Skating On Thin Ice

I recently finished a correspondence game with Jorge that I felt was interesting. I got up a rook early in the game as a result of a few misplays on Jorge's part, but even so, I was often in a dangerous spot. It really goes to show that I need to develop my pieces better, and also not overestimate the danger of certain threats, which causes me to play less aggressively.

I'll put up a few positions showing some dangerous spots, as well as the final position before his resignation. Basically, I was clearly ahead the entire game, except any oversight or slip-up, and I'm toast.

First, for those that prefer to just view the game, here's it is (Online PGN Viewer link):

[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2008.02.16"]
[EndDate "2008.03.04"]
[White "BruteForceX"]
[Black "Jorge"]
[WhiteRating "1492"]
[BlackRating "1364"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "4622399"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qd8xd5 3. Nb1c3 Qd5a5 4. Ng1f3 e5 5. Bf1c4 Ng8f6 6. d3 Bc8g4 7. Bc1d2 Bf8b4 8. Qd1e2 O-O 9. O-O Nb8c6 10. Qe2e3 Ra8d8 11. a3 Bg4xf3 12. axb4 Qa5xb4 13. Nc3e4 Qb4xb2 14. Ne4xf6 gxf6 15. Qe3xf3 e4 16. Qf3xe4 Nc6e5 17. Bd2h6 Rd8d4 18. Qe4f5 Rd4g4 19. Bh6xf8 Kg8xf8 20. Ra1xa7 Qb2b6 21. Ra7a8 Kf8g7 22. Kg1h1 Qb6c6 23. f3 Rg4h4 24. Ra8a5 Ne5g6 25. c3 Qc6d6 26. g3 Qd6xg3 27. Ra5a2 Ng6f4 28. Rf1g1 Nf4e2 29. Ra2xe2 1-0

Okay, onto the game...

This position is right after 19. ... Kxf8. I'm up a full rook, and I'm feeling really good about my spot.


This is after 25. ... Qd6. I need to do something about the mate threat, and so I pushed my pawn to g3. I knew that his Queen could just take the pawn, because the h-pawn was pinned, but I figured I'd be okay to follow-up with Ra2. And, that's exactly what happened. In hindsight, the better move was pawn to h3, which effectively blocks out his rook completely. I guess I just like making things harder for myself.


Lucky for me, Jorge overlooked a pin of my own, and got himself in a bit of a pickle. Here's where he should have resigned (after 28. Rg1), as the game is clearly over. But, he fired one last shot at me with Ne2, setting up a trap that I did not fall for. And, after Rxe2, he resigned. I thought this game was full of precarious spots, and very tense. We both walked a really fine line, and I'm just glad I did not slip badly at any point.