T9030 : Frenched....

A very enjoyable game in the T9030 format today.

My opponent obviously enjoys his slow chess and played at a good pace.

An unexpected French Defence ( to both of us : he was trying something new ) as I was expecting an e4/e5 game, but I produced "The Fascinating Réti Gambit", and we were both out of book by move 3 or 4 !

I need to take some time to think and analyse this one, but this was a real gambit for me : a pawn with compensation in the form of a very good attack and long-term pressure against the d6-pawn.

This blatant pressure gave me my simple plan, and I stuck to it ( abandoning the initial g4 idea ).

He defended, while I attacked, and when I played Ne2 to "remove a defender", it was the key moment of the game ( at least in my eyes).

14. Ne2...How should Black respond ?

I think this was better than I believed at the time. I was aiming for a remove-defender play, but with the attack on f5 , the exposure of the b2 bishop, and especially the pin (crucial in the latter part of the game), Black needed to find a good response.

What would you play ?