Chess above my level

Game 6694531

Hello all, I'd like to ask for your advice on this game. I felt like I was in a stronger position for much of it, but couldn't find a way to capitalise.
What are your impressions of the game? How could I have made better use of my space advantage, and was there a way for me to promote at the end?

Much gratitude for anything you have to say, love and pandas
marcus

i had a quick look at the game... why did you resign and not play it out to see how he finished? you might have learnt a little plus i would say if not for the rating differences that it wasn't a completely lost game.

why didn't you take his knight with your pawn?

Originally posted by Ouermyhte
Game 6694531

Hello all, I'd like to ask for your advice on this game. I felt like I was in a stronger position for much of it, but couldn't find a way to capitalise.
What are your impressions of the game? How could I have made better use of my space advantage, and was there a way for me to promote at the end?

Much gratitude for anything you have to say, love and pandas
marcus

Originally posted by Ouermyhte
Game 6694531

Hello all, I'd like to ask for your advice on this game. I felt like I was in a stronger position for much of it, but couldn't find a way to capitalise.
What are your impressions of the game? How could I have made better use of my space advantage, and was there a way for me to promote at the end?

Much gratitude for anything you have to say, love and pandas
marcus

Thanks for your thoughts guys, I'll give my response:

Trev, you're right, looking back at it I should have played it out to learn from his technique, but the position looked hopeless, and I still can't see what you mean when you say it's not clearly lost - it looks like he's going to take my passed pawns, then stampede through the middle with three or four of his own. What do you see that gives me hope?

A common theme of your responses is that I should have taken the knight with the pawn - I considered it and thought that I'd be able to promote, which of course would be better than just yoinking a piece. Part of what I was asking is whether I was right in thinking that I had a chance of promotion.

Also, do you think that his losing the piece was just a blunder, or did he gain something from it? I tend to assume that people rated that much higher than me have a cunning plan!

People of a higher level often make blunders against lower rated opposition. The saying is that
you have to play the board not the rating... and that works both ways.

The advantage of a passed point is more than just the possibility of a promotion, it's also the
"threat" of promotion. This threat can keep an opponents pieces tied up defending against the
promotion or force them to sacrifice.

In your game it seems as though they took your knight expecting you to take theirs. The little
scene there around a2,b2 seemed ripe for some calculation. Get it up on the analyze board
and step through a few possibilities.

Not taking the piece would be fine if you could calculate for certain that you could promote - at a glance it looks as though you might have had something there.

Hi Ouermyhte

Smashing game - first play over this - it's only 7 moves.

Game 6736635

Now White is currently 1318 which is 300 more than you so you
can see grades mean nothing on here - nothing at all.

A nice sensible opening and over all good chess.

Then it happened.

White blundered the piece, and blinded by your opponent's grade
you thought there was a trick and got yourself all confused.

I've taken the game from the moment you should have taken
the Knight and given a plausible continuation where Black sacs back
the extra piece and uses the passed pawn.

This is what you do when you have an extra piece - sac it back
to expose the King.

There might be deeper wins, but I'm making it as simple and
as instructive possible.

Winning with an extra piece with a pawn on the 7th.
Two plausible variations. The first brute force. The 2nd is White
trying to make messy by getting the Queens off.(this is cute).

One position to note.



Note the simple Rook lift 11...Rf5 won't do as 12.Qa8+ is a draw.
maybe even a White win.

You must always be careful when playing the winnning move.