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This game is taken from the Chess King program dated April 9, 2016.
~ ~ ~
1.
It's everyone's favorite opeining: King's pawn to e4.
It's the favorite response: King's pawn to e5. It's a direct face-off with the first two moves.
2.
King's knight to f3. I am sort of going for an aggressive opening, paving the way for the Cochrane gambit, whereby the Knight aggressively advances across the board to the f7 square forking the Queen and the Rook, eating two pawns along the way, sacrificing itself for the benefit of wrecking the opponent's castling opportunities, as the King must take the offending knight.
This is the plan I have been taking into my games these days, with the idea that even if I don't make it all the way to the f7 square in one fast dash, it still enables me to develop my pieces and move toward the center of the board. This has meant that my games generally fall into the Quiet Game, or the Giucco Piano, or something close to that, by which I mean the pieces are being developed nearly as quickly as possible, complete with a fast castling, for both sides, making for a heavily congested and very busy center, with the players patiently waiting for the first blunder.
Black moves its Queen's knight to c6, continuing to mirror my moves. This has been the standard response since I have taken up my Cochrane plan, at least since I have raised the computer-level to 1800, which is the perfect upset for my plan, hence leaving me to revert to the long Quiet game. I don't mind it, and I have been sticking to this routine, because it strikes me as a good way to get better grounded in chess. In another few weeks, I might want to try something different, but I am good with this for now. It provides for a good full chess exercise.
3.
Following through on my aggressive intentions, despite being cut off from advancing my knight across the board, I move King's bishop to c4.
Black makes a surprising response. Instead of predictably attacking my forward Bishop, it moves its King's Rook's pawn to h6. This strikes me as being passively blunder-ish, but I am happy to continue move full-steam ahead.
4.
Queen's pawn to d4. It is immediately under attack from two pieces: a pawn and a knight. However, it also has two defenders: a knight and my Queen.
And now we have a little massacre at the very center of the board over the next four moves, which is a battle worth fighting for, I guess.
Black draws first blood, capturing my Queen's pawn with its pawn.
5.
My knight captures the killer pawn.
But then Black's knight is ready to exact its own revenge, capturing my knight in turn.
6.
My Queen comes in for the final kill in this little battle, capturing Black's knight and taking over the d4 square. It seems that I have a much stronger position, with my Bishop and Queen out front while all of Black's back-row pieces are still at their starting gates, with neither of the two sides enjoying a material advantage over the other. However, I take it that it is generally not a good idea to have your Queen so forward and exposed, but I suppose if you go into a game with aggressive intentions, you probably should not be too nervous with such an outcome.
Black moves its Queen's pawn to d6, where it is threatened only by my Queen, while enjoying protection from three pieces: its neighbor pawn, it's dark bishop, and its Queen. Obviously, I am not going to trade my Queen for a pawn.
7.
I move my Queen knight's pawn to b4, in wariness of Black attacking my Queen with it's Queen's bishop's pawn.
Black opts to develop it's King's knight to e7. This, again, strikes me as being curiously passive and reserved, similar to its third move, moving the Rook's pawn up a square, away from all the action. Instead of defeating me outright with aggressive moves, Black seems to want to draw me out and let me kill myself with blunders, which I will gladly oblige to do.
8.
Short-castle.
Black moves its Queen up one to d7. It's Queen now has some more options open to it, but the Bishops are solidly locked down in the back row, in what continues to look to me like a very closed, very conservative game.
9.
Now I start to bring out my Queen-side pieces, moving my Knight to c3, still trying to play strong and aggressive, dominating the Center.
Black now goes on the attack, moving its Knight to c6, forking my b-pawn and my Queen, neither of which are protected by anyone, not that one would trade a Knight for a Queen in any case.
10.
A good run is better than a bad stand, and I drop my Queen all the way back home to d1. Anent other options for my Queen, I didn't want to unnecessarily limit my options for developing my dark Bishop, nor did I want to leave my Queen where it would only be open to another immediate attack.
Black takes the unprotected pawn on b4, and thus striking into White territory, but only momentarily.
11.
I bring out my dark Bishop to a3 to attack the forward Knight.
And Black drops the Knight back to c6.
12.
Still feeling good about my game, I resume marching ahead, bringing my Knight to d5, tentatively looking to fork the King and Rook, for want of a better plan, despite Black's Queen posted at d7, effectively blocking such a forking move.
Black brings his Knight back out to e5, attacking my light Bishop as well as threatening a King-side attack and my castled King.
13.
I draw my threatened Bishop back to b3, taking it out of harm's way, and letting it enjoy the protection of two pawns while still watching out for the advanced Knight at d5.
The game now seems to be entering another phase, as Black moves its Queen's knight's pawn to b6, opening the way for its light Bishop to come into the game.
14.
I drew my dark Bishop back to b2 in preparation to wreck Black's position at the Center. Feeling blocked in from launching any attacks by Black's Knight on e5, I was resolved to trade pieces to shake off Black's hold on the Center.
Black brings out its light Bishop to b7, as if Black, too, was feeling frustrated by my Knight posted at e5 and willing likewise to disrupt the Center by trading pieces.
15.
I draw first blood, taking Black's pawn on e5 with my Bishop.
Black captures the Bishop in turn with another pawn.
16.
Gearing up for an attack, I remove my Rook from behind the castle to e1. It's not really an open file with the two pawns there, but the King is on the other end, and I'm thinking that there is some potential in this position.
Black seems to agree with my assessment by bringing out its dark Bishop to d6 to fortify its pawn on the e-file.
17.
I advance my Queen's Bishop's pawn to c4. In addition to further fortifying my Knight on d5, I am paving the way for my Bishop to take on Black's Queen, pinning it to its King on that diagonal. Now that the pawn is out of the way, my Queen can protect the Bishop when it moves to a4 and make the attack.
Black responds by moving its own Queen's Bishop's pawn to c6, attacking my Knight but also getting in front of Black's Queen and King on that diagonal, making my prospective attack more problematic.
18.
Not having better plans or ideas, I continue with my intention, moving by Bishop to a4.
Black moves its Queen's knight's pawn to b5, attacking my Bishop.
19.
My Queen's Bishop pawn captures the attacking pawn, beginning another bloody battle, as it stands threatening Black's Queen's bishop pawn on c6.
Black's threatened pawn opts for bigger game and takes my Knight on d5, where it stands threatened by my King's pawn and by my Queen, but it is covered by its light Bishop on b7, so that I am not going to trade my Queen for the pawn, but ...
20.
I capture Black's d-pawn with my King's pawn, which stands under attack from Black's light Bishop but is happily covered by my Queen sitting on it's home square. I can only dream of such a trade.
Instead of taking my pawn, Black opts to castle King-side.
At this point in the game, the position looks very close to even for White and Black. In fact, it might be interesting to play this position later letting the computer play both sides, to see which is really stronger, maybe after I take a second crack at it. The only thing I know with certainty is that I blow up my game from here and will be checkmated in seven moves.
21.
Wanting to make things happen, I try to bring my Queen's rook into action, moving it to b1. the tentative plan is to advance the pawn on b5 to engage Black's a-pawn, while at the same time uncovering my Bishop's attack on Black's Queen, which had been an object of mine since move 17. I still have my Queen on d1 covering the Bishop, defending it from capture by Black's Queen.
Black moves its castled Rook to c8 claiming the open file. I probably would have done that myself, but I thought my attack plans might be the better course.
I wonder now if it might have been better not to have worried about covering my b-pawn with the Rook and moving instead directly to attacking Black's Queen by the discovered attack from my Bishop after moving that b-pawn ahead without protection.
22.
I move my b-pawn to b6, ready to take Black's pawn with my Rook if my pawn is captured, or else let my pawn take Black's pawn if it is not.
Unconcerned about my pawn, Black moves its Queen to e7 in order to gave his dark Bishop the same kind of protection that my Queen is giving my Bishop. Black has obviously planned an attack of its own, but as is my weakness, I am oblivious to the attack, being too focused on my own attack.
23.
My pawn captures the pawn on a7.
Black moves his dark Bishop to b4, brazenly in front of my Rook at b1, basking in the protection from its Queen at e7, and, more importantly, threatening my Rook on e1.
24.
I move my threatened rook up to e4, level with Black's Bishop, and now threatening it with two Rooks, dominating the protection offered the Bishop by Black's Queen.
Black moves the Bishop back to c5, attacking my pawn at f2, and thus threatening the integrity of my castled King.
As it turns out, I should have taken this threat more seriously, because by failing to adjust my castle-structure, I left my King vulnerable to another checkmate by being trapped behind my own castle wall.
25.
I moved my Queen to b3, narrowly pursuing my own attack as if I could not be further from danger.
Black brought it's dark Bishop back to a7, and in this seeming retreat, Black seemed wholly non-threatening at this point.
26.
I move my Queen up to b7. It's a very bold move. I definitely want to make something happen with all my firepower, with my two Rooks and my Queen. However, I don't really have any clear conception.
Black is willing to swap Queens, taking my Queen at b7 with his Queen.
27.
My Rook takes Black's Queen at b7.
Black's Rook plunges down all the way across the board to c1, and with my King trapped behind its castle wall, it is check.
I can bring my Rook down from e4, but it's checkmate on the next move, and in frustration, I resign.
Game 15 is another great example of my tendency to implode - ignoring too much that fatal knight, being too lazy to plot out its possibilities in favor of going for my attack.
~ ~ ~
1.
It's everyone's favorite opeining: King's pawn to e4.
It's the favorite response: King's pawn to e5. It's a direct face-off with the first two moves.
2.
King's knight to f3. I am sort of going for an aggressive opening, paving the way for the Cochrane gambit, whereby the Knight aggressively advances across the board to the f7 square forking the Queen and the Rook, eating two pawns along the way, sacrificing itself for the benefit of wrecking the opponent's castling opportunities, as the King must take the offending knight.
This is the plan I have been taking into my games these days, with the idea that even if I don't make it all the way to the f7 square in one fast dash, it still enables me to develop my pieces and move toward the center of the board. This has meant that my games generally fall into the Quiet Game, or the Giucco Piano, or something close to that, by which I mean the pieces are being developed nearly as quickly as possible, complete with a fast castling, for both sides, making for a heavily congested and very busy center, with the players patiently waiting for the first blunder.
Black moves its Queen's knight to c6, continuing to mirror my moves. This has been the standard response since I have taken up my Cochrane plan, at least since I have raised the computer-level to 1800, which is the perfect upset for my plan, hence leaving me to revert to the long Quiet game. I don't mind it, and I have been sticking to this routine, because it strikes me as a good way to get better grounded in chess. In another few weeks, I might want to try something different, but I am good with this for now. It provides for a good full chess exercise.
3.
Following through on my aggressive intentions, despite being cut off from advancing my knight across the board, I move King's bishop to c4.
Black makes a surprising response. Instead of predictably attacking my forward Bishop, it moves its King's Rook's pawn to h6. This strikes me as being passively blunder-ish, but I am happy to continue move full-steam ahead.
4.
Queen's pawn to d4. It is immediately under attack from two pieces: a pawn and a knight. However, it also has two defenders: a knight and my Queen.
And now we have a little massacre at the very center of the board over the next four moves, which is a battle worth fighting for, I guess.
Black draws first blood, capturing my Queen's pawn with its pawn.
5.
My knight captures the killer pawn.
But then Black's knight is ready to exact its own revenge, capturing my knight in turn.
6.
My Queen comes in for the final kill in this little battle, capturing Black's knight and taking over the d4 square. It seems that I have a much stronger position, with my Bishop and Queen out front while all of Black's back-row pieces are still at their starting gates, with neither of the two sides enjoying a material advantage over the other. However, I take it that it is generally not a good idea to have your Queen so forward and exposed, but I suppose if you go into a game with aggressive intentions, you probably should not be too nervous with such an outcome.
Black moves its Queen's pawn to d6, where it is threatened only by my Queen, while enjoying protection from three pieces: its neighbor pawn, it's dark bishop, and its Queen. Obviously, I am not going to trade my Queen for a pawn.
7.
I move my Queen knight's pawn to b4, in wariness of Black attacking my Queen with it's Queen's bishop's pawn.
Black opts to develop it's King's knight to e7. This, again, strikes me as being curiously passive and reserved, similar to its third move, moving the Rook's pawn up a square, away from all the action. Instead of defeating me outright with aggressive moves, Black seems to want to draw me out and let me kill myself with blunders, which I will gladly oblige to do.
8.
Short-castle.
Black moves its Queen up one to d7. It's Queen now has some more options open to it, but the Bishops are solidly locked down in the back row, in what continues to look to me like a very closed, very conservative game.
9.
Now I start to bring out my Queen-side pieces, moving my Knight to c3, still trying to play strong and aggressive, dominating the Center.
Black now goes on the attack, moving its Knight to c6, forking my b-pawn and my Queen, neither of which are protected by anyone, not that one would trade a Knight for a Queen in any case.
10.
A good run is better than a bad stand, and I drop my Queen all the way back home to d1. Anent other options for my Queen, I didn't want to unnecessarily limit my options for developing my dark Bishop, nor did I want to leave my Queen where it would only be open to another immediate attack.
Black takes the unprotected pawn on b4, and thus striking into White territory, but only momentarily.
11.
I bring out my dark Bishop to a3 to attack the forward Knight.
And Black drops the Knight back to c6.
12.
Still feeling good about my game, I resume marching ahead, bringing my Knight to d5, tentatively looking to fork the King and Rook, for want of a better plan, despite Black's Queen posted at d7, effectively blocking such a forking move.
Black brings his Knight back out to e5, attacking my light Bishop as well as threatening a King-side attack and my castled King.
13.
I draw my threatened Bishop back to b3, taking it out of harm's way, and letting it enjoy the protection of two pawns while still watching out for the advanced Knight at d5.
The game now seems to be entering another phase, as Black moves its Queen's knight's pawn to b6, opening the way for its light Bishop to come into the game.
14.
I drew my dark Bishop back to b2 in preparation to wreck Black's position at the Center. Feeling blocked in from launching any attacks by Black's Knight on e5, I was resolved to trade pieces to shake off Black's hold on the Center.
Black brings out its light Bishop to b7, as if Black, too, was feeling frustrated by my Knight posted at e5 and willing likewise to disrupt the Center by trading pieces.
15.
I draw first blood, taking Black's pawn on e5 with my Bishop.
Black captures the Bishop in turn with another pawn.
16.
Gearing up for an attack, I remove my Rook from behind the castle to e1. It's not really an open file with the two pawns there, but the King is on the other end, and I'm thinking that there is some potential in this position.
Black seems to agree with my assessment by bringing out its dark Bishop to d6 to fortify its pawn on the e-file.
17.
I advance my Queen's Bishop's pawn to c4. In addition to further fortifying my Knight on d5, I am paving the way for my Bishop to take on Black's Queen, pinning it to its King on that diagonal. Now that the pawn is out of the way, my Queen can protect the Bishop when it moves to a4 and make the attack.
Black responds by moving its own Queen's Bishop's pawn to c6, attacking my Knight but also getting in front of Black's Queen and King on that diagonal, making my prospective attack more problematic.
18.
Not having better plans or ideas, I continue with my intention, moving by Bishop to a4.
Black moves its Queen's knight's pawn to b5, attacking my Bishop.
19.
My Queen's Bishop pawn captures the attacking pawn, beginning another bloody battle, as it stands threatening Black's Queen's bishop pawn on c6.
Black's threatened pawn opts for bigger game and takes my Knight on d5, where it stands threatened by my King's pawn and by my Queen, but it is covered by its light Bishop on b7, so that I am not going to trade my Queen for the pawn, but ...
20.
I capture Black's d-pawn with my King's pawn, which stands under attack from Black's light Bishop but is happily covered by my Queen sitting on it's home square. I can only dream of such a trade.
Instead of taking my pawn, Black opts to castle King-side.
At this point in the game, the position looks very close to even for White and Black. In fact, it might be interesting to play this position later letting the computer play both sides, to see which is really stronger, maybe after I take a second crack at it. The only thing I know with certainty is that I blow up my game from here and will be checkmated in seven moves.
21.
Wanting to make things happen, I try to bring my Queen's rook into action, moving it to b1. the tentative plan is to advance the pawn on b5 to engage Black's a-pawn, while at the same time uncovering my Bishop's attack on Black's Queen, which had been an object of mine since move 17. I still have my Queen on d1 covering the Bishop, defending it from capture by Black's Queen.
Black moves its castled Rook to c8 claiming the open file. I probably would have done that myself, but I thought my attack plans might be the better course.
I wonder now if it might have been better not to have worried about covering my b-pawn with the Rook and moving instead directly to attacking Black's Queen by the discovered attack from my Bishop after moving that b-pawn ahead without protection.
22.
I move my b-pawn to b6, ready to take Black's pawn with my Rook if my pawn is captured, or else let my pawn take Black's pawn if it is not.
Unconcerned about my pawn, Black moves its Queen to e7 in order to gave his dark Bishop the same kind of protection that my Queen is giving my Bishop. Black has obviously planned an attack of its own, but as is my weakness, I am oblivious to the attack, being too focused on my own attack.
23.
My pawn captures the pawn on a7.
Black moves his dark Bishop to b4, brazenly in front of my Rook at b1, basking in the protection from its Queen at e7, and, more importantly, threatening my Rook on e1.
24.
I move my threatened rook up to e4, level with Black's Bishop, and now threatening it with two Rooks, dominating the protection offered the Bishop by Black's Queen.
Black moves the Bishop back to c5, attacking my pawn at f2, and thus threatening the integrity of my castled King.
As it turns out, I should have taken this threat more seriously, because by failing to adjust my castle-structure, I left my King vulnerable to another checkmate by being trapped behind my own castle wall.
25.
I moved my Queen to b3, narrowly pursuing my own attack as if I could not be further from danger.
Black brought it's dark Bishop back to a7, and in this seeming retreat, Black seemed wholly non-threatening at this point.
26.
I move my Queen up to b7. It's a very bold move. I definitely want to make something happen with all my firepower, with my two Rooks and my Queen. However, I don't really have any clear conception.
Black is willing to swap Queens, taking my Queen at b7 with his Queen.
27.
My Rook takes Black's Queen at b7.
Black's Rook plunges down all the way across the board to c1, and with my King trapped behind its castle wall, it is check.
I can bring my Rook down from e4, but it's checkmate on the next move, and in frustration, I resign.
Game 15 is another great example of my tendency to implode - ignoring too much that fatal knight, being too lazy to plot out its possibilities in favor of going for my attack.
