Classical Game Recap: White vs the Philidor Defense
The first in a series of posts where I talk about my recent OTB losses
This game was the fourth round of a 4-round swiss. I had already lost to one underrated player, but I was ready to try to win this one. I played this game on the 8th of August, but never felt like actually analyzing it until now. Posting recaps like this force me to analyze and explain the game to myself and others, which makes it a lot more fruitful for me anyways. If it benefits the reader, that’s the cherry on top. I’m posting these losses for selfish reasons.
Time Control: 60 minutes + 15 second increment per move
White: Nick Visel (1702 USCF)
Black: Unrated player (afterwards, learned he has a 1900 rapid rating on chess.com)
The Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bf4 a6
Another Philidor Defense. I remembered the last Philidor game I played as White, an online rapid game, where I made the move 7.a4. This time, I improved on it.
7.Qd2 - Flexible, ready to castle queenside and attack when the moment is right.
7…Bd7 8.O-O-O Nc6 9.f3
This move shores up the e4 pawn, which often becomes a target if black pushes b5-b4, kicking away the Knight on c3.
9…Nh5
Kicking the bishop
10.Be3 h6 11.g4
Kicking the Knight
11…Nf6 12.Nf5
With a threat to g7. If my opponent castles to protect it, my pawns are very close to making contact with his position, which gives me a nice attack. The position is rather closed. I invite my opponent to change the pawn structure to open things up. I think he’s going to castle queenside, so I want to open up lines on the kingside and put a lot of pressure there.
12…Bxf5
He obliges.
13.gxf5
13…Qd7 14.Rg1 Rg8 15.Kb1 O-O-O
The Middlegame
Here we have an interesting position. To start, I have the semi-open d- and g-files, putting some pressure with my major pieces against his pawn structure. I also have a lot more space to work with. I have a few thoughts in mind about which moves I would like to play. Bc4 is an obvious candidate, but it runs into Ne5. My next move is intended to stop that idea.
16.f4!? Kb8 17.Bc4!
This hits the f7-pawn.
17…Bf8
I felt like this undeveloping move was a sad choice, since the bishop and the two rooks are worse off. Qe8 seemed like a better choice considering the circumstances, but it’s hard to defend a 1-point pawn with a 9-point queen.
18.Qg2?
Prophylaxis against any attack on e4. However, this move was too slow, and awkward for my queen, which was much more active in the center. 18.Qe2! is the engine’s suggestion. It threatens Bxa6, e5, and other attacking moves. The main source of Black’s issues has to do with the pawn glob on the e- and f-files which take away a lot of squares from pieces and can’t be easily broken down — White’s space advantage is just crushing. I didn’t use this to the greatest effect.
18…Qe7 19.Rge1
I abandon my plans against the g-file. My pieces are well-set up in the center, so I can build my position there and go for an attack. Another idea is to simply move the queen to e2, with similar ideas. I don’t have to fret about the e4-pawn, which is immune to capture due to 19…Nxe4?? 20.Nxe4 Qxe4?? 21.Ba7+ and the queen falls.
19…Na5
20.Bb3?
Reacting to my opponent’s plan instead of pursuing my own. The sort of error that will keep me back from stronger positions all the time. My best option here was the counterpunch 20.Nd5! Nxd5 21.Bxd5. Now if 21…c6, then 22.Bb6, with a double attack on the d8 rook and loose knight on a5. After 22…cxd5 23.Bxa5 Rc8 24.Rxd5, White has won an important pawn, still has complete control of the center, Black’s kingside rook sits out of play, blocked by its own bishop. The position is overwhelmingly active.
20….Nxb3
The pressure against the f7-pawn has subsided, so my opponent’s position is freed up. My position is still very strong, but not as strong as it was.
21.axb3 Qd7?
Freeing up the bishop to move and reconnect the rooks, but there’s a problem
22.e5
This pawn break is strong since the queen is on the same file as my rook, so the d-pawn is pinned. Therefore, the knight must move.
22…Ne8
Adding another obstruction to Black’s back rank - his rooks may never connect again.
23.Nd5??
A simple tactical oversight. 23.Qe4 (centralization!) is obvious now in hindsight.
23…Qxf5!
My opponent now has some counterplay and my advantage is very diminished. The absence of this pawn means that the move g5 is much more favorable to play than it was prior.
24.Bg1!
Two intentions: Add a defender to e5 (the rook on e1 is no longer blocked by the bishop), and then play Qf2, threatening to attack the queen.
24…c5
Prophylaxis against the Qf2 threat.
25.Qf2?!
Running into 25…dxe5, after which, the position is open, and black doesn’t have much of a problem with space anymore, whereas my position is a bit loose and being down a pawn this close to an endgame is hazardous. I should have played b4, simply pressuring the pawn on c5.
25…Nc7??
My opponent misses his opportunity to equalize with 25…dxe5
26.b4??
I miss the plot too. Nxc7! was much stronger. It removes a defender and draws the king closer to the center where my pieces are aiming to attack. My choice simply allows the king to stay where he is and therefore gives my opponent more time to organize a defense. At this point, the game is basically equal. My advantage has dissipated.
26…Nxd5! 27.Rxd5
Now my opponent can free his position with Be7, connect his rooks, and my only advantage is a bit of extra space. Being a pawn down, I’m dangerously close to a lost endgame.
27…Qe6??
Stepping out of a pin, ostensibly with tempo.
28.Red1!
With huge pressure on the d-file.
28…Be7
Too little, too late.
29.f5! Qd7
Stockfish actually suggests sacrificing the queen for the rook on d5.
30.exd6 Bf6 31.Qxc5
Now my attack is building quickly.
31…b5
Allowing the queen to enter the defense of the Black King.
32.Qb6+ Qb7 33.Qa5 Rd7 34.Bb6 Bd8 35.Bxd8 Rgxd8
Here I remember spending a lot of time trying to figure out what to do next, but my basic plan was to use the passer on d6 to support a rook on c7, with some tactics to follow against the d8 square. However, I forgot that my pawn was attacked twice and once it disappears I have no way to go to c7.
36.Rc5?!
My opponent pauses. What has he not seen? What have I seen? I can see him pondering my thought process.
36…Rxd6??
He blunders — but I don’t know it. In fact, I think I have blundered and that my attack has disappeared. Partly time pressure, partly just mental pressure and fatigue from the work I’ve put into the position. I choke. Horribly. Suddenly, I feel the need to bail out of the position and try for an endgame where my opponent’s king’s so loose I might be able to make a draw.
37.Rxd6?????
Still not aware of what’s gone wrong, but I’m panicking. Basic tactics would have won this position easily: 37.Qxd8+! Rxd8 38.Rxd8+ Ka7 39.Rcd5:
Had I seen this, my opponent might have resigned. The point is that there is no escaping a rook move to d7, which wins the queen and the game.
37...Rxd6
My opponent counts his lucky stars. My hopes are dashed. The rest of the game was a mess due to time trouble, so I’ll be brief in my last comments.
The Endgame
38.Re5 Qd7 39.c4 bxc4 40.b5 Kb7 41.bxa6+ Rxa6 42.Qb4 Rb6 43.Qe1 Qd3+ 44.Kc1 Rd6 45.Qb4+ Kc6 46.Qb5+ Kc7 47.Rc5+ Kd8
48.Qb8+??
A horrid choice, because of the impending threat on d1. I run out of checks here.
48…Ke7 49.Qc7+ Kf6
Out of checks.
50.b3
Black has mate in three, starting with 50…Qc3+
50…c3??
Missing the mate sequence.
51.Rxc3! Qd1+?? 52.Kb2 Rd7 53.Qc6+ Qd6 54.b4
My last resort
54…Qxc6 55.Rxc6+ Kxf5 56.Kc3 Rd1 57.b5 Rh1 58.Rc5+ Kg4 59.b6
This is the final position that I had time to record, but it’s not how the game ended. Theoretically, this position is a draw, but I continually panicked and lost the game when my opponent was able to promote a pawn. Though this was all avoidable had I not panicked about dropping my d-pawn when I was on the verge of winning. I was still winning — very winning, but I didn’t see it, so I lost. A very unfortunate result, but something that exposed an issue where I collapse as soon as something doesn’t go according to plan.
This was a particularly painful loss: my opponent was unrated (and underrated — his chess.com rating dwarfed mine by about 200 points, so the deck was stacked against me). But the responsibility for the loss resides with me — I had the winning positions throughout the entire game, and I never capitalized on them like I should have. This is the kind of loss that so haunts me it changes my thought process forever. Hopefully that change is for the better!
Lessons learned:
Don’t play into the opponent’s plan if you can continue with your own.
Don’t panic just because something unexpected happened. Instead, look for every resource and don’t assume the worst!