This game features players with a much lower rating than usual. Yet, it is extremely interesting to analyze it for amateur players or coaches. It perfectly demonstrates how some young players will often play the logical move, without really thinking about why it is a good move. As many youngsters (and amateurs in general), both players seemed to follow their instinct without really having a plan. Being able to analyze a position in order to formulate a plan is one of the most important things in chess, yet it seems to be often overlooked by many coaches.
[Event "Junior Grand Prix IV"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2014.03.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Henry, Nadia"]
[Black "Minzak, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "1041"]
[BlackElo "1110"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2014.03.16"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 {The Ruy
Lopez opening. It's a great opening to teach to young players, as the plans
are often complicated and require a lot of versatility from both players. So, it's
a good way to teach the importance of a plan to a junior player.} Nf6 5. d3 {
The main-line is 0-0, but d3 is still perfectly playable.} Bc5 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3
d6 8. c3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Bg5 $1 {Up to this point, both players played
completely logical moves. We can probably safely assume they played the first move
that came to their mind, in a short amount of time, and this last move doesn't
seem any different. However, there is actually a hidden threat behind it. If
White had spent more time analyzing Black's weaknesses (such as the c6 square),
he would have seen why this move is strong.} h6 $2 {And Black falls for White
trap.} 11. Bh4 $2 {Or not... Again, White played the logical move. Why would he give his bishop against a knight? The truth is that if he had thought
for more than one move in advance, he would have seen that he had a stronger
move.} (11. Bxf6 $1 Qxf6 12. Bd5 $1 Kd7 {And it's not quite pleasant for Black.
}) 11... g5 $1 {And Black seizes this opportunity. Here Black had two options :
castle or attack. Many young players would have probably followed their coach
advice and castled as early as possible. However, this is clearly a case where
Black has a lot of potential and attacking is definitely the thing to do.} 12.
Bg3 g4 $2 {There was no need to hurry. A move like Qd7 would have been really
strong. Yet, pretty much any kid would have played g4 without any hesitation.
This probably leads us to another common weakness of many junior players : the
lack of patience in attack.} 13. hxg4 Bxg4 {Houdini will tell you that White
is fine, and it's probably right. However, in the context it makes little
doubt that Black has better chances. Very few junior players of this level are
trained in defending such positions. Most coaches will teach how to attack,
but learning how to defend a position is as important. In this case, White
will need to play with a lot of precision, the kind of precision we usually do
not expect from amateurs. Meanwhile, Black's plan is pretty straightforward.}
14. Nbd2 Ne7 $2 {I wish I could ask the young Michael why he played this move.
The knight wasn't doing a lot on c6, but at least it was still protecting the
key squares d4 and e5. Now, this move loses a tempo and weakens Black
position.} (14... Rg8 {Was the logical move.}) 15. Re1 Ng6 $2 {Again another
loss of tempo. Black should have taken control of the g-file with his rook.}
16. Nf1 $2 {As I said, defending is in general not easy. Bringing an extra
knight to protect your king might seem like a good idea, but it also weakens
the f3 square and reduces the number of possible exits for the king.} h5
$1 {Finally, Black starts the attack. We now understand the whole idea of the
knight maneuver, but it is only justified by the fact that White also lost two
tempi.} 17. Ne3 h4 18. Bh2 h3 $2 {Again, no need to hurry. Bxe3 would have
weakened White's position first, as the knight would no longer protect the g2
square or attack the g4 bishop.} 19. gxh3 $2 {The final mistake. After d4
White seems to be doing quite well. It regains control of the center and will
probably soon be able to take advantage of Black's king delicate position in
the center. After that, Black finishes off White quite accurately.} Rxh3 20.
Bg3 Nh4 21. Bxh4 Bxf3 22. Bxf6 Rh1# 0-1
