Anastasia Clendinnen – Kerry Tse
Girls’lnterschool, 1997

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Black plays the knight to f6 to counter
attack the White pawn at e4 rather than protect e5 with
2 … Nc6. This is called the Petroff Defence.

3.NxeS d6 4.NfJ
Nc6 Black has driven away the knight from e5 with 3 … d6 and
now should play 4 … Nxe4 to maintain material equality. Also
commonly seen is 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5. S.Nc3 Bg4 6.Be2 g6
7.0-0 hS White is developing normally but Black’s last two
moves are bad. The pawns at g6 and h5 only hinder the
movement of Black’s own bishop at g4 and they present little
threat to White’s kingside. Normally an attack by pawns on
either flank should only be carried out when the centre is
stable – that means when neither side can advance their central
pawns. At the moment the centre.is not stable and White can
play d4 and may soon be able to play e5. Also notice that
Black is falling behind in development; she must be careful to
prevent her King being caught in the middle. 8.Bc4 White
decides that the bishop will be stronger at c4 than at e2, At c4
it can exploit Black’s slight weakness on the light d5 square.
White is more able to play this move because the pinning
Black bishop at g4 can now be displaced at any time with h3.
If the h5 and g6 squares were still un-occupied this would not
be true. 8 … a6 9.NdS BxfJ? This is definately not the best for
Black. White will recapture with the Queen and double the
attack on the f6 knight. Black’s King is still stuck in the
middle on a half open file. Black could try 9 … Nxd5 1O.Bxd5
Qd7 preparing to castle to the queenside. 10.Qxf3 as?
1l.Nx.f6+ Ke7 Of course Black can’t play lLQxf6 because of
12.Qxf6. 12.NdS+ Kd7 White has a very strong attack here
because of Black’s slow development. I would suggest
12.Ng8+ (Black can’t play 12 … Rxg8 because of 13.Qxf7++)
12 … Kd7 13.Qxf7+ Ne7 (to open c6 as a flight square for the
King) 14.Qe6+ Kc6 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Bd5+ Kb6 17.Qxg6
and White has a strong advantage. 13.Nc3 Better for White is
Qxf7+ 13 .•. Nd4 Black exploits the dark square hole at d4
which is Black’s only asset. However this is not timely – Black
must get her King to safety and re-inforce f7. 14.Qd3 Nc6
1S.Bxf7 Nb4 16.Qc4 Nxc2 Black manages to capture the c2
pawn but it will be difficult to retreat the knight from here.
Meanwhile the Black King is dangling by a thread. 17.Rb1
Na1 Better for Black to leave the knight where it is. 18.Rxa1

a4 19.Nxa4 Rb8 Black’s awful position is
flustering her and making her play badly.
It is amazing how common it is for players
to absolutely go to pieces after making
a bad move. There is no need to let this
happen to you! When you get into a bad
position take some time out to calm down.
After you are relaxed go back to the game
as though starting afresh .. 20.Bxg6 RgS
21.QxgS Be7

Can you find White’s best move?

Best is 22.Bf5+ Kc6 23.Qd5++. Play continued.
22.Qxd8+ Bxd8 White obviously
has the game sewn up. 23.Rel b6 24.e5
dxe5 25.Rxe5 b5 This only drives the
White knight onto the c5 square where it
is powerfully posted. 26.Nc5+ Kc8
27.Bf5# 1-0
White won this game by developing
quickly, having better control of the centre
and by exploiting Black’s weakness on
the light squares d5, e6, and f7. Black did
too many pawn moves during the opening
and didn’t defend against the threats made
on the f file. Also Black neglected to
castle which is very risky.

Notes by Stephen Clendinnen