[Event "Unrated Standard: Annotated Training Game"]
[Site "SchemingMind.com"]
[Date "2005.01.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Spohn"]
[Black "Stephen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01f"]
[WhiteCountry "USA"]
[BlackCountry "ENG"]
[GameID "7285"]

1. e4
{
Spohn: Alright this should be a fun game! I choose the Kings Pawn Openings due to the nature of the field becoming an open board where pieces can move freely in beautiful attacks.
}
1... d5
{
Stephen: Of course Black doesn't necessarily want to fall in with White's plans for a beautiful attack! This move takes us into the Scandinavian or Centre-Counter defence which although slightly less common than some other Black defences to 1.e4 is certainly respectable - it was played by Anand against Kasparov in one of their 1995 PCA World Championship games (although Kasparov did won that game). Interestingly in Britain there have been no less than three books published on the defence in the last few months (one by IM Andrew Martin, one by GM James Plaskett and one by GM John Emms) although I haven't read any of them yet!
}
2. exd5
{
Spohn: Yes the Scandinavian is a great defence and off of most peoples mainline knowledge after about move 3. White gets to appreciate the fast development of his queens knight while black gets his queen to a safe and semi-active square.
}
{
Pavl F: I play this asBlack most often in Bughouse and CrazyHouse,preferring 1..c5.
}
{
bjordan: Or, if black doesn't want to develop the queen early, he can choose 2.Nf6 and recover the pawn later.
}
2... Qxd5
{
Stephen: As bjordan suggests at this point Black has two main options. The more attacking Black player might opt for 2…Nf6 treating the lost d-pawn as a gambit pawn and getting on with developing his pieces as quickly as possible. He will try to build up an attack while White spends time trying to hold onto his extra pawn. In this game I have opted for the more positional 2…Qxd5. Many players are taught early in their chess careers to avoid developing their queen prematurely and so how can it be right for Black to move his queen to the centre of the board as early as move 2? Well Black knows the dangers of this move and expects to lose at least one tempo when his queen is harassed by White’s normal developing move of Nc3. However he hopes that by playing this line he will be able to build up a solid position and freely develop his other pieces – note for example how his first move (1…d5) cleared the way for development of his light squared bishop along the c8 to h3 diagonal. We’ll see how this theory stands up as we get further into the game…
}
3. Nc3
{
Spohn: Yes the Qxd5 is the more positional play in the Scandinavian Defense. The tempo that white gains here is alot of time lost when people try to harass the black queen to much after the queen moves to a5 (in most games) through Bd2 and then moving the knight again but they dont realize that this move is losing a tempo because then their knight will be harrassed usually by black pawns later on. Black here is more than equal and a player who knows how to use this defense effectively actually gains an advantage because most people dont play many games against this defense.
}
3... Qa5
{
Stephen: Sound opening play by White. If you can develop one of your pieces and threaten one of your opponent’s pieces at the same time then that is usually a good idea - your opponent will probably have to lose time reacting to the threat rather than developing as he wishes. The move played is by far the commonest in the position and at least leaves the queen on a reasonably safe square (for the moment!). 3...Qd8 has also been played but seems unattractive psychologically, the queen returning to base "with her tail between her legs". 3...Qd6 is possible but on the d6 square the queen may interfere with the future development of Black's dark squared bishop. HAS ANYONE GOT ANY REASON TO RECOMMEND OR CONDEMN 3...Qe5+?
}
4. Nf3
{
Spohn: Qe5+ i think deserves a ? but i think that the most i've seen it given was ?!. It allows white to simply reply Be2 and after Nf3 the queen will have to move yet another time while white develops. I've seen where black has played Qe5+ Be2 and then Qg5 to try and attack the g2 pawn but white can either simply play Bf3 or the more daring (and my choice) Nf3 sacking the pawn and then gaining the g-file. Also the queen sitting on g5 will have to more another time after d4.
On my move I am not sure if this move or d4 is better but i think that this at least adequately develops. Against this defense i like to see my rook get to e1 as fast as possible so I will alot of times delay the d4 push until after castling or when i see that it can get me a tempo or nice positioning, but Nf3 seems to look good for white.
}
4... Nf6
{
Stephen: It will be interesting to see if there is any support out there for 3...Qe5+. Back to White's 4.Nf3, one advantage of White delaying movement of his d-pawn is that in some lines he can play d3 if Black develops his light squared bishop on f5. Obviously this would have the effect of limiting the effectiveness of Black's bishop. 4...Nf6 is probably the most common move in the current position, a simple developing move.
}
5. Bc4
{
Spohn: I agree Nf6 is the natural move, other moves for developing are clumbsy except the white square bishop and black wants his king to go to safety because of the open nature of the board. This next move I choose is probably a little awkward but its my favorite developing move. It is a piece that is unprotected at the time but it sets up for d3 or Bb3 and starts moving some of my forces to aim at the black king. 
}
{
bjordan: IMHO, Qe5+ should be CONDEMNED :-). After 3...Qe5+?! 4.Be2 Nc6 5.Nf3 the only good squares for the queen are the ones that were available in the first place!  There is f5, but that keeps the Queen's bishop from g4.  Black loses a move for nothing.  If he has the idea 4...Qg5 5. Bf3 e6 6. d4, why not do 3...Qe6+ 4. Be2 Qg6 without losing the tempo?  For White's 5th move, the only disadvantange I see is after 5.Bc4 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.d3 e6 the bishop might wish it had developed somewhere else.
}
5... c6
{
Stephen: Black has an interesting choice of moves here and it helps to be reasonably familiar with the Scandinavian to be able to assess each of them. I played 5...c6 with two main points in mind. Firstly it opens up an escape route to c7 or d8 for my exposed queen should she need it. Secondly players of the Scandinavian need to be aware of the danger if White plays d4 and is then able to play d5, forcing open the centre when White is ahead on development and Black hasn't castled; in simple terms Black will probably be routed and so my 5...c6 is bolstering the defence of the d5-square before White can threaten to get there. As an alternative Black could consider 5...Bf5 (which is a very common move in the Scandinavian but can be blunted by White playing d3 as mentioned in a previous note) or 5...Bg4, but since I wasn't sure exactly where the bishop should go at this stage I chose a more flexible move. 5...Nc6 would be undesirable (because it gets in the way of the useful ...c6 move), as would 5...Nbd7 (blocking in Black's own light squared bishop). 5...e6 would be counter to the whole purpose of Black's opening; he has sacrificed tempi by exposing his queen in order to achieve easy development and then this careless move blocks in his light squared bishop.
}
6. O-O
{
Spohn: Yes ...c6 is a very good move, but black needs to get his white square bishop developed soon enough and will have to expose his hand. I will continue my plan with castling and trying to claim a semi-open e-file.
}
6... Bg4
{
Stephen: I think Spohn is correct and my light squared bishop can't wait around any longer. I suspect that both 6...Bg4 and 6...Bf5 are playable here and frankly I don't know which is best!
}
7. d3
{
Spohn: Well me either, but the black square bishop had to come out and e5 opens things to much while e6 would have blocked the other bishop. I also believe both Bf5 and Bg4 are good. I choose 7. d3 here because I want to keep a solid pawn chain and have no intention of playing c3 anytime to connect them. This move releases my dark sqaure bishop while protecting my light sqared one. Also if white wants to show that black is behind in development he needs to get his rooks connected and maybe even doubled on the e-file.
}
7... e6
{
Stephen: Looking at things from Black's perspective, d3 looks very solid but doesn't challenge for central space in the way that d4 would. Again Black seems to have two obvious developing moves here - ...Nbd7 or ...e6 (freeing the dark squared bishop). I chose ...e6 because I feel a need to get my king off the half-open e-file as soon as possible. Playing for a king-side fianchetto after ...g6 may be too slow when Black is already behind on development.
}
8. Bd2
{
Spohn: Yes 7. d3 is the less agressive move but solidly it can help white build slowly to an advantage. The advantage to 7...e6 instead of 7...g6 is also that is stops the bishop on c4 from full potential and protects it from the vunerable f7 square. Bd2 is yet again another passive move, but it holds an important idea of my plan with the eventual push of the f-pawn as far as needed to bust open the file.
}
{
bjordan: It looks like black can bust your g-file for you:  8...Qh5!  I was looking at  7.d4 followed by Qd3, but maybe the queen would be a bit overworked there?
}
{
SharpNova: i've always played Qa5.. i think there are more reasons for not playing Qd8 than psychological. i'm pretty sure Qa5 emphasizes the only useful application of black's queen at this stage aiming it at the king, hopefully hindering developement by discouraging (but not totally prevenging) d4 also a5 is not a square u intend to move ur minor pieces to so the queen is in play without hindering development. back to d8 would stop queenside castling which is what black wants to do in center counter game. Qe5+, white responds with developing another piece, and has an opportunity to develop with tempo once again with d4 or Nf3..  one common line is 3. ... Qe5+ 4. Be2 Bg4 5. d4 Bxe2 6. Nxe2, at which point black retreats queen again. now it's two tempos lead for white and black has traded a bishop on g4 for basically nothing. that trade makes it 3 tempos since black's active minor piece is gone and white's knight is developed.
}
8... Nbd7
{
Stephen: Spohn makes a good point about my ...e6 limiting the scope of White's light squared bishop and protecting the vulnerable f7 square. I also agree with bjordan that after a sequence like 8...Qh5 9.Ne4 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qxf3 11.gxf3, the pawn structure in front of White's castled king could be compromised. However that in isolation wouldn't be a decisive advantage for Black and so for the purposes of this training game I have decided it would be better to stick to normal Scandinavian opening principles. While this position isn't a common one, White's last move provides an example of an idea which is very common in the Scandinavian. The idea is for White to move his c3-knight (perhaps to d5 or e4), discovering an attack on the Black queen by the bishop on d2. While Black is keeping his queen safe, White hopes to profit by causing some mischief with the knight. There are however other positions arising from the Scandinavian in which this idea is of more significance because in this position it doesn't appear to be too dangerous for Black. Hence Black simply tries to carry on developing and avoid losing any further tempo.
}
9. Nd5
{
Spohn: White is finally going to execute his plan. Wanting black to be stuck in the middle i will force blacks queen back to d8 (at least as far as i see). This strange knight move is not so much of an attack but a repositioning to e3 where it will be more centralized while freeing my bishop to go to c3 or to start a pawn storm without knights being in the way after an eventual queenside castle.
}
9... Qd8
{
Stephen: 9...Qd8 seems to be the obvious move that I'd play in an over-the-board game and so I'll play it without further ado here. If anyone wants to provide some analysis of 9...Bxf3 it might be interesting!
}
10. Ne3
{
Spohn: Yes i saw 9...Bxf3 but i think that in the long run it favors white. Now i just reastablish my knight on e3 so that it can help on either side of the board if needed.
}
10... Bh5
{
Stephen: I don't particularly want to exchange my developed bishop for one of White's knights at this stage. The position is interesting because although I am behind in development (White has all his minor pieces off the back rank and has castled; my dark squared bishop hasn't yet moved) I have no obvious weaknesses and therefore hope to be able to hold my own.
}
11. a4
{
Spohn: Yes blacks structure is very sound, which actually shocks me so white has to try and provoke black into making a move that would undermine his now sound position. At this point white doesnt care where black castles, because of being able to pawnstorm the queenside and having both knights on the kingside so attacks should be possible both ways. This move may look stupid to people but 11. a4 does have a point. It will stop black from pushing my light-squared bishop in front of my b-pawn and making it harder for me to make an effective and speedy pawnstorm.
}
11... Ne5
{
Stephen: I'm keen to complete development, and so a move like 11...Bd6 appears to be called for in this position. However I'm attracted to the possibility of disrupting the pawns in front of White's king with 11...Ne5 (followed by ...Nxf3). I know that I could have done something similar at an earlier stage of the game but it somehow seems a better option now. Since there is no immediate threat to my position, that's what I've decided to go for.
}
{
bjordan: It looks like cracking the castle pawns is even better now, since Black's queen will stay on the board, even in a fine position to attack the kingside.
}
12. b4
{
Spohn: White is actually not that sad about his pawns getting disrupted since he is still way ahead in development and if black castles kingside white will now have a file there to use against him too. White will continue with his idea of opening up the queenside. When your ahead in development try to keep the board open (or open it up in this case)
}
12... Bd6
{
Stephen: Disrupting White's pawns can wait. My perspective on the position after this move is that in practice, White probably does not have a significant development lead. Black still has a compact position with no obvious weaknesses. There is a danger that if White spends too many moves trying to open up the board, Black will have finished development and his pieces may be as well placed as White's to take advantage of the open lines. It just shows that chess involves a lot of opinions and judgements, we'll see how it goes...
}
13. b5
{
Spohn: White is still just trying to open up some lines in the board. Development is equal minus the white castled king and the game board looks equal. if this were a GM game we would shake hands and go grab a drink ;)
}
13... Nxf3+
{
Stephen: I'm not so sure that the position is equal. I'm beginning to think that I might be able to attack on the kingside - after the move I'm playing White's doubled f-pawns will get in the way of the defence of his king. My king is uncastled still but he is under no threat at the moment.
}
14. gxf3
{
Spohn: Well if you can attack white doesnt feel it yet. The open g-file helps me just as much to attack the kingside. Plus black moved that knight 3 times while my knight had moved once. The doubled pawns will have to be dealt with but maybe with sacking the forward one later.
}
14... Ne4
{
Stephen: Clearing a path for the queen's re-emergence, this time aggresively on the kingside. I could be wrong but I don't think White can take the knight with either pawn. Obviously fxe4 and Black responds ...Bxd1. On the other hand if dxe4, then ...Qh4 looks very dangerous with immediate mate threatened on h2. Of course if White doesn't take the knight then a number of other tactics come into play. I hope I'm correct... 
}
15. dxe4
{
Spohn: Actually i think that dxe4 ends up with white having a knight for two pawns. On Qh4 i will respond with Re1 and make my king an escape. IF white doesnt take he will end up much worse i think.
}
15... Qh4
{
Stephen: I'm hoping that if the king "escapes" to e2 then I will be able to arrange to play Bxf3+ winning the White queen.
}
16. Re1
{
Spohn: Yes i saw this but in my variation the black queen is sitting on the bank rank where my rook can take it, but maybe i missed something.
}
16... Qxh2+
{
Stephen: My plan is for the next check (after Kf1) to come from h3 rather than h1 (for the reason you give).  If Ke2 then ...Bxf3+ as discussed. If Ng2 to block the check then ...Bxf3 again; I think you must play somthing like Qxf3 (to avoid mate) and I play ...Qxf3 coming out well ahead on material. If Kg1 then I think mate is inevitable after ...Bh2+. I hope I've not missed anything!
}
{
Game Over: Oops my bad! lol i missed Qh3+ GG
}
0-1

