Some Chess Games

I suppose I'd better start this page with a disclaimer. There are a few files of chess games which can be downloaded from this page. These files come with no guarantees of any kind, explicit, implicit, or any other plicit. The files were clean when I uploaded them. If they're not clean now it's your lookout and this site and the people associated with this site (in whatever capacity that may be) bear no responsibility of any kind for the contents, nature, etc of these files. To sum up, you make use (whatsoever that use might be) of the contents of this page at your own risk. Oh yes, the annotations are © Chysschess. The fact that this page has a disclaimer does not mean that the sentiments contained within this disclaimer do not apply equally to the rest of this site and its contents even when the pages on which those contents are placed do not have a disclaimer of this nature of their own. Right, now I've got that out of the way let's get to the games.

This page contains a number of annotated games played by me, and a number of unannotated games played by others (also available for download in a pgn file here). Each game has some feature which I liked and which I felt justified its presence here.

I have also collected together 15 games played by Anatoly Karpov against much weaker opponents, and 15 games by Vladimir Kramnik, also against weak opposition, and I have added suggested improvements at the points at which the weaker players made serious errors. (Note that the annotations, such as they are, are very light and only occur when some serious error has been made). These games are very useful for study purposes as they show how a super GM takes advantage of the kinds of mistakes that ordinary players make.

Karpov game file

The pgn file in which the Karpov games can be found is available for download here.

Kramnik game file

The pgn file in which the Kramnik games can be found is available for download here.

Here are some lightly annotated games played on internet chess servers.

Internet Game 1 [AJH]

Here is a 3 minute blitz game I played (on the ICC, an excellent place to play!), which, although not of a particularly high standard, does at least have quite a nice finish. I had the black pieces.

1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. exd5 exd5, 4. c3 Nf6,

I have tinkered with the move order here, the actual game began 1. c3 e6, which is rather odd. I think my opponent was simply trying to gain some time on the clock.

5. Nf3 Nc6, 6. Bd3 Bg4, 7. O-O Qd7, 8. Bf4 O-O-O,

This is quite an aggressive set-up by black. He plans a straightforward kingside attack.

9. Nbd2 h5, 10. b4 Bd6,

Probably not very good, but understandable. This is my good bishop and should be retained for attacking purposes. However, in a blitz game the margins tend to be bigger. The fact that black felt the need to play this indicates that his previous move was premature. If I wanted to storm the kingside at this point I should have played 9. ... h6, planning 10. ... g5, and only after 11. Bg3 play 11. ... h5. Objectively my play is far too optimistic. However, optimistic play is quite effective in blitz games and the sober 9. ... Bf5, although probably objectively best just didn't appeal to me.

11. Bg3

White should have just taken the bishop on d6.

11. ... g5, 12. Nb3 h4, 13. Bxd6 Qxd6, 14. Nc5 Kb8,

White's queenside attack looks fairly promising. b5 gains a tempo and then after the knight on c6 moves Qa4 hits the a7 pawn, also with gain of tempo. Also, I wanted to play Bh5 to free my g-pawns path and didn't want to have to worry about Bf5+. Hence Kb8.

15. b5 Ne7, 16. Rb1 Bh5, 17. a4 g4, 18. Ne5 g3, 19. Qb3

White has some big threats here, particularly 20. Na6+ and if 20. ... ba, then 21. ba+ Kc8, (21. ... Qb6, 22. Qc2 and the black queen is pinned and lost), 22. Qb7++ Clearly 20. ... ba would be a terrible mistake but white is still going to play a5 and b6 and smash open my defences. The point is that white's attack is progressing and will soon be deadly. However, I have some threats too!

19. ... gxh2+, 20. Kh1

I don't think that Kxh2 helps white. Even the simple 20. ... Ng4+ seems to give black dangerous chances.

20. ... h3, 21. g3?

gh was better although black is still clearly better.
Can you find the win for black here? (After g3).

21. ... Qxe5!!,

I was very pleased to find this in a 3 minute blitz game but I suppose it's not that difficult to find really.

22. dxe5

There is nothing better. f4 loses to Qe3! and Na6+ can be answered with Kc8 and there are no more helpful checks.

22. ... Bf3+, 23. Kxh2 Ng4+, 24. Kg1 h2#

Internet Game 2 [AJH]

I have the black pieces in this game.

1. e4 e6, 2. d4 d5, 3. Nc3 Bb4, 4. e5 c5, 5. a3 BxN, 6. bc Ne7, 7. Qg4 O-O,

A standard position.

8. Bh6?!

A weak continuation. White should play the accurate 8. Bd3 or the acceptable 8. Nf3.

8. ... Nf5,

This basically refutes whites crude attack.

9. Bg5 Qa5, 10. Bd3??

Disaster! White is either massively over optimistic or has missed the threat due to the very quick time control. I realise that objectively a mistake like this makes the game worthless, but I like the finish!

10. ... Qxc3+, 11. Ke2 Nd4+, 12. Ke3 QxR, 13. Bf6??

Can you spot the win?

13. ... Qc1#

Internet Game 3 [AJH]

I am playing black.

1. Nf3 Nf6, 2. c4 c5, 3. g3 b6, 4. Bg2 Bb7, 5. O-O e6,

If white were to play 6. d4 here then after 6. ... cd 7. Qxd4 this would be a standard hedgehog position. White chooses a different plan.

6. e3 d6, 7. d4 a6, 8. b3 Nbd7, 9. Bb2 cd, 10. Nxd4

This strikes me as rather odd. Qxd4 seems more natural somehow with Rd1 to follow.

10. ... Bxg2, 11. Kxg2 Qc7, 12. Qf3

A nice move with the double threat of Qxa8 and Nc6.

12. ... O-O, 13. Nc6 Nc5, 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7, 15. Rfd1 Rfd8, 16. Kg1 Rab8, 17. Rd2 b5, 18. cb ab, 19. Qc6?

In fact this probably just loses. I'm not sure what white thinks his queen is doing here. d6 isn't likely to fall anytime soon as d5 is possible.

19. ... b4, 20. Ne2 Nfe4, 21. Rc2 Rdc8, white resigns

White's queen has sealed herself into her own tomb. Or to put it in standard chess notation 19. Qc6??

Internet Game 4 [AJH]

I have the black pieces.

1.e4 c5 2.f4 e6 3.c4

This is unusual. The weakness it creates on d4 makes it look somewhat dubious.

3. ... Nc6 4.Nf3 g6?!

This lets white off the hook. 4. ... d5 was more testing.

5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 a6

Clearly, 6. ... Bg7 was out on account of 7. Nb5.

7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Qd4 Nf6 9.e5 Ng8 10.Nc3 Bg7

Clearly, the quality of chess played so far in this game is rather low. Black's 'swiss cheese' pawn formation leaves him somewhat worse.

11.Ne4 Ne7 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.Bd2 Nf5 14.Nxf5 gxf5 15.Bb4+ Kg8 16.O-O-O?

Now it's black's turn to be let off the hook. White probably overlooked black's next move.

16. ... d5! 17.Be2 a5 18.Ba3 Ba6 19.Rhg1 h5

Black is developing his pieces in a somewhat odd fashion, but he has probably just about equalised at this point.

20.h3 Qh4 21.Bf1?

A waste of time, as white will need to vacate this square for a rook.

21. ... Qg3 22.Be2 Bh6 23.Rdf1 Kh7 24.Rf3 Qh4 25.g3 Qxh3 26.g4

This is a nice idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work! Black's queen, far from being in any danger, is ideally placed to cause havoc. Suddenly white's position is collapsing.

26. ... Qh2 27.Re1 hxg4 28.Rf2 Qh4 29.Rg1 Rhg8 30.Rff1 Qh2 31.Bxg4

Desperation. White is in trouble here because his pieces are all on the wrong squares!

31. ... Rxg4 32.Rxg4 fxg4 33.Qd3+ Kg7 34.Qe3 Bxc4 35.Rg1 Qxf4 0-1

Internet Game 5 [AJH]

I'm Black in this game.

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Qd2?!

This isn't quite as bad as it looks. With the correct follow up it could make some sense.

4. ... O-O 5.Nf3 Ng4 6.d4 ed 7.Nxd4?!

This is a lot like a reversed Two Knights Defence but with Qd2 and O-O thrown in. If white played the 'normal' 7.Na4 here the Queen on d2 would make sense becuase the 'usual' 7. ... Bb4 wouldn't be possible. In fact, 7.Nxd4 isn't as bad as 5. ... Nxd5 in the Ng5 variation of the Two Knights Defence because the Queen on d2 makes knight sacrifices on f2 less dangerous.

7. ... d5

Arguably 7. ... Qf6 is even stronger.

8.Nxd5?!

Possibly 8.h3 is better.

8. ... Re8! 9.f3 Qxd5 10.c3 Nc6!

My computer suggests that the simple 10. ... Nf6 is stronger, but on this occasion the computer is wrong. A human can see that developing a piece to continue an attack is simply right on principle. The computer doesn't understand this.

11.c4?

White was in terrible trouble anyway, but this makes things worse. I leave it to you to find the win after 11.Be2...

11. ... Rxe4! 12.fe Qxe4+ 13.Qe2 Bb4

And now 14.Kd1 Nxd4 15.Qxe4 Nf2 is a lovely finish. The actual game was less interesting, though black won in the end. It went:

14.Bd2 Bxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Qxd4 16.Ke1 Bf5 17.h3 Ne3 18.Rd1 Nxd1 19.Qxd1 Qh4+ 20.Kd2 Rd8+ 0-1

Internet Game 6 [AJH]

I'm black in this game.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 a6 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.f4 Qb6 8.c3 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Qxb2 10.Nd2 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.Nc4 Qb5 13.Nb6 Qc6 14.Nxa8 Bc5 15.Kh1 Bxd4 16.cxd4 b5 17.Rc1 Qxa8 18.e5 Nd5 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qh6 f5 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.Be4 Bb7 23.Rf3 Ne7 24.Bxb7 Qxb7 25.Rfc3 Rf5 26.Qh4 Nc6 27.Qf2 Qb8 28.g3 Qd6 29.Rd1 g5 30.Rf3 Qd5 31.Kg1 e5 32.g4 Rxf4 33.Rxf4 gxf4 34.Qc2 Nxd4 35.Qb3 Qxb3 36.axb3 Kf7 37.Kf2 Ke6 38.Ra1 Nxb3 39.Rxa6+ Kd5 40.Ra7 Nc5 41.Ra8 b4 42.h4 b3 43.g5 b2 44.Rb8 e4 45.h5 Kc4 46.g6 hxg6 47.hxg6 Nb3 48.g7 b1=Q 49.g8=Q+ d5 50.Rc8+ Nc5 51.Rxc5+ Kxc5 52.Qc8+ Kd4 53.Qh8+ Kd3 54.Qh3+ e3+ 55.Kf3 Qd1+ 56.Kg2 Qe2+ 57.Kh1 f3 58.Qf5+ Kc4 59.Qc8+ Kd4 60.Qh8+ Kd3 61.Qh7+ Kd2 62.Qg7 f2 63.Qb2+ Ke1 64.Qb1+ Qd1 65.Qb4+ Kf1 66.Qb5+ e2 67.Qd7 Qd4 68.Qh3+ Ke1 69.Qg3 Kd2 70.Qg5+ Kd1 71.Qg2 f1=Q+ 72.Kh2 Qh4+ 73.Qh3 Qhxh3# 0-1

Internet Game 7 [AJH]

I'm playing black.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 a6 6.Bd3 Qc7 7.Nd2 b5 8.c3 Bb7 9.Rc1 Nf6 10.O-O Ne5 11.Bf4 Bd6 12.Bxe5 Bxe5 13.g3 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Qe2 Bf6 16.Ne4 Be7 17.f4 O-O 18.Qh5 g6 19.Qh6 Nf6 20.Rce1 Rfd8 21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 22.Be4 Rxd4 23.Bxb7 Qxb7 24.cxd4 Bxd4+ 25.Rf2 Rc8 26.f5 Rc2 27.Rf1 Qf3 28.Qf4 Rxf2 29.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 0-1

Internet Game 8 [AJH]

I'm white in this game.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.a4 O-O 10.Nf3 Re8 11.O-O Bxc3 12.bxc3 Rxe4 13.f5 a6 14.Bd3 Re8 15.fxg6 hxg6 16.Ng5 Ne5 17.Nxf7 Nxf7 18.Bxg6 Ne5 19.Qh5 Re7 20.Bg5 Bg4 21.Qh6 Nbd7 22.Bf7+ Nxf7 23.Rxf7 Rxf7 24.Bxd8 Rxd8 25.Qg5+ 1-0

And now here are some games by other players, unannotated.

Random game 1

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. b2-b4 c5xb4, 3. a2-a3 b4xa3, 4. Nb1xa3 d7-d5, 5. e4xd5 Qd8xd5, 6. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6, 7. Bf1-c4 Qd5-e4+, 8. Bc4-e2 Qe4-g6, 9. O-O Ng8-f6, 10. Na3-b5 Ke8-d8, 11. d2-d4 Bc8-f5, 12. Nf3-e5 Nc6xe5, 13. d4xe5+ Kd8-c8, 14. Nb5xa7+ Ra8xa7, 15. Ra1xa7 Bf5xc2, 16. Ra7-a8+ Kc8-c7, 17. Qd1-d8+ Kc7-c6, 18. Ra8-c8+ Checkmate

Random game 2

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. f2-f4 e7-e5, 3. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6, 4. Bf1-c4 d7-d6, 5. d2-d3 Bc8-g4, 6. O-O Nc6-d4, 7. Bc4xf7+ Ke8-e7, 8. f4xe5 Bg4xf3, 9. Bc1-g5+ Ke7-d7, 10. e5-e6+ Kd7-c6, 11. Bg5xd8 Bf3xd1, 12. Bf7-e8+ Checkmate

Random game 3

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. f2-f4 d7-d5, 3. e4xd5 Qd8xd5, 4. Nb1-c3 Qd5-d6, 5. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6, 6. Bf1-c4 Nb8-c6, 7. O-O g7-g6, 8. d2-d3 Nc6-a5, 9. Nc3-b5 Qd6-b6, 10. Rf1-e1 Na5xc4, 11. d3xc4 Bc8-e6, 12. Nf3-g5 Ra8-d8 13. Ng5xe6 Rd8xd1, 14. Nb5-c7+ Ke8-d7, 15. Re1xd1+ Kd7-c6, 16. Nc7-a8 Qb6-a6, 17. Ne6-d8+ Checkmate

Random game 4

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. d2-d4 c5xd4, 3. Ng1-f3 e7-e5, 4. c2-c3 d4xc3, 5. Nb1xc3 Nb8-c6, 6. Bf1-c4 Bf8-e7, 7. Qd1-d5 Qd8-c7, 8. Qd5xf7+ Ke8-d8, 9. Qf7xg7 Be7-f6, 10. Qg7-f8+ Checkmate

Random game 5

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. d2-d4 c5xd4, 3. Bf1-c4 e7-e5, 4. f2-f4 d7-d6, 5. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6, 6. f4xe5 d6xe5, 7. O-O Bf8-e7, 8. Bc4xf7+ Ke8xf7, 9. Nf3xe5+ Kf7-e6, 10. Ne5-f7 Qd8-b6, 11. Qd1-g4+ Checkmate

Random game 6

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. d2-d4 c5xd4, 3. Ng1-f3 e7-e5, 4. c2-c3 d4xc3, 5. Nb1xc3 d7-d6, 6. Bf1-c4 h7-h6, 7. Bc4xf7+ Ke8xf7, 8. Nf3xe5+ Kf7-e7, 9. Nc3-d5+ Ke7-e6, 10. Qd1-g4+ Ke6xe5, 11. Bc1-f4+ Ke5-d4, 12. Bf4-e3+ Kd4-e5, 13. Qg4-f4+ Ke5-e6, 14. Qf4-f5+ Checkmate

Random game 7

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. d2-d4 c5xd4, 3. c2-c3 d4xc3, 4. Nb1xc3 Nb8-c6, 5. Ng1-f3 d7-d6, 6. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6, 7. e4-e5 d6xe5, 8. Qd1xd8+ Ke8xd8, 9. Nf3-g5 Kd8-e8, 10. Nc3-b5 Ra8-b8, 11. Bc4xf7+ Ke8-d8, 12. Bf7-b3 Kd8-e8, 13. Bb3-f7+ Ke8-d8, 14. Bc1-e3 a7-a6, 15. Be3-b6+ Kd8-d7, 16. Bf7-e6+ Kd7-e8, 17. Nb5-c7+ Ke8-d8, 18. Ng5-f7+ Checkmate

Random game 8

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. d2-d4 c5xd4, 3. Ng1-f3 e7-e5, 4. c2-c3 Nb8-c6, 5. c3xd4 Bf8-b4+, 6. Nb1-c3 e5xd4, 7. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6, 8. Nd4xc6 b7xc6, 9. Bf1-d3 d7-d5, 10. e4xd5 Nf6xd5, 11. O-O Nd5xc3, 12. b2xc3 Bb4xc3, 13. Bc1-a3 Bc3xa1, 14. Qd1-e2+ Bc8-e6, 15. Rf1xa1 Qd8-a5, 16. Qe2-b2 O-O-O, 17. Ra1-b1 Kc8-d7, 18. Bd3-e4 f7-f6, 19. Be4xc6+ Kd7xc6, 20. Qb2-b7+ Checkmate
 

Random game 9

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6, 3. f2-f4 g7-g6, 4. Ng1-f3 Bf8-g7, 5. Bf1-c4 d7-d6, 6. O-O e7-e6, 7. d2-d3 Ng8-e7, 8. f4-f5 e6xf5, 9. Qd1-e1 O-O, 10. Qe1-h4 Qd8-d7, 11. Bc1-h6 f5xe4, 12. Nf3-g5 Qd7-g4, 13. Rf1xf7 Qg4xh4, 14. Rf7xg7+ Kg8-h8, 15. Rg7xh7+ Checkmate

Random game 10

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6, 3. g2-g3 e7-e6, 4. Bf1-g2 g7-g6, 5. Ng1-e2 Bf8-g7, 6. O-O Ng8-e7, 7. d2-d3 a7-a6, 8. Bc1-e3 b7-b6, 9. Qd1-d2 d7-d5, 10. e4xd5 e6xd5, 11. Be3-h6 O-O, 12. Bh6xg7 Kg8xg7, 13. Ne2-f4 d5-d4, 14. Nc3-d5 Ra8-a7, 15. Ra1-e1 Rf8-e8, 16. h2-h4 Ra7-d7, 17. Nd5-f6 Kg7xf6, 18. Nf4-h5+ g6xh5, 19. Qd2-g5+ Checkmate

Random game 11

1. e2-e4 c7-c5, 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6, 3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5, 4. e4xd5 Nf6xd5, 5. d2-d4 e7-e6, 6. Nc3xd5 Qd8xd5, 7. Bc1-e3 c5xd4, 8. Nf3xd4 a7-a6, 9. Bf1-e2 Qd5xg2, 10. Be2-f3 Qg2-g6, 11. Qd1-d2 e6-e5, 12. O-O-O e5xd4, 13. Be3xd4 Nb8-c6, 14. Bd4-f6 Qg6xf6, 15. Rh1-e1+ Bf8-e7, 16. Bf3xc6+ Ke8-f8, 17. Qd2-d8+ Be7xd8, 18. Re1-e8+ Checkmate