I actually mentioned this game in passing on a different thread in the US CHESS ISSUES. I thought I’d post it in the general forum instead.
BLACK’S MOVE: Annihilate WHITE’S offense.
I’m not posting the very last move of the game so one can look at the diagram and find the winning move.
[Event “?”]
[Site “Online”]
[Date “2018.08.01”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Guest”]
[Black “James”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “0”]
[GameNo “-1”]
[WhiteElo “0”]
- g4 d6 2. h3 e5 3. e4 Bd7 4. Bc4 Qe7 5. Qf3 Nc6 6. Ne2 h6 7. Qc3 Nf6 8. f3
O-O-O 9. b4 Be6 10. Bb5 Nb8 11. Ba4 Nfd7 12. d4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nb6 14. Bb5 d5
- Bf4 dxe4 16. fxe4 Qxb4 17. Nxe6 Qxe4+ 18. Be2 Qxh1+ 19. Bf1 Rd1+ 20. Kxd1
Qxf1+ 21. Kd2 … 0-1
[size=10]21…Nc4 wins the queen and stops the threats.[/size]
Bill Smythe
The Grob is not really a good start for White, or so I’ve heard. Better to control the center and keep White’s initiative.
It’s pretty unusual for me to play against the Grob. I don’t recall having much trouble with it over the years, but I don’t remember having played against the Grob by a player that was so hell bent on offense. He’s down two pawns on the diagram, which means he’s forced himself to keep on the offense.
It was a 10+5 minute game, in any event. That’s my choice time control for most games. I haven’t lived anyplace close to a chess club since I was in college, and everybody wanted to play 5 minute chess, which I’m still terrible at.
Digital clocks were just coming out then and Professor Wayne Bell had bought a Chronos. By the time I graduated, just about all the club players had either a Chronos or the official digital clock from the USCF store. It took me a long time to get used to delay or added bonus time. I’d played for years with the mental frame of using the clock to draw and occasionally win against higher players by just trying to complicate the board enough to burn the opponent’s time.
Seems quaint nowadays, but that’s the way it was a couple decades ago.