Analysis of My Chess Tournament Games: The 'All or Nothing' Game

"Boris Vasilievich was the only top-class player of his generation who played gambits regularly and without fear ... Over a period of 30 years he did not lose a single game with the King's Gambit, and among those defeated were numerous strong players of all generations, from Averbakh, Bronstein and Fischer, to Seirawan."

• Garry Kasparov

_{Image From pxel photographer From Pixabay}

Hello Chess lovers,

In my last post, I analyzed two games from my last tournament. I had played well in the opening of both games but still lost one because I didn't calculate my attack properly.

You can find my analysis of those games here

In this post, I'd share the last-round game. It is worth noting that it was the "All or nothing round" - I HAD TO WIN

The good news was that I was white and I knew from previous games that my opponent plays only the Sicilian.

Mayhem in the Morra!

[Event "Rivers Trials"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.08.24"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Oluwadare Samuel"]
[Black "Henshaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1900"]
[BlackElo "1856"]
[ECO "B20"]
[Source "Analyze This App"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bd3 Bb4 7. O-O Bxc3 8. 
bxc3 d6 9. e5 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Nf6 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Qa5 14. Nxd7 
Nxd7 15. Qe4 g6 16. Qh4 f6 17. Be3 Qh5 18. Qb4 a5 19. Qe7 Ne5 20. Be4 Nc6 21. 
Bxc6 bxc6 22. Bc5 Ba6 23. Rd7 Qh6 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. Qxc6 Bc8 27. 
Rd8 Bg4 28. Qxf6+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4!

I have played the smith morra gambit for a very long time and one thing i can tell you is that I love it better when the gambit is accepted. Yeah, I hope he accepted it and as you already see in the notation, He did.

2.cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3

In this position, white always enjoy the benefits of a rapid development at the cost of a pawm. Black on the other hand needs to hold the pawn and gradually develop by building a fortress.

4. e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bd3 Bb4

I don't like this Bb4 move because I don't think the bishop is well placed. There are a lot better moves to makes as black (6.Nc6 or 6.d6 was better with the creating a fortress idea)

At this point, I hoped he took and made his dark squares weak so I played 7. 0-0 . guess what? He played 7. Bxc3

The engines already give white an advantage. I knew I had a better position at this point. However, due to my bad position handling in game 3, I didn't want to rush or over estimate the position.

8. d6 9. e5 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Nf6 11. Qe2 O-O 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Qa5 14. Nxd7 Nxd7

Here I had to force weakness, he has a bad bishop on c8, His other minor piece just moved to d7. I had two active bishops. It didn't take me long to find Qe4! It forces g6 which weakens the black kingside.

15. Qe4 g6 16. Qh4 f6 17. Be3 Qh5 18. Qb4 a5 19. Qe7 Ne5 20. Be4

In no time, I had a better position. It was difficult for my opponent to hold as my threats were obvious.

He could have tried Ng4 here, I asked him after the game and he replied "you had Bf4" -

Honestly, I would have not played Bf4 because I thought immediate Bc5 was winning despite Qxh2+, I missed Rf7.

Rd8+ doesn't work because black king escapes with Kg7 - And black is better!

So happy he blundered with Nc6

20. Nc6 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Bc5

Now Bc5! Is very strong here as there is no threat on my king

The rest was clinical!

Ba6 23. Rd7 Qh6 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. Qxc6 Bc8 27. Rd8 Bg4 28. Qxf6+ 1-0

In Conclusion...

This was a very interesting game that tested my nerves. I have learned to me patient with my attack. It does not matter how fast I win all that matters is that I won.

I hope you enjoyed the game. Feel free to tell me what you think?

_{10% of the rewards on this post goes to @chesspricepool for the next #HiveChess season}

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Thanks For Reading!