P. Neuman – E. Repkova (2010)

Here is a game by Ennis’ current board 1 Petr Neuman against Slovakias top woman player, Eva Repkova, who is also a strong IM. It was played in the Slovakian league.

Eva Repkova IM

Eyes on the board Petr!!

P. Neuman IM – Eva Repkova IM
(Slovakian League, 2010.01.16)
Annotations by Neuman

{I was quite afraid of this game because it was always very difficult to play against nice women. I was thinking about a draw offer because of her birthday but I forgot about that and after a few moves it was too late…} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Bc4 c6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Bd2 e6 {Not a mistake as such but positions in this line are very sharp and dangerous for black.I think 6…Nf6 was better. But she often plays 6…e6 and I was quite happy about that. 6…Nf6 7. Nd5 Qd8 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Nf3 e6 (a. 9… Nd7 10. O-O e6 11. Re1 Nb6 12. Bb3 Qc7 13. c4 O-O-O 14. a4 c5 15. a5 Nd7 16. a6 b6 17. Bc2 … or b. 9… Bg4 10. c3 e5 11. dxe5 fxe5 12. Qb3 Qe7 13. Ng5.. or if c. 9… Rg8 10. Bf4 e6 11. Bg3) 10. c3 Nd7 (10… Qc7 11. Nh4 Bg6 12. Qf3 Nd7 13. Qh3 Bg7 14. O-O O-O-O 15. Rfe1 Nb6 16. Bf1) 11. Nh4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Bg6 13. Qf3 Be7 14. g3 Qd7 15. O-O O-O-O 16. a4 f5 17. Ng2 Nd5 18. a5 h5 19. h4 Rhg8 20. Nf4 Nf6 21. Rfd1}

Neuman-Repkova Position after move 6

Position after 6...e6

7. g4 {unusual move. Main line is 7.d5 cxd5 8. Nxd5 Qd8 9. Qe2 Nf6
10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Bc3 Bb4 (7. Qf3 Bb4 8. Qg3 Bg6 9. Nge2 Nf6 10.
a3 O-O 11. O-O Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Qb6)} 7…Bg6 {Here I had a lot of possiblilities like 8.Qe2, 8.Nge2, 8.Nh3, 8.d5 but I was prepared for 8.h4. I believe 8.h4! is the strongest move in this position.} 8. h4 h5 9. d5

Position after 9 d5

{This is the point. Compare with the annotations to the 7th move.} 9…Nf6 {9… cxd5 (9… Qc5 10. Qe2 cxd5 11. Nxd5 hxg4 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. b4 Qd4 14. c3 Qe4 15. Bxd6 exd5 16. Bxd5 Qxe2+ 17. Nxe2) 10.Nxd5 Qd8 11. Qe2} 10. Qe2 {Probably better is 10.de6 Qe5+ 11. Qe2 Qxe2+ 12. Ngxe2 Of course white has the better position but I wanted to keep queens on board and have some attacking chances.} 10… Nxg4 11. f3 Nf6

Position after 11...Nf6

{Some what better is 11… Bb4 12. fxg4 cxd5 13.Bxd5 Bxc3 14. Bxb7 but the position is already very difficult for black} 12 dxe6 Bb4 13. exf7+ Kf8 14. Nh3 Nbd7 15. Ng5 b5 16. Ne6+ Kxf7 17. Nf4+

Black is lost. It's mate in 3.

(17. Nf4+ bxc4 18. Qe6+ Kf8 19. Nxg6#) 1-0