For four years, Lucas Boyer and I occasionally discussed our love for chess and vowed to play each other. Each time we would agree to play, some work commitment would prevent the match from taking place. When his time in Dayton came to an end, the two of us made a point to sit down at the board and play the match we had always talked about. I gave him choice of color and he selected black. The game was played in the Mental Health Clinic at Wright-Patterson Medical Center and ended in a 1-0 checkmate after 38 moves.

This is my analysis in conjunction with analysis from Deep Fritz 14.

A game that I liked (ChessBase 12)

[Event “Friendly Game”] [Site “Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio”] [Date “2013.12.13”] [Round “?”] [White “Surber, Wesley A”] [Black “Boyer, Lucas A”] [Result “1-0”] [ECO “B11”] [Annotator “Deep Fritz 14 x64 (30s)”] [PlyCount “75”] [EventDate “2013.??.??”] [EventCountry “USA”] [SourceDate “2014.05.09”] {B11: Caro-Kann: Two Knights Variation} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 {last book move} e6 3. Bc4 (3. Nf3 d5 $14) 3… d5 {Black threatens to win material: d5xc4} 4. d3 $4 { Deep Fritz recommended 4.Bb3, but my intentions here were to challenge his queen immediately at the onset of the game. I was unsure of how strong a player he was and wanted to ensure that I went into the challenge with a fighting spirit.} (4. Bb3 a5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Qe2+ Be7 $11) 4… Qb6 {Loses material} 5. Nf3 $4 {with this move White loses his initiative} (5. Bb3 Be7 $14 ) 5… Bc5 {Black threatens to win material: Bc5xf2} 6. O-O $4 {Deep Fritz recommended 6.d4 and it was definitely a better move than castling at that moment. However, I felt that I still maintained some initiative and had to put my King to safety before he built his attacking line.} (6. d4 Bxd4 7. Nxd4 dxc4 $11) 6… Nf6 7. e5 (7. Bb3 Be7 $14) 7… Ng4 8. Na4 $4 {releasing the pressure on the opponent} (8. d4 $142 Be7 9. Bd3 $16) 8… Bxf2+ 9. Rxf2 $4 { This was one of the worst moves of the game for me. Sacrificing the Rook on f1 made things much more difficult when 9. Kh1 Qb4 would have been much stronger.} (9. Kh1 $142 Qb4 10. Bb3 $15) 9… Qxf2+ 10. Kh1 b5 11. Nc5 (11. Bxb5 {cannot undo what has already been done} cxb5 12. Nc3 b4 $19) 11… O-O 12. b4 (12. Bb3 {cannot change destiny} Qxc5 13. d4 Qe7 $19) 12… g6 13. h3 Nh6 14. Ng5 $4 {My goal with 14. Ng5 was to put pressure on the f7 and h7 squares, but I missed 14. Bxh6.} (14. Bxh6 $142 bxc4 15. Qc1 $16) 14… f6 15. exf6 $4 {solves nothing} (15. Nge4 $142 Qh4 16. Nxf6+ Rxf6 17. exf6 $17) 15… Rxf6 16. Bb2 (16. Bb3 Nf5 17. Qg1 Ng3+ 18. Kh2 Qxg1+ 19. Kxg1 $19) 16… Rf4 17. Be5 $4 {Threatening 17…Qf1+ 18. Qxf1 Rxf1+} (17. Ngxe6 $142 Bxe6 18. Nxe6 $17) 17… Nf5 18. Bxf4 (18. Bb3 Ng3+ 19. Kh2 Nf1+ 20. Kh1 Rf5 $19) 18… Qxf4 19. a4 (19. Qg4 {there is nothing else anyway} Qe3 20. Nf3 bxc4 21. Re1 $19) 19… Ng3+ 20. Kg1 Qxg5 21. Kh2 (21. axb5 {does not improve anything} Qe3+ 22. Kh2 Ne2 $19) 21… Qe5 22. axb5 (22. d4 {doesn’t change anything anymore} Nf1+ 23. Kg1 Qh2+ 24. Kxf1 bxc4 $19) 22… a5 23. bxa5 (23. d4 {is the last straw} Qf4 24. Qe1 dxc4 25. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 26. Kxg3 cxb5 27. Kf4 $19) 23… cxb5 24. Bxb5 (24. d4 {doesn’t get the cat off the tree} Nf1+ 25. Kg1 Qe3+ 26. Kxf1 bxc4 $19) 24… Qd6 25. d4 (25. Na4 {does not help much} Bd7 26. Nb6 Rxa5 (26… Bxb5 $6 {is the weaker alternative} 27. Nxa8 Nc6 28. Qe1 Ne2+ 29. g3 $19) 27. Nxd7 Rxb5 (27… Nxd7 $6 28. Rxa5 Ne4+ 29. Kg1 Qb6+ 30. d4 Qxa5 31. Bxd7 $17) 28. Nf6+ Kf8 $19) 25… Ba6 26. Rb1 (26. Nxa6 Nxa6 (26… Rxa6 $6 27. Bxa6 Nxa6 28. Kg1 $11) 27. Kg1 Nc7 $19) 26… Nf5+ 27. Kg1 Ne3 28. Qd2 Qf4 29. Nxe6 Bxb5 {This was the defining move of the game. Boyer was unable to recover from the mental distress of losing his Queen unintentionally.} 30. Nxf4 Nc4 {Attacks the isolani on a5} 31. Qb4 (31. Rxb5 $6 {is impossible} Nxd2 32. Nxd5 Nc6 $15) 31… Ba6 32. Nxd5 (32. Qe7 Nc6 33. Qe6+ Kg7 34. Qxc6 Rg8 35. Qxa6 Nb6 36. axb6 Kh6 37. b7 Rf8 38. b8=Q Rf6 39. Rb6 Rxb6 40. Qf8+ Kg5 41. Ne6+ Kh4 42. Qh6+ Kg3 43. Qg5#) 32… Nc6 33. Qc5 (33. Ne7+ $142 {might be the shorter path} Nxe7 34. Qxe7 $18) 33… N6xa5 34. Nf6+ (34. Qe7 Rf8 35. Nf6+ Rxf6 36. Rb8+ Bc8 37. Rxc8+ Rf8 38. Rxf8#) 34… Kg7 35. Rf1 (35. Qe7+ Kh6 36. Ng4+ Kh5 37. g3 Bb7 38. Qh4#) 35… Rc8 36. Qe7+ Kh6 37. Qxh7+ Kg5 38. h4# (38. Ne4#) 1-0