help analyze!

it was move 10. Ne5 that i really came up with my plan of attack. your d pawn was locked in so i was expecting 10. Ne1 attacking my undefended pawn.

I liked the a7 to g1 diagonal that my queen controlled and i knew that although Ne1 would've attacked my pawn on d3 it wouldve allowed for quicker developement and i still wouldve been up.

I assumed the following..

10. Ne1 Bd7 11. Nxd3 Bd6

trying to prevent 12. Ne5 because then if you play Ne5 after 12....Nxe5 13. fxe5 0-0-0 d 14. d4! your pawns are strong and centralized. my bishops pretty much have no where to go. my queen is now out of position for a kingside attack which is what i was wanting to do, hence the queenside castle allowing me to push my kingside pawns and possibly double my rooks...still, would've had to work hard to get more pieces in on the attack with your control of the center and by then you could set up an attack of your own.

HOWEVER, like i said in our in game chat, i went over some of your games and was trying to avoid the kings gambit and your quick attacking play. i think instead of playing to your style 100% you would've gained from studying the board a little bit more thoroughly and playing according to the position.

that's just what i saw during the game...ive never been much of a self analyzer in my 2 years of playing so i dont know if there was anything more besides the obvious blunder.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
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.

"Conclusion: 2.f4 itroduces a solid and complex strategy for white" Alexander Bangiev,September 2002.

"Though it doesn't exactly avoid theory." toeternitoe,August 2010 😉

toet.

Originally posted by airborne143rd
it was move 10. Ne5 that i really came up with my plan of attack. your d pawn was locked in so i was expecting 10. Ne1 attacking my undefended pawn.

Nice analysis, I didn't think about how bad Ne5 was until that. A lot of the advice is based around regrouping before attacking, it's something I'll have to think about during my upcoming games.

airborne143rd - JedStuart

Game 2 I play as black



1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 f5 3. Nb1c3 Qd8f6

Best black opening ever created, it wins every time, except some of the time. I don't think Nc3 is the best move, but I move Qf6 anyway because it's a natural position for the queen in the latvian, it protects my king side from getting owned early on.

4. Bf1c4 Bf8b4 5. Nc3d5 Qf6d6

I overextend here, Nd5 is a dangerous outpost and I've done nothing to contest it.

6. exf5

I was scared at this point, but he went for the pawn grab. I can't think of anything better but I dont' think this is the best move. Perhaps Ng5? threatening the f7 square. Or maybe c3 then d4. I feel like he should've built more pressure instead of taking the pawn.

...c6 7. Nd5c3 Qd6f6 8. O-O d5

I fight for the center and try to kick his pieces away with pawns.

9. Nc3xd5 cxd5 10. Bc4xd5

Perhaps not the soundest move but I rather like it. It weakens my middle and makes my king very exposed.

...Ng8e7 11. Bd5b3 Bc8xf5 12. d3 Nb8c6

I have a little bit of time here so I try and get all my forces into play.

13. Bc1g5 Qf6g6 14. Bg5xe7 Bb4xe7

I'm not sure why he did this, it gets rid of one of his attackers, puts my queen on the same file as his king, and scoots my bishop towarsd the king side. The only thing I can think of is that he didn't see my bishop protecting, and I would have to recapture with my king.

15. Nf3d2 Nc6d4

Nd4 prepares for Bh3 so he can't simply play Qf3 and kill the attack off

17. g3 Qg6f5 18. Bb3d5 Rh8f8

Building up pressure on the king side... I love attacking.

19. f3 O-O-O 20. Bd5e4 Qf5f6 21. c3 Nd4e6

Frustrating, I can't seem to make my attack go anywhere.

22. Qd1b3 Ne6c5

Thank goodness for the knight move, this attack looked scary at first because I had no pieces by my king, but this knight move saves me.

23. Qb3c4 Kc8b8

Gets my king to safety, and breaks the pin, I was afraid of d4

From here on out, I don't see any strong attacking moves, so I trade off pieces and he resigns in the endgame.

24. Ra1d1 Nc5xe4 25. Qc4xe4 Be7c5 26. Kg1h1 Bc5f2 27. Re1e2 Bh3f5 28. Qe4b4 Bf2b6 29. Nd2e4 Bf5xe4 30. Qb4xe4 Qf6xf3 31. Qe4xf3 Rf8xf3 32. Re2xe5 Rf3xd3 33. Rd1xd3 Rd8xd3 34. Re5e7 Rd3d1 35. Kh1g2 Rd1d2 36. Kg2h3 Bb6g1 37. Re7xg7 Rd2xb2

Originally posted by JedStuart
airborne143rd - JedStuart

Game 2 I play as black

Good one!

Hmmm....

The time is now 19:01.

The time is now 19:09.

airborne143rd - JedStuart

OK I've been doing it longer than you but it's not hard.

I did not change one word, I did however put in the 16th moves
for both sides which you missed out.

1. e4 e5 2. Ng1f3 f5 3. Nb1c3 Qd8f6



Best black opening ever created, it wins every time, except some of the time.
I don't think Nc3 is the best move, but I move Qf6 anyway because it's a natural
position for the queen in the latvian, it protects my king side from getting owned early on.

4. Bf1c4 Bf8b4 5. Nc3d5 Qf6d6



I overextend here, Nd5 is a dangerous outpost and I've done nothing to contest it.

6. exf5



I was scared at this point, but he went for the pawn grab.
I can't think of anything better but I dont' think this is the best move.

Perhaps Ng5? threatening the f7 square. Or maybe c3 then d4.
I feel like he should've built more pressure instead of taking the pawn.

6...c6 7. Nd5c3 Qd6f6 8. O-O d5



I fight for the center and try to kick his pieces away with pawns.

9. Nc3xd5 cxd5 10. Bc4xd5



Perhaps not the soundest move but I rather like it.
It weakens my middle and makes my king very exposed.

10...Ng8e7 11. Bd5b3 Bc8xf5 12. d3 Nb8c6



I have a little bit of time here so I try and get all my forces into play.

13. Bc1g5 Qf6g6 14. Bg5xe7




I'm not sure why he did this, it gets rid of one of his attackers,
puts my queen on the same file as his king, and scoots my bishop towarsd
the king side. The only thing I can think of is that he didn't see my
bishop protecting, and I would have to recapture with my king.

14...Bb4xe7 15. Nf3d2 Nc6d4



Nd4 prepares for Bh3 so he can't simply play Qf3 and kill the attack off

16.Re1 Bh3 17. g3 Qg6f5 18. Bb3d5 Rh8f8



Building up pressure on the king side... I love attacking.

19. f3 O-O-O 20. Bd5e4 Qf5f6 21. c3 Nd4e6



Frustrating, I can't seem to make my attack go anywhere.

22. Qd1b3 Ne6c5



Thank goodness for the knight move, this attack looked scary at first
because I had no pieces by my king, but this knight move saves me.

23. Qb3c4 Kc8b8



Gets my king to safety, and breaks the pin, I was afraid of d4

From here on out, I don't see any strong attacking moves,
so I trade off pieces and he resigns in the endgame.

Here is the complete game.

Ah, thanks so much! is that inserting a board from FEN?

Thanks for the correction on move 16, but who needs move 16 anyways?

Thanks GP for making it so much easier to follow.

Here on move 6.



I would play O-O instead of taking the pawn. White ends up with threats against the e-file with rook and or queen. d4 is an option because the d-pawn is no longer pinned. If fxe4, NxB and then Nxe5 is possible because the black Q is overloaded



Edit - even if pxN on f3, Qxf3 and you lose a piece, the check on f7 and the lead in develpoment seems promising

I'm not fond of that 3.....Qf6



What happens on 4.Nd5.

4...Qd8 must be bad but looks best. 5.Nxe5 is good.

4...Qd6 meets 5.d4



5....fxe4 6.dxe5



Black is toiling here.

5....exd4 6.Bf4



And again Black is not looking too good.

Why did White not play 4.Nd5.

damn fine analysis... what the hell should I have done for my 3rd move, Nc6?

edit - fxe4 Nxe4 d4... seems better

Agree with greenpawn, Qf6 was not a great move, moving either knight would be fine, or fxe4. If someone plays a move you weren't expecting don't blindly play the move you had planned. You need to re-evaluate your plan, especially if you believe their move was poor, find some way to exploit it.

You should know that it is usually a bad idea to develop your queen early. Unless you are certain it is the correct thing to do, just don't!

From the white perspective so many of the early moves were poor.

3. Nc3 was not good, it's a very natural move to make, but not in every opening. White was given a reprieve as blacks 3rd move was also poor, but failed to capitalise on it as greenpawn suggested.

7. Nc3 was also pretty weak, taking the bishop on b4 would have diverted the queen allowing white to take the pawn on e5. Putting the knight back on c3 also makes it awkward to advance the d pawn.

I think for both of you the big problem is how you decide on your moves. How many moves are you considering as options? The improvements that are suggested, are these moves you never considered or are these moves you thought about but didn't see the benefit of?

3...fxe4, 3...d6 (goes into a Philidor), 3...Nf6 Are all OK theory wise.

OTB I have chosen 3...fxe4.

There is a trap called 'The Corkscrew'

3.....fxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. Nxe5 Qe7

And Black wins a piece.



But after 6. d4 dxe4 7. Qh5+ g6 8. Nxg6 hxg6 9. Qxh8



I've lost that a few times at blitz 4/0. Never had it OTB but I'd take Black.
In one blitz game I played the silly and lazy 9...Kf7 and got in a right
mess after 10.Bc4+



Where did I get 9...Kf7 from.

Here. I simply mixed up my lines trying to reach a Black position I've
had a few times OTB and won.

Originally posted by Willzzz
I think for both of you the big problem is how you decide on your moves. How many moves are you considering as options? The improvements that are suggested, are these moves you never considered or are these moves you thought about but didn't see the benefit of?

I considered the knight moves, but completely forgot about the capture on e4. Truth be told in the opening I don't use my brain yet, because it's too theoretical and vague. I don't understand opening systems particularly well besides get pieces to places that they can be useful.

As far as Qf3, I was, like greenpawn, trying to get to a position I had played before. I didn't calculate far enough to see that it created really big trouble.