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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Blogger vs Blogger, OTB

A fellow blogger was passing through my town and offered to play a game. We were fairly equally matched, rating wise. The game was typical of class-level players with missed defensive moves and tactical chances. The time limit was G60 and the clock was ticking down as the game moved into an opposite-colored Bishop & pawn endgame. I played for the draw, but think I may have missed a late-inning win. My next blog entry will explore that potential with another “Winning the Won Game” posting.

The variations and the move symbols are Houdini’s, diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 10 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini.

Of special interest is White’s 14th move, where Houdini gives an increase in valuation from +0.61 to +2.44 without a previous error indicated for Black. My assumption (verified by subsequent analysis at 15 seconds) is that 10 seconds of analysis on Black’s previous move was not sufficient to see the error. This probably indicates an error that a class-level player should not expect to see OTB.


My policy is not to name opponents. However, my opponent, with my permission, will probably identify both players when he posts his analysis of the game.

It was fun to play against a fellow blogger to start my second year of blogging.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Ralph,

    Interesting game. It sure looked like the advantages went back and forth. It must have been fun to play.

    Related to the advantage after 14. Rfb1 there does seem to be some good attacking chances with Bh6 but with complications. As White I might have looked for something like 16. Bb5 Qa5 17. Bxc6 Qxd2 18. Bxd2 bxc6 19. Rc1.

    It looks like Black then has to go through a lot of time protecting the c and a pawn and I'm guessing one or both will probably go with advantage to White with hopefully a better position.

    Later on, after 31. g3, I didn't calculate it out but ...Qh3 looks like it puts an interesting problem to White.

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  2. It was fun to play. G60 does not allow for both a long game and adequate time left for serious study of endgame possibilities. I normally try to save 20% of the clock for the endgame complications.

    I thought during the game that, after 14.Rfb1, White would launch a King-side attack. Two Bishops, a Knight and the Queen were pointed in this direction. This did look dangerous to me.

    I remember looking at 31...Qh3 and thought that 32.Qd3 would nullify the threat. That was why I tried to chase White's Queen away from the area of attack.

    With time running out, I was happy to conclude the game with a draw.

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