The Irish Chess Union

[Event "City of Dublin Championship 2007"] [Site "Dublin IRL"] [Date "2007.09.02"] [Round "5"] [White "Hogarty, Philip"] [Black "Cafolla, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1940"] [BlackElo "2005"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Cafolla, Peter"] [ICUid "28701"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 { I hate this opening, it says to the opponent "You are better than me so I don't want to get involved in a risky game". Yeah yeah, I know guys like Adams use it, in their case it's different. } 2... d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Na3 { Even a beginner should know "A Knight on the rim is dim" } 6... a6 { Black expertly cuts out the threat of Nb5 and at the same time lures the hapless beast towards the tempting b6 square, a cunning plan!! } 7. Nc4 { The dumb animal (I'm referring to the horse here and not Philip) gallops towards b6 in the hope of a carrot. } 7... Qd8 { ! Ala Nimzowitch (or even the chess GOD that is Colm Daly) the Queen retreats in the best probhylactic fashion and at the same time threatens a later Qc7 } 8. Be3 b5 { Harrying Mister Horse who by now has realised that he won't be grazing on the b6 square } 9. Nce5 { ? Moving the steed for the 3rd time in the game but I suppose the alternative was being eaten by the b pawn } 9... cxd4 10. Bxd4 { The Bishop takes on the appearance of a large d pawn, already White's pieces lack harmony while Black's are on far more natural squares. } 10... Bb7 $1 { Seizing the long diagonal in a manner made famous by Colm Daly in one of his astoundingly brilliant games. } 11. Ng5 { Bad enough to have one silly horse cavorting around the board in a nonsensical way without his brother entering the fray in a similar fashion. } 11... Bd6 $1 { A surprising move which I must confess even took me unawares. Black pooh poohs hackneyed materialistic notions and continues with his development. It is moves like this that seperate the artist from the patzer! } 12. Nexf7 $6 ({ Embarking on a dubious plan of unbridled materialism. Philip is taking liberties by moving a piece FOUR times in the opening. Obviously the consolidating move } 12. h3 $3 { would have been much more to the point. }) 12... Qc7 $1 { Carrying out the manoeuvre envisaged on move 7. One is reminded of one of Daly's immortal games (number 1365) when he defeated the ghosts of Einstein, Capablanca, The Holy Ghost and King Kong in a consultation game (the full 262 pages of analysis of this game can be found on his website www. Iam god .ie } 13. Nxh8 $4 { Tut tut. The Knight having wasted no less than FIVE valuable tempi decides to devour an innocent bystander who was taking little part in the game, white's position is probably beyond saving after this. } 13... e5 { Staking a claim in the centre } 14. Be3 Bd5 15. Nxh7 { These animals are beginning to look more like sheep than horses as they herd in a remote corner of the board. } 15... Nbd7 16. Nxf6+ { Following the cliched idea of swapping off pieces once one is ahead in material but with White's King stranded in the middle of the board and having wasted numerous tempi such values are irrelevant. } 16... Nxf6 17. Bg5 { White has switched to "robot mode" now just trying to swap everything off. Thankfully the chess god Caissa (and perhaps even the other chess god Daly) frowns on such ideas. } 17... Qc6 $1 { The counterattack has begun. } 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Qh5+ ({ A spite check, again } 19. h3 { was called for. }) 19... Kd7 { Black's position in the centre is now so secure that even the king can enter the attack } 20. Nf7 $2 { He just won't learn, will he? } 20... Ba3 $3 { In the true spirit of the game Black is not afraid to put one of his few remaining pieces en prise. } 21. O-O-O $3 { This move deserves two exclamation marks because it allows the only logical outcome to this game. } 21... Qxc3+ $3 { And mate next move, the final position is quite beautiful because three quarters of Black's army is en prise. It would be unfair of me to pretend that I came up with all these beautiful moves over the board so, for the record, I have to admit that the first 18 moves were home preparation. Despite the success of my idea I somehow don't think that I will use this variation again. } 0-1