[Event "Montgomery Dog Days II"] [Site "Montgomery Bridge Club"] [Date "2009.07.25"] [Round "1"] [White "Robert Ogden"] [Black "Eddie Lee Koen"] [TimeControl "120+12"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Robert Ogden"] [ECO " "] [WhiteELO "769"] [BlackELO "1631"] [WhiteCountry "USA"] [BlackCountry "USA"] {This game was played during the first round of a tournament that required a 2 hour early morning drive to get there, but I was actually feeling pretty good. As the game began, I had no idea what Koen's rating was and (as I found out later), he had no idea what my rating was.} 1.d4 {I'm a one trick pony as white. Zukertort or Death.} 1...f5 {f5 signals the Dutch defense against which I've seen the Zukertort system do well. Two tournaments prior to this one, I had very nearly beat a 1700 who tried to play the Dutch against my Zukertort. I was feeling good at this point} 2.Nf3 {The typical move order to reach the Zukertort system. } 2...Nf6 {Typical move order for the Dutch.} 3.e3 {Releasing the light squared Bishop and further supporting the d4 pawn. Against the Dutch, the idea will be to further weaken Black's Kingside pawns by ramming the e-pawn down its throat.} 3...g6 {This move took me by complete surprise. It enables the fianchetto of the dark squared Bishop but at the cost of opening up Black to some very heavy pressure on the diagonals, which as it happens is one of the purposes of the Zukertort system with its Bishops on d3/d4 and b2. When Koen made this move, I foolishly concluded that this would be a relatively easy game and that perhaps Koen close to my rating.} 4.Bd3 {Typical of the Zukertort System. This allows a castle if need be. The weakness of the Zukertort System is largely found in the potential fork of the Knight and Bishop in this position. White must be very careful, especially against a Dutch Defense with its supporting pawn on f5.} 4...Bg7 {As expected.} 5.O-O {Although this is the standard move order, the castle need not take place yet. In fact, with the imminent threat of ...d6 ...e5, it would have been far better to play 5. b3... 6. Bb2. I have a bad habit while playing the Zukertort of completely ignoring Black's early threats. Here Koen is playing a variation that I'd not encountered before, and I am not taking opportunity to counter his threats.} 5...O-O {Again, I felt good about this. He has castled into what is already a weak pawn structure. I plan on exploiting this through the Zukertort.} 6.Nbd2 {Again, I was not looking at the threats he was planning. Nbd2 is often not needed until much later, but I sometimes play it here to reserve the option of playing the Colle System (c3). In a couple of moves, I will be seriously considering switching to the Colle, which has proven drawish or losing for White in my experience.} 6...d6 {And here I finally see Black's plan. In truth it is already too late for me to fianchetto the dark squared Bishop in preparation for the e5 attack. I find myself a tempo behind where I need to be - a theme throughout this game which can be traced back ultimately to 6. Nbd2. } 7.Re1 {Another wasted tempo. Here I considered b3 (latent Zukertort), c3 (Colle System), or Re1. I've not had huge success with the Colle System, so I rejected it pretty quickly on principle. I recognized that b3 would lead to a fork of the Bishop and Knight and ultimately the loss of the Rook on a1. That left me with Re1, a move in keeping with both the Colle and the Zukertort, but which in this position is worthless. The correct move here is probably c3 supporting the d4 pawn and preparing e4 to ram the e-pawn through weakening Black's Kingside. I consider moves 6 and 7 to be the major blunders in this game.} 7...Nc6 {Black further prepares e5 and now prevents an immediate e4 by threatening the d-pawn.} 8.a3 {a3 is often played in the developement of the Zukertort to prevent ...Nb4 (threatening Nxd4). In this game, I decided to play this because it left my options open to later play b3 fianchettoing the Bishop and achieving the optimal Zukertort setup. I clung to the hopes of the Zukertort rather than the correct move - c3 - which both prevents ...Nb4 and supports the threatened d-pawn.} 8...e5 {The ignored threat materializes on e5. If White does not take the pawn or move the Knight or Bishop, then e4 forks the two with White's only hope the in-between move Bc4+.} 9.dxe5 {I thought long and hard about this. White almost always must take on e5 in this system of play, but I did not like what I saw coming as a result. If Black replies ...dxe5, then White is forced to send the Knight and Bishop scattering to prevent the e4-fork. In the end, I decided that I couldn't spend anymore time thinking about this move without putting myself at an alarming disadvantage timewise and made what I felt was the best move on principle. I'd somehow concluded that e4 would eventually lose me a pawn.} 9...Nxe5 {I was surprised and somewhat relieved with Koen played this move. Nxe5 feels very comfortable for White because even after e4, Bc4+ Kh8 allows f3 threatening Black's pawn structure on the Kingside. } 10.Nxe5 {I'm happy to take advantage of what I felt was a miscalculation on Black's part.} 10...dxe5 {As expected. There are all sorts of fun opportunities for White here. } 11.Bc4+ {Taking some of the bite out of e4 and regaining a lost tempo. The plan is still to break the pawn chain with f3, but now I've got ideas to put Black's King under fire.} 11...Kh8 {Moves it out of check.} 12.b3 {I'm willing to allow e4 in order to have the Bishop pair putting heavy pressure on the King. e4 I felt would not be a problem to get rid of with f3.} 12...e4 {This pawn ends up firmly in position throughout the rest of the game. White is never given the opportunity to dislodge it.} 13.Bb2 {In accordance with the plan (and harkening back to my hopes of the Zukertort), the dark squared Bishop now pressures Black's King.} 13...Qe8 {Prevents any attempt by White to trade Queens (removing a defender for Black's King) while at the same time providing support for Be6 threatening to remove the light squared pressure on Black's Kingside.} 14.Rf1 {The intention was to further support f3, however, it is entirely unnecessary to provide further support. In fact, if ...exf3 then Nxf3 frees up the Queen for aggressive moves like Qd4. Another wasted tempo.} 14...Be6 {Threatens to trade White's powerful light squared Bishop and ease the threat on the Kingside while at the same time freeing the Rook on a8 to join the defense.} 15.Qe2 {The idea here was that if ...Bxc4 then Qxc4 maintains the pressure while opening up some attacking possibilities on the Queenside.} 15...Rd8 {Threatening ...Bxc4 Qxc4 Rxd2. White is forced to either move or support the Knight.} 16.Rfd1 {Bad move. Though it was not necessary for the Rook to be on f1 in the first place, at least it was doing something. Far better to support the Knight with Rad1 which also frees the Rook from any potential threats on the long dark diagonal. } 16...Qf7 {Black now moves to trade off a lot of material, perhaps realizing that it is to his advantage to reach an endgame with this pawn structure still intact. } 17.Bd4 {The idea here is to allow the trade off of material in the hopes of snagging Black's a-pawn.} 17...a6 {Protects against the threat but also forces White to repspond with a4 else ...b5 will force the exchange on e6 and cramp White on both the King and Queensides. } 18.a4 {More or less forced. Prevents b5. } 18...Nd5 {And now Black takes advantage of White's mistake on move 16 to force the exchange of the dark squared Bishops. } 19.Bxg7+ {Forced.} 19...Kxg7 {Better is Qxg7 which leads to all sorts of nastiness for White's structure. } 20.Bxd5 {The idea here is that after all the trading, Rd7+ will capture at least one pawn and compensate for the doubled c-pawns. I failed to see 24....Kf6. } 20...Rxd5 {I was expecting ...Bxc5, but Rxd5 will lead to the same result. } 21.Nc4 {Offering to trade Rooks and keep the D-file as compensation for the soon to be doubled c-pawns.} 21...Rxd1+ {Black accepts the trade counting on his superior pawn structure in the endgame.} 22.Rxd1 {White now has a solid hold on the d-file. } 22...Bxc4 {Threatens White's queen.} 23.Qxc4 Qxc4 {Attacks White's pawn at c2.} 24.bxc4 {The trades are complete. Black has doubled my c-pawns but as compensation I control the d-file and shouldn't have too terrible a time getting the King out.} 24...Kf6 {I had not foreseen this move and was hoping that Black would use his tempo to start pushing pawns on the Kingside. It worried me that Black's King was centralizing so far in advance of my own, but I still thought that Rd7 would give compensation enough for his advantage.} 25.Rd7 {Seeking to win a pawn and gain compensation for poor structure and a decentralized King. } 25...Rf7 {Rf7! Prevents any hope of winning a pawn on the 7th rank and offers to trade Rooks which would benefit Black more than White in this position. } 26.Rd5 {Not sure what exactly I was thinking here. Much better is Rd1, though it is not likely I'll be keeping the d-file in any case. } 26...Ke6 27.Rd4 {Blunder. This allows Black to force the trade with Rd7. The idea was to support the pawn break on f3, but no such break will be permitted.} 27...Rd7 {Forces the exchange of Rooks, and strengthen's Black's engame. } 28.Kf1 {Rather than initiate the trade right away, I wanted to centralize the King a bit. I figured that if Rxd5 then exd5 was OK for me. } 28...c5 {And now I'm left with no choice in the matter.} 29.Rxd7 {Anything else loses material. } 29...Kxd7 {Removes the threat on Black's pawn at b7 and Black's pawn at h7. Black wins a rook for a rook. Material is even.} 30.Ke2 {I was not feeling good about this endgame at all. Somehow Black had managed to maintain his pawn structure despite all my plans and now I found myself on the defensive. } 30...Kc6 31.a5 {I wanted to shut out the King or if b6 then at least weaken the pawns on the side a bit while I got my King over to defend. Better is simply Kd2.} 31...b5 {Threatens White's pawn at c4.} 32.axb6ep {I'm told that this is the point where f3 would have led to a better result, but I'm not seeing it right now. } 32...Kxb6 {(Isolates White's pawn at c4 and White's pawn at c2. Black wins a pawn for a pawn. Material is even.)} 33.Kd2 Ka5 34.c3 {My idea here was to build a wall and trap the King against the side of the board in front of his passed pawn. The King would have to back all the way out in order to free the pawn to move and I would simply follow the King out and win either the a-pawn or the c-pawn. } 34...Ka4 35.Kc2 {The wall is completed, but as will be seen, Black has tons of moves, and White is limited to only a few that won't lose material. } 35...Ka3 36.f3 {Too little, too late. } 36...h6 {And black begins burning moves. } 37.h3 h5 38.h4 {By this point, I knew I was totally lost. I'd calculated that I would be short a move and was only hoping that Black would blunder. } 38...a5 {Pushes the passed pawn.} 39.fxe4 fxe4 { Black wins a pawn for a pawn. Material is even.} 40.g3 {All hope is lost. } 40...a4 {Zugzwang. Any move White makes will lose. White resigns. I enjoyed this game immensely despite the loss and it is leading me to think more about more tactical openings as White. } 0-1

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