Win vs FakeBeil91 (1369)
| Opening: Pirc Defence (B08) | Result: 0-1 (Resignation) | Time Control: 14 days/move (Daily) | Rated | Event: ForEverOne 2026, Round 1 |
Game Overview
This was a fun game. I took a commanding position using a Pirc Defence and seized the opportunity to open up the opponent’s king and exploit their position. They resigned down a piece with a checkmate threat looming.
The Opening (Moves 1-8)
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. Be3 e5
The first seven moves were fairly calm. White put their two pawns in the centre, developed knights and bishops and castled. I followed the Pirc main line and then struck with e5, where White can choose to either play a more closed game by pushing d5 themselves or they can open things up and play dxe5.
8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bb5 Qe7 10. a3 Rd8
From here it seemed that White didn’t have a strong attacking plan of their own. They played Bb5 which doesn’t really make sense after I’ve castled, it just simplifies the position. I played Qe7 to keep the queens on the board. I took the open d-file with the rook and White moved the queen to e2.
Taking the Initiative (Moves 11-14)
11. Qe2 Bg4
Now I start to see some potential tactics. The knight on f3 can be pinned to the queen with Bg4.
12. h3 Nd4
White tries to kick away the bishop with h3, but I have a stronger reply with Nd4 attacking the queen directly and the pinned knight.
13. Qc4 Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Bxh3
White is forced to move their queen and I take the knight with check and then capture the h-pawn with the bishop, leaving the h and g files wide open for me to attack the White king.
Chasing the Bishop (Moves 15-18)
15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 g5
White attempts to make some counter-play with Bg5, pinning my knight to my queen. I’m happy to kick that bishop away with h6. The bishop retreats and I push my g-pawn to further chase it away.
17. Bg3 Nh5 18. Bh2 c6
At this stage, my plan is to get my queen to the g-file and then checkmate on g2 supported by the bishop on h3. However, before I proceed with that plan, I see that there’s also some free material sitting over on the queenside.
Winning Material (Moves 18-21)
When White retreated their queen to c4 they exposed themselves to a tactic. I attacked the bishop with c6. The bishop’s only retreat is to a4.
19. Ba4 b5
Then I fork the queen and bishop with a b5 pawn push.
20. Bxb5 cxb5 21. Nxb5 Qf6
White takes the pawn with the bishop and then I recapture the bishop with my pawn, so I’m up a piece for two pawns. I then resume my plan, moving the queen to f6 with the idea of taking on f3 and then g2 with checkmate.
White isn’t completely lost here, they could find some defensive moves, but they really have nothing going for them in the position. All the momentum is with Black so they resigned.
Engine Review
83.0% accuracy for me versus 71.1% for my opponent. Game rating of 1700 for me versus 900 for my opponent. No blunders and no mistakes for me. One inaccuracy and two misses. One blunder and two mistakes for my opponent.
The engine doesn’t like the e5 move, calling it an inaccuracy and preferring to go after White’s dark-squared bishop with Ng4. I typically always play that e5 push as long as it’s well defended. I’m happy to play it and it worked out in this game.
White’s first major mistake was playing Qe2. The position evaluation swings to Black’s favour with -1.8 even with equal material. From this point the engine likes going for an immediate Nd4 which leads to a bunch of trades and Black up a pawn at the end, which is probably fine for an engine where having an additional pawn is all that’s needed to win in an endgame but makes for a fairly boring match. So I’m happy that I played the move that the engine classified as a miss instead.
White had to eliminate the knight before attacking my bishop, but by pushing the h-pawn they missed an opportunity. Taking with the knight on move 13 was also classified as a miss by the engine. The engine prefers to take with the bishop and then attack the bishop and queen on the queenside. I guess this is typical engine thinking: they go for material and try to win endgames rather than go for checkmates that aren’t guaranteed.
Bg5 was also a mistake for White. It didn’t have enough supporting pieces to really attack my king. The better move was to play Bc5 to add more weight to the pieces that were attacking on my queenside. This would have led to exchanging the bishop for a rook but still leaving Black with checkmating chances.
Reflections
What went well:
- The opening went well. Following the Pirc main line and striking with e5 at the right moment.
- Seeing the opportunity to attack and going in aggressively. Spotting the mistakes my opponent made and being able to exploit them to win material.
What to work on:
- Having a look into the line where I don’t push e5 in the opening and instead play Ng4 to eliminate the dark-squared bishop. It’s a great idea because it removes one of the key pieces that can threaten the fianchetto setup.
- The moves classified as misses for me in this game. I don’t mind too much because they seem to be chasing after material and going into an endgame, whereas I really wanted to play more of an attacking checkmate-threat style game this time.
Full PGN:
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. Be3 e5 8. dxe5
dxe5 9. Bb5 Qe7 10. a3 Rd8 11. Qe2 Bg4 12. h3 Nd4 13. Qc4 Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Bxh3
15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 g5 17. Bg3 Nh5 18. Bh2 c6 19. Ba4 b5 20. Bxb5 cxb5 21. Nxb5
Qf6 0-1