Cajoled when rusty, I sheepishly agreed to play the first competitive chess in three years and did surprisingly well with three wins from four games. In the first, my opponent resigned with a shake of my hand and sincere smile, stating the manner in which he lost involved the most clever trap he’s ever seen. There’s no doubting I finished the game in quick fashion but there was no trap involved and I told him so. I always play intuitively and believe firmly that evaluation triumphs over calculation, and herein lies a proof.
Firstly I confused him with a set up I played in the early 90s and recently rediscovered, courtesy of the following link.
I reached the following position and was quite comfortable. My opponent admitted he didn’t know what to do -his piece placement appears to back that up. I have the black pieces and was expecting Bb7, Qc7, and 0-0-0, just like Petrosian used to play.
I gained control of the centre easily enough then reached the following position. It’s not won yet but I did notice if he repositions his knight he will lose immediately, and that’s why I moved my king next.
I played 25…Kd6 inducing 26. Ne4. This he played so I returned my king to e7, expecting him to misplace his knight, which he then did. He played Nc5, cutting off the rooks and attacking an undefended bishop. It looks pretty but it’s not. I can drop the exchange and get it back straight away with a strong positional edge anytime I like. And I didn’t see one false move from him will cost him the game immediately -and that’s exactly what happened. So it went 26. Ne4+ Ke7 27. Nc5 ?! Rc2xc5 28 dxc5 Rd8+. I calculated Kc1 only, thinking I would regain the exchange with a better rook and a dominant position. I didn’t see Kc2 and was fortunate enough to find it was ‘one false move’. and only that 29 Kc2 ?? Bd3+ 30. Kb3 Bxb1 31. Rxb1 Rd3+ 32. resigns… .
The final position.
Had I seen all that, indeed a nasty trap was set and sprung. But I didn’t see it all, I just focused on piece improvement and utilized that only. Nonetheless, my Austrian opponent remained exceedingly respectful. He was complimentary but unjustifiably so I think.
McCreadyandChess 