Fangz0"] [Black "CornerPawn"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "2276"] [BlackElo "2106"] [Annotator "I,W"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [TimeControl "1/259200:0"] {I was very lucky to draw this game. I failed to follow a good book line even though the theoretical move suggested came with an exclamation point! This is absolutely careless. The inferior move that I played gave White a powerful center which I was fortunate enough to warp a bit with a tactical blow. There was a point in the middle game when I could have forsaken material for piece activity. I failed to do that and fell deeper into trouble. The alternatives for piece activity are instructive. Faced with several losing variations I went into a King and Pawn ending that loses easily. I didn't know how bad it was for me and it looked more inviting than the alternatives. My opponent let me off the hook a second time finding the only move that allowed me to draw the ending. The ending has been analyzed and this is instructive. Overall, I played hazzardous chess.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 {enters the Portuguese Complex} Bg4 4. f3 {White's move is the critical test to the Portuguese Complex. White's alternatives are:} (4. Bb5+ Nbd7 (4... c6 {The Elbow}) 5. Be2 {The Lusophobe}) (4. Nf3 Qxd5 {The Classical}) (4. Be2 {The Wuss }) 4... Bf5 5. c4 {is The Banker} (5. Bb5+ Nbd7 6. c4 {is the Jadoul} (6. Nc3 { is the Melbourne Shuffle})) (5. g4 Bg6 6. c4 {is The Correspondence Refutation} ) 5... e5 {If g4 and ...Bg6 had been played (The Correspondence Refutation) and I played ...e5, then I would have been in step with the theory on p.136 of Smerdon's Scandinavian. However, I got caught up in the possibilities of this new move, which is actually weak because it hands central control over to White.} (5... e6 {This is the theoretical move see on p.40 of Smerdon's Scandinavian.}) 6. dxe5 Qe7 7. Qd4 (7. f4 {establishes the center pawns.} Ne4 8. Nf3 Qb4+ {Black has to coordinate his pieces so this Q move is logical as it frees the Bf8 for work on the a7-g1 diagonal.} 9. Nbd2 Bc5 {And now the key move for White is} 10. Qb3 (10. a3 {also works well.}) 10... Na6 {Black continues to develop as the Q exchange only favours White.} 11. a3 {White expands on the Q side and insists that Black make a concession of some sort.} Nxd2 12. Nxd2 {maintains the basic position on the Q side and puts the question to Black again.} Qxb3 13. Nxb3 {White is up two pawns and Black has no effective levers to open up the center. The game is materially and strategically lost.}) 7... Nbd7 8. f4 {Of course!} Ne4 9. Nf3 {I felt I was going to get quickly smothered here if I didn't get coordinated and get some piece activity -- but how?} (9. Nd2 {puts pressure on the Ne4 and gets a reaction from the Black Q.} Qc5 (9... Qb4 10. a3 Qb6 11. Qxb6 axb6 {Now the Qs are off the board; the attack (if there every was one) is over before it got started; and Black is strategically and materially lost.}) 10. Qxc5 Bxc5 11. Bd3 {is White's first brave move in the opening.} Ng3 {is Black's best reply.} (11... Nf2 12. Bxf5 Nxh1 13. Nh3 {and White will soon be up more material.}) 12. Bxf5 Nxf5 13. Ngf3) 9... Qd8 {This backward step seemed like the only solution. I'm threatening ...Bc5 activity on f2.} 10. Qg1 {is the strongest reply.} (10. e6 fxe6 11. dxe6 Ndf6 {gives Black the freedom he needs for his pieces.}) 10... Bb4+ (10... Bc5 11. Be3) 11. Bd2 Qe7 12. a3 {I get a very lucky break here. White throws away nearly all of his advantage. To keep his winning position he needs to play either of these two moves:} (12. Be2 O-O 13. Nd4 Bg6 14. Qe3 Bc5 15. Nc3 {and White's center is impressive.} Nxd2 16. Kxd2) (12. Qe3 Bc5 13. Nd4 Bg6 14. b4) 12... Nxd2 13. Nbxd2 Nxe5 { This is the move he missed and the break in the center I desperately needed.} 14. O-O-O (14. fxe5 Bc5 15. Nd4 (15. d6 cxd6 {and White's center is busted.} 16. Nd4 {to save the Q} Qxe5+) 15... Qxe5+) (14. Nxe5 Bc5 {and the Q goes back in the box.}) 14... Nxf3 {Removing the guard over e1 and hitting the Q. This was the only way to save my B.} 15. gxf3 Bc5 (15... Bd6 {putting the bead on the weak pawn was the better option.} 16. Qxg7 O-O-O 17. Qg5 Qxg5 18. fxg5 Bf4 19. h4 c6 {probably gave me better chances than I got in the game. Unfortunately, I have yet to understand this kind of compensation for material. Black's Rs have better chances for activity than White and Black also has the better minor pieces with the B pair.} 20. dxc6 Rhe8 21. cxb7+ Kxb7 22. Bh3 Bxh3 23. Rxh3 Re2 {and we can see how important piece activity can be in the Scandinavian.}) 16. Qxg7 O-O-O 17. Qg5 {probably motivated by the try to untangle the doubled pawns.} Qxg5 18. fxg5 {White is only slightly better here yet I need to find the best move to keep it that way.} h6 {I wanted to get some pressure on the h2 pawn before White could consolidate his K side.} (18... Be3 {was the other move that appealed to me.} 19. h4 {I was concerned about White getting a K-side pawn majority and the Be3 felt a little loose. In this line I figured that my c-pawn had to challenge the d5 pawn and that this would open the d-file for White's Rd1. These little things made me look for another way to play. Again, I did not understand the value of piece activity. For example,} c6 20. Bh3 Bxh3 21. Rxh3 cxd5 22. Kc2 dxc4 23. Nxc4 Rxd1 24. Kxd1 Bf4 {White's R is out of play and the Black R is coming into the center with some authority.}) 19. gxh6 Rxh6 {I knew I would eventually win the h-pawn so I'm really only going to be 1 pawn down. My real loss in chosing this line was White's gain in piece activity. I could have prevented Ne4 and this is a key move for White's needs for his position.} 20. Ne4 Be3+ {I finally get the DSB to the right diagonal but with far less effectiveness that it would have had earlier. Lesson finally learned -- I hope.} 21. Kc2 Rdh8 22. h3 Rh4 {Delaying the exchange for a move to see how White would play.} 23. Bd3 Bxh3 24. Rde1 Bd4 25. Ng5 {Now White's pieces are all coming to life.} Bd7 {to avoid the B fork.} 26. Rxh4 Rxh4 27. Nxf7 Rf4 {It's been a struggle for the last number of moves and I am being challenged to come back from a two pawn deficit.} 28. Ng5 Bf6 29. Rg1 Bf5 {This move loses but the others lose too. I couldn't see a win for White but I felt the other moves were certainly bad.} (29... Bxg5 30. Rxg5 Rxf3 31. Rg8+ {and I lose a piece and the game.}) (29... b6 30. Ne4 Rxf3 31. Rg8+ Kb7 32. c5) (29... Kd8 {was the best I had here} 30. b4 Bxg5 31. Rxg5 Rxf3 32. c5 {but that requires great patience and ability to endure torture.}) 30. Bxf5+ Rxf5 31. Ne4 Rxf3 32. Rg8+ Kd7 33. Rf8 Ke7 34. Rxf6 Rxf6 35. Nxf6 Kxf6 {Here I am totally lost. The chess engine Komodo has White +250! But I'm not that discouraged because I didn't know this and I felt I had an outside chance to draw though I figured it was improbable. Let's see what he does? This was my thinking.} 36. Kd3 Ke5 { You would think that every player with a Daily Chess rating above 2000 would know how to win this ending. This is not so. This ending is not even mentioned in the theory books that I have. I guess they think it's elementary. Apparently not. It's actually quite easy to ruin this ending if you don't know what you are doing.} 37. b4 {Now it's equal if I find the move -- and I did.} (37. Kc3 {This takes the opposition and plans to penetrate position with the K. This seems to be a safe approach with a theme to follow.} b6 38. Kb4 (38. b4 b5) 38... a6 39. a4 Kd4 (39... Kd6) 40. b3 Ke5 41. a5 Kd6 42. axb6 cxb6 {Now the position is more serious for Black. White has a passed d-pawn.} 43. Kc3 Ke5 (43... Kc5 44. b4+ Kd6 45. Kd4 Kd7 46. c5 bxc5+ 47. Kxc5 Kc7 48. d6+ Kd7 (48... Kb7 49. Kd5 Kc8 50. Kc6 Kd8 51. Kb6 Kd7 52. Kxa6 Kxd6 53. b5 Kc7 54. Ka7) 49. Kb6 Kxd6 50. Kxa6 Kc7 51. Ka7) 44. b4 Kd6 45. Kd4 b5 46. c5+ Kd7 47. Ke5 Ke7 48. c6 Ke8 49. Kd6 Kd8 50. c7+ Kc8 51. Kc6 a5 52. bxa5 b4 53. a6 b3 54. a7 b2 55. a8=Q#) 37... b5 38. cxb5 Kxd5 39. a4 c6 40. bxc6 Kxc6 41. Kc4 a6 42. Kd4 Kd6 43. Ke4 Ke6 44. Kd4 {Game drawn by agreement} Kd6 45. a5 Kc6 46. Kc4 Kd6 47. b5 axb5+ 48. Kxb5 Kc7 49. a6 Kb8 50. Kb6 Ka8 1/2-1/2