Welcome to my English Opening (ECO A20) game with t-hobbes page!

On this page I have posted one my chess games in which I played the White side of the English Opening . The game includes analysis and diagrams. The ratings listed below are for each player at the conclusion of this game. I started this game as the second lowest rated player in this section and I beat the lowest rated player in this game. I don't know my opponent's full name but I do know that he is from Canada.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Class.01.10"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "t-hobbes"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A20"]
[NIC "EO.24"]
[Time "19:40:17"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 d6 7. O-O Bf5 8.
d4 exd4 9. exd4 Bb6 10. Be3 Qc8 11. Re1 Ne7 12. a3 Ng6 13. b4 c5 14. bxc5
dxc5 15. dxc5 Ba5 16. Qa4 b6 17. cxb6 axb6 18. Qc6 Qd8 19. Qxa8 Qd3 20. Qc6
Bxc3 21. Nxc3 Qxc3 22. Rec1 Qe5 23. Qxb6 Rc8 24. Qd4 Qe6 25. a4 Be4 26. Bxe4
Nxe4 27. Qd5 Qg4 28. h3 Qf3 29. Qd1 Qf5 30. Qg4 Qxg4 31. hxg4 Ne5 32. c5
Nxg4 33. Kg2 h5 34. c6 g5 35. Bb6 Nd2 36. Ra2 Ne4 37. f3 {Black resigns} 1-0

Online Chess Game
ICC
Game Played 14 July 2007 to 17 September 2007
White: Mike Serovey (1554) Black: t-hobbes (1306)
 

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bc5

Whenever Black plays Bc5 against my English I play e3 to cut the Bishop's attack on f2. Otherwise, I like to play the pawn to e4.

5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 d6 7. O-O Bf5

I often see beginners play a setup similar to what Black has here. They like to put the knights on both bishop 3 squares and the bishops on both bishop 4 squares. This is actually a good setup according to classical theory. My approach is hyper modern and I will attack Black's pieces and pawns in the Center.

8. d4 exd4 9. exd4 Bb6 10. Be3 Qc8

I expected Black's next move to be Bh3 forcing the exchange of light-squared bishops, so I now played Re1 in order to be able to play Bh1 if Black played 11... Bh3. Also, it is not a bad idea to have a Rook on an open file even if it is temporarily blocked by my own pieces.

11. Re1 Ne7 12. a3 Ng6 13. b4 c5

With both of my bishops aimed at the Queenside that is the logical place for me to attack. I don't understand Black's Knight maneuvers. Maybe he was preparing for a Kingside attack that never came. After seeing Black's last move I originally planned to capture with the b pawn and then shove my pawn to d5 leaving me with a passed pawn in the Center. I changed my mind and decided that I wanted to exchange bishops on c5 because I didn't like the pin on my Knight after Ba5. As it turned out Black declined capturing the second pawn on c5 and went for the pin on a5 instead.

14. bxc5 dxc5 15. dxc5 Ba5 16. Qa4 b6 17. cxb6 axb6

Black wants to hang onto his dark-squared Bishop and thus keep the pin on my Knight at c3. If you are wondering why I didn't take the Rook at a8 on move 16, 17 or 18 it is because after Qxa8 and then Bh3 I would have a really hard time stopping the checkmate on g2. So, I decided to offer the trade of queens here and I would win the Rook on a8 if Black declined the trade. He did decline and I won the exchange.

18. Qc6! Qd8? 19. Qxa8!! Qd3!?

I expected Black to trade queens on a8 which would leave me up the exchange. Instead, Black decided to keep his Queen and go for the win of a Knight on c3. That still left me up the exchange. After 20. Qc6 I expected 20... Rc8 hitting my Queen and c pawn again. I was a little relieved when Black took the Knight on c3 instead.

20. Qc6 Bxc3 21. Nxc3 Qxc3

White is now up a Rook and pawn for a Knight. If I now played 22. Bxb6 Black can play 22... Rc8 and I lose my c pawn. So, I played the Rook over attacking the Black Queen and protecting my c pawn at the same time. Then I took the pawn on b6 leaving me up the exchange and 2 passed pawns!

22. Rec1 Qe5 23. Qxb6 Rc8 24. Qd4 Qe6

White is up material and wants to get the queens off the board for an easier win. Black wisely declined the Queen trade. This is the first of several attempts I made to trade queens. Eventually, I was able to force the exchange of queens, at the cost of a pawn. I had trouble deciding between 25. a4 and 25. c5. I decided to push the a pawn because I believed that Black would have a harder time stopping it from queening. Black now offers the exchange of light-squared bishops, which I accepted because I am up material and trading benefits me and because I didn't want to leave his Bishop on that diagonal. It hits one of my queening squares.

25. a4 Be4 26. Bxe4 Nxe4 27. Qd5 Qg4 28. h3 Qf3 29. Qd1

White needed to get the Black Queen off f3 in order to prevent a possible mate on g2. If now 29... Qf6 then 30. Qg4 attacks both the Knight at e4 and the Rook. Black can save both by playing either 30... Nd6 or 30... Qe6 allowing White to trade off queens. Black can win a pawn with 29... Qxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Rxc4. I guess that Black declined winning a pawn because he wanted to keep his queen. However, after 29... Qf5 30. Qg4! forces the exchange of queens at the cost of a doubled pawn that I eventually lose.

Qf5 30. Qg4! Qxg4 31. hxg4 Ne5 32. c5 Nxg4

Black now has a kingside pawn majority but it isn't enough because White has two passed pawns on the Queenside and each pawn has a Rook behind it guarding it. I figured that if Black maneuvered his two knights back to the Queenside he might win one of the two pawns, but not both. Right now, my immediate concern is Nxe3 followed by Nxg3 leaving my King kind of naked. So, I played 33. Kg2 in order to save the pawn on g3. Normally, you don't want to trade off pieces when you are down material. But, in this case, not taking the bishop turned out to be a mistake.

33. Kg2 h5 34. c6 g5 35. Bb6 Nd2??

Black is threatening to play Nb3 forking my two rooks. However, after 36. Ra2!! Nb3 37. Rc3! leaves the Knight at b3 with nowhere to go and thus wins the Knight. Putting the Knight back on e4 is no better because of the pawn fork. Black's best move here is probably 35... Ngf6. Black's kingside pawn advances did nothing and Black would have been better off moving his knights over to the Queenside in order to stop the two passed pawns.

36. Ra2!! Ne4 37. f3 1-0

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