Two Positions

In the following game my opponent out-played me, encouraging me to extend a shell of "Jerome pawns" which he then cracked like an egg. I'd like to look at a couple of interesting positions from the game, neither of which I "solved" correctly.

 perrypawnpusher - mconst
blitz, FICS, 2010

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

4...Kxf7 5.Nxe5+ Nxe5 6.Qh5+ Ng6

7.Qd5+ Kf8 8.Qxc5+ d6 9.Qe3 Ne5

This is the first position. Black is clearly being provocative, asking for the d-pawn or the f-pawn to kick the Knight to g4. I've not seen it before.

Instead, I've seen 9...Nf6 in perrypawnpusher - hogmaster, JG3 thematic, ChessWorld, 2008 (1-0, 37); perrypawnpusher - joejox, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1/2- 1/2, 27); perrypawnpusher - DysonLin, blitz, FICS, 2009 (1-0, 23); perrypawnpusher - Mences, blitz, FICS,  2009 (1-0, 38); perrypawnpusher - andrecoenen, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 25);  perrypawnpusher - SkypeFro, blitz, FICS 2010 (1-0, 39);   perrypawnpusher - BishopChris, blitz, FICS, 2010 (1-0, 22);

I've also faced 9...Be6 in perrypawnpusher - jamtaylo, blitz, ChessWorld Welcome JG, 2009 (1-0, 27).

10.0-0 Nf6 11.f4

Likely better is 11.d4, which would cause me to re-think my understanding of how to play this position. The attraction of the move is obvious: kicking the Knight on e5 and opening the c1-h6 diagonal for White's dark squared Bishop. It also means that White should then answer 11...Neg4 (not the best response) with 12.Qd3, giving up, at least for the moment, the idea of pinning Black's Knight along the f-file with either the Rook or Queen and then attacking it with e4-e5.

11...Neg4

This is probably not as solid as 11...Nc6 but it is much more annoying.

12.Qf3 Nh6

13.h3 Kf7 14.e5 Ne8 15.g4 Rf8 16.Qd5+ Be6 17.Qxb7 Qh4

Here's the second position of interest. The question is: Is Black bluffing?

He had the choice of the ordinary 17...dxe5 18.fxe5+ Kg8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Qe4 Nf7 which is about equal.

Instead, he offers a Rook.

18.Qg2

I played this too quickly, but it is worth looking at 18.Qxa8 d5, locking the Queen out. The alternatives to the pawn move, 18...Qxh3, 18...Nf6 and 18...Nxg4, are all well met by 19.Qg2.

When White then covers his h-pawn with 19.Kg2, Black has 19...Nd6, exposing an attack on the Queen.

As Her Majesty runs back home, Black breaks through: 20.Qxa7 Ne4 21.Qa3, however I have not been able to find anything better for Black than either 21...Bxg4 or 21...Nxg4 each which yield nothing more than a draw through perpetual check after 22.hxg4.

18...Rb8 19.f5 Bc8 20.d4 Bb7 

The game is complicated, and my play from here on out is not good.

21.Qh2

White needed to shield himself from that Bishop with 21.d5 dxe5 22.c4, when Black might have a slight edge.

21...Kg8

Prudent, but there were good attacking chances with 21...Nxg4.

22.Nd2

White needed to get rid of that Knight with 22.Bxh6
22...Nxf5

Even more deadly was 22...Nxg4, but my game was collapsing fast.

23.gxf5 Qxd4+ 24.Rf2 Rxf5 25.Nb3 Qd1+ White resigned