Opening: Colle-Zukertort System (D04) Result: 0-1 (Resignation) Time Control: Daily (3 days/move) Rated

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Game Overview

Round 1 of the 92nd Daily tournament. Not much to say about this one. Things were going fine out of a Colle-Zukertort until move 19, when I completely blundered a knight and the position crumbled from there.

The Opening (Moves 1-12)

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. b3 cxd4 5. exd4 Nc6 6. Bb2 g6 7. c4 e6 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. O-O Nb4 11. Qe2 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 a6

A standard Colle-Zukertort setup: pawns on b3 and d4, bishop fianchettoed on b2, knights to d2 and f3. Black went into b4 to trade off my light-squared bishop, so the bishop pair was gone early. I had hanging pawns on c4 and d4.

After 12...a6
After 12...a6: the Colle-Zukertort structure, bishop on b2 and knights on d2 and f3.

Knight to e5 and the f4 Break (Moves 13-16)

13. Ne5 Nd7 14. f4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 b6 16. Nf3 Bb7

I put the knight on e5 and supported it with f4. Black traded it off, and I recaptured with the f-pawn, leaving a pawn on e5 and a half-open f-file. Black developed the bishop to b7.

After 16...Bb7
After 16...Bb7: pawn on e5, both bishops on the long diagonals.

Blundering the Knight (Moves 17-19)

17. Rac1 a5 18. Ba3 Re8

After 18...Re8
After 18...Re8: my knight on f3, Black's queen still at home on d8.

19. Ng5 Qxg5

This is the move. I sent the knight to g5 and the queen just took it. The d8-g5 diagonal was wide open, e7 and f6 both empty, and nothing of mine defended the square. A free piece. The worst part is I had been staring at this position for a long time looking at lines, and not once did I notice the knight was hanging.

After 19...Qxg5
After 19...Qxg5: the knight is gone for nothing.

The Collapse (Moves 20-30)

20. Qf3 Qf5 21. Rc3 Rac8 22. Qh3 Qxh3 23. Rxh3 dxc4 24. Rhf3 Bxf3 25. Rxf3 cxb3 26. Rxb3 Rc6 27. Kf2 Rc2+ 28. Ke3 Rxg2 29. Rxb6 Rxh2 30. Ra6 Rh3+

A piece down, I traded queens and tried to hang on, but there was nothing to hold. Black grabbed c4, then I dropped the rook on f3 straight into the b7 bishop and lost the exchange on top. From there Black mopped up b3, g2 and h2 and marched the rook in. I resigned.

After 30...Rh3+
After 30...Rh3+: down a piece and the exchange, I resigned here.

Reflections

What went well:

  • The opening. The Colle-Zukertort gave me a comfortable, easy position and nothing was wrong until move 19.

What to work on:

  • I analysed this whole game on my phone, and for some reason I just don’t view the whole board properly on the small screen. I spent ages on the position before Ng5 and never saw the piece was hanging. From this game onwards I’ll still do my analysis on the phone and save it, but I’ll always check the position properly from my desktop before committing to a move.

Full PGN:

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. b3 cxd4 5. exd4 Nc6 6. Bb2 g6 7. c4 e6 8. Bd3
Bg7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. O-O Nb4 11. Qe2 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 a6 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. f4 Nxe5 15.
fxe5 b6 16. Nf3 Bb7 17. Rac1 a5 18. Ba3 Re8 19. Ng5 Qxg5 20. Qf3 Qf5 21. Rc3
Rac8 22. Qh3 Qxh3 23. Rxh3 dxc4 24. Rhf3 Bxf3 25. Rxf3 cxb3 26. Rxb3 Rc6 27. Kf2
Rc2+ 28. Ke3 Rxg2 29. Rxb6 Rxh2 30. Ra6 Rh3+ 0-1

Further Reading