Sunday, 24 May 2015

How many mistakes do you need to lose in the opening?

GM John Nunn was of the opinion that White needed to make 3 mistakes to lose a miniature (ie in under 20 moves), while Black, by virtue of being down a tempo needed only 2. I certainly proved this in spades today, losing a very quick game against Alana Chibnall at Street Chess. Trying a dubious Philador's may not have been the first mistake, but 7. ... Bxg5 was. 12. ... Kd7 was the second big one as after 13.O-O-O the only question was how quickly I could get mated. As it turns out Alana did not spot the quickest win (she played 17.Bd5+ winning the rook, although she realised she had missed a mate almost immediately) but I though I would show how the game should have ended.


Chibnall,Alana - Press,Shaun [C41]
Street Chess, 23.05.2015

Start positionPrevious MoveNext MoveEnd positionPlay movesStop playing
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 f5 4. dxe5 fxe4 5. Ng5 d5 6. f3 Be7 7. fxe4 Bxg5 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qxg5 Qxg5 10. Bxg5 dxe4 11. Nc3 Bf5 12. Nd5 Kd7 13. O-O-O Kc6 14. Be3 b6 15. Bc4 Nd7 16. Nb4+ Kb7 17. Ba6+ Kb8 18. Nc6# 1-0

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