Game of the Day for 3/24

This is how it ended with my partner giving mate.

It started with Black playing Nge7.  This is a suspect move, though I have seen some good players play the Knight there and going to f5 with it as soon as possible.  Now f6 and f7 are both very weak.   I sometimes play f6 instead of Nge7.  That also has some problems, though it is more robust than it looks.

So what should Black play on the first few moves?   1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 is an option,. but you can see the problem with f6 in this game.   1.e4 e5 is possible.  Note that if 2.Bc4, White is not threatening the Bishop sac immediately as there is no square to place the Knight for a followup check.  There is 1.e4 d5 after 2.exd, some players play 2..Qxd5.  This is probably the easiest continuation for beginners.  Some play 2..e6 which is called the Leaf.  Is it any good?  Don't be silly. It loses a pawn.  Some go for 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 which is passive, perhaps excessively so.  1.e4 Nf6 is also played but I'm not enthusiastic about it.  While other first moves for black might not be popular, most of them are not as bad as their reputation.  Don't expect to win easily if your opponent plays them.  If you're improvising for Black, don't forget to play e6 or e5 early.

So a couple of moves later, Black has played a Bishop on g4 to prevent Black from moving the Knight off e7.  If Black had played g5, White can take Nxg5 hxg5 Bxg5 and Black has even more problems..  So Black tries to chase the Bishop away with N@g6.

So Black does play Nf5.  Black has begun his attack with p@f6.  White will take the Knight, weakening Black's control of e7 and g7.

Black's tripled pawns are not an issue, But White controls e5 and can take on f6, which will be decisive.

Here, White might not want to play Bxh8, because Qxg2 is strong for White if Black doesn't get a Knight.  Ideally he would want to play N@f6, threatening mate with R@e8.

Well White did take the rook and did get the Knight.  He will then place the Queen on e8 and the Bishop on c5 for mate.