Tshotsho Khalapa and I have just finished a game begun for the purpose of assessing what he sees and then offering him some practical advice which he can implement. Tshotsho Khalapa has kindly consented to my publishing the game here with our in-game messages and some additional notes by me; perhaps this will be useful to some other players in roughly the same rating band.
[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2017.04.27"]
[EndDate "2017.05.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "moonbus"]
[Black "Tshotsho Khalapa"]
[WhiteRating "1907"]
[BlackRating "1138"]
[WhiteElo "1907"]
[BlackElo "1138"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "12188242"]
1. e4 {Message from moonbus to Tshotsho: I'll play something classical, to demonstrate some basic principles.} e5 2. Ng1f3 Nb8c6 3. Bf1b5 {moonbus: This is a standard opening. A good one to learn. You'll run into this a few thousand times in your chess career. Both sides try to develop pieces quickly and contend for control of the centre.} a6 {Tshotsho Khalapa: This is how I usaully react, trying to force the bishop backwards. Moonbus: a perfectly playable line for Black. The other common option for Black here is ... Nf6. White has two playable responses to ... a6: either BxN, or retreat the bishop.} 4. Bb5a4 Ng8f6 5. O-O {moonbus: Let's start a checklist of things to look at before you make a move. I just castled and left my e-pawn en prise (attacked and undefended). So, here is an item for the mental checklist: 1. Check all pieces (incl. pawns) left en prise. Sometimes it is a trap, sometimes it is an oversight (and believe me, even 2000+ players sometimes miss the obvious), and sometimes the piece (or in this case the pawn) can be easily regained. I invite you to use the RHP 'analyze board' function (if you are comfortable with it) or a real board (if you prefer), and play out the following variation: White castles, and you continue: ... Nxe4; Re1... and then tell me which of the three cases this is: I just blundered my e-pawn, or it's a trap, or I can get the pawn back easily. The main thing is to notice that a piece (or pawn) is hanging and to put that into your growing catalog of items to look for before you make a move. Of course, this applies to leaving your own pieces en prise, too.} Nf6xe4 {Tshotsho Khalapa: I've analyzed and I realise you can get the pawn back.} 6. d4 {moonbus: Correct. I expect to get it back. But first, I'm going to enable some development: I want to get my queen's bishop into the game rapidly, and I want to clear the e-file because your king is still in the centre. Getting the pawn back will be secondary if I can pin your knight in the centre.} f6 {moonbus: this is probably played to bolster the Black e-pawn, which is understandable. It has two serious disadvantages: 1. f6 was the natural retreat square for the Black knight, and f7-f6 just blocked it. 2. It weakens the king position by opening the diagonal h5-e8.} 7. Rf1e1 Ne4d6 {moonbus: the knight has no other retreat. On d6 it holds the critical square f7, but it severely hinders Black's further development, blocking both Black bishops.} 8. dxe5 Nc6xe5 9. Nf3xe5 Bf8e7 {moonbus: remember item one on the mental checklist: there was no reason not to take the White knight, which is hanging, on e5. By not taking fxe5, you are giving me a knight for free.} 10. Qd1h5 {moonbus: Black is in deep trouble already as a result of the opening of the h5-e8 diagonal. The natural retreat square for the Black knight was f6, but the prior pawn move f7-f6 blocked it and opened a diagonal of attack for White. A Black knight on f6 would have prevented this.} g6 11. Ne5xg6 Nd6f7 12. Re1xe7 {As GP pointed out , NxRh8 here is mate in one more: Black is paralysed and White plays Qxf7#. The object was not to win in the shortest number of moves, but to find out what Tshotsho Khalapa sees.} Qd8xe7 13. Ng6xe7 b5 {moonbus: remember item one on the mental checklist. There was no reason not to take the White knight, which is hanging, on e7. There will be times when threatening something else is a sound reply, rather than taking a piece which is en prise, but this is not one of them. ... b7-b5 might have been appropriate at move 5. (instead of ... Nxe4). But at this late stage, it merely pushes the White bishop to a better square, b3, from which it patrols the f7 square.} 14. Ba4b3 Ke8xe7 {moonbus: ah, better late than never, I guess.} 15. Qh5xf7 Ke7d8 16. Qf7xf6 {moonbus: There is now mate in two more moves; I won't bother to take your rook. Can you see it coming?} Kd8e8 {Tshotsho Khalapa: Yes, I can see it. Following my Kd8e8, I feel you will respond by Bc1g5, and then mate.} 17. Bb3f7 Ke8f8 18. Bc1h6 {moonbus: There was more than one sequence of moves which mate. (And, of course, GP's mate on move 12.)} 1-0
Items for an 1100 player's mental checklist.
1. Look for pieces (incl. pawns) which are en prise (hanging, attacked and either undefended or insufficiently defended). Your own as well as your opponent’s. If your opponent is leaving pieces hanging, think twice before you take: is it a trap, a free piece, or is he going to get it back easily? But SEE that it can be taken, and see when your own pieces are hanging. (As one poster put it, stop giving away pieces, and your rating will jump 300 points).
2. Get your king to safety. Generally, this means castling. There are exceptions but they are rare. Generally, castling king-side is safer than castling queen-side because there are fewer squares to defend, thus requiring fewer pieces to defend them in addition to the king himself. (Other posters here have mentioned this already.)
2a. Corollary: don’t weaken your king position. Generally, the square KB2 (f2 for White, f7 for Black) is critical. Guard it well!
3. Many posters have said this umpteen thousand times before, but I’ll say it again anyway: check all checks. Both yours and your opponent’s.
3a. Corollary: check all discovered checks.
3b. Corollary: check all double checks.
3c. Corollary: check all smothered checks.
3d. Corollary: keep checking all checks until no check escapes your notice. No check should ever surprise you again, ever!
These items should go through your mind before you make a move, every time, until they become automatic, unconscious, instinct, second nature, as natural as seeing that a pawn moves forwards and a bishop moves diagonally.
When you hit 1400 - 1450, post again; you’ll be ready for the next barrage of mental checklist items. In the meantime, feel free to post games for group analysis; 120 eyes see more than two.
Cheers,
moonbus
Rating improvement
01 May '17 13:02
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