My Exciting Game

Hey all,

Well Tuesday night saw another tough game for me.  There was an odd man in the upper and lower section so I played up against an opponent almost three hundred rating points above me.  That said, this is the same guy who blundered a queen to me a few weeks ago at a weekend tournament so as you might guess, he was watching very closely.

Over all, I think I played a decent game althougth I put myself in a bad situtation eairly where ended up sacing a knight for two pawns infront of his king.  I then had a great initial attack where I thought I might have had a matting attack.  It turns out that I should have just grabbed a rook and then tried to play from there.  But I didn't.  And that is my learning point that I'm working on, knowing when sac a piece. 

Here is the game:


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 h6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bc2 d6 9. d4 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Nxg4 13. hxg4 Bxg4 14. Qe1 Qd7 15. Qe3 Bh3 16. Nh2 Bg5 17. Qe2 h5 18. Re1 Rh6 19. Kh1 Bf4 20. Rg1 Qe6 21. Ndf3 Rg6 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Rxg6 Qxg6 24. Rg1 Qh6 25. a4 Rb8 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bd3 Nc4 28. b3 Na3 29. Qa2 f6 30. Qxa3 g5 31. Qa7 Rc8 32. Bxb5+ Kd8 33. Ba6 g4 34. Bxc8 Kxc8 35. Qa8+ Kd7 36. Nd2 f3 37. Ndxf3 gxf3 38. Nxf3 Bg4 39. e5 Qf4 40. e6+ Ke7 41. Nh4 Qxf2 42. Ng6+ Kxe6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Ne7+ Kg5 45. Qg6+ Kf4 46. Qxf6+ Ke3 47. Nd5+ Ke2 48. Qxf2+ Kxf2 49. Rxg4 hxg4 50. Nf4 1-0

I once again tried to review the game using Chess Master but that doesn't work for me.  I don't understand why it plays certain moves and when it gets to the end of each variation I don't understand why those positions are better or worse.  I guess I need to keep working on that.  However, as you look through this game you will see how I was able to bring a lot of pieces to bear in the attack.  Later in the game, I then dropped a knight and a few pawns but I still had an attack.  Time go low and then I blundered the end where I should have been able to manage a draw.  This game did go about 10 or 15 more moves but my opponent and I were under 2 minutes each so we didn't get them written down.

I guess I just need to keep working but next weekend is the North Carolina Class Championship, and I get to play in that.  I'm really looking forward to a full weekend of chess.  I hope I do well.