| Mark Finegold |
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| Robert Drake |
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| Round 1, 2000 Michigan Open |
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| [B06] Pirc |
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1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Qe2 O-O 6.O-O c6
7.Bb3
| Played in response to the threatened ...Nxe4. Knowing little
about the Pirc, I was not sure if 7.e5 did anything useful. |
| The knight is misplaced here. More harmonious is 8.Nbd2, preparing
to recapture after the inevitable ...Bxf3. |
| Black plans to maneuver this knight to the excellent outpost at d4.
White's remaining knight should be on f3 to watch this important square
and keep the move c3 available. |
| A rather panicky reaction to the ...Ne6-d4 idea. Much better
is 14.Bc4 Ne6 15.Bxe6 with a reasonable position. |
| So what did a4-a5-a6 accomplish for White? I'm still not sure! |
| Needlessly leaving the a-pawn undefended. I am in hot water now,
having misplayed the opening as I often do, plus I am running low on time
even before move 20! |
| White relies on tricks like a future Qd8+ to save the a-pawn, but the
position is already quite bad. |
| It's definitely lost after this. With only a few minutes remaining,
I had overlooked the tactical point that follows the queen exchange.
The last chance was 22.Qf3 with plenty of fight left. |
| Oops. I had overlooked the triple attack with ...Nc5 and now
must lose a pawn. |
| Here my time expired as I was trying to decide on Na2 or Bb1.
The ending must be lost with best play, but I had expected to make time
control and struggle on for a long while. A well-played win for Drake. |
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