Classical Game Recap: Steinitz Attack vs the Petrov
I get a chance to make some amends over the board.
Time Control: 60 minutes + 15 second increment per move
White: Me
Black: 1814 USCF
It’s the final round of the Quad tournament that I entered, and after facing three straight losses in a row and dealing with those feelings, I’m determined to not let it happen again again.
I have the White pieces. For some reason, I always score well against this particular opponent. I never prepare for him, because he appears to play almost anything. He’s not particularly booked-up, but seems to want to get a game without any established theory as quickly as possible.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
This is known as the Petrov Defense — or sometimes called the Russian Game.
3.d4
This is my preferred line against it. It’s known as the Steinitz Attack. White leaves a choice to Black about which pawn to capture. The other choices are 3.Nxe5, sometimes called the Classical Variation: Black usually responds 3…d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4; but there’s also the infamous Stafford Gambit with 3…Nc6; or White can (usually) transpose to the Four Knights game after 3.Nc3 Nc6.
3…exd4
This is the worse line. The other main choice is Nxe4, but I have seen d5 and d6 as well in online games. Nxe4 is preferable since it prevents White from staking out space with the move e5 later; 3…exd4 invites that idea immediately.
4.e5 Qe7?!
Sometimes Qe7 is played by black in order to pin along the e-file in the 3.Nxe5 lines. This is still a dubious idea there; here it might be losing by force.
5.Bd3!?
This is a more “attacking” move by aiming at h7 but it isn’t as strong as the move 5.Be2!, which by virtue of blocking the e-file threatens exf6.
5…d6
He’s looking to win another pawn, but this idea doesn’t work. It’s probably still the best move, but I also think that d5 is interesting.
6.O-O! dxe5 7.Nxe5!
I re-grab the pawn. The tactic here is elementary.
7…Qc5!
7…Qxe5 would immediately lose to Re1 due to the pin against the king.
8.Re1!
I have a huge advantage in development, and am trying to exploit it. Black is already in a lot of trouble here because of the lost time moving the queen twice.
8…Be6
Here I spent some (clock) time deciding between Bc4 and Bf5. Bc4 seemed strong, but also possibly a bit slow. I was worried about the move Nd5 blocking the bishop’s attack on e6. One move I didn’t really pay attention to but should have was the simple Nd2, with the idea of a later Nb3. My edge is more long-lasting than I thought it was, and Black’s queen being so out in the open makes it an easy target for tactics even into the middlegame.
9.Bf5!?
I chose this since Black doesn’t have the response Nd5. In all truthfulness, this position isn’t that bad for black and I’ve squandered my advantages. Black can play Nc6 here to dislodge the knight on e5.
9…Bd6?!
This move my opponent chose quickly, but I had to think on this position for quite a bit. I had a particular combination in mind, but after searching in this position for probably twenty minutes, determined that I could not do it. Instead, I needed to prepare it.
Do you see the idea? White to play.
10.b4!
The idea behind this move is not very obvious, and requires an explanation:
White wants to play 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Bxe6+, trapping the king in the center. With the queen on the fifth rank, Black can respond to 10.Nxf7 with 10…Qxf5, and suddenly White is losing because the bishops, knight, and queen are all pointed at the White kingside where there are no defenders -- ergo it doesn't matter if White wins a rook, because Black will win the king: 11.Nxh8 Bxh2+! and the classic Greek Gift bishop sacrifice wins.
So instead, we have to remove the queen from the fifth rank with 10.b4. My opponent only has a few choices, so he didn’t take long to reply.
10…Qd5
After 10...Qxb4, 11.Nxf7! works: 11...Kxf7 12.Bxe6+. Or 11...O-O 12.Bxe6. In either case, the black king position is loose, the black knight and rook on the queenside are still sleeping, and white has a lot of presence in the center, and the black queen is a target for a skewer tactic via Ba3.
11.c4! Qxe5!?
After 11.c4, there are no good squares for the queen. 11…dxc3 (en passant) 12.Qxd5 and then: 12…Nxd5 13.Nxf7!! Kxf7 14.Bxe5+ wins a piece after 15.Bxd5; or 12…Bxd5 13.Ng6+ wins at least the exchange. Qxe5 is the best choice, but I expected en passant since it doesn’t outright lose the queen; in our post mortem Joe told me that he didn’t even consider en passant.
12.Rxe5 Bxe5 13.Bxe6
Black is in a tough position, but he makes the best of his situation. I foresaw the coming move and was prepared to sacrifice for the attack.
13…d3!
This final transaction sells the Black queen sacrificed a couple moves earlier for as dearly as possible. Two rooks vs a queen in another position would be a fair deal — here black still has to activate them, whereas White’s army is already ready for action. The rook on a1 in this sense was actually a worthless piece, not contributing to my goals, so I’m glad to give it up.
14.Qe1!! Bxa1 15.Bd5+ Kd7 16.Bxf7?!
The first of a couple missteps. Visually the king’s position on d7 is rather tempting to go for an attack immediately with the queen on e6, because the king only has a single square. However, simpler would be to just win the exchange with 16.Bxb7! Then I would be up a pawn and the exchange and my pawns would be in great shape in the endgame. My one issue is that I spent 40 minutes of our alotted 60 up to this point — I was trying to play swiftly without getting bogged down in variations. The sooner I can simplify the better, but I have to do it carefully in order to convert.
16…Nc6! 17.Qe6+ Kd8 18.Bg5!
Black’s king is dangerously placed, but White still has to be careful because of the back rank, the passed d3-pawn and the sheer numbers of pieces that he has to work with. Right now I’m immune to Rd8 because the knight on f6 is pinned. Black has some fighting chances based on either pushing h6 and forcing me to trade off a bishop and consolidating his position; or Nd4 coming with tempo and interfering with my attack.
18…Nxb4??
Greedy — too greedy.
19.Nd2??
This was a weak move — and I later saw what I should have done, and tried to rectify the situation immediately. My opponent could gain a lot of counterplay with 19…a5!
19…Nc6??
Another gift — because now I have time for Bh5 with threat of mate on d8 after Bg4.
20.Bh5 Ne7 21.Ne4!
Piling up on the defenders. Bxf6 Bxf6 should have been considered as well.
21…Bd4
22.Nxf6?!
A typical error of exchanging an active piece for an inactive one — and beside that I had an opportunity to sacrifice with Nd6 to gain access to the d6 square with check: 22.Nd6!! cxd6 (otherwise 23.Nxb7 with check or mate) 23.Qxd6+ Kc8 24.Bf7 and the black king is corralled into checkmate or the e7 knight or d4 bishop are lost.
22…gxf6 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Qxf6 Rg8 25.Qd4+ Kc8 26.Qxd3
The position is simplified. I’m not really happy that we got to this point — I should have been able to find a checkmate sooner.
26…Nc6 27.Bg4+ Kb8
27…Rxg4 is met with Qf5+ with a double attack and white goes up the exchange.
28.Qxh7 Rd8
Desperation.
29.h4 a5 30.Bf3 Nd4 31.Bd5
Pre-empting any ideas against the king based on Ne2+ and Rh8 with an Anastasia’s Mate motif.
31…c6 32.Be4 Ka7 33.Qc7
My opponent is putting up a very strong defense and the complications of the position mean that the fight isn’t over, even if I’ve been winning since the tenth move of the game.
33…Ka6 34.c5
Tightening the noose.
34…Kb5 35.Qb6+ Kc4 36.g3
Ridding my opponent of any mate motifs with Ne2+
37.Qb2 Kxc5 38.Qc3+ Kb6 39.Qb2+
At this point my score sheet stops — I was under a minute and had to play the game on increment — I did end up winning, but the process was complicated, and my opponent had some dangerous threats on the back rank which I had to deal with under a lot of time pressure. I do recall the basic end position, which was an imprisoned rook on h8 to stop the passed h-pawn, with a bishop on g8 and the pawn on h7. The black king was seeking to escort a pawn to promote, and I was checking it all over the place to force it in front of the pawn (which was on the sixth rank — had I allowed it to the seventh rank, the game would be drawn). In the end, my opponent resigned when it was clear I could win the rook on h8, then sacrifice my queen for his final pawn and promote on h8.
1-0
Game in a GIF:
That marks the last game that I needed to analyze before the Sacramento Chess Club Championship begins next week!
Lessons learned:
Materialism isn’t always bad. Had I gone for the rook on a8, I would have had a much easier time winning, since two rooks are hard for a queen to fight against.
Look for forcing quiet moves if they can threaten and lead to an attack or mate — these are worth looking for when you have time.
Nice game to watch, thank you. 😁 However, I “found” 😜 two typos :
1) 7…Qc4! - should be 7... Qc5
2) "I chose this since Black doesn’t have the response Nd4." - should be Nd5.