LindseyAnn vs. MatthewMcCann 0-1

This game is a rare occurance. I actually faced my number one chess rival of all time--my husband. This is probably one of the best games I've ever had against him. I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting better or he's out of practice. With a couple of different moves I could have pulled out a draw. As it stood, I went into the endgame one pawn down and he was able to convert the advantage.


'Til Death


[Event "I Love You!!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2010.08.03"]
[Round ""]
[White "lindseyann"]
[Black "MatthewMccann"]
[TimeControl "1"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO " "]
[WhiteELO "1350"]
[BlackELO "1475"]


1.e4
{A strange opening move for me. Matt didn't want to play the Queen's Gambit, so allowed for something different.}
1...e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
{This move takes us out of the Philidor's Defense opening.}
5.Bb5
{While this move isn't "bad", I'm wondering why I didn't just play Nxc6 and double
his pawns.}
5...Bd7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Be3 g6 8.O-O Bg7 9.Nce2
{This move gives up some of the initiative. Now black has a slight advantage. Better would have been Qd2.}
9...O-O 10.c3
{My first mistake of the game. Drops the pawn for nothing.}
10...Nxe4 11.Bd3 Nc5 12.Bc2 Ne5 13.Qd2 Nc4 14.Qc1 Re8
{Nxe3 fxe3 would have given him the bishop pair and isolated the pawn, but also opened up my rook.}
15.Bb3
{This was a mistake on my part, but he did not take advantage of the mistake.}
15...d5
{While this response doesn't change the score very much, the following variation would have been better for black.}
16.Nf4 c6 17.Nxc6
{I was really, really proud of myself for finding this move because this is the sort of thing that I miss 9 out of 10 times.}
17...Bxc6 18.Bxc5 b6 19.Bd4
{This was a weak move on my part. I knew my plan was to try and win the d-pawn and I block off my rook access to the attack. It also allows him to isolate one of my pawns. Bd3 would have been a better choice.}
19...Bxd4 20.cxd4
{The position if pretty even at this point in the game, with black maintaining a slight advantage.}
20...Re4 21.Rd1
{Protecting my pawn, but 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Qxc4 looks alright for white.}
21...Qf6
{After this, things get messy and the tactics overwhelm me. Funny thing is, I felt like I had a better understanding of this position when I was playing it than I do
now.}
22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Bxc4 Rd8
{The computer like Rc8 much better here, and with Rd8 I gain back some of the initiative (although, I do not manage to keep it as we'll soon see).}
24.Bxd5 Rxd5 25.Qc7
{I knew I couldn't save the the pawn, so I tried to threaten one of his to maintain my "advantage". However, his pieces were a lot more active and after 25. Qc2 Rexd4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Re1 Things are a lot more even and we would have been moving toward a draw.}
25...Re2
{This move was great on Matt's part. He didn't need to take the d-pawn because he can do it whenever he wants. Instead he creates another threat for me.}
26.f3
{Rf1 would have been slightly better here, since there was no way to hang onto the d-pawn.}
26...Rxd4 27.Qxa7
{I was already losing this game, but I could have kept it a little closer.}
27...Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Qxb2 29.Rf1
{Ouch, steps into a forced mate. Matt misses it and is not going to be happy when he finds out.}
29...Qc3 30.Rd1
{And I step into another Mate in 3.}
30...Qb2 31.Qb8+ Kg7 32.Qg3 Qxa2 33.Re1
{My goal was to trade off our pieces and see if I could beat him in an endgame. Which is a pretty silly thing to do when you're down a pawn.}
33...b5 34.Rxe2 Qxe2 35.Qf2 Qxf2+ 36.Kxf2
{From this point forward it was pretty much over for me, but I played it out hoping for a terrible blunder on Matt's part. He did not comply with my wishes.}
36...Kf6 37.Ke3 Ke5 38.f4+ Kf5 39.Kf3 b4 40.Ke3 b3 41.Kd3 Kxf4 42.Kc3 Ke3 43.Kxb3 Kf2 44.Kc3 Kxg2 45.Kd3 f5 46.Ke3 g5
0-1
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