Hey all,
I've played some absolute stinkers lately, but I've also just finished up two draws with 2000+ players and I'm looking for help finding improvements.
Game 4145958 draw with backfrom1994. This was a very odd opening and I felt I ended up better and just couldn't find the proper way to bring my bishop pair into the game (and expose his back ranked knight as a weakness).
Game 4720743 draw with Schakur. This was really a boring game but I had a slight advantage at the end as his pawns were on the dark squares with our bishops. Unfortunately, that was offset by his superior king position.
First impressions only on Game 4145958:
8.d4! must be better than 8.d3.
13...Rae8 looks wrong - maybe on c8 instead? Play for Ne7-g6 then d5? Hmm....
15.a4 instead of Rad1
17.Rc1 seems slow - maybe Qb3 right away.
21.Bxd5 instead of cxd5 - I dunno. Rooks look good on the c-file after cxd5.
Does 24.Bh3 work? Re7? 25.Bxd7 Rxd7 26. Rxc8.
31.e4 instead of Bf1, play for e5 and passed d-pawn.
All very quick impressions, someone point out what I got wrong.
Originally posted by Heroic MetoolVery good question. I liked the fact that the capture simplified to an endgame with his pawns on the wrong color while simultaneously backing his king up away from the pawns. Clearly I should have calculated better and seen that it wouldn't be enough.
Why not 29. ... Re4 in the second game?
Originally posted by DawgHausI don't understand what 15. a4 gains.
First impressions only on Game 4145958:
8.d4! must be better than 8.d3.
13...Rae8 looks wrong - maybe on c8 instead? Play for Ne7-g6 then d5? Hmm....
15.a4 instead of Rad1
17.Rc1 seems slow - maybe Qb3 right away.
21.Bxd5 instead of cxd5 - I dunno. Rooks look good on the c-file after cxd5.
Does 24.Bh3 work? Re7? 25.Bxd7 Rxd7 26. ...[text shortened]... lay for e5 and passed d-pawn.
All very quick impressions, someone point out what I got wrong.
21. cxd with rooks on the c-file just seemed more concrete.
I kept watching for Bh3, but the resultant attack always scared me.
24.Bh3, fxg3, hxg ( Rxd7, Qxf2+, Kh1, Qh2++ ), Qxf2+, Kh1, Bxh3 and black has won.
31. I'm not sure why but I didn't think I could support the pawn advance, that warrants a further look.
Thanks for the comments.
Originally posted by zebanoRe4 also simplifies to an endgame, but it forces him to take your rook and create a passed pawn for you, while simultaneously freeing the d5 square for your king.
Very good question. I liked the fact that the capture simplified to an endgame with his pawns on the wrong color while simultaneously backing his king up away from the pawns. Clearly I should have calculated better and seen that it wouldn't be enough.
I have not calculated all variations, so I can't say you had a winning position, but most, if not all of them will lead to a position like this one:
In this position, his king can't move because of the d4 pawn, so if you keep threatening the pawn with Bg7/Bh8/Bg7 his bishop will have to leave the e3 square. Then you can sacrifice the pawn by playing e3 and penetrate with your king through the e4 square. I *think* that should be enough to win the game.
I don't think you should have given up on the second one as a draw... I think you can try to get an advantage after he plays Be3 with Bf6...haven't completely worked it out but with Bf6 there is a way to break through with your king which with your central king and your super bishop to his ugly king and his horrible bishop..I think that even with well above average play by white that black can pull this game out....and on move 31 instead of h5 I believe that Bf6-d8 is better because now at the end the tension over on the king side favors white and threats over there make it harder to break through for black but with the bishop on d8 you can create all kinds of trouble on the queen side..this is good for two reasons 1.your king has easier access to the queen side and 2.his bishop is so horrible its almost like its just another pawn that has just a little extra power...you force an entry and just start gobbling pawns.
Originally posted by zebanoI prefer 8.d4 because I think the move is necessary to break into Black’s position with initiative; a break on the queenside flank is possible but I do not think you can do it to advantage.
Game 4145958 draw with backfrom1994. This was a very odd opening and I felt I ended up better and just couldn't find the proper way to bring my bishop pair into the game (and expose his back ranked knight as a weakness).
11…f4 looks strong weakening e3.
13…Qh5 I think is best with the ideas of eventually playing Nd8-f7-g5 to h3 or f3 and Ng4; Black will have to strike in the Kside to get advantage.
15.Qa5 looks like it may win a pawn. Also 15.Rac1 with the idea of d4 I think is better than the game move. I do not know what a4 leads to after a move like c5 for instance but I am interested in the ideas behind the move.
White is better in the final position but I do not know how to take advantage; DawgHaus’s idea of passing the pawn is probably right; a second idea is Ba6 followed by a5. As the knight and Q covers d6 white should aim to trade off one of those pieces after e5.
Originally posted by Heroic Metool31...Bf6 32.a5 Bh4+ and see what white can do with that...I don't know if its winning as I haven't looked for very long.
White can lock the queen side up with a5, though, and I doubt black can manage to break through on the king side either.
31...Bf6 32.Bc3, actually. I wouldn't play a5 until black plays Bd8 - no reason to do it, and Bc3 is a strong defensive move, covering both e1 and a5.
31...Bf6 32.a5 Bh4+ should be good for black, though:
33. Ke2 Bg3
34. Kf3 Be1
35. Ba3 Bd2 and it looks like white is in zugzwang and will lose a pawn.
There might be some improvements (34. Ke3, maybe), but it does a good job in creating winning chances. After 32. Bc3, the position seems pretty much dead.
Originally posted by DawgHaus4...Bb4. new try for me. I usually play Be7 in a Ilyin-Zhenevsky type formation
First impressions only on Game 4145958:
8.d4! must be better than 8.d3.
13...Rae8 looks wrong - maybe on c8 instead? Play for Ne7-g6 then d5? Hmm....
15.a4 instead of Rad1
17.Rc1 seems slow - maybe Qb3 right away.
21.Bxd5 instead of cxd5 - I dunno. Rooks look good on the c-file after cxd5.
Does 24.Bh3 work? Re7? 25.Bxd7 Rxd7 26. ...[text shortened]... lay for e5 and passed d-pawn.
All very quick impressions, someone point out what I got wrong.
8.d4 looks more natural
10...e5. I liked my position. I could push e5 that is a must in a Dutch.
11...Qf7. maybe not the best move. I wanted to keep an eye on g7. It brought me more problems than solution.
12...Be6. my plan was to push e4 to weaken white position.
13...Rae8. for me this one looks natural, bringing more force in the center. I didn't like e5 now because of the annoying Nf4.
16.bxc6. this one surprised me: it repositioned my Knight in a good square.
the remaining later, too much wine tonight...
Originally posted by Heroic MetoolWhile still not looking hard and must have missed something but 31...Bf6 32.Bc3 Bd8 33.a5 Bh4+ and its the same thing almost right? tell me what I am missing please...or I can just look a bit harder once I have some time.
31...Bf6 32.Bc3, actually. I wouldn't play a5 until black plays Bd8 - no reason to do it, and Bc3 is a strong defensive move, covering both e1 and a5.
31...Bf6 32.a5 Bh4+ should be good for black, though:
33. Ke2 Bg3
34. Kf3 Be1
35. Ba3 Bd2 and it looks like white is in zugzwang and will lose a pawn.
There might be some improvements (34. Ke ...[text shortened]... oes a good job in creating winning chances. After 32. Bc3, the position seems pretty much dead.
EDIT: I do notice that white can't play Bg3-e1 anymore but he still has good chance with h6 and g5 right or just g5 right off the bat as it seems that white can force an entry or does Bd2 by white stop this in its tracks? I don't know...as I said I will take more of a look once I get the time
EDIT2and3: so here we go...
31...Bf6 32.Bc3 g5!(I think it deserves this because if f5 then black plays h5! and 33.Bd2 loses a pawn to gxf4 34.Bxf4 Bxd4 so white must exchange pawns and with fxg5)33.fxf5 h5(I don't know the merit of this because it just gets all the king side pawns off the board and black's king is on the farthest side of the board away from where he wants to be so I am thinking of h6 here) 34.Ke2 (and now blacks play is forced pretty much..he has to move his king up and take the pawn.) and it looks as if it still draws although that queen side looks bad for white I don't think that black can win except by putting pressure on d4 maybe.
EDIT4: h5 is out and so is h6..Kg6 and then h5..
so here is the line.
31...Bf6 32.Bc3 g5! 33.fxg5 Bxg5 34.Ke2 Kg6 35.Kf3 h5 36.gxf5+ Kxg5 and now maybe 37.Be1 Bc1 38.Bc3 Kg5 and I think black has an advantage but if its significant I don't know.