The 2,000,000th post game · The Off-Topic Forum

I just won against a guy with an "Elo" rating of OVER 3500.
Even if the guy was having an off day, I'm going to hang my hat on this one.
Here's the game log:

[Event "10m + 0s"]
[White "Guest3504972"]
[Black "Guest3489373"]
[Site "play.chessbase.com"]
[Round ""]
[Annotator ""]
[Result "0-1"]
[Date "2019.09.18"]
[WhiteElo "3908"]
[BlackElo "1996"]
[PlyCount "66"]

1. e4 {[%emt 0:0:10]} a5 {[%emt 0:0:5]} 2. d3 {[%emt 0:0:9]} a4 {[%emt 0:0:3]} 3. a3 {[%emt 0:0:2]} c6 {[%emt 0:0:2]} 4. c4 {[%emt 0:0:4]} h5 {[%emt 0:0:10]} 5. Nc3 {[%emt 0:0:2]} b5 {[%emt 0:0:5]} 6. cxb5 {[%emt 0:0:2]} Qa5 {[%emt 0:0:8]} 7. Bd2 {[%emt 0:0:11]} cxb5 {[%emt 0:0:2]} 8. Nd5 {[%emt 0:0:9]} Qd8 {[%emt 0:0:4]} 9. d4 {[%emt 0:0:11]} e6 {[%emt 0:0:6]} 10. Nc3 {[%emt 0:0:7]} b4 {[%emt 0:0:38]} 11. axb4 {[%emt 0:0:36]} Bxb4 {[%emt 0:0:6]} 12. b3 {[%emt 0:0:4]} Bb7 {[%emt 0:0:6]} 13. f3 {[%emt 0:0:14]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:0:14]} 14. Nge2 {[%emt 0:0:13]} Ba5 {[%emt 0:0:57]} 15. bxa4 {[%emt 0:0:6]} Nb4 {[%emt 0:0:5]} 16. Nc1 {[%emt 0:0:33]} Qb6 {[%emt 0:0:23]} 17. Be3 {[%emt 0:0:19]} f5 {[%emt 0:1:6]} 18. e5 {[%emt 0:0:13]} Nd5 {[%emt 0:0:22]} 19. Bd2 {[%emt 0:0:19]} Bxc3 {[%emt 0:0:6]} 20. Bxc3 {[%emt 0:0:12]} Nxc3 {[%emt 0:0:2]} 21. Qc2 {[%emt 0:0:45]} Qb4 {[%emt 0:0:26]} 22. Nd3 {[%emt 0:0:14]} Qa5 {[%emt 0:0:10]} 23. Kf2 {[%emt 0:0:23]} Rc8 {[%emt 0:0:39]} 24. Qb3 {[%emt 0:0:15]} Bd5 {[%emt 0:0:21]} 25. Qa3 {[%emt 0:0:22]} Ne7 {[%emt 0:0:23]} 26. Be2 {[%emt 0:0:21]} Qb6 {[%emt 0:0:14]} 27. Nc5 {[%emt 0:0:15]} Nxe2 {[%emt 0:0:21]} 28. Kxe2 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Bb7 {[%emt 0:0:12]} 29. Rab1 {[%emt 0:0:7]} Ba6+ {[%emt 0:0:4]} 30. Nxa6 {[%emt 0:0:8]} Qxa6+ {[%emt 0:0:2]} 31. Kf2 {[%emt 0:0:7]} h4 {[%emt 0:0:22]} 32. g3 {[%emt 0:0:12]} Rc2+ {[%emt 0:0:9]} 33. Ke3 {[%emt 0:0:12]} Nd5# {[%emt 0:0:19]Mate} 0-1

bluewaterrider Senior Member

http://journal.diabetes.org/clinicaldiabetes/V18N42000/pg148.htm

https://cspinet.org/tip/single-bout-food-poisoning-can-have-long-lasting-consequences

bluewaterrider Senior Member

Back to the chess game recorded above.

Can't not have an illustrated breakdown ...

Nearly cheered when I saw this guy's ranking, for I've enjoyed what seems a leveling effect. I do poorly often against bad players, I do well consistently with good ones.

Realistically, I didn't think I was going to win, but I figured to give it my best shot. Which meant no Latvian or Englund-Soller. Because I know how to play reasonably well with those openings, but many if not most experienced chess players have seen those before. I figured to use something almost no one's heard of before, though of course any of you guys who have followed my entries in this thread will recognize it: The Ware Defense.

As I've stated before, I actually don't have much formal knowledge of it, assuming anybody beside Preston Ware ever taught people such a thing and that there's anything TO learn. What I do when I play it is more or less invert every general rule I know. Recommended to move central pawns? Move the outside ones instead. Concentrate on developing pieces? Nope, move the pawn you moved first a second time. A third time if your opponent lets you (depending on your mood). Don't bring the Queen out early? Out she comes. Rooks are more valuable than bishops? Trade out rooks FOR bishops, by all means. And so on.

The one caveat is that all the while I'm using the best tactical play I can.

In the game being described here, my first goal was more or less to create a pawn ladder ...

Which I had succeeded in doing by the point shown above.
Whether there's actual value in doing that I don't really know, but I'm guessing there is, for the simple reason that my opponent immediately went to work undermining it:

I pinned the knight protecting the offending pawn with my queen:

Now he couldn't stop me from dealing with it properly; if horsie tries to retaliate, I've got a free shot at the king behind horsie.

But of course my opponent is ranked 3000+, he sees and deals with that immediately by placing his bishop between his King and his knight.
Now if horsie moves, the best my Queen can do is run into the bishop behind it, and immediately get taken in turn. My opponent makes no delay in moving his knight so I'm faced with precisely that choice. I'm forced to make my queen flee:

bluewaterrider Senior Member

I sense I'm actually in a lot of danger with so little maneuvering room created for my king so far, so I advance my pawn and kick away his knight. Definitely don't want that thing housed at center court. But I'm curious to see what will happen if I pursue further, how much running he's willing to do.
Not much, turns out; he takes that pawn immediately. I replace it with my bishop, but still he stands his ground. I shore the defense of my queen rook, placing my Queen's bishop as guardian/avenger of it.
In hindsight I think the advance of his Queen's knight pawn should have been responded to with the advance of my Queen's rook pawn, but that's hindsight; I had no such thought at the time. For reasons not really yet clear to me, my opponent moves his king's knight pawn up a space. Maybe he felt more pressured than I realized ...

bluewaterrider Senior Member

My opponent "L" links his Knights, and suddenly I have a flash of inspiration.
Is there enough to distract him from my plan? I have my bishop withdraw, and and he takes my Queen's rook pawn in response.

My knight advances to take my bishop's place ...

Unfortunately, he sees exactly what my plan is: Knight to d3, checkmate.

He nullifies that threat with his next move, not only giving his King an escape square, but putting TWO defenders on the spot I was going to go to ...

... and all I can think is:
"Darn it all; that would have been SO sweet ..."

bluewaterrider Senior Member

I move my Queen up, ostensibly targeting my opponent's unprotected queen pawn, but my opponent again makes a move that translates "no defense" to doubly defended.

I present a pawn to be taken by his king's pawn, hoping to take it off centerline, but that doesn't work, either.

I'm not discouraged; I know it's going to take a lot to take down someone with this high a rating. Moreover, his unexpected advance of that king pawn let's me now create a pin on his knight by moving my own knight to a square that his king's pawn was previously defending.
I soon find myself with a choice; take with a knight, follow with a bishop fork that might win a rook. OR ... take with a bishop, leaving his rook but also leaving me with my own knight and some initiative gained from putting an unignore-able threat to his queen. For me, despite the former probably being more sound, it's no choice at all. I need to crack the defense of a more experienced and MUCH higher ranked player. I need the elements of chaos and unblockable checks a knight affords. Also, I genuinely hate bishops, so there's that, too ...

bluewaterrider Senior Member

The threat from my knight to his queen is met by his queen counter attacking.
In response to that I line up my queen so that any further movement by my knight will result in a potentially devastating "discovered" check. Meanwhile my knight prevents queenside castling by his King; his King would have to pass over a square controlled by my knight to do so, an illegality in chess. When in response to his knight attacking my queen I make my resolution clear by only having her retreat along the diagonal by which she's still targeting his King, he decides the threat is too much, foregoes castling altogether, and retreats to a safer square. The boon of that unexpected king pawn advance shown in the previous post pays off again; when he targets the bishop protecting my rook, I'm able to perch my bishop at the same now undefended d5 haven that sheltered my knight and counterattack her, maintaining initiative:

bluewaterrider Senior Member

My targeting of my opponent's pawn at d4, which would not only be a free pawn but a check to his King, is met by my opponent moving his knight diagonally in front of said pawn.

I realize immediately that this is the loss of one of my own Knights, there is no piece that can protect him outside of the rook that was doing the job.
The best I can do is have him take another of my opponent's pieces before he goes. Happily, this turns out to be my opponent's remaining bishop.

So my little queen knight not only helped put the enemy King to flight, but put me up material, AND took out my opponent's hated bishop pair.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant!

This seems to trigger my opponent to make an end of it, though in truth he probably started several moves ago, with even the linking of his rook pair not being the first true warning. He targets both my queen and the bishop behind her, the bishop already in the striking path of his knight. Somebody's GUARANTEED to go out in the next play, but his King is still out in the open, and even after his knight takes out MY last bishop for attacking his King, I'm able to gain back tempo with yet another check, saving me from relative material loss.

bluewaterrider Senior Member

My opponent feels compelled to flee from my Queen's attack on his King.
I wondered why at the time, given he could have blocked me with his own and traded off queens. I realize now it was probably because I was ahead on material; even trade offs were NOT something he wanted to encourage at that point. I don't really know how that happened, and certainly wasn't aware I was ahead while I was playing. I'll have to review to find out at what point that occurred.

Regardless of the reason, I moved up my "h" pawn in response to prevent his King from simply escaping and camping in the "wilderness" of that board section. He again made an unexpected and fortuitive pawn move, allowing me to give check with my rook.

My intention with that rook check was to make his King retreat to the back rank.
This would un-link his rooks, reducing some of their power.

What he did was even more surprising and fortuitous. King to e3?

Can it be?

bluewaterrider Senior Member

It could be, can be, and was.

Mystery continues a bit; I snapped a shot when I thought this was shaping up to be a good game:

My ranking was 34 or so points lower than what it's given at in most of the scans given above in the previous posts. But chessbase gives the most recent ranking, not the one you had at the time of any particular game. Also, my opponent was, as far as I can tell, NOT American, but belonged to some country with a flag having Arabic symbols and a green background. Pretty flag, just not an American one.

Props to my highest yet known ranked opponent, either way.
Winning against comp like THAT made my day!

rudester Tommy

Interesting. Very interesting.

bluewaterrider Senior Member

.

riv6672 Senior Member

13 GOING ON 30:
Jennifer Garner/Elektra

Mark Ruffalo/The Hulk

Brie Larson/Captain Marvel

riv6672 Senior Member

TODAY IS

riv6672 Senior Member

91 bottles of beer on the wall,
91 bottles of beer.
Take one Down, pass it around,
90 bottles of beer on the wall.