Where did I go Wrong?

I thought I played a very strong game and did everything correctly. I though my opening was sound and that most of the game I dominated the center and the game for that matter.

Can someone take a look at this game and tell me what went wrong and when it went wrong. When was my biggest blunder.

I really thought I had him.

Thanks,

Beau

Game 10939289

Chasing the bishop with h3 and g4 wakened your king. Ra1-e1 weakened your Q side and cluttered up your back row centre, I don't think that you ever dominated the centre.

Duncan

You did have a lot of pieces out against his uncastled king. But instead of going at the king, opening up the center, you decided to open up your own king for no value at all. What was the goal of those pawn moves chasing away the bishop? These moves created a weakness that couldn't be undone. You can't move your pawns back. Before those moves your king was better protected than his. After them it was worse. When your opponent hasn't castled and you have, your first thought should be, "How do I break into that black king's position?" Go after the king, that's the goal of the game.

You did attack the king later, but how many pieces did you have working together? Your queen and your knight, both not centrally placed. Where were your rooks at that time? Two pieces together can put pressure on a single point. The opponent will have to defend it twice. But unless you create multiple threats, your opponent will do just that and be OK. To do that, you could use more pieces. A discovered attack is a move like that. You could use your rooks to prepare a discovered attack. But your rooks were completely inactive. So first activate your rooks. A fork is another move that attacks multiple targets at once. A knight is good at forking. But it needs targets. To have those targets it needs to be placed near them. From the center, the knight is near everything. So think of ways of getting your knight in the center and ensuring it stays there.

Looks like you had a 3 move repetition draw instead of Qxd7.

40. Qe4+ looks better.

Originally posted by beauroberts
I thought I played a very strong game and did everything correctly. I though my opening was sound and that most of the game I dominated the center and the game for that matter.

Can someone take a look at this game and tell me what went wrong and when it went wrong. When was my biggest blunder.

I really thought I had him.

Thanks,

Beau

Game 10939289

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
[b]23.Bxe4?! wasn't good - the whole point of your previous move was to hit the Rook on c6 with the Bg2. By trading the Bishop, you lose that pressure. Correct is 23.Nxe4!

As others have pointed out, 25.d4?? was a blunder that lost a piece for no reason. You can have all the center control you want, but if you make moves like this, it won't matter.

And why did you play 40.Qxd7+, giving up a Queen for a Rook?[/b]

As has been said, your biggest mistakes were probably when you dropped the pieces. You should ask yourself why you decided to take the rook with your queen. Did you realise he'd just recapture, or did you miss that? If you didn't then what was your reason? Did you fear his attack? Did you give in? Did you think you were winning, but couldn't see what to do? Did you think you were lost? It all helps in working out the type of mistake you tend to make.

As far as I can see you still had a win on move 39 with R1c6+. Everything seems to lead to a mate except for 39 ... Qd6 which will put you a queen up. And 40. Qe4+ would have forced him to repeat the position allowing 41 R1c6+. Did you consider this move? (I ask because getting the analysis wrong is a different mistake from looking at a move.)

I'll put the lines up later if you like, but you should try and work them out yourself (and anyway when I've done that in the past I've been wrong!).

Mike

Originally posted by ChessPraxis
40. Qe4+ looks better.