I'm reaching one of those "just get utterly crushed in every game" plateaus again. It's very depressing.
Can someone please explain what hit me in this game? Game 741968 Ok, na4 was an error, But what was I supposed to do? Forego castling completely when the center was about to open? Castle queenside straight into an open B file? Let the b pawn go? Seriously? THIS SORT OF GAME IS DRIVING ME UTTERLY INSANE. I lose somewhere in the first few moves, and I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE OR WHY! It's not as if I missed some tactic! And I didn't break any known strategic rule! I didn't push too many pawns in the opening. I didn't develop my queen early. I didn't stick knights on the rim. I didn't pin a knight to the queen before castling. I didn't voluntarily leave my king in the center. Simply put, WHAT DID I DO WRONG???
I may just give up this game.
well, the game looks kinda harrowing. Na4 was definitely the mishap....but then again, i was wondering if your move Ne5 was really the best move at that time in the game. I probably would've like to steer a little bit more on the defensive/prophylactic side of things at this point in the game. I mean, his queen was still breathing down your neck at that point, and he could've just kicked your knight away with a move like f6.
i dunno, just trying to figure it out myself...but HEY, don't quit this game!! in fact, let's have one if you'd like! 🙂
best,
steely
Originally posted by steelydanYah, I dunno. It was the most forcing move I saw, so I played it. I think I fundamentally don't know what to do when there aren't forcing moves. Put me in a position where there are tactics flying across the board left and right, overworked pieces to be diverted, lines to open, several pieces gone desperado on each side, mating attacks to make, and I'm fine. In fact, I'm happy. Steer me into one of those positions and watch me win.
well, the game looks kinda harrowing. Na4 was definitely the mishap....but then again, i was wondering if your move Ne5 was really the best move at that time in the game. I probably would've like to steer a little bit more on the defensive/prophylactic side of things at this point in the game.
Put me in a position where neither my nor my opponent's moves are forced, and I'll quickly manage to play myself into a total loss. And it's not like I violate opening principles or anything.
I mean, what aren't they teaching? The books and such. They teach principles, and they teach tactics. So if I don't violate a principle and I don't hang meaningful amounts of material, how do I lose?
Originally posted by paultopiaI don't think that the backwards pawn thing is a rule so much as a general guide line but let me ask:
when I don't think about "principles," I think c4 would have been good, lock in his weak c pawns, preserve my right to castle etc. But noooo, I had to follow the "don't make backward pawns" rule.
Why did you play Bb5 and why did you take the knight?
~ Cheshire Cat 😀
Originally posted by Cheshire CatI played Bb5 to restrain the d5 push he was preparing, then I took so as to keep some initiative to make my own center push before he made his. I didn't think I could let him just get d5 in right away, and I didn't see any other way to stop it.
I don't think that the backwards pawn thing is a rule so much as a general guide line but let me ask:
Why did you play Bb5 and why did you take the knight?
~ Cheshire Cat 😀
Originally posted by paultopiaThis begs the question of why restrain the d5 push and how does Bb5 accomplish that? It sounds like you thought you would loose if it occurred.
I played Bb5 to restrain the d5 push he was preparing, then I took so as to keep some initiative to make my own center push before he made his. I didn't think I could let him just get d5 in right away, and I didn't see any other way to stop it.
On a side note, and please don't take this the wrong way, but, I try to keep notes of my games. When my notes look like what you typed above I know it's time for a break because I am over analyzing and making things WAY more complicated than they really are. (Many people and authors call it "creating ghosts," it's a good description) The good news is, when I come back from the chess vacation and go over my old notes, I notice new things and gain new insights.
Originally posted by paultopiaWell paulto,
I'm reaching one of those "just get utterly crushed in every game" plateaus again. It's very depressing.
Can someone please explain what hit me in this game? Game 741968 Ok, na4 was an error, But what was I supposed to do? Forego castling completely when the center was about to open? Castle queenside straight into an open B file? Let t ...[text shortened]... eave my king in the center. Simply put, WHAT DID I DO WRONG???
I may just give up this game.
What I see, is that you wasted 2 moves on your King bishop and sent it out of the board unprovoked.
Taking the sicilian on with the main line 3. d4 especially after 2...e6 was a better try.
When one takes oponents knight with the bishop the plans are for a closed center game.(e.g. Nimzo Indian defence, blacks plays c5, d6.) You could have tried d3, c4 etc. the backward pawn you are worried about is less exploitable here and better than not castling
One move threats like 14.Ne5 should be avoided; and the king rook be brought out by Rb1-b3.(you gain a tempo on the queen) 15. Qxa7 was bad as defence of the king is more important than getting the far off rook pawn. The 2 queen moves could be utilised in getting the king to e1. The loss of king bishop is felt the most here as king cannot withdraw to f1 or g1 which would have made your monarch safe.
Well your exchange of your bishop to knight is justified if he had pushed a6
as he would have lost a tempo and also the place a6 for his bishop.Your exchange gave him a killer diagonal for his bishop,an open b-file and strenthened his centre with an extra c pawn.The problem with this is that you had no way to neutralize the pressure of his bishop along the diagonal throughout the game as you had lost your light coloured bishop.
here is the Fritz analysis in PGN format... It picks up a couple of tactics you could have played and shows a game which reached the Ba6 position and white chose a good strategy to win...
[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2004.10.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "paultopia"]
[Black "XanthosNZ"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[Annotator "Fritz 8 (3s)"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2004.??.??"]
{B30: Sicilian: 2...Nc6 3 Bb5, lines without ...g6
} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bb5
Nc6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d4 (5. c4 Ne7 6. O-O Ng6 7. b3 e5 8. Nc3 Be7 9. Ne2 d6 10.
Ng3 O-O 11. Nf5 Bf6 12. Ne3 Nf4 13. d3 g6 14. g3 Nh5 15. Kg2 Bg7 16. Nh4 Nf4+
17. Kh1 Ne6 18. Rb1 a5 19. f3 Nd4 {
Wahls,M-Fedorowicz,J/Groningen 1990/CBM 21/1/2-1/2 (34)}) 5... Ba6 6. Be3 $146
(6. Nc3 d5 7. Be3 Qa5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nd4 Bb4 10. Qd2 Ne7 11. Nb3 Bxc3 12. bxc3
Qc7 13. Nc5 Bc4 14. f4 O-O 15. e5 Rab8 16. Kf2 Rb2 17. Nb3 Nf5 18. Bc5 Rb8 19.
Qc1 Bxb3 20. Qxb2 Ba4 {
Paichadze,L-Javakhishvili,L/Batumi 2003/CBM 95 ext/1-0 (46)}) 6... Nf6 7. Nc3
Ng4 8. Qd2 ({Fritz 8:} 8. Bg5 Qb8 9. h3 Nf6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. e5 cxd4 12. Qxd4
c5 13. Qe4 f5 14. Qe3 {[%eval -16,0]}) 8... Nxe3 9. Qxe3 Qb6 10. Na4 (10. Rd1
$5 $15 {is interesting} {Fritz 8:} Qxb2 11. dxc5 Qb4 12. e5 Bxc5 13. Qd2 Rd8
14. Nd4 Qb8 {[%eval -63,0]}) 10... Qb4+ 11. Nc3 Qxb2 12. Kd2 (12. Rb1 cxd4 13.
Qxd4 Qxc2 $17) 12... cxd4 13. Qxd4 Qa3 14. Ne5 (14. Rhb1 d5 $19) 14... Rd8 15.
Qxa7 $4 {simply worsens the situation} (15. Rab1 $142 $19) 15... Bb4 16. Qd4 (
16. Qe3 {is not the saving move} d5 17. Nxf7 Kxf7 $19) 16... c5 17. Qe3 (17.
Nc4 {is not much help} cxd4 18. Nxa3 Bxc3+ 19. Kd1 Bxa1 $19) 17... d5 (17... d5
18. Rhd1 dxe4+ 19. Nd3 exd3 20. cxd3 Bxc3+ 21. Ke2 Bxa1 $19) 0-1