Cure for Time Trouble (Part 2)

I've been taking more time finding my moves these days, with the hope that the resulting improvement in my play will shorten the game and lessen my need for those tick-tocks anyway. There is always the risk, though, of burning time, and not finding anything special...

perrypawnpusher - salla
blitz, FICS, 2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxf7+

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Ke7

I have only 8 examples of this, "An Odd Line in an Odd Line", in the updated New Year's Database.

6.Nxc6+

Wrong!

On move 6 Black had 5 possible King moves (instead of capturing the Knight on e5). Here are the proper responses to each:

5...Ke8 6.Nxc6;
5...Ke7 6.Qh5;
5...Ke6 6.Qg4+;
5...Kf8 (best) 6.Nxc6;
5...Kf6 6.Qh5


It has been a couple of years since I looked at 5...Ke7, but the best response should not have been hard to figure out. My slip lost the chance for an advantage, i.e. 5...Ke7 6.Qh5 Bxf2+ (best) 7.Kxf2 Qf8+ 8.Nf3.

6...dxc6


The better capture, preventing d2-d4.

7.d3 Nf6

An error that both my opponent and I missed. Black needed to get his King and Queen off of the same diagonal, either with 7...Kf8 or 7...Qd6. Otherwise, White can now play 8.e5 and the Black Knight will be lost, as moving it would allow the killer Bishop check from g5.

8.Bg5 Be6 9.0-0

For all the time that I was spending thinking, I wasn't getting much of a return. White should have at least mixed it up with 9.e5, although after 9...Qd5 10.exf6+ gxf6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qxg2 Black would still have had an edge.

9...Kd7 10.e5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Ng4

Escaping in the wrong direction.

13.h3 Ne3 14.fxe3 Bxe3+ 15.Bf2 Bxf2+ 16.Rxf2

White has an edge, but little of it is any of his doing. Time was evaporating, too.

16...Ke7 17.c3 c5 18.d4 Qd5 19.Qf3 Raf8 20.Qxd5 Bxd5

Again with the strategy of exchanging Queens – see "Cure for Time Trouble (Part 1)" – as a way to deal with dwindling time, but with little benefit. In fact, the game ends without me having an intelligent idea.

21.Nd2 Rxf2 22.Kxf2 b5 23.Nf3 Rf8 24.a3 h5 25.Kg3

Of course 25.Ke3 made more sense.

25...Rg8 26.Rf1 g4 27.hxg4 Rxg4+ 28.Kf2 Rf4 29.Ke3 Re4+ 30.Kd2 Rg4 31.Rf2 And here, with White maintaining a small edge, and not much time on his clock – Black forfeited on time.