15 Apr 09
One of the best free educations available here at RHP is being able to submit one's completed games for anaylsis by stronger players. This is something most players don't do, and they are missing a valuable resource. (I used to ask Korch, but must find another now). If you are an average, or below average player, anaylsis of your games by those rated over 2000 can be very valuable. This can be a bitter experience if one has lost a hard fought battle, but anaylizing ones finished games normally prevents one from repeating the mistakes of the past. This can accelerate one's progress. Grandmasters almost always anaylize there finished games because they know the value of doing this. That's not the only reason they are Grandmasters, but it's one of the reasons...😏
15 Apr 09
Might as well give it a try! Here's a recent game I'm fond of:
Any thoughts? I'm most happy with 23. Kg2, a protective measure to prevent the black queen from invading and ruining my pressure along the f-file. This is something I don't usually think of, but I'm trying to implement the concepts from Silman's Reassess Your Chess more and more, and I'm starting to calm down and focus as a result.
Now, fire away! 🙂
15 Apr 09
Originally posted by GarnothMy game was far from perfect. I'm not trying to boast about a win, I'm interested in knowing whether moves like 15. Nxe5 (getting the two bishops but in a closed position) or 16. Bh6, (trying to encroach on the black king's space and start the pressure against f8) were sound or completely missed the point.
A hint, submitting losses will get you much better feedback than wins....
But you're right, it's better to take the bad medicine before the good. Here's a recent loss to the same player:
I thought I played the opening reasonably well here, trying to go after the d4 square and eventually occupying it with my knight. However, I also created a hole on d5 which the other player occupied with their knight which they ultimately made much better use of.
Now, fire away for real! 🙂
15 Apr 09
Originally posted by PBE6I'll have a stab at this.I like to analyse games,not that I'm good at it LOL Remember these notes are just my opinions,there will be garbage among it.
My game was far from perfect. I'm not trying to boast about a win, I'm interested in knowing whether moves like 15. Nxe5 (getting the two bishops but in a closed position) or 16. Bh6, (trying to encroach on the black king's space and start the pressure against f8) were sound or completely missed the point.
But you're right, it's better to take the bad medic ...[text shortened]... timately made much better use of.
Now, fire away for real! 🙂
5....,e5 I liked your setup untill here.Not only does this create a hole on d5,it also shuts in your mighty g7 bishop.I'd rather shed a pawn than do that.Instead I would opt for 5....,d6 and wait a bit longer to see how White continues.
6....,Nd4.Puts the knight on a great outpost,true,but there needs to be a piece on it,if White now captures you will have firm control over the c3-e3 squares but your precious outpost is gone.Maybe it's impossible to keep a piece there,I'm don't know as I'm not very familiar with the english opening,but I sure would like to try 🙂
7...,Ne7 I would've gone Nxe2+ (or even the odd Nc6,it's a closed position so losing a tempo doesn't seem a problem to me) for reasons given above.It's true that it's White's bad bishop,but let's say you play 7...,Nxf3+ 8.Bxf3,Ne7 9.Be3,d6 10.Bg4 forcing either the trade of his bad bishop for your good one or 10...,f5 which,although I don't really see a problem to it,is something I'm not sure you'd like.
13...,fxe4 I think 13....,f4 and then your f5 idea is stronger.it's more of a restriction on White's pieces.
14...,f5 I really like that move 🙂
21....,Qd8 Why not 21...,Qh5 keeping the queen active.On d8 she's not of much use to you.
22....,exd4? Loss of a piece is now inevitable,I think.If instead 22...,cxd4 you'd have 2 connected passers and White doesn't have Ne7+.
There,now someone else can make mincemeat out of my analyses. 🙂
15 Apr 09
1 edit
Originally posted by RomanticusThanks for your analysis, Romanticus!
I'll have a stab at this.I like to analyse games,not that I'm good at it LOL Remember these notes are just my opinions,there will be garbage among it.
5....,e5 I liked your setup untill here.Not only does this create a hole on d5,it also shuts in your mighty g7 bishop.I'd rather shed a pawn than do that.Instead I would opt for 5....,d6 and wait a bit l Ne7+.
There,now someone else can make mincemeat out of my analyses. 🙂
5....,e5 I liked your setup untill here.Not only does this create a hole on d5,it also shuts in your mighty g7 bishop.I'd rather shed a pawn than do that.Instead I would opt for 5....,d6 and wait a bit longer to see how White continues.
I agree. In my attempt to control the d4 square, I ended up curtailing my own bishop and created the hole, kind of like taking one step forward and two steps back. 5. ... d6 seems like a much stronger reply.
6....,Nd4.Puts the knight on a great outpost,true,but there needs to be a piece on it,if White now captures you will have firm control over the c3-e3 squares but your precious outpost is gone.Maybe it's impossible to keep a piece there,I'm don't know as I'm not very familiar with the english opening,but I sure would like to try 🙂
I seem to have trouble with this all the time. I see an outpost, and immediately place my knight there without considering possible captures. Maybe 6. ... d6 7. 0-0 Bg4 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Nd4 would have been better, with ... Ne7, ... f5 and ... Nxf5 to follow, providing backup for the outpost.
7...,Ne7 I would've gone Nxe2+ (or even the odd Nc6,it's a closed position so losing a tempo doesn't seem a problem to me) for reasons given above.It's true that it's White's bad bishop,but let's say you play 7...,Nxf3+ 8.Bxf3,Ne7 9.Be3,d6 10.Bg4 forcing either the trade of his bad bishop for your good one or 10...,f5 which,although I don't really see a problem to it,is something I'm not sure you'd like.
Here I was trying to initiate an early ... f5, hoping to push my e-pawn and allow my bishop out of its cage, but in retrospect that doesn't make much sense as white controlled much more space on the kingside. Why did I want to open that can of worms up? 😕 I still like Ne7 over Nf6 because the knight doesn't have much of a future there, but I probably should have moved him over to the queenside to make some productive counterplay trouble by assisting a b5 advance. 7. ... Nc6 might have been a better option too, giving up a tempo to reposition my knight.
13...,fxe4 I think 13....,f4 and then your f5 idea is stronger.it's more of a restriction on White's pieces.
I think you're right. I was trying to open up the f-file, which is why I played 13. ... fxe4, but again, why was I playing on that side of the board? 13. ... f4 would have blocked both of white's bishops and opened things up for my light-squared bishop, gaining space on the kingside and providing me with the opportunity to trade off my bishop for white's posted knight if needs be.
14...,f5 I really like that move 🙂
🙂!
21....,Qd8 Why not 21...,Qh5 keeping the queen active.On d8 she's not of much use to you.
You're right, my queen was my most active piece and this move killed the momentum. I think I was trying to prevent 22. Ne7+, but I don't think this threat would have come to much had my queen been more active.
22....,exd4? Loss of a piece is now inevitable,I think.If instead 22...,cxd4 you'd have 2 connected passers and White doesn't have Ne7+.
Yep. I think I was trying to be clever and push white's queen around with 23. ... Re8 after opening the e-file, but it obviously fails to 24. Qxh7+. 22. ... cxd4 would have made the best of a bad situation.
15 Apr 09
1 edit
I'm curious as to how to improve my opening play in this game [key points for analysis white's 10th and 11th moves or maybe later, I think] ; I was White. My interest for discussion is in the Advanced French, I did not wish to play the more promising and dynamic Winawer open lines with Nc3, Qg4 or the Tarrasch Nd2 c5 are more drawish and boring, and exchange French is not interesting to me.
Also curious as to improvements on Black's 22nd or before the exchange of queens. In game, the remaining moves for me felt generally forced, and the result was a fluke - a draw would have been the appropriate result.
15 Apr 09
1 edit
Originally posted by PBE612...Bxc3 - ugh. Black should not trade off the valuable fianchettoed B just to double white's pawns.
Might as well give it a try! Here's a recent game I'm fond of:
[pgn][Event "March 2009 Sprint Split V"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2009.03.17"]
[EndDate "2009.04.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "PBE6"]
[Black "utherpendragon"]
[WhiteRating "1325"]
[BlackRating "1611"]
[WhiteELO "1325"]
[BlackELO "1611"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "6122836"]
rting to calm down and focus as a result.
Now, fire away! 🙂
20...Bf5?? was just a blunder that lost a piece. 20...Qe7 seems forced here.
I think you did OK in playing the position from there - the main improvement I see is 30.Qf1, which trades the Queens without losing the g-pawn.
15 Apr 09
Originally posted by KazetNagorraMy thoughts...
Where did I throw away the win?
4. ... Bf5
a natural move but a mistake.
Black should play 4. ... dxc4 e.g. 5. a4 Bf5, 6. e3 e6, 7. Bxc4
6. e3
White should play 7. Nd2 (a standard recommendation here). THe idea is to threaten e2-e4 so one of Black's pieces has to move. The other one will also get bumped when White does advance the king's pawn. Black is getting pushed back so White has the edge.
Compare the position after 6. e3 to the line I give in the previous note ... It's exactly the same except for:-
White pawn is still on a2 - probably in White's favour
White bishop still on f1 - clearly he'd rather have it on c4
Black pawn not yet on e6 - Black has lost a tempo
Black knight on d5 rather than f6 - in Black's favour.
These add up to your position not being quite as good as the standard line in the first note (mainly because you've lost a tempo with your bishop) and therefore you're unlikely to have any advantage at all now.
7. Be2
I think I'd be tempted to play Bd3 here. Black's bishop is just too good so White probably has to accept the trade of his better bishop. White's playing for equality here so probably has to put up with such things
7. ... Bb4
I don't think this is the right idea beacause it makes a trade of dark squared bishops more likely - which Black would like to avoid because White's is stuck behind the d4 and e3 pawns.
9. Nxd5
Nice one. You're getting rid of you're bad bishop and trading off Black's better knight all with one stone!
11. Nxd2
I don't like this though. 11. Kxd2 must be better. The king's not in danger so the centre is where he wants to be. You're about to castle which just means that later you'll need to waste several moves bringing him back to where he could be now. Also Kd2 allows White to play Bd3 and trade those bishops. Finally 11. Nxd2 takes the knight from a good square (where it controls e5) and puts it on a worse one.
After 11. Kxd2 I think WHite is a little better. As played it's just equal at best again.
11. ... exd5
I'm not sure about this. It may be better to take back the other way. You're about to miss a chance to put Black under some annoying pressure.
12. 0-0
I think White should be playing Nb3, Kd2 (Bd3) and Rhc1. You should be playing on the queenside here.
The pawn structure is now identical to that which you get with Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation. White can now play for a minority attack. Essentially this means advancing your a and b pawns (you've got 3 against 4 on the q-side which is why it's a minority attack) and swap them for two of black's pawns. If this is, say, the a and b pawns Black will be left with a sickly pawn on c6 and a nice hole for your pieces on c5.
This all may not be enough to win but certainly you can pin him down (rooks to the c-file, knight on c5) and Black will never be able to break loose and win. Essentially White would then be playing with the draw in hand.
Incidentally, you may well want to support your queenside advance with a rook on b1 - which is another reason why you needed to trade that pesky bishop on f5.
13. Rac1
Wrong rook - see above.
14. a4
Black's reply will blockade your pawns and you'll never be able to get them going.
16. Bd3
Better late than never! Still, swapping bishops this way is not as good for you as earlier options - because the rook is not well placed on d3 and will have to move again.
22. ... Ree8
Not sure what Black is up to here. Why this rook is going to a8 is completely beyond me. It's not as if White can attack a5 some more. Black's just wasting time.
28. Kd3
White king's just made it back to the centre - see what I mean about the time wasted?
35. g4
Advancing the g and h pawns may not be the right idea. dxc5 straightaway may be an improvement.
38. Rc4
Were you playing to trade rooks? I'm not sure if that's the right idea
42. ... Kxe4
A mistake I think.
... Kf4, ... Kxg4, ... Kxh5 and queening the g5 pawn saves time and seems to win for Black - which is why I think you should have thought twice before trading rooks. You had good chances to draw the rook ending.
44. a5
Must be a mistake. (btw - I'm not convinced that the previous few moves were accurate either but they need a closer look)
here. 45. Kxb4 must be a better choice.
45. ... fxg4, 46. a5 g3, 47. a6 g2, 48. a7 g1=Q,49. a8=Q+
You have much better drawing chances in this ending than in the game as played because you've got one pawn less to lose on the k-side
