MacKinnon – Friedel, Edmonton 2009
Black to Play and Win
I have annotated the game MacKinnon – Friedel, Edmonton International Tournament 2009, where GM Josh Friedel continued his winning ways with the Two Knights Defense, Fritz-Ulvestad Variation (5….b5), to which he has returned since his loss to Nakamura with the more traditional 5…Na5 line. The line gave him an important point on his way to a tie for first in the Edmonton International Tournament earlier this month. His opponent was 16-year-old Canadian expert Keith MacKinnon of Saskatchewan, who commented on the game at his blog: “I didn’t want to get slowly outplayed by a stronger opponent in my game against GM Josh Friedel, and so I tried to follow the game that Nakamura won against him at the US Championship this year. He played a slightly different line which I had looked at (but not nearly enough to play it against a GM in such a sharp position.) I lost quickly since my intuitive thirteenth move was actually a pretty big mistake.” Actually, theory suggests that it was his 12th move that was the problem, and there followed a series of small errors that made Black’s win look easy.
Related Links
- GM Josh Friedel Plays the Ulvestad
- Two Knights Defense, Fritz-Ulvestad Variation
- Nakamura Wins 2009 US Championship
