Posted by Charles on January 30, 1998 at 10:27:46:
Paul,
Certainly on move 10 it looks like dxe5 would have give you
a pawn advantage. 12.dxe5 also looked appropriate. Your
position is very solid and taking the pawn would not give
your opponent any sort of positional advantage. 18. Bd7 was
probably best because taking the Knight on f3 is useless-the
knight's not going anywhere. Retreating to h5 is also pointless
because it has no future from there. Bd7 allows a subsequent b4
and then Bb5, while keeping the possibilities open for a future
sac on h3. 23. Bxf6 was weak. Your bishop is very strong on
the long diagonal. Why give it up for a stupid knight? Your
opponent should definately have recaptured the bishop instead of
the suspicious Ba3. Your bishop is your best piece and besides
you just took one of his pieces. He has to recapture.
Qxf7 is dubious in light of your being able to place Qd4+, Kg8,
and then Re3 when he still have a pawn on f7 that is in his way
and you still have your bishop for another move.
Playing Rd2 and saccing the rook for your knight wouldn't have
done any good because you recapture with the queen and then you're
threatening both Kxf2 and Rg8 winning the queen. If he plays
Rf7 you play Qd6+! Re7 Qh6+ and you're killing him.
If instead of Qh8 you played Qe5 he would have played Kf8. However,
after 1.Qh8 Qf8, you can now play 2.Qe5 which you should be able
to find a quick win in.
You played very well, Paul. Nice game.
Charles
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