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JedStuart - airborne143rd



Here is a game I recently played against airborne143rd, I'll go over what I was thinking and then hopefully players who are way better than me can tell me where I went wrong. Here goes.

1.e4 e6 2. f4
Here I wanted to play something aggressive, and this seemed like a playable opening
... d5 3. e5 c5 4. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 5. c3 f6
I think he blundered here and weakened his f file
6. Bf1d3
I don't know why I did this, seemed like it was a good idea at the time... I block in my pawn, but I felt like I should eventually move him to c2 (I saw this in an opening theory book so I just went with it)
...Qd8b6 7. exf6 Ng8xf6
Again I chumped it up I was trying to remove his pawn from the f file, but got so excited that I completely overlooked that it developed his knight... whoops!
8. O-O c4 9. Kg1h1 cxd3
Mega blunder. I was so focused on my own plan that I didn't realize what my opponent was setting up. All I could think about was smashing the f file relentlessly, then making a beautiful sacrafice and winning... unfortunately this game didn't turn out that way, most don't.
10. Nf3e5
Puts him at a good outpost, and if taken, nothing is blocking the f file any longer and I can attack
...Nc6xe5 11. fxe5 Nf6e4 12. Qd1f3 Qb6c7
I don't think he has to defend against my threat. I was looking at Bc5 and my head started to hurt.
13. Nb1a3 Bc8d7 14. Qf3f7 Ke8d8
Here I'm just trying to get my pieces developed as the stupid pawn at d3 is choking the crap out of me. His queen no longer protects f7, so I take a stab.
15. b3 Qc7xe5
This capture surprises me... again I get so caught up in developing my pieces that I forget what my opponent is doing.
16. Bc1b2 Bf8d6 17. g3 Ne4xg3 18. hxg3 Qe5xg3 19. Qf7f2 Qg3h3 20. Kh1g1 Bd7c6 21. Ra1e1 d4
He centralizes his queen and then attacks quite strongly, I crumbled under the attack.

Besides my big blunder I felt like this game could've lasted a lot longer than 22 moves. I think that instead of the queen stab at f7 I should've taken the pawn on d3 and tried to unclog the middle. Does anyone else have any insightful analysis? Airborne is playing from his phone so he can't post, but if you have better moves for him feel free to post those too.

Regards,
Colin

tried to load pgn from my phone..fail :/

5. c3 f6
I think he blundered here and weakened his f file
When you play f4 it's agressive yet when he plays f6 it's weakening?Seems biased thinking.His f6 attacks your center and is,to my knowledge,not at all uncommon in the French defense.

6. Bf1d3??
Untill you're rated 2500 and can get away with it,don't put your bishop on d3 while you still have a pawn on d2.Just don't.Also don't blindly follow 'bookmoves'.Btw,which opening was that book about?And was it deemed a good move?

7. exf6
Don't give up that e-pawn unless forced or you have a good reason

8. O-O
Obvious blunder,castling into a discovery

10. Nf3e5
Puts him at a good outpost, and if taken, nothing is blocking the f file any longer and I can attack
After capture your outpost is simply gone.Trying to take on the entire black army with queen and rook is like Belgium invading Great Brittain; absurd

14. Qf3f7
Does nothing.Take d3 instead as you mention in your summary.

I think the game was equal untill you blundered with 8.0-0.After that airborne played it out quite nicely.
But you already figured that out yourself.Two things you can learn from this loss:
-control your attacking tendencies!
-take notice of your opponent's moves!
But judging by your own notes you already know that too.

toet.

Originally posted by JedStuart
JedStuart - airborne143rd

[pgn][Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2010.08.17"]
[EndDate "2010.08.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "JedStuart"]
[Black "airborne143rd"]
[WhiteRating "1593"]
[BlackRating "1575"]
[WhiteELO "1593"]
[BlackELO "1575"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "7685307"]

1. e4 e6 2. f4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 ...[text shortened]... oves for him feel free to post those too.

Regards,
Colin

1.e4 e6 2. f4
Here I wanted to play something aggressive, and this seemed like a playable opening

This is a good move against 1... e5 because it challenges the centre pawn. If Black accepts the gambit the idea is to play d4 building a solid pawn centre (after 2. Nf3 to prevent the queen invasion on h4). White hopes to capture the pawn on f4 with his bishop developing and regaining the material with one move. Gaining tempos is how to win games!

Something like this would be ideal for White:



What's the idea behind 2. f4 in your game? It doesn't prevent Black playing a pawn to e5 because he's already moved this pawn to e6. All it really does is weaken your kingside. True, the f-pawn thrust is thematic in the French when Black challenges the advanced e-pawn with f6 (as happened in the game). But by this stage your game was in a dire way for other reasons.

5. c3? Better is 5. d4. Just look what happens later because you didn't play this move: your king lands up on the exposed diagonal which results in you losing a bishop; and a Black pawn makes its way to d3 preventing your bishop from developing naturally. Eventually your bishop finds a home as a 'tall pawn' on b2; a long way away from the action.

5... f6 is not a blunder by the way. This undermines your overextended centre; and if you capture with exf6 he develops his knight and recaptures with one move.

6. Bd3? Shocking! 6. d4 was the logical follow-up to 5. c3. Your planned bishop manoeuvre is too slow and blocks the d-pawn.

6... Qb6. Black is playing thematically - building up pressure against d4.

7. exf6? See above: you've given your opponent a tempo.



8. 0-0? Loses the bishop.

10. Ne5? Try to avoid exchanges when behind in material.

From here on your problems are all related to the poor opening.

When you play f4 it's agressive yet when he plays f6 it's weakening?Seems biased thinking.His f6 attacks your center and is,to my knowledge,not at all uncommon in the French defense.
hahaha, hypocritical I suppose, but I don't believe in defense, so moves that weaken my position aren't bad for me, whereas moves that weaken my opponents position are bad for him. (Just pretend that is logical)
Untill you're rated 2500 and can get away with it,don't put your bishop on d3 while you still have a pawn on d2.Just don't.Also don't blindly follow 'bookmoves'.Btw,which opening was that book about?And was it deemed a good move?
SOS Vol 8, this was the main line in one of the variations, Labourdonais variation

Thanks for your analysis and time. Overall, I just like to attack so much that I go prematurely (like your analysis of me trying to take on his whole army with just a queen and a rook). Sometimes it's better to regroup and use all my forces, instead of simply ignoring forces that take a while to develop.

Honestly there's not really much you can learn from this game: you blundered in the opening... I'm sure there were some good defensive moves you missed, but no one wants to analyze a game that's lost by move 8!

I don't understand why you would play 2.f4? vs. the French Defense. Just play a main line and get a decent position. Set aside 15 minutes after 2...e6 to learn a setup (3.e5, 3.Nd2, or 3.Nc3) and you're good to go. Take advantage of the time you have here to make a move! Personally I've never read an opening book in my life, but I sure know enough theory to get my king to safety (in an efficient way) in the French, Sicilian, Ruy Lopez, etc.

A lot of players on this site seem to have a phobia about playing main lines, they think they're going to be "out theoried". Honestly there's no truth to that. Main lines are main lines for a reason... they practically guarantee an advantage. Or, if they don't, you're certainly not going to come out of the opening worse, which is what happened to you. By move 9 you were down a piece and had lost all central control... Whenever you come across an opening for the first time in CC, just take 15 minutes to do some research...

Umm yeah going to say the same as the others, c3 is not great and it's awful when you follow it up with Bd3.

If you want to be aggressive fine, but if you want to win games it's better to follow a standard book opening, develop first and then start attacking. BTW landing a pointless check doesn't count as attacking.

"the stupid pawn at d3 is choking the crap out of me"

OK, so he has an annoying piece and you have the ability to take it, so what do you do??? Oh yes, move your piece that could have taken it somewhere completely pointless.

Originally posted by Willzzz
Umm yeah going to say the same as the others, c3 is not great and it's awful when you follow it up with Bd3.

If you want to be aggressive fine, but if you want to win games it's better to follow a standard book opening, develop first and then start attacking. BTW landing a pointless check doesn't count as attacking.

"the stupid pawn at d3 is choking th ...[text shortened]... you do??? Oh yes, move your piece that could have taken it somewhere completely pointless.

I didn't consider the check to be completely pointless when I did it, I was thinking that I could take his bishop with my queen and then win two rooks, but later realized that he could block with his other bishop. I'll have to be more careful with my calculations.

Most important lesson to be learned from this game-

Whenever you play f4 your King is not safe on g1. A common idea in master play (Karpov and Kasparov both come to mind) is to tuck away your King somewhere safe before you initiate your attack. Why? An exposed king has a way of turning into a tactical nightmare, let alone you have to calculate all checks against your king each move.

I guessed you didn't think it was pointless at the time but that is why we are analysing the moves. Be especially careful with your calculations before committing to an attack, this is the pivotal moment.

I think a lot of players get worried that they must attack early to secure an advantage. Firstly you must develop your pieces before you can put together an effective attack. Unless you are certain you can achieve a true advantage develop first.

Even in the middle game there is no rush to attack, as Nimzo5 says, it is often a good idea to tuck your king away safe before attacking. Castling on it's own does not always mean the king is safe.
Again I think many people worry that this gives their opponent a free move, but often in the middle game an extra tempo doesn't help. If all his pieces are developed and all yours are protected what can he gain?

I have to disagree with virtually everybody who responded to you. First of all, I think 2.f4 is a fine response to the French defense if you're dead set on avoiding theory. Against the French I play the move 2.b3 (Intending 3.Bb2 with a potential pawn sacrifice) and score well with it. I dare somebody to explain why the move 2.f4 isn't perfectly sound. If nothing else it certainly avoids typical "French" positions.

I also disagree that the move 6.Bd3 is bad. It definitely looks anti-positional at first glance but I actually think that square is the bishop's most natural developing square. I will say that the move 7.exf6 is bad, instead 7.Bc2 seems much better for white. After 7.Bc2 I think it is fair to say that the position is equal. Clearly, 8.O-O is a blunder and the win is very simple for black after this.

Originally posted by nimzo5
Most important lesson to be learned from this game-

Whenever you play f4 your King is not safe on g1. A common idea in master play (Karpov and Kasparov both come to mind) is to tuck away your King somewhere safe before you initiate your attack. Why? An exposed king has a way of turning into a tactical nightmare, let alone you have to calculate all checks against your king each move.

Having the King's Gambit and Schliemann in my repertoire I think that when the moves f4 or f5 are played it is of the utmost importance to always be aware of potential checks on the king through that diagnol (Kh1/Kh8 are thematic moves that are often necessary) and also to be aware of queen checks along the e1-h4 and e8-h5 diagnol before the king is castled.

Originally posted by DivGradCurl
Honestly there's not really much you can learn from this game: you blundered in the opening... I'm sure there were some good defensive moves you missed, but no one wants to analyze a game that's lost by move 8!

I don't understand why you would play 2.f4? vs. the French Defense. Just play a main line and get a decent position. Set aside 15 minutes afte ...[text shortened]... oss an opening for the first time in CC, just take 15 minutes to do some research...

He lost not because of a lack of opening knowledge but rather because of a lack of tactical knowledge.

Originally posted by Green Paladin
[b]1.e4 e6 2. f4
Here I wanted to play something aggressive, and this seemed like a playable opening

This is a good move against 1... e5 because it challenges the centre pawn. If Black accepts the gambit the idea is to play d4 building a solid pawn centre (after 2. Nf3 to prevent the queen invasion on h4). White hopes to capture the pawn on f4 ...[text shortened]... 3 Qe5xg3 19. Qf7f2 Qg3h3 20. Kh1g1 Bd7c6 21. Ra1e1 d4 0-1[/pgn][/b]

5.c3 does not deserve a ?, I think this move is at least nearly as strong as an immediate d4.

And 6.Bd3 also does not deserve a ? How is this too slow after 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Bc2?

Originally posted by cmsMaster
5.c3 does not deserve a ?, I think this move is at least nearly as strong as an immediate d4.

And 6.Bd3 also does not deserve a ? How is this too slow after 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Bc2?

5.c3 does not deserve a ?, I think this move is at least nearly as strong as an immediate d4.

The logic is: if you're going to choose between two moves opt for the one that you will definitely play first. That way you maintain flexibility. 5. d4 stakes a claim in the centre and opens the bishop diagonal whereas 5. c3 prepares for 6. d4 (if that is the intention - which it wasn't). This shows your hand too soon. Why not wait for Black to hit d4 again (with the queen, say) before bolstering it with 6. c3? Also, all the squares available for the knight are occupied except for a3 - a woeful situation. The poor fellow can't even get back into the game from a3 because someone put a bishop on c2!

And 6.Bd3 also does not deserve a ? How is this too slow after 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Bc2?

Why take three moves (c3, Bd3, Bc2) to develop a piece to a mediocre square (and lose the fight for the centre) when there is e2 available for the bishop?

White lost because he failed to contest the centre; didn't appreciate the cost of tempos; and systematically denuded his kingside of pieces.

Edit: Dropping a piece didn't help either.