Originally posted by ckoh1965White made 2 mistakes in this game, both elementary. The Bf7+ sacrifice was premature and should have lost and then a simple fork gave away the win. The position is now drawn. White proberly stands slightly better with 2 pawn islands vs 3 and a slightly better pawn structure. Care needs to be taken about the d pawn but it is no immediate danger and cannot be converted to a winning advantage by black.
What an interesting position. Both sides have backrank weaknesses. Of course one way to solve the backrank problem is by the h or g pawn move, i.e. making escape squares for the respective kings. But I think white has the option of b3, as suggested by sorrymate. The point is that the c2 pawn is indirectly protected, so the black queen can't touch it. If b3, ...[text shortened]... r because then his own d-pawn will become very strong. Mathematically speaking, game is equal.
Black made 2 serious mistakes that allowed his win to slip away, 1 strategic and 1 tactical. I will post this up over the next few days and explain how black could have won but meanwhile all those that are interested please examine the game and see if you can identify blacks errors.
(Don't worry about white errors - those were deliberate and are obvious. I am looking at finding ways for the black player to improve here. One thing I found interesting here is that short of throwing away pieces it can be hard to create interesting tactical opportunities for your opponent)
schakuhr has kindly offered to help me out with my chess playing. He has asked me to post 5 typical games here for him to analyse
Game 2496209 In this game i played well but still lost a game i could have won. I played an unusual 2. Nf3 instead of the book 2. d5
Game 2553402 I may only be learning the caro my preferred reply to 1. e4, but this game is so terrible even i can see most of the errors.
Game 2568065 Here is a far better, though different variation, example of how to play the caro.
Game 2537776 I was happy with this win though it still has tactical mistakes.
Game 2529391 A win is a win....
Originally posted by Dragon FireLooks like a missed mate on move 20. I didnt read the whole thread yet, so sorry if its a repost.
I will now play a demonstration game Game 2660753 against User 242021. I do not intend to win this unless horsey makes it difficult for me to do otherwise and I intend trying to set up strategic and tactical opportunities for my opponent using all resources available to me (including chess engines). I would like horsey to try and spot those b ...[text shortened]... ns which I will post for your comments before giving my analysis. I hope it will help you all.
Originally posted by hartdanielPlease note I (as white) was not trying to win. At move 20 I had plenty of winning opportunities. My desire was to give black chances and help him improve so "best play" from me would not have helped him. I am not really interested here in how white could play better but how can black capitalise on whites errors. So what I need people to think about is where black went wrong and what could be done to improve.
Looks like a missed mate on move 20. I didnt read the whole thread yet, so sorry if its a repost.
Originally posted by Dragon FireNevermind the last 🙂
Please note I (as white) was not trying to win. At move 20 I had plenty of winning opportunities. My desire was to give black chances and help him improve so "best play" from me would not have helped him. I am not really interested here in how white could play better but how can black capitalise on whites errors. So what I need people to think about is where [b]black went wrong and what could be done to improve.[/b]
[Event "Tutorial"]
[White "Dragon Fire"]
[Black "C J Horse"]
{C30: King's Gambit Declined}
1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Bxf7+
this sacrifice is premature. Whilst in many variations of the Kings Gambit white can sacrifice on f7 it is necessary to first complete his
development with say 0-0, Nc3, d3, etc (e.g. 5. Nc3 Nd4 6. d3 Bg4 7. O-O c6)
5... Kxf7
is obviously best as white has no compensation for the piece.Blacks plan should be to get his King to safety with Be7, Rf8, Kg8 before embarking on any reckless adventures. With a piece up he just needs to avoid making a mistake to win.
6. fxe5 dxe5 7. O-O Bc5+ 8. Kh1 Bg4
there is actually nothing wrong with this move but in view of the threat Qe2 - Qc4+ if black felt the best response was his Be3 as played then this move would be strategically bad. (Better would be 8... Rf8 9. Qe2 Qd6 10. Qc4+ Ke8)
9.Qe2 Be6
Fails in its objective to prevent Qc4+ and allows white play down the f file (The strongest alternative 9... Bxf3 gives black a promising position 10.Qc4+ Ke8 11. gxf3 Qd4
(9... Bb6 is also playable as is 9... Qd6)
10.Ng5+ Ke7 11. Nxe6 Kxe6 12. Qc4+ Kd6 13. d4 exd4
(13... Nxd4 is a somewhat better option allowing black to keep his small advantage)
14.Bf4+ Ne5
(14... Kd7 is the only chance to remain in the game 15. Qxc5 Qe7)
15. Bxe5+ Kxe5 16. Qxc5+ Ke6 17. Qf5+ Ke7 18. e5 Rf8 19. exf6+ Rxf6 20.Qg5 Kf7 21. Nd2 Kg8 22. Rxf6 Qxf6 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. Qxb7 Re8 25. Rf1 Qe5 26. Nc4
Whites second deliberate error was rather easily spotted (26. Qxa7 wins easily h6 27. Nf3)
26... Qe2 27. Qf3
(27. Kg1 would be slightly better Qxc4 28. Qxa7 h6 29. h3 Qxc2 30. Qxd4 Re2 31. Qg4 Qc5+ 32. Kh1 Rxb2)
27... Qxc4 28. b3 Qc5 29. h3 h6 30. Qf5
If Qxf5 31. Rxf5 Kh7 32. Rd5 Re4 33. Kh2 Kg6 34. Rd7 c5 35. Rd5 (35. Rxa7 Re2 36. c3 dxc3 37. Ra4 Kf6 38. Rc4 Rxa2 39. Rxc3 Ra5) 35... Re2 36. Rxc5 and white has most of the chances
This is a rather chastened horse speaking. I have looked over the game and can see two moves which I now wish I hadn’t made. 8 .. Bg4 was pointless as I hadn’t spotted at that stage White’s threat of Qe2 and then Qc4+. I might as well have moved my B to e6 straight away and saved time, but Re8 was probably a lot better as I would have been able to get my King to safety. 13 .. exd4 also seems bad as it opened up the central squares and allowed White to chase me around quite a bit. I think I should have gone for Nxd4 or e4 instead.
By the way, the above was composed in Word before I looked in the forum and I now see that Mr Dragon's analysis is on there. He's seen a lot more than me, but I'm glad to see he agrees with my opinion of the two moves above.
Here is my analysis of your first game.
Game 2496209
Even though you lost this game, you managed to keep up pretty well with an opponent whose rating is somewhat higher than yours.
You managed to get a small advantage out of the opening, however, the position then got a bit stuck and you didn't find the right way
to keep your advantage, it seemed a bit like you didn't know what to do.
Then, I think you looked at your opponents plans too much. You only anticipated to what he was doing, and didn't try anything yourself.
You simply played a bit too defensively and I think that led to the final mistake on move 30.
trekkie - medullah
1. d4 c5 2. Nf3 [A bit unusual] cxd4 3. Nxd4 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 [normal development from both players so far] a6 8. e4 e5? [Creates a hole for a knight on d5, d6 would have been better in this position] 9. Nb3 b6 10. Bg5! Bb7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 Bg7 [or 12. ...Bxd5 13. Qxd5! Ra7 += or 13. ..Nc6 14. Rad1 Ra7 15. Bh3 +=] 13. c3 [Did you consider piling up on the weak black d-pawn with Qd3 and Rad1?] Nc6 14. f4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Qc7? [wastes a tempo, Ne5 or Re8 or Rc8 would've been good] 16. Nd5! Qd8 17. Rfe1?! [moves the rook off the open f-file to a place where it isn't doing much. Better to move the b3-knight because it isn't doing much on b3] Ne5! [position is equal now] 18. Nd4 d6 19. Nf4? [doesn't accomplish anything at all. Qd2 and then Rad1 seemed best again, considering black's weak d-pawn] Bc8? [transfers the bishop to a different diagonal, but it was fine on a8-h1] 20. h3?! [anticipating to Bg4, which wouldn't have accomplished anything at all, like 20. Nd5 Bg4 21. Qd2 and it's not doing anything] 20. ...Rab8 [Qg5! exploits the g3-weakness you just created] 21. b4?! [again, too much looking at what your opponent is planning. this creates a weakness on c3 and doesn't achieve much] Bb7 22. Nd5 Bxd5 23. exd5 b5 24. a4 Qd7 25. Nc6? [Black can now win the game with 25. ...Nxc6 26. dxc6 Qa7+! 27. Kh2 Bxc3, winning the exchange. See that c3-weakness I'm talking about?] Rc8? 26. axb5! [the line of 1 move ago doesn't work anymore because the a-file is opened, += now] axb5 27. Ra7 [this is easily parried, I think 27. Qe2 targeting b5 was better here] Rc7 28. Rxc7 Qxc7 29. Nxe5? dxe5? [Bxe5 and c3 is undefendable] 30. Re3?? [allows a fatal pin] Qd6?? [misses the pin. Now Qd3 or Qe2 and the position is rougly equal] 31. Qb1?? [same mistake.] Qb6! 32. Qd3 Bh6 0-1 [possible continuation is 33. Kf2 Bxe3+ 34.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 35. Kxe3 with an elementary bishop vs rook endgame]
In summary I think you need to:
- only anticipate to your opponent's moves if he is actually threatening something, else follow your own plan;
- work a bit on your tactics (there were few tactical mistakes on your part, but the pin on the end is something that shouldn't occur)
- Try to find weaknesses in your opponent's position and exploit them.
Originally posted by schakuhrThank you for your notes. I can see how I was defensive and not playing my game.
Here is my analysis of your first game.
Game 2496209
Even though you lost this game, you managed to keep up pretty well with an opponent whose rating is somewhat higher than yours.
You managed to get a small advantage out of the opening, however, the position then got a bit stuck and you didn't find the right way
to keep your advantage, it see ...[text shortened]... t occur)
- Try to find weaknesses in your opponent's position and exploit them.
I will try to keep on working on my tactics