So last night an odd thing happened. I was playing an 1800
on the ICC. It was late and I was feeling adventurous, so I opened our second
45/3 game with 1. f4, also known as The Bird. It always provides an
entertaining game, so I went for it.
As typical for the way *I* play 1. f4, my queenside bishop
didn’t develop right away. Then, during the middle game, it still didn’t
develop. In fact, all through my ultimately successful king hunt, the thing
never, ever developed. And yet, amazingly, it actually helped to entomb black’s
king down on *my* side of the board.
I wonder what the chances are? Oh, sure, beginner games get
extremely wild. But what are the chances a couple A players will experience a
game like that? It was surreal, I can tell you that.
I’ve listed the game below in PGN format. You can copy/paste
into your favorite chess program and check it out if you like. I haven’t even
gone over the game with my engine yet; I woke up and thought I’d better
share this sucker. That was something else!
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2014.01.22"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Skwerly"]
[Black "FreshSocks"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "White declared winner by adjudication"]
[WhiteElo "1833"]
[BlackElo "1781"]
[Opening "Bird's opening"]
[ECO "A02"]
[NIC "VO.07"]
[Time "00:48:53"]
[TimeControl "2700+3"]
1. f4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. Nc3 d6 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. O-O Nd4 8.
Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. Qd3 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 O-O-O 11. a4 h5 12. a5 Bd4+ 13. Kh1 Nh6 14.
a6 e6 15. axb7+ Qxb7 16. Qd3 Ng4 17. Nb5 Nf2+ 18. Rxf2 Bxf2 19. Rxa7 Qb6 20.
Rxf7 Rhe8 21. c4 d5 22. Qa3 Kb8 23. Nc7 Qxc7 24. Rxc7 Kxc7 25. Qa7+ Kd6 26.
e5+ Kc6 27. cxd5+ Kxd5 28. Qb7+ Kc4 29. Qe4+ Kb3 30. d3 Rd4 31. Qe2 Ra8 32.
Qd1+ Ka2 33. b3 {Black resigns} 1-0
