This is game three from the 4545 League. My team is doing well despite my best efforts. Yep, another loss. Yeesh. My team had won the match at this point so the pressure was off. I still tried to win but ended up resigning in under 25 moves. I dropped a pawn (yet again, I saw it 10 seconds after I played it...) and then missed a tactic and mis-played another thing. Rough. Just not seeing stuff really well and I'm not being completely careful.
https://lichess.org/Odq3HLPv
I was the black pieces and my engine-less comments follow.
My Comments
(1) I decided to play the sicilian. I almost never play it so I decided to go for it in case my opponent had any prep for me.
(2) d4? what the hell...oh yeah the smith-morra gambit. Didn't expect this in game. So I take the center pawn with my c-pawn.
(3) White plays natural move, I try to defend the pawn although it has 2 attackers on it. Nc6 seems like best move though.
(4) We trade, which I obviously saw, and white has his queen in the middle of the board which I thought wasn't great since I could set up so I could develop with tempo on it
(5) Qxd4 and white's best piece is in the middle. 5. ...Nf6 6. e5 so I play slow with d6 to set up e5
(6) Nc3 makes sense. Black plays e5 but what about Nf6. It develops and helps guard d5 which is made very weak after my game-move of 6. ...e5. My pawn move allows more development from white with a check.
(8) Qd5 threatening b7. I remember seeing some bad lines for black like 8. ...b6? 9. Bxd7 Kxd7 (Qxd7 10. Qxa8+) 10. Qxf7+. If 8. ...Nf6 9. Qxb7 As for ...a6, well, maybe a6 is the move here.
(9) I don't remember if I spot the very simple 10. Bxa7 threat yet but I get tempo on the queen for a move...finally. I thought Qxd4 was bad for white on move 5 but I couldn't get tempo on it until move 9.
(10) I play Be7 and immediately see the dropped pawn. Not seeing stuff well. At least it's only an a-pawn so it could be worse but I don't play well the rest of the game. I don't think my mind was in it.
(11) Annoying that Bxa7 comes with tempo too. Makes 8. ...a6 seem like the better move even moreso, since my rook would have still been on a8. I try to get my rook slightly more active at least and maybe I have a b6 bishop trap later...
(13) Rd8 and I play Qa5 figuring he'd just move his bishop back to e3 but I miss the intermezzo
(15) ...Bd8 saves? It's passive but it's something.
(16) ...Bd8 again woulda been "okay", but instead, I don't really calculate the simplest intermezzo tactic ever. I was just thinking very straightforward to trade on e3: 16. ...Bxe3 17. Bxe3, then I can defend Ne7+ with Re8 or something. But I miss it.
(17) Duh. White simply inserts Ne7+. Oh well.
(18) Missed a small tactic which I saw right after yet again. I could at least do the desperado tactic and give up my bishop for a pawn with 18. ...Bxf2+ 19. Kxf2 Qc5+ and play for f5 trying to break it open and see what happens for a few more moves.
(19) I'm down the exchange and a pawn. I play on slightly longer but it's resignable.
Conclusions
I think I was losing sight of "what my opponent might play" in this game, I would look one move ahead but not really analyze the position after that. I have to take the extra 5 seconds to envision the board right after my moves, my candidate moves, what I should do to save a pawn, what's being attacked, etc. It only requires a few extra seconds of double-checking the board and taking stock of things. Even if things seem dangerous for my opponent (like them having their queen in the middle) I can't stop calculating and analyzing and assuming things are where I think they are. White was able to stay safe and develop with threats throughout the game.
ANALYSIS WITH ENGINE HELP
(4) I guess this is a bit of a "trap" without actually winning a piece or pawn but my natural Nxd4 gives white a big advantage of +0.1 to +0.7. So that's a must-know in the smith-morra. Play 4. ...Nf6 and allow white to trade knights on c6 if they want since black will take back bxc6 with lotsa center pawns.
(6) My analysis was correct that Nf6 is best here.
(8) Engine likes Rb8. 8. ...a6 is bad because 9. Bc4 Be6 10. Qxb7 Bxc4? 11. Qc6+
(10) ...a6 now is fine. (only a +1.5 adv)
(13) I saw the b6 idea earlier (see analysis) but didn't play it. I think because I saw 13. ...b6 14. Bxd7 Qxd7 15. Bxb6. Buuut 14. ...Nxd7 works. I don't think I saw the backwards knight move that'd allow my queen to continue guarding b6. 13. ...b6 14. Bxd7 Nxd7 15. Nd5 Ra8 and eval still only says ~+1.1
As expected, this game was all white. I never had an initiative then dropped the pawn and white had an easy straightforward game as I couldn't find any good complications. Not a good effort.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Lichess4545 Game Analysis 4
This was game 3 of the Lonewolf League (30+30). I was quite bummed at this one. Even
though it was a draw and a half-point is a half-point, I think there are
several reasons why it felt lame:
My Analysis (no engine or analysis board, i.e. all visualization)
(2) My brief "prep"--if you could call it that--for my opponent showed that he has played the Old Benoni before. Not always but enough times that I thought I should get a handle on what to do. I saw the computer recommended to push past so that's what I did. Probably without that knowledge, I would have taken and not tried too hard to hold onto the pawn. 2. dxc5 e5 3. e4 Bxc5 4. Nf3 or Nc3 (and white can consider castling long), or another line I didn't consider: 2. dxc5 e5 3. b4 (prepping Bb2 for a nice diagonal) a5 4. bxa5 Qxa5+ 5. Nd2 Qxc5 and black is even material and white has bad queenside structure. If white plays 4. a3 instead they might be okay, with Bb2 coming as long as they get castled kingside quickly.
Black blocks the pawn.
(4) ...h6 is slow from black. Bd7 and b5 look more obvious.
(6) Nd2, dunno about this move from me. I wanted e4 but I'm violating opening principles to try to get it (moving same piece twice is one of them). Probably something like e3 to prep Bd3 and try to trade my piece that's gonna become very bad (the light-squared bishop) is the better idea. I must have seen this but I didn't like my queen out there on d3...it looks like it'd be just fine though.
(7) I play e4, and now I have a lot of center pawns on light squares which makes my light-squared bishop bad. The remedy for a bad bishop is to try to trade it off hopefully for your opponent's best minor piece, get the center pawns off that color, or get the bishop outside the chain. I actually recall thinking to trade it off but I didn't stick with that plan well. ERROR! I also should have had a better follow-up to black simply retreating via Bg6, which he did.
(10) Bf3? I think I wanted to protect e4 and play Ne2-f4 to try to get that bishop. But again, he can just play Bh7 if he wants (probably should have done that on move 7.) Many piece moves that don't accomplish much. 10. Re1 is better which still protects e4 so I can sort my pieces out. 10. ...e5 and my bishop is awful. I think at this point I should kick off Operation: Trade Bishops. That's another reason why Re1 would be nice. It frees up the square for Nf1-g3 maneuver.
(11) Again, just Re1 here, instead I play on the wing where black has his pawns pointing.
(12) If I'm going to go forth with this plan, I think Rb1 would be a nice touch in some lines.
(13) I just take, don't know what else to do, just seeing how he'll take back. Not really good chess and I think I was taking a lot of time here.
(14) So many single-square bishop moves. I was watching c4 in case of Nb6 I guess? But that's ghosts. I remember wanting f4 break too so that's probably what this was for. Best plan I see though, is 14. Ne2 and then Ng3 threatening either Bh5 to trade, and if ...Bh7 from black to save, then Nf5 threatening the dark-squared bishop
(17) ? Not sure what this was...looks bad. I gotta get my pieces more active, they're so sad! 17. a4 allowed Qb4 and my pieces would have started to look weird. Probably I'd have to play Qb3. I think I still need to play 17. Re1 here then Nf1 to g3. I had f4 on my mind and that's why I was struggling to play Re1. I should have found a solid plan and stuck to it but I was panicking a small amount.
(18) That light-squared bishop! Such a confused and bad piece. I guess this was giving a space for Ne2 now in case Ba5 comes from white. But, geez, if I want to try the Bh5 move, I'd have to play Ne2-g3 and THEN play Be2 again which is laugh-ably slow, all just to try to trade off my bad bishop for black's better one. Yet again Re1 I like more, with Nf1-g3 and Bh5 coming.
(19) Even here I could have played Be2 to see if they'll trade on their own accord.
(20) A break move, finally. Bb2 might be better so if black takes (which they do in-game), I can take back with the bishop. But in the game, black trades his bad bishop for a (inactive) piece of mine. I never considered black giving his bishop up and so I didn't pay attention to the 21. ... Qb4 move which allows a passed pawn for black.
(23) fxe5? and dxe5?, giving me two connected passed pawns. Looks like 23. ...Nxe5 is better for black because it forces Bc2 (or Bb1). Pretty inactive for white and black has a great central knight. I think fxe5 is bad for white. What's better? The light-squared bishop is still bad and black's is good so trading them off is a good idea. 22. Rf2? Ng4. So 22. Nf3 with ideas of Bb2?
(24) Nb3 opening my bishop finally (hasn't moved all game!). Seems like that's the tale of the opening and middlegame for me, a tale of a bad bishop making tiny moves that don't improve it at all and waste tempos while my better bishop--as defined by general rules of bishops--sits on its home square until the 28th move! My 24th move blockades the pawn and stops a5 to defend it. I wonder if 24. Bb2 is better, and swing rook over to c1. Rook on f1 isn't doing as much as I thought it would be
(26) a5 was to stop Nb6 which is what I thought black's plan was. Don't think a5 is important anyway since if I let black play Nb6 I can play Na5.
(30) After 29 moves, I have two connected passers while black has one. I have the bishop pair too. I saw this Bd6 move hitting the backwards pawn. Black can defend it but plays a move that surprised me so I had to make sure it wasn't some tactic. Black just hands me the advantage as far as I can see.
(36) Rxe4 Rxa6. Some odd plays by black then a simplification and white is up a piece for one pawn
(37) Re8+? Converting endgames.... Hmm. Do I save the bishop or check first? I play Re8+ and I think this is my first poor move. It lets the king move and get active. It forces the king out. Where to move the bishop though? Bd4 keeps an eye on the a1 square I like that, bishops in the middle of the board make sense.
(38) Now I play the centralizing Bd4, but the key difference is that my rook is on the back-rank, doing nothing. Except maybe black will blunder into a mate in one with g6....unlikely. Ra2 from black, nice, restricts my king and it's on a light-square.
(39) Rf8? Not sure what that is. I remember thinking they'd play f6 but even that is okay for black I think. Better is to keep my rook more active (it's so passive now!) and play Kf1 and threaten Re2 to trade and go into a winning endgame. I have a bishop and I should be able to get my king active and try to force my h-pawn to get passed since it'd promote on a dark square.
(40) h3 to get some space, maybe I bring my king to h2 to get it out.
(41) g4? Not sure again, I was not getting a plan ready. Perhaps Kh2 is better here. I'm reaching out with my pawns and making it easier for black to trade them off. I think the pawns are my insurance here because if I can trade rooks and still have pawns that can promote with the help of my bishop, I win. As he trades off pawns, it's more likely to draw. g4 is bad.
(42) I take because I see a rook check, yay! Doesn't do much really though. I feel like in endgames I often just play right into the opponent's hand. It's weird and annoying. I lose command of the game.
(45) Rh5+ is a good try to get the rook back in the game. If Ke4 then Bc5 I think works to start to threaten the pawns from behind. I don't think I can trade rooks now though with the lack of pawns. Anyway I play an inactive move that lets him get closer to my pawn.
(46) Rg8? I guess trade pawns now... I think I was very low on time. No idea what's going on.
(47) I missed the check so I was getting nervous about some major error into a checkmate.
(49) Black is threatening to take the h-pawn and hit my bishop. Perhaps h5 is a good try? 49. h5 Rxh5 50. Rxg7. It's something at least, and if my opponent was playing so fast (they averaged just under 30 seconds per move) maybe some complications would have worked. Instead I take on g7 and they take.
(50) Bxf6 lets black take a draw. Some other bishop moves could have pro-longed the game but I imagine it's a computer-draw at this point.
Conclusion
So there were plenty of questionable moves by me, including several in the endgame. 37 Re8+ isn't great but it's not the worst. I think 39. Rf8? and 41. g4? are worst. The opening and middlegame were mis-played in that I never was able to trade off my bad bishop and even worse, I wasted a lot of time with trying to figure out where it goes.
COMMENTS WITH ENGINE ANALYSIS
(2) Indeed, after my second move, I have a +0.7 advantage. Although my suggested lines for if i try dxc5 aren't really great. Black will play e6 to stay solid and attack the bishop.
(3) c4 is maybe a little slow from me. It solidifies my space in the center I guess but closes down the pawns. It wasn't one of the top 3 suggested moves. e4 makes sense here and it's teh second recommended move. c4 isn't a really big loss in advantage anyway.
(4) ...h6 is bad, but SF recommends a6 to prep b5 which also makes sense. My Bd7 and b5 idea for black is't good because the obvious Nc3 covers that square.
(6) my e3 and Nd2 ideas are both okay. Nd2 isn't as bad as I thought in analysis.
(7) My idea for e4 (as I played in-game) was a good one!
(10) Yep my analysis that Bf3 is a dubious move is correct. Went from a +1.1 to 0 eval.
(11) Re1 is okay, also h4 to start prying on blacks' light-sqaured bishop. But yeah, Re1 followed by Nf1 is good.
(13) Yeah just a bad move. No real idea behind it.
(18) Re1 in this case like I was thinking is bad after Ba5. Bd3 is a sad looking move but it keeps the advantage at 0 at least.
(23) SF wants me to play Nb3 immediately. Makes sense to blbockade, but I thought I had time.
(30) I played well through here, 23. ...dxe5 was not a good move for black and I held the advantage up through this point. 30. ...Bxe4 was actually black's best move.
(37) Re8+ isn't super-bad actually. I was at +2.8 here and Re8+ is fine
(39) Again, the rook move is fine but it comes with no real plan and that's why i don't like it. Kf1 I like more and SF says it's good with no real advantage difference from my less-active rook move I played.
(40) g4 is indeed the first really bad move from me. It's a mistake
- I am doing well in the league (2/2) and thought it'd be a good chance to remain undefeated--which I guess I technically still am? I'm in the U1800 category and I'd like to place in the top three.
- My opponent this week was rated 250 points lower than me. I even knew going in to not let that bother me but I'm sure it did. I remember thinking I SHOULD WIN THIS and when I felt like it was even or I didn't have a plan it bothered me more than it should have.
- I didn't like my position out of the opening. I knew it was a closed strategical position but I struggled to find the right plan (like what pieces to try to trade, or whether to trade at all), then I panicked and couldn't find a plan at all. I recall thinking I wasn't worse, just that I wasn't used to this position.
- After a weird blunder/dubious trade, I was in what seemed like a winning endgame but again I was inactive and couldn't find a plan, then got low on time and had to settle for a draw in time pressure. I hate not converting an endgame, but it's much worse when I'm up a piece for a pawn.
- My opponent ended up with more than 30 minutes on their clock which shouldn't matter but it only makes me assume they were barely thinking and I should have been able to come up with plans throughout the game that were better than theirs on which they never spent more than a minute or so. I took long thinks and didn't find the right moves.
My Analysis (no engine or analysis board, i.e. all visualization)
(2) My brief "prep"--if you could call it that--for my opponent showed that he has played the Old Benoni before. Not always but enough times that I thought I should get a handle on what to do. I saw the computer recommended to push past so that's what I did. Probably without that knowledge, I would have taken and not tried too hard to hold onto the pawn. 2. dxc5 e5 3. e4 Bxc5 4. Nf3 or Nc3 (and white can consider castling long), or another line I didn't consider: 2. dxc5 e5 3. b4 (prepping Bb2 for a nice diagonal) a5 4. bxa5 Qxa5+ 5. Nd2 Qxc5 and black is even material and white has bad queenside structure. If white plays 4. a3 instead they might be okay, with Bb2 coming as long as they get castled kingside quickly.
Black blocks the pawn.
(4) ...h6 is slow from black. Bd7 and b5 look more obvious.
(6) Nd2, dunno about this move from me. I wanted e4 but I'm violating opening principles to try to get it (moving same piece twice is one of them). Probably something like e3 to prep Bd3 and try to trade my piece that's gonna become very bad (the light-squared bishop) is the better idea. I must have seen this but I didn't like my queen out there on d3...it looks like it'd be just fine though.
(7) I play e4, and now I have a lot of center pawns on light squares which makes my light-squared bishop bad. The remedy for a bad bishop is to try to trade it off hopefully for your opponent's best minor piece, get the center pawns off that color, or get the bishop outside the chain. I actually recall thinking to trade it off but I didn't stick with that plan well. ERROR! I also should have had a better follow-up to black simply retreating via Bg6, which he did.
(10) Bf3? I think I wanted to protect e4 and play Ne2-f4 to try to get that bishop. But again, he can just play Bh7 if he wants (probably should have done that on move 7.) Many piece moves that don't accomplish much. 10. Re1 is better which still protects e4 so I can sort my pieces out. 10. ...e5 and my bishop is awful. I think at this point I should kick off Operation: Trade Bishops. That's another reason why Re1 would be nice. It frees up the square for Nf1-g3 maneuver.
(11) Again, just Re1 here, instead I play on the wing where black has his pawns pointing.
(12) If I'm going to go forth with this plan, I think Rb1 would be a nice touch in some lines.
(13) I just take, don't know what else to do, just seeing how he'll take back. Not really good chess and I think I was taking a lot of time here.
(14) So many single-square bishop moves. I was watching c4 in case of Nb6 I guess? But that's ghosts. I remember wanting f4 break too so that's probably what this was for. Best plan I see though, is 14. Ne2 and then Ng3 threatening either Bh5 to trade, and if ...Bh7 from black to save, then Nf5 threatening the dark-squared bishop
(17) ? Not sure what this was...looks bad. I gotta get my pieces more active, they're so sad! 17. a4 allowed Qb4 and my pieces would have started to look weird. Probably I'd have to play Qb3. I think I still need to play 17. Re1 here then Nf1 to g3. I had f4 on my mind and that's why I was struggling to play Re1. I should have found a solid plan and stuck to it but I was panicking a small amount.
(18) That light-squared bishop! Such a confused and bad piece. I guess this was giving a space for Ne2 now in case Ba5 comes from white. But, geez, if I want to try the Bh5 move, I'd have to play Ne2-g3 and THEN play Be2 again which is laugh-ably slow, all just to try to trade off my bad bishop for black's better one. Yet again Re1 I like more, with Nf1-g3 and Bh5 coming.
(19) Even here I could have played Be2 to see if they'll trade on their own accord.
(20) A break move, finally. Bb2 might be better so if black takes (which they do in-game), I can take back with the bishop. But in the game, black trades his bad bishop for a (inactive) piece of mine. I never considered black giving his bishop up and so I didn't pay attention to the 21. ... Qb4 move which allows a passed pawn for black.
(23) fxe5? and dxe5?, giving me two connected passed pawns. Looks like 23. ...Nxe5 is better for black because it forces Bc2 (or Bb1). Pretty inactive for white and black has a great central knight. I think fxe5 is bad for white. What's better? The light-squared bishop is still bad and black's is good so trading them off is a good idea. 22. Rf2? Ng4. So 22. Nf3 with ideas of Bb2?
(24) Nb3 opening my bishop finally (hasn't moved all game!). Seems like that's the tale of the opening and middlegame for me, a tale of a bad bishop making tiny moves that don't improve it at all and waste tempos while my better bishop--as defined by general rules of bishops--sits on its home square until the 28th move! My 24th move blockades the pawn and stops a5 to defend it. I wonder if 24. Bb2 is better, and swing rook over to c1. Rook on f1 isn't doing as much as I thought it would be
(26) a5 was to stop Nb6 which is what I thought black's plan was. Don't think a5 is important anyway since if I let black play Nb6 I can play Na5.
(30) After 29 moves, I have two connected passers while black has one. I have the bishop pair too. I saw this Bd6 move hitting the backwards pawn. Black can defend it but plays a move that surprised me so I had to make sure it wasn't some tactic. Black just hands me the advantage as far as I can see.
(36) Rxe4 Rxa6. Some odd plays by black then a simplification and white is up a piece for one pawn
(37) Re8+? Converting endgames.... Hmm. Do I save the bishop or check first? I play Re8+ and I think this is my first poor move. It lets the king move and get active. It forces the king out. Where to move the bishop though? Bd4 keeps an eye on the a1 square I like that, bishops in the middle of the board make sense.
(38) Now I play the centralizing Bd4, but the key difference is that my rook is on the back-rank, doing nothing. Except maybe black will blunder into a mate in one with g6....unlikely. Ra2 from black, nice, restricts my king and it's on a light-square.
(39) Rf8? Not sure what that is. I remember thinking they'd play f6 but even that is okay for black I think. Better is to keep my rook more active (it's so passive now!) and play Kf1 and threaten Re2 to trade and go into a winning endgame. I have a bishop and I should be able to get my king active and try to force my h-pawn to get passed since it'd promote on a dark square.
(40) h3 to get some space, maybe I bring my king to h2 to get it out.
(41) g4? Not sure again, I was not getting a plan ready. Perhaps Kh2 is better here. I'm reaching out with my pawns and making it easier for black to trade them off. I think the pawns are my insurance here because if I can trade rooks and still have pawns that can promote with the help of my bishop, I win. As he trades off pawns, it's more likely to draw. g4 is bad.
(42) I take because I see a rook check, yay! Doesn't do much really though. I feel like in endgames I often just play right into the opponent's hand. It's weird and annoying. I lose command of the game.
(45) Rh5+ is a good try to get the rook back in the game. If Ke4 then Bc5 I think works to start to threaten the pawns from behind. I don't think I can trade rooks now though with the lack of pawns. Anyway I play an inactive move that lets him get closer to my pawn.
(46) Rg8? I guess trade pawns now... I think I was very low on time. No idea what's going on.
(47) I missed the check so I was getting nervous about some major error into a checkmate.
(49) Black is threatening to take the h-pawn and hit my bishop. Perhaps h5 is a good try? 49. h5 Rxh5 50. Rxg7. It's something at least, and if my opponent was playing so fast (they averaged just under 30 seconds per move) maybe some complications would have worked. Instead I take on g7 and they take.
(50) Bxf6 lets black take a draw. Some other bishop moves could have pro-longed the game but I imagine it's a computer-draw at this point.
Conclusion
So there were plenty of questionable moves by me, including several in the endgame. 37 Re8+ isn't great but it's not the worst. I think 39. Rf8? and 41. g4? are worst. The opening and middlegame were mis-played in that I never was able to trade off my bad bishop and even worse, I wasted a lot of time with trying to figure out where it goes.
COMMENTS WITH ENGINE ANALYSIS
(2) Indeed, after my second move, I have a +0.7 advantage. Although my suggested lines for if i try dxc5 aren't really great. Black will play e6 to stay solid and attack the bishop.
(3) c4 is maybe a little slow from me. It solidifies my space in the center I guess but closes down the pawns. It wasn't one of the top 3 suggested moves. e4 makes sense here and it's teh second recommended move. c4 isn't a really big loss in advantage anyway.
(4) ...h6 is bad, but SF recommends a6 to prep b5 which also makes sense. My Bd7 and b5 idea for black is't good because the obvious Nc3 covers that square.
(6) my e3 and Nd2 ideas are both okay. Nd2 isn't as bad as I thought in analysis.
(7) My idea for e4 (as I played in-game) was a good one!
(10) Yep my analysis that Bf3 is a dubious move is correct. Went from a +1.1 to 0 eval.
(11) Re1 is okay, also h4 to start prying on blacks' light-sqaured bishop. But yeah, Re1 followed by Nf1 is good.
(13) Yeah just a bad move. No real idea behind it.
(18) Re1 in this case like I was thinking is bad after Ba5. Bd3 is a sad looking move but it keeps the advantage at 0 at least.
(23) SF wants me to play Nb3 immediately. Makes sense to blbockade, but I thought I had time.
(30) I played well through here, 23. ...dxe5 was not a good move for black and I held the advantage up through this point. 30. ...Bxe4 was actually black's best move.
(37) Re8+ isn't super-bad actually. I was at +2.8 here and Re8+ is fine
(39) Again, the rook move is fine but it comes with no real plan and that's why i don't like it. Kf1 I like more and SF says it's good with no real advantage difference from my less-active rook move I played.
(40) g4 is indeed the first really bad move from me. It's a mistake
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Lichess4545 Game Analysis 3
Here's another game, this time from the Lonewolf league. As usual, these are my comments without an engine. Some notes with engine-analysis are at the bottom of this. I will also try to get a PGN here too, but for the time being, copy my text and paste it into the "Notes" section of the lichess link and you can step through the moves and see my notes.
https://lichess.org/XAHdOmsxrZe9
My Notes
Trying the caro-kann. I do very little opening prep since I still think it doesn't matter too much but I did see my opponent likes to play the ruy as white so my natural instinct is to avoid that. Plus the few times I've played the caro as black feels somewhat natural.
(3) And of course, white plays the advance variation, the one (of three or four) responses that I don't know the exact best reply to but I figured get my light-squared bishop outside the pawn chain. I think Bf5 is a common move i many caro-kanns anyway.
(4) Natural from white, so I lock the center as I need to get my pieces out. I usually hate these advanced centers that white has, so the caro-kann advanced variation is worth looking into for me so I know how to play it correctly, I feel like I did though.
(5) We've transposed into a french structure but the typical bad bishop is outside my pawn chain! I see white's e-pawn is hindering my kingside piece development so I go for the c5 break to hopefully get my bishop out and then my knight can get to e7.
(10) White looks to be playing pretty natural moves. I am in the mode of trying to preserve the bishop pair whenever and that's what I try to do here but I end up giving white some queenside space and a pesky knight some room. Better might be 10. ...Bxc3 11. bxc3 but then white has a massive pawn chain that I'd have to figure out how to attack. Perhaps a6 trying for b5 and Nbf6 too (gotta make sure my rook gets defended so I don't lose a pawn due to tactics). Perhaps my pawn pushes would force white to push some pawns to stop my pawn break, and then I maneuver a knight into c4 if it becomes a good outpost.
(11) And white threatens Nd6 which I HATE! I've had those annoying knights before deep in my position and they can be tough.
(12) So I have to allow this weird trade and my queen is on an open-file.
(14) I thought this wasn't the best square for the bishop for white. I'm able to come up with a plan. I know white is wanting to play Rc1 to take control of the file and I calculate that my knight can plug that gap and b5 can help protect it. I didn't see a way for black to attack it more times than I can defend. The trouble proved to be coming up with a plan after that.
(17) Those moves were all expected but I didn't anticipate white trading knights on c4. I thought for a little on which way to take but I decided that this wasn't very critical so I tried to not waste time. I thought to maintain my bigger pawn chain. I get a passed pawn but white does have 2 pawns vs 1 on the queenside. Although his pawns are further away and it'll be some work. I think if 17. ...dxc4, I'd want to try to break up his a-b chain with a5 but that doesn't work well after Bc3.
(18) A lash-out from white! I didn't expect that either, it is certainly weakening to white's king but I see the point. I think it'd be stronger if their dark-squared bishop were on the c1-h6 diagonal. That's the bishop white has that I don't so it's what would be more helpful on the kingside I think. Anyway, this g4 move is the type I don't consider. I guess I defend okay but I should always be looking for ideas like this. The center is locked and my pieces are a bit tied down or inactive.
(19) Pawn storm from white. Looks scary but if I can defend then his king is weak. I play h6 but I am looking at f6 or h5 now. 19. ...f6 20. exf6 Rxf6 21. h5 and that falls apart for black, and the obvious 20. h5 is good--and black sac-ing the bishop Bxh5 doesn't work either. 19. ...h5 is the other thing but 20. gxh5 and black has to back up the bishop and the pawns might keep coming. I know the general advice is to counter-attack in the center when there's an attack on the wing, but how to do it for black? Perhaps ...h6 is the necessary move as I don't see anything else that attacks well.
(20) I was expecting h5 there, with Rc3 and Bc1 on tap.
(24) Unfortunate since white's attack looks interesting. Bc1 keeps the pressure. I'd assume it'd go 24. Bc1 Bxh5 25. Qxh5 g6 26. Qh2 (to load up via Kg2 and Rh1, or just the immediate Rh3) Ng7 27. Rh3 Nh5. I THINK that holds?! That Ng7-h5 maneuver might plug things, but I can't say for certain if I'd see that in game. I recall getting a little low on time here. And with Knight blocking on h5 I believe black has time to play Kg7 and Rh1 to safeguard the h-file.
(26) Black is up the piece but was getting hairy and low on time, I better find the right defense, or A defense. ....f6 gives the king a square and opens up stuff. If white ignores and plays 27. Qh2 Kf7 and white doesn't have an infiltration square.
(28) Kf7 might not be necessary for black but I suppose it gets the king safer and has some threats soon (getting stuff on the h-file)
NOTES FROM ENGINE ANALYSIS
To differentiate, these will be in italics.
(10) Indeed, stockfish likes the Bxc3 move, otherwise what happens in the game is good for white, but only by half a pawn, not too bad.
(14) Looks like my knight to c4 maneuver was a good idea, I recall seeing that my e7 knight was undefended and the engine wants white to play Bg5. Note that I think this bishop is the key attacking piece that was missing later in the game for white.
(17) bxc4 is indeed slightly better but I'm glad to see that neither are waaaay worse (-0.7 vs -0.2) so I was correct in my thinking that it wasn't hyper-critical to spend minutes deciding how to re-take.
(19) ...f6 is definitely bad as thought
(20 h5 is the move here and then Bc3, Bd2, and g5 coming. Engine says black is up -0.5 though, probably because my passed pawn.
(22) Hmmm Stockfish says black can just capture on h5. And then after g6 from black, the queen must retreat, and black can play Kg7 and swing a rook over. Even though it's even material, the engine says it's at least a -4 advantage for black there, probably all due to king safety. ...Rc8 is slow, stil maintains the advantage but lets white build more.
(23) Black still should trade the bishops. It's all about trading the scary piece then getting the king safe.
(24) Stockfish doesn't love my Bc1 idea for white because it so favors black to trade the light-squared bishops. Engine doesn't love my line I offered with the Nh5 blockade. It wants white to sac the exchange there which would definitely have to be calculated in-game. My line lets white give up a small amount of material but majorly expose my king. In the line I offer, instead of Ng7-h5, just the immediate Kg7 works fine.
(32) I thought there might be a mate but with lots of heavy pieces out and only 1-2 minutes on my clock, I simplified and got some time back.
https://lichess.org/XAHdOmsxrZe9
My Notes
Trying the caro-kann. I do very little opening prep since I still think it doesn't matter too much but I did see my opponent likes to play the ruy as white so my natural instinct is to avoid that. Plus the few times I've played the caro as black feels somewhat natural.
(3) And of course, white plays the advance variation, the one (of three or four) responses that I don't know the exact best reply to but I figured get my light-squared bishop outside the pawn chain. I think Bf5 is a common move i many caro-kanns anyway.
(4) Natural from white, so I lock the center as I need to get my pieces out. I usually hate these advanced centers that white has, so the caro-kann advanced variation is worth looking into for me so I know how to play it correctly, I feel like I did though.
(5) We've transposed into a french structure but the typical bad bishop is outside my pawn chain! I see white's e-pawn is hindering my kingside piece development so I go for the c5 break to hopefully get my bishop out and then my knight can get to e7.
(10) White looks to be playing pretty natural moves. I am in the mode of trying to preserve the bishop pair whenever and that's what I try to do here but I end up giving white some queenside space and a pesky knight some room. Better might be 10. ...Bxc3 11. bxc3 but then white has a massive pawn chain that I'd have to figure out how to attack. Perhaps a6 trying for b5 and Nbf6 too (gotta make sure my rook gets defended so I don't lose a pawn due to tactics). Perhaps my pawn pushes would force white to push some pawns to stop my pawn break, and then I maneuver a knight into c4 if it becomes a good outpost.
(11) And white threatens Nd6 which I HATE! I've had those annoying knights before deep in my position and they can be tough.
(12) So I have to allow this weird trade and my queen is on an open-file.
(14) I thought this wasn't the best square for the bishop for white. I'm able to come up with a plan. I know white is wanting to play Rc1 to take control of the file and I calculate that my knight can plug that gap and b5 can help protect it. I didn't see a way for black to attack it more times than I can defend. The trouble proved to be coming up with a plan after that.
(17) Those moves were all expected but I didn't anticipate white trading knights on c4. I thought for a little on which way to take but I decided that this wasn't very critical so I tried to not waste time. I thought to maintain my bigger pawn chain. I get a passed pawn but white does have 2 pawns vs 1 on the queenside. Although his pawns are further away and it'll be some work. I think if 17. ...dxc4, I'd want to try to break up his a-b chain with a5 but that doesn't work well after Bc3.
(18) A lash-out from white! I didn't expect that either, it is certainly weakening to white's king but I see the point. I think it'd be stronger if their dark-squared bishop were on the c1-h6 diagonal. That's the bishop white has that I don't so it's what would be more helpful on the kingside I think. Anyway, this g4 move is the type I don't consider. I guess I defend okay but I should always be looking for ideas like this. The center is locked and my pieces are a bit tied down or inactive.
(19) Pawn storm from white. Looks scary but if I can defend then his king is weak. I play h6 but I am looking at f6 or h5 now. 19. ...f6 20. exf6 Rxf6 21. h5 and that falls apart for black, and the obvious 20. h5 is good--and black sac-ing the bishop Bxh5 doesn't work either. 19. ...h5 is the other thing but 20. gxh5 and black has to back up the bishop and the pawns might keep coming. I know the general advice is to counter-attack in the center when there's an attack on the wing, but how to do it for black? Perhaps ...h6 is the necessary move as I don't see anything else that attacks well.
(20) I was expecting h5 there, with Rc3 and Bc1 on tap.
(24) Unfortunate since white's attack looks interesting. Bc1 keeps the pressure. I'd assume it'd go 24. Bc1 Bxh5 25. Qxh5 g6 26. Qh2 (to load up via Kg2 and Rh1, or just the immediate Rh3) Ng7 27. Rh3 Nh5. I THINK that holds?! That Ng7-h5 maneuver might plug things, but I can't say for certain if I'd see that in game. I recall getting a little low on time here. And with Knight blocking on h5 I believe black has time to play Kg7 and Rh1 to safeguard the h-file.
(26) Black is up the piece but was getting hairy and low on time, I better find the right defense, or A defense. ....f6 gives the king a square and opens up stuff. If white ignores and plays 27. Qh2 Kf7 and white doesn't have an infiltration square.
(28) Kf7 might not be necessary for black but I suppose it gets the king safer and has some threats soon (getting stuff on the h-file)
NOTES FROM ENGINE ANALYSIS
To differentiate, these will be in italics.
(10) Indeed, stockfish likes the Bxc3 move, otherwise what happens in the game is good for white, but only by half a pawn, not too bad.
(14) Looks like my knight to c4 maneuver was a good idea, I recall seeing that my e7 knight was undefended and the engine wants white to play Bg5. Note that I think this bishop is the key attacking piece that was missing later in the game for white.
(17) bxc4 is indeed slightly better but I'm glad to see that neither are waaaay worse (-0.7 vs -0.2) so I was correct in my thinking that it wasn't hyper-critical to spend minutes deciding how to re-take.
(19) ...f6 is definitely bad as thought
(20 h5 is the move here and then Bc3, Bd2, and g5 coming. Engine says black is up -0.5 though, probably because my passed pawn.
(22) Hmmm Stockfish says black can just capture on h5. And then after g6 from black, the queen must retreat, and black can play Kg7 and swing a rook over. Even though it's even material, the engine says it's at least a -4 advantage for black there, probably all due to king safety. ...Rc8 is slow, stil maintains the advantage but lets white build more.
(23) Black still should trade the bishops. It's all about trading the scary piece then getting the king safe.
(24) Stockfish doesn't love my Bc1 idea for white because it so favors black to trade the light-squared bishops. Engine doesn't love my line I offered with the Nh5 blockade. It wants white to sac the exchange there which would definitely have to be calculated in-game. My line lets white give up a small amount of material but majorly expose my king. In the line I offer, instead of Ng7-h5, just the immediate Kg7 works fine.
(32) I thought there might be a mate but with lots of heavy pieces out and only 1-2 minutes on my clock, I simplified and got some time back.
Lichess4545 Game Analysis 2
This is a game of mine this time. It is game #2. I've lost both my 4545 league games :\ but it'll change soon I hope. As will be customary, the first batch of notes are my analysis WITHOUT an engine so ther may be errors. The idea is that I show my actual thoughts first. Inside those, I may insert some notes that will be capitalized and in italics that indicate engine assistance, but I didn't add them in until I was completely done. After this block of comments, I add more capitalized italic notes that I got with the aid of stockfish.
https://lichess.org/SYCHW6yz
My Notes
Summary:
Opening went okay I guess, somewhere in the middlegame there was some serious pawn tension and I thought for long time what to do. Then (i didn't notice this until after the game), I somehow lost both center pawns and he had two--after move 14 so I think something was misplayed on my part. 21 Ng5 was a maybe good attack but I think his king could get safe, I thought about it a long time so figured I'd play it anyway to test it. After it was on the board, I saw Rg6 and that's what was played which I think holds everything together nicely for him. Was floundering after that. I tried for some complications but lost too many pieces.
(10) what to do with this first break move of ...c5? Black had so much control of d5 that I thought 11. d5 didn't make sense because I couldn't reliably calculate what he'd take back with. I was interested in trying to make his light-squared bishop bad. I don't recall why I didn't like taking it, I guess it trades off a central pawn for a c-pawn, actually for a b-pawn since he'd play bxc5. Retrospect says I don't hate dxc5 so maybe that's what I should have played since I like that more than the tension that arose a few moves later.
(10. ...d5) More tension. I thought of cx, dx, and even b4. Hindsight says I probably should have done one of those moves but I played a slow rook move which let him develop as well. With dxc5, he'd play bxc5 and I couldn't find the right follow up. Perhaps Qc2 which i think is a natural move after the trade. I do remember not liking that it'd allow d4 and a discovered attack on my knight and also Ne4 possibly coming. Here's some lines:
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qc2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 (BLACK SHOULD INSERT BXF3 INTERMEZZO HERE, DUH, SEE ENGINE) 14. Bxd4?? Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxd4 and white lost a piece for a pawn and doubled pawns by the king. So either 12. Qc2 isn't good there or I need to take on d4 with the knight...
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qc2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 (BLACK HAS INTERMEZZO HERE, SEE ENGINE ANALYSIS) 14. Nxd4 and white is up a pawn there and I don't see good follow-ups so that isn't what white would play. Ne4 doesn't work in this line for black. So 12. Qc2 might work, knowing that black shouldn't reply with d4 and Ne4 isn't a threat because of my pressure on d4.
Here's a line with Qe2 instead:
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qe2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 (not Bxd4?) and white up a pawn still. And if ...Ne4 15. Bc1 (idea b3 and Bb2). I think that's okay, don't know if black should play d4 in any of these lines. Therefore maybe 11. dxc5 is perfectly fine despite the fact it gives up a center pawn.
11. cxd5 is way more to calculate which is honestly the sole reason I didn't. I figured he'd retake with the bishop most likely and still have a good fianchetto.
11. b4 is aggressive but it'd probably just force cxd5 and my pawns are weird. 11. b3 might be okay but I like dxc5 the most. My move 11. Rb1 is so slow
(16) b4 instead?
(21) Calculated for a long time and I don't think Ng5 is working but I was sorta pot-committed at this time, not the right way to think about it though. 21. Ng5 hxg5 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Bxg5+ Kd7 (if ...f6 25. Qxg7+ but I'm still losing I think) 25. Qxg7 but I think I'm down a piece for two pawns and attack is waning.
Black found Rg6 and I was done.
ENGINE ANALYSIS
Anything in all caps and italics means it was information I got with the help of stockfish.
(11) IN MY LINES FOR DXC5 WHEN I PLAY QC2, BLACK CAN INSERT 13. ...BXF3 AND MY PAWNS WILL BE MESSED UP AND BLACK'S PASSER IS MORE ADVANCED THAN MINE, ALTHOUGH HIS IS BLOCKADED BY MY TWO BISHOPS.
(11) IN MY QE2 LINES, IF BLACK PLAYS NE4, THAT JUST HANGS THE KNIGHT, I DIDN'T VISUALIZE THAT CORRECTLY IN MY OWN ANALYSIS.
(11) ENGINE SAYS TAKE ON C5 LIKE I WAS THINKING THEN 12. QB3 IS BEST FOLLOW-UP.
(13) QC2 ALLOWS NB4 AND TRADING MY DARK-SQUARED BISHOP FOR KNIGHT. THIS IS WHY 13. A3 IS RECOMMENDED, AND IT MAKES SENSE IN CONTEXT WITH MY RB1 MOVE. I REMEMBER VAGUELY CONSIDERING A3 SO I SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH THAT SINCE IT'D BE THEMATIC TO MY PLAN.
(16) INDEED B4 WAS BEST, I REMEMBER PLAYING B3 PRETTY QUICKLY, JUST TO GET SOLID OVER THERE AND START THINKING ABOUT A NEW PLAN. B4 DEFINITELY IS BEST AND MORE AGGRESSIVE.
(17) H3 IS WHOLLY UNNECESSARY, I REMEMBER PLAYING IT AND THINKING, "MAKE SURE NOT TO REACT TO GHOSTS, LIKE SILMAN SAYS" BUT I THOUGHT NG4 WAS DEVASTATING AND I'D BE TOO SLOW
(20) I MISSED THE RXE5 TACTIC THAT WOULD HAVE WON. GREAT EXAMPLE OF NOT KNOWING THERE'S A TACTIC AVAILABLE SO NOT BOTHERING TO TEST OUT CAPTURES, ETC.... RXE5 LOOKS SILLY UNTIL YOU SEE THE TACTIC.
https://lichess.org/SYCHW6yz
My Notes
Summary:
Opening went okay I guess, somewhere in the middlegame there was some serious pawn tension and I thought for long time what to do. Then (i didn't notice this until after the game), I somehow lost both center pawns and he had two--after move 14 so I think something was misplayed on my part. 21 Ng5 was a maybe good attack but I think his king could get safe, I thought about it a long time so figured I'd play it anyway to test it. After it was on the board, I saw Rg6 and that's what was played which I think holds everything together nicely for him. Was floundering after that. I tried for some complications but lost too many pieces.
(10) what to do with this first break move of ...c5? Black had so much control of d5 that I thought 11. d5 didn't make sense because I couldn't reliably calculate what he'd take back with. I was interested in trying to make his light-squared bishop bad. I don't recall why I didn't like taking it, I guess it trades off a central pawn for a c-pawn, actually for a b-pawn since he'd play bxc5. Retrospect says I don't hate dxc5 so maybe that's what I should have played since I like that more than the tension that arose a few moves later.
(10. ...d5) More tension. I thought of cx, dx, and even b4. Hindsight says I probably should have done one of those moves but I played a slow rook move which let him develop as well. With dxc5, he'd play bxc5 and I couldn't find the right follow up. Perhaps Qc2 which i think is a natural move after the trade. I do remember not liking that it'd allow d4 and a discovered attack on my knight and also Ne4 possibly coming. Here's some lines:
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qc2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 (BLACK SHOULD INSERT BXF3 INTERMEZZO HERE, DUH, SEE ENGINE) 14. Bxd4?? Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxd4 and white lost a piece for a pawn and doubled pawns by the king. So either 12. Qc2 isn't good there or I need to take on d4 with the knight...
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qc2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 (BLACK HAS INTERMEZZO HERE, SEE ENGINE ANALYSIS) 14. Nxd4 and white is up a pawn there and I don't see good follow-ups so that isn't what white would play. Ne4 doesn't work in this line for black. So 12. Qc2 might work, knowing that black shouldn't reply with d4 and Ne4 isn't a threat because of my pressure on d4.
Here's a line with Qe2 instead:
11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Qe2 d4 13. exd4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 (not Bxd4?) and white up a pawn still. And if ...Ne4 15. Bc1 (idea b3 and Bb2). I think that's okay, don't know if black should play d4 in any of these lines. Therefore maybe 11. dxc5 is perfectly fine despite the fact it gives up a center pawn.
11. cxd5 is way more to calculate which is honestly the sole reason I didn't. I figured he'd retake with the bishop most likely and still have a good fianchetto.
11. b4 is aggressive but it'd probably just force cxd5 and my pawns are weird. 11. b3 might be okay but I like dxc5 the most. My move 11. Rb1 is so slow
(16) b4 instead?
(21) Calculated for a long time and I don't think Ng5 is working but I was sorta pot-committed at this time, not the right way to think about it though. 21. Ng5 hxg5 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Bxg5+ Kd7 (if ...f6 25. Qxg7+ but I'm still losing I think) 25. Qxg7 but I think I'm down a piece for two pawns and attack is waning.
Black found Rg6 and I was done.
ENGINE ANALYSIS
Anything in all caps and italics means it was information I got with the help of stockfish.
(11) IN MY LINES FOR DXC5 WHEN I PLAY QC2, BLACK CAN INSERT 13. ...BXF3 AND MY PAWNS WILL BE MESSED UP AND BLACK'S PASSER IS MORE ADVANCED THAN MINE, ALTHOUGH HIS IS BLOCKADED BY MY TWO BISHOPS.
(11) IN MY QE2 LINES, IF BLACK PLAYS NE4, THAT JUST HANGS THE KNIGHT, I DIDN'T VISUALIZE THAT CORRECTLY IN MY OWN ANALYSIS.
(11) ENGINE SAYS TAKE ON C5 LIKE I WAS THINKING THEN 12. QB3 IS BEST FOLLOW-UP.
(13) QC2 ALLOWS NB4 AND TRADING MY DARK-SQUARED BISHOP FOR KNIGHT. THIS IS WHY 13. A3 IS RECOMMENDED, AND IT MAKES SENSE IN CONTEXT WITH MY RB1 MOVE. I REMEMBER VAGUELY CONSIDERING A3 SO I SHOULD HAVE STUCK WITH THAT SINCE IT'D BE THEMATIC TO MY PLAN.
(16) INDEED B4 WAS BEST, I REMEMBER PLAYING B3 PRETTY QUICKLY, JUST TO GET SOLID OVER THERE AND START THINKING ABOUT A NEW PLAN. B4 DEFINITELY IS BEST AND MORE AGGRESSIVE.
(17) H3 IS WHOLLY UNNECESSARY, I REMEMBER PLAYING IT AND THINKING, "MAKE SURE NOT TO REACT TO GHOSTS, LIKE SILMAN SAYS" BUT I THOUGHT NG4 WAS DEVASTATING AND I'D BE TOO SLOW
(20) I MISSED THE RXE5 TACTIC THAT WOULD HAVE WON. GREAT EXAMPLE OF NOT KNOWING THERE'S A TACTIC AVAILABLE SO NOT BOTHERING TO TEST OUT CAPTURES, ETC.... RXE5 LOOKS SILLY UNTIL YOU SEE THE TACTIC.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Lichess4545 Game Analysis 1 - Teammate
I'm working on doing more deep analysis without an engine for my games, and I thought I'd do one from a teammate's game from my lichess4545 league. nytik is one of the higher-rated players on my team so I thought I'd analyze their most recent game. Dan Heisman says he got better by playing through master games and analyzing other games with very good players so I'll give it a shot and hopefully get some feedback from nytik. For almost all the moves I try to step through them one at a time and give my thoughts before I know what the next move/s were.
Anyway, here are my thoughts as they came to me while I looked this game over. Very wordy in some spots but I always think it's best to put all your thoughts down so you can weed through them and find where your thinking was solid and where it was errant. Typically I do more engine analysis after my engine-less analysis, but I didn't have time tonight.
Nytik's game vs grzybozbur:
https://lichess.org/FA0LXNYm
First will be the PGN file with all my comments. You can paste it into a PGN viewer such as ChessTempo's so it embeds the comments with the moves nicely. For just my comments with move number in parentheses, see below this huge wall of text.
PGN
[Event "Rated Classical game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/FA0LXNYm"]
[Date "2019.11.16"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Grzybozbur"]
[Black "Nytik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2019.11.16"]
[UTCTime "18:03:00"]
[WhiteElo "2058"]
[BlackElo "2069"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-15"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+24"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]
[ECO "C95"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O {Some ruy. I guess white's pawn isn't hanging after 5. 0-0. Idea is 5. ...Nxe4? 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5.} Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 {White finally moves something on the left side! All theory I'm sure but it seems pretty straightforward. 8. c3 preps d4 and gives bishop an escape if black were to play Na5} O-O 9. h3 {h3 is more theory, I saw Dan Heisman do a video on the closed
ruy and I believe he gives reasons why you play c3 before h3 here. It obviously keeps Bg4 off the table. I already saw that blacks' response was Nb8 which is deep theory I guess but if I were to play black here, as a non-ruy player, I'd look at moves like Bb7 but I'd also be calculating what happens when white plays d4. If 9 ...Bb7 10. d4 I think ...exd4 11. cxd4 isn't great for black because white has a nice central pawn presence. Black has pressure on e4, but something like 11. ...Na5 opening the attack allows (forces) Bc2. So, again, if after 9. ...Bb7 10. d4 and if black doesn't want to take it, I don't see what black can do to stop d5 from coming which would annoy me as black. Perhaps that's why Bb7 isn't played?} Nb8 {Nb8 is the game move for black which looks to be more flexible, allowing for either c6 and d5 pushes, or if white immediately responds 10. d4 then black has Nbd7 to guard e5 and if 11. d5 black can try for Bb7, Nb6 and a c6 push to break white's expansive center--but make sure e5 is still defended.} 10. d4 Nbd7 {Hey, I predicted the next moves!} 11. Bg5?! {White has no queenside pieces out, so knowing zero theory at this point, I feel like it should be time to get those out, and Yep, finally some queenside development.} Bb7 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Qb1 {Qb1 seems funky but whatevs. It's weird reviewing games from better players because if I saw this move in a game I'd be like "huh? seems weird, there must be something wrong with it" but in a 45|45 game with 2100+ players I view these moves differently to say the least...like "that must threaten a few things...hmmm" Qb1 seems to put it on a diagonal towards the black king (even though white will have to move the e4 pawn) and it seems like white's pieces are headed that way somewhat--I know Nf1-g3 is a common maneuver. Qb1 may also be vacating a square for the bishop. I guess we'll see.} Nh5 {Black plays Nh5 , I guess looking for Nf4 or to harass white's dark-squared bishop? If 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 black might try to weasel theknight into f4 or make white's kingside pawns come out some. Or perhaps Nh5's purposs is to discourage the Nf1-g3 maneuver from white.} 14. Be3 h6 15. a4 {a4 from white again would make me go, hmm okay. What's white's idea? Should black take, push, defend or counter-attack. White's idea might be: the center is not quite locked but it's sorta frozen I think, so an attack on the wing is called for. White is threatening Qa2 with a battery on the weak f7 square and also may want to open the a-file. So for black, take, push or defend/counter-attack? If 15. ...bxa4, white can re-take with rook and swing it over to attack b7 or leave it on a-file to attack the a-pawn, or take via Bxa4 and pin black's knight to the rook. I see some solid options for white so I think black shouldn't take. Pushing just gives white a pawn. So some other move then... I already saw black's move and I don't think I would have considered it. Maybe Kf8 to get it off the bishop diagonal. Or c6 prepping d5. Prepatory moves this deep into the middlegame are scary for me though as they often require you to be sure your opponent has nothing more pressing they're threatening. 15. ...Ndf6 hits e4 twice, but now I see a reason why Qb1 was played! I might play that anyway to keep the queen guarding e4 and think about c6 and d5, as slow as it is. But I'd also have to make sure e5 is defended, so Bf8 might be called for in that plan too.} c5 {Alas, c5 was played. I accidentally went forward one move and saw this. It wouldn't have been on my radar. If black's gonna push a pawn like that, making a weakness on d6, they've always gotta check what happens if their opponent takes/pushes/defends/counter-attacks/ignores. If white takes on c5 black can re-take with knight and enjoy a good square for it with tempo on the bishop but white can take the knight: 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. c4 possibly (with bxc4 19. Nxc4 making black's dark-squared bishop pretty bad, although white's light-squared bishop isn't great--unclear.) Black could take with pawn first but that doesn't seem good either: 16. dxc5 dxc5 17. c4 bxc4 (if no bxc4, I think white gets a passed pawn) 18. Nxc4 and black has an isolated c-pawn that it looks like white can attack a lot. Ugh. 15. ...c5 is the type of move that I would waste a lot of time thinking how to play if I was white. Basically if white feels like taking on c5, I think they can't allow black to play c4 next move because I think white wants the a2-g8 diagonal. That logic also removes 16. d5 from the sensible move list if white is playing how I think. I like this move from black, it takes the Qa2 idea away since that would be answered by ...c4} 16. g3 {g3 is weird, slightly weakening around the king, h3 is undefended, it takes a defender off f3. Maybe white wants Nh4 but I don't think so because ...Bxh4 and gxh4 is fugly.} Bf8 {Oh, so black plays Bf8 defending the pawns in front of the king and guarding e5 better. But the knight can come to h4, does it matter?} 17. Nh4 {What should black play after Nh4? Well, what is white threatening? Nf5 possibly, Bd1 (with Bd2 and Qc1). Those are some ideas I think white might have so are they worth addressing? 18. Nf5 might threaten some sacrifice on h6 but black has that well-covered thanks to Bf8. A knight on f5 might be pesky but it doesn't have an immediate threat so it's not worth addressing on this move. 18. Bd1 could be coming but ...Nhf6 19. g4 exd4. I thought 17. ...Bc8 because it eyes h3 but (!) 18. axb5 and whoops. 17. ...Ndf6 looks like it takes a square away from the other knight and g4 might be scary there (although Nf4 might work--worth calculating). Probably should look at central pawn tension first since there are forcing lines. I think 17. ...cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19. Bxd4 Nhf6 (hits e4 3x and it's defended 3x). Er actually playing Nhf6 first is probably better since it threatens all that stuff and maybe f3 is the only defense which makes the pawns very weak in front of the king.} Nhf6 18. Nf5 exd4 {Ah so black takes with the e-pawn, I don't know if it matters which one.} 19. cxd4 Nxe4 20. Nf1 Qf6 21. g4 g6 {Black is up a pawn as some of the tension fell away. Nf5 was not the move for black many moves ago. White to win a pawn back? Don't try it: 22. Nxh6 Bxh6 23. Bxh6 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 Ng3#} 22. f3 gxf5 23. fxe4 cxd4 24. Bd2 fxe4 25. Nh2 {After Nh2, how should black solidify and win up three pawns? 25. ...e3 looks strong as it threatens Bishop and mate. If Rf1 then Qh4.} Qe5 {Or that :)} 26. Re2 Qg3+ 27. Kf1 Qxb3 28. Ra3 Qd5 29. Rg3 e3 30. g5 exd2 31. gxh6+ Kh8 32. Rxd2 Bxh6 33. Rdg2 Qc4+ { White resigns. } 0-1
MY COMMENTS without the PGN
(5) Some ruy. I guess white's pawn isn't hanging after 5. 0-0. Idea is 5. ...Nxe4? 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5.
(8) White finally moves something on the left side! All theory I'm sure but it seems pretty straightforward. 8. c3 preps d4 and gives bishop an escape if black were to play Na5
(9) h3 is more theory, I saw Dan Heisman do a video on the closed ruy and I believe he gives reasons why you play c3 before h3 here. It obviously keeps Bg4 off the table. I already saw that blacks' response was Nb8 which is deep theory I guess but if I were to play black here, as a non-ruy player, I'd look at moves like Bb7 but I'd also be calculating what happens when white plays d4. If 9 ...Bb7 10. d4 I think ...exd4 11. cxd4 isn't great for black because white has a nice central pawn presence. Black has pressure on e4, but something like 11. ...Na5 opening the attack allows (forces) Bc2. So, again, if after 9. ...Bb7 10. d4 and if black doesn't want to take it, I don't see what black can do to stop d5 from coming which would annoy me as black. Perhaps that's why Bb7 isn't played??? Nb8 is the game move for black which looks to be more flexible, allowing for either c6 and d5 pushes, or if white immediately responds 10. d4 then black has Nbd7 to guard e5 and if 11. d5 black can try for Bb7, Nb6 and a c6 push to break white's expansive center--but make sure e5 is still defended.
(10) Hey, I predicted the next moves!
(11) White has no queenside pieces out, so knowing zero theory at this point, I feel like it should be time to get those out, and Yep, finally some queenside development.
(13) Qb1 seems funky but whatevs. It's weird reviewing games from better players because if I saw this move in a game I'd be like "huh? seems weird, there must be something wrong with it" but in a 45|45 game with 2100+ players I view these moves differently to say the least...like "that must threaten a few things...hmmm" Qb1 seems to put it on a diagonal towards the black king (even though white will have to move the e4 pawn) and it seems like white's pieces are headed that way somewhat--I know Nf1-g3 is a common maneuver. Qb1 may also be vacating a square for the bishop. I guess we'll see. Black plays Nh5 , I guess looking for Nf4 or to harass white's dark-squared bishop? If 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 black might try to weasel theknight into f4 or make white's kingside pawns come out some. Or perhaps Nh5's purposs is to discourage the Nf1-g3 maneuver from white.
(15) a4 from white again would make me go, hmm okay. What's white's idea? Should black take, push, defend or counter-attack. White's idea might be: the center is not quite locked but it's sorta frozen I think, so an attack on the wing is called for. White is threatening Qa2 with a battery on the weak f7 square and also may want to open the a-file. So for black, take, push or defend/counter-attack? If 15. ...bxa4, white can re-take with rook and swing it over to attack b7 or leave it on a-file to attack the a-pawn, or take via Bxa4 and pin black's knight to the rook. I see some solid options for white so I think black shouldn't take. Pushing just gives white a pawn. So some other move then... I already saw black's move and I don't think I would have considered it. Maybe Kf8 to get it off the bishop diagonal. Or c6 prepping d5. Prepatory moves this deep into the middlegame are scary for me though as they often require you to be sure your opponent has nothing more pressing they're threatening. 15. ...Ndf6 hits e4 twice, but now I see a reason why Qb1 was played! I might play that anyway to keep the queen guarding e4 and think about c6 and d5, as slow as it is. But I'd also have to make sure e5 is defended, so Bf8 might be called for in that plan too.
Alas, c5 was played. I accidentally went forward one move and saw this. It wouldn't have been on my radar. If black's gonna push a pawn like that, making a weakness on d6, they've always gotta check what happens if their opponent takes/pushes/defends/counter-attacks/ignores. If white takes on c5 black can re-take with knight and enjoy a good square for it with tempo on the bishop but white can take the knight: 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. c4 possibly (with bxc4 19. Nxc4 making black's dark-squared bishop pretty bad, although white's light-squared bishop isn't great--unclear.) Black could take with pawn first but that doesn't seem good either: 16. dxc5 dxc5 17. c4 bxc4 (if no bxc4, I think white gets a passed pawn) 18. Nxc4 and black has an isolated c-pawn that it looks like white can attack a lot. Ugh. 15. ...c5 is the type of move that I would waste a lot of time thinking how to play if I was white. Basically if white feels like taking on c5, I think they can't allow black to play c4 next move because I think white wants the a2-g8 diagonal. That logic also removes 16. d5 from the sensible move list if white is playing how I think. I like this move from black, it takes the Qa2 idea away since that would be answered by ...c4
(16) g3 is weird, slightly weakening around the king, h3 is undefended, it takes a defender off f3. Maybe white wants Nh4 but I don't think so because ...Bxh4 and gxh4 is fugly. Oh, so black plays Bf8 defending the pawns in front of the king and guarding e5 better. But the knight can come to h4, does it matter?
(17) What should black play after Nh4? Well, what is white threatening? Nf5 possibly, Bd1 (with Bd2 and Qc1). Those are some ideas I think white might have so are they worth addressing? 18. Nf5 might threaten some sacrifice on h6 but black has that well-covered thanks to Bf8. A knight on f5 might be pesky but it doesn't have an immediate threat so it's not worth addressing on this move. 18. Bd1 could be coming but ...Nhf6 19. g4 exd4.
17. ...Bc8 eyes h3 but (!) 18. axb5 and whoops. 17. ...Ndf6 looks like it takes a square away from the other knight and g4 might be scary there (although Nf4 might work--worth calculating). Probably should look at central pawn tension first since there are forcing lines. I think 17. ...cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19. Bxd4 Nhf6 (hits e4 3x and it's defended 3x). Er actually playing Nhf6 first is probably better since it threatens all that stuff and maybe f3 is the only defense which makes the pawns very weak in front of the king.
(18) Ah so black takes with the e-pawn, I don't know if it matters which one.
(21) Black is up a pawn as some of the tension fell away. Nf5 was not the move for black many moves ago.
(22) White to win a pawn back? Don't try it: 22. Nxh6 Bxh6 23. Bxh6 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 Ng3#
(25) After Nh2, how should black solidify and win up three pawns? 25. ...e3 looks strong as it threatens Bishop and mate. If Rf1 then Qh4.
SOME NOTES USING STOCKFISH
Usually I have more of these but I ran out of time tonight. It's usually very helpful for me to grade my analysis with the engine.
(15) wow, Kf8 is a bad move, it directly allows the Qa2 battery idea I even spotted, haha. At least my idea of knight into f6 was a good one, although stockfish was sying Nhf6 which does make some sense.
Anyway, here are my thoughts as they came to me while I looked this game over. Very wordy in some spots but I always think it's best to put all your thoughts down so you can weed through them and find where your thinking was solid and where it was errant. Typically I do more engine analysis after my engine-less analysis, but I didn't have time tonight.
Nytik's game vs grzybozbur:
https://lichess.org/FA0LXNYm
First will be the PGN file with all my comments. You can paste it into a PGN viewer such as ChessTempo's so it embeds the comments with the moves nicely. For just my comments with move number in parentheses, see below this huge wall of text.
PGN
[Event "Rated Classical game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/FA0LXNYm"]
[Date "2019.11.16"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Grzybozbur"]
[Black "Nytik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[UTCDate "2019.11.16"]
[UTCTime "18:03:00"]
[WhiteElo "2058"]
[BlackElo "2069"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-15"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+24"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]
[ECO "C95"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Breyer Defense, Zaitsev Hybrid"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O {Some ruy. I guess white's pawn isn't hanging after 5. 0-0. Idea is 5. ...Nxe4? 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5.} Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 {White finally moves something on the left side! All theory I'm sure but it seems pretty straightforward. 8. c3 preps d4 and gives bishop an escape if black were to play Na5} O-O 9. h3 {h3 is more theory, I saw Dan Heisman do a video on the closed
ruy and I believe he gives reasons why you play c3 before h3 here. It obviously keeps Bg4 off the table. I already saw that blacks' response was Nb8 which is deep theory I guess but if I were to play black here, as a non-ruy player, I'd look at moves like Bb7 but I'd also be calculating what happens when white plays d4. If 9 ...Bb7 10. d4 I think ...exd4 11. cxd4 isn't great for black because white has a nice central pawn presence. Black has pressure on e4, but something like 11. ...Na5 opening the attack allows (forces) Bc2. So, again, if after 9. ...Bb7 10. d4 and if black doesn't want to take it, I don't see what black can do to stop d5 from coming which would annoy me as black. Perhaps that's why Bb7 isn't played?} Nb8 {Nb8 is the game move for black which looks to be more flexible, allowing for either c6 and d5 pushes, or if white immediately responds 10. d4 then black has Nbd7 to guard e5 and if 11. d5 black can try for Bb7, Nb6 and a c6 push to break white's expansive center--but make sure e5 is still defended.} 10. d4 Nbd7 {Hey, I predicted the next moves!} 11. Bg5?! {White has no queenside pieces out, so knowing zero theory at this point, I feel like it should be time to get those out, and Yep, finally some queenside development.} Bb7 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Qb1 {Qb1 seems funky but whatevs. It's weird reviewing games from better players because if I saw this move in a game I'd be like "huh? seems weird, there must be something wrong with it" but in a 45|45 game with 2100+ players I view these moves differently to say the least...like "that must threaten a few things...hmmm" Qb1 seems to put it on a diagonal towards the black king (even though white will have to move the e4 pawn) and it seems like white's pieces are headed that way somewhat--I know Nf1-g3 is a common maneuver. Qb1 may also be vacating a square for the bishop. I guess we'll see.} Nh5 {Black plays Nh5 , I guess looking for Nf4 or to harass white's dark-squared bishop? If 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 black might try to weasel theknight into f4 or make white's kingside pawns come out some. Or perhaps Nh5's purposs is to discourage the Nf1-g3 maneuver from white.} 14. Be3 h6 15. a4 {a4 from white again would make me go, hmm okay. What's white's idea? Should black take, push, defend or counter-attack. White's idea might be: the center is not quite locked but it's sorta frozen I think, so an attack on the wing is called for. White is threatening Qa2 with a battery on the weak f7 square and also may want to open the a-file. So for black, take, push or defend/counter-attack? If 15. ...bxa4, white can re-take with rook and swing it over to attack b7 or leave it on a-file to attack the a-pawn, or take via Bxa4 and pin black's knight to the rook. I see some solid options for white so I think black shouldn't take. Pushing just gives white a pawn. So some other move then... I already saw black's move and I don't think I would have considered it. Maybe Kf8 to get it off the bishop diagonal. Or c6 prepping d5. Prepatory moves this deep into the middlegame are scary for me though as they often require you to be sure your opponent has nothing more pressing they're threatening. 15. ...Ndf6 hits e4 twice, but now I see a reason why Qb1 was played! I might play that anyway to keep the queen guarding e4 and think about c6 and d5, as slow as it is. But I'd also have to make sure e5 is defended, so Bf8 might be called for in that plan too.} c5 {Alas, c5 was played. I accidentally went forward one move and saw this. It wouldn't have been on my radar. If black's gonna push a pawn like that, making a weakness on d6, they've always gotta check what happens if their opponent takes/pushes/defends/counter-attacks/ignores. If white takes on c5 black can re-take with knight and enjoy a good square for it with tempo on the bishop but white can take the knight: 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. c4 possibly (with bxc4 19. Nxc4 making black's dark-squared bishop pretty bad, although white's light-squared bishop isn't great--unclear.) Black could take with pawn first but that doesn't seem good either: 16. dxc5 dxc5 17. c4 bxc4 (if no bxc4, I think white gets a passed pawn) 18. Nxc4 and black has an isolated c-pawn that it looks like white can attack a lot. Ugh. 15. ...c5 is the type of move that I would waste a lot of time thinking how to play if I was white. Basically if white feels like taking on c5, I think they can't allow black to play c4 next move because I think white wants the a2-g8 diagonal. That logic also removes 16. d5 from the sensible move list if white is playing how I think. I like this move from black, it takes the Qa2 idea away since that would be answered by ...c4} 16. g3 {g3 is weird, slightly weakening around the king, h3 is undefended, it takes a defender off f3. Maybe white wants Nh4 but I don't think so because ...Bxh4 and gxh4 is fugly.} Bf8 {Oh, so black plays Bf8 defending the pawns in front of the king and guarding e5 better. But the knight can come to h4, does it matter?} 17. Nh4 {What should black play after Nh4? Well, what is white threatening? Nf5 possibly, Bd1 (with Bd2 and Qc1). Those are some ideas I think white might have so are they worth addressing? 18. Nf5 might threaten some sacrifice on h6 but black has that well-covered thanks to Bf8. A knight on f5 might be pesky but it doesn't have an immediate threat so it's not worth addressing on this move. 18. Bd1 could be coming but ...Nhf6 19. g4 exd4. I thought 17. ...Bc8 because it eyes h3 but (!) 18. axb5 and whoops. 17. ...Ndf6 looks like it takes a square away from the other knight and g4 might be scary there (although Nf4 might work--worth calculating). Probably should look at central pawn tension first since there are forcing lines. I think 17. ...cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19. Bxd4 Nhf6 (hits e4 3x and it's defended 3x). Er actually playing Nhf6 first is probably better since it threatens all that stuff and maybe f3 is the only defense which makes the pawns very weak in front of the king.} Nhf6 18. Nf5 exd4 {Ah so black takes with the e-pawn, I don't know if it matters which one.} 19. cxd4 Nxe4 20. Nf1 Qf6 21. g4 g6 {Black is up a pawn as some of the tension fell away. Nf5 was not the move for black many moves ago. White to win a pawn back? Don't try it: 22. Nxh6 Bxh6 23. Bxh6 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 Ng3#} 22. f3 gxf5 23. fxe4 cxd4 24. Bd2 fxe4 25. Nh2 {After Nh2, how should black solidify and win up three pawns? 25. ...e3 looks strong as it threatens Bishop and mate. If Rf1 then Qh4.} Qe5 {Or that :)} 26. Re2 Qg3+ 27. Kf1 Qxb3 28. Ra3 Qd5 29. Rg3 e3 30. g5 exd2 31. gxh6+ Kh8 32. Rxd2 Bxh6 33. Rdg2 Qc4+ { White resigns. } 0-1
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MY COMMENTS without the PGN
(5) Some ruy. I guess white's pawn isn't hanging after 5. 0-0. Idea is 5. ...Nxe4? 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5.
(8) White finally moves something on the left side! All theory I'm sure but it seems pretty straightforward. 8. c3 preps d4 and gives bishop an escape if black were to play Na5
(9) h3 is more theory, I saw Dan Heisman do a video on the closed ruy and I believe he gives reasons why you play c3 before h3 here. It obviously keeps Bg4 off the table. I already saw that blacks' response was Nb8 which is deep theory I guess but if I were to play black here, as a non-ruy player, I'd look at moves like Bb7 but I'd also be calculating what happens when white plays d4. If 9 ...Bb7 10. d4 I think ...exd4 11. cxd4 isn't great for black because white has a nice central pawn presence. Black has pressure on e4, but something like 11. ...Na5 opening the attack allows (forces) Bc2. So, again, if after 9. ...Bb7 10. d4 and if black doesn't want to take it, I don't see what black can do to stop d5 from coming which would annoy me as black. Perhaps that's why Bb7 isn't played??? Nb8 is the game move for black which looks to be more flexible, allowing for either c6 and d5 pushes, or if white immediately responds 10. d4 then black has Nbd7 to guard e5 and if 11. d5 black can try for Bb7, Nb6 and a c6 push to break white's expansive center--but make sure e5 is still defended.
(10) Hey, I predicted the next moves!
(11) White has no queenside pieces out, so knowing zero theory at this point, I feel like it should be time to get those out, and Yep, finally some queenside development.
(13) Qb1 seems funky but whatevs. It's weird reviewing games from better players because if I saw this move in a game I'd be like "huh? seems weird, there must be something wrong with it" but in a 45|45 game with 2100+ players I view these moves differently to say the least...like "that must threaten a few things...hmmm" Qb1 seems to put it on a diagonal towards the black king (even though white will have to move the e4 pawn) and it seems like white's pieces are headed that way somewhat--I know Nf1-g3 is a common maneuver. Qb1 may also be vacating a square for the bishop. I guess we'll see. Black plays Nh5 , I guess looking for Nf4 or to harass white's dark-squared bishop? If 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 black might try to weasel theknight into f4 or make white's kingside pawns come out some. Or perhaps Nh5's purposs is to discourage the Nf1-g3 maneuver from white.
(15) a4 from white again would make me go, hmm okay. What's white's idea? Should black take, push, defend or counter-attack. White's idea might be: the center is not quite locked but it's sorta frozen I think, so an attack on the wing is called for. White is threatening Qa2 with a battery on the weak f7 square and also may want to open the a-file. So for black, take, push or defend/counter-attack? If 15. ...bxa4, white can re-take with rook and swing it over to attack b7 or leave it on a-file to attack the a-pawn, or take via Bxa4 and pin black's knight to the rook. I see some solid options for white so I think black shouldn't take. Pushing just gives white a pawn. So some other move then... I already saw black's move and I don't think I would have considered it. Maybe Kf8 to get it off the bishop diagonal. Or c6 prepping d5. Prepatory moves this deep into the middlegame are scary for me though as they often require you to be sure your opponent has nothing more pressing they're threatening. 15. ...Ndf6 hits e4 twice, but now I see a reason why Qb1 was played! I might play that anyway to keep the queen guarding e4 and think about c6 and d5, as slow as it is. But I'd also have to make sure e5 is defended, so Bf8 might be called for in that plan too.
Alas, c5 was played. I accidentally went forward one move and saw this. It wouldn't have been on my radar. If black's gonna push a pawn like that, making a weakness on d6, they've always gotta check what happens if their opponent takes/pushes/defends/counter-attacks/ignores. If white takes on c5 black can re-take with knight and enjoy a good square for it with tempo on the bishop but white can take the knight: 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. c4 possibly (with bxc4 19. Nxc4 making black's dark-squared bishop pretty bad, although white's light-squared bishop isn't great--unclear.) Black could take with pawn first but that doesn't seem good either: 16. dxc5 dxc5 17. c4 bxc4 (if no bxc4, I think white gets a passed pawn) 18. Nxc4 and black has an isolated c-pawn that it looks like white can attack a lot. Ugh. 15. ...c5 is the type of move that I would waste a lot of time thinking how to play if I was white. Basically if white feels like taking on c5, I think they can't allow black to play c4 next move because I think white wants the a2-g8 diagonal. That logic also removes 16. d5 from the sensible move list if white is playing how I think. I like this move from black, it takes the Qa2 idea away since that would be answered by ...c4
(16) g3 is weird, slightly weakening around the king, h3 is undefended, it takes a defender off f3. Maybe white wants Nh4 but I don't think so because ...Bxh4 and gxh4 is fugly. Oh, so black plays Bf8 defending the pawns in front of the king and guarding e5 better. But the knight can come to h4, does it matter?
(17) What should black play after Nh4? Well, what is white threatening? Nf5 possibly, Bd1 (with Bd2 and Qc1). Those are some ideas I think white might have so are they worth addressing? 18. Nf5 might threaten some sacrifice on h6 but black has that well-covered thanks to Bf8. A knight on f5 might be pesky but it doesn't have an immediate threat so it's not worth addressing on this move. 18. Bd1 could be coming but ...Nhf6 19. g4 exd4.
17. ...Bc8 eyes h3 but (!) 18. axb5 and whoops. 17. ...Ndf6 looks like it takes a square away from the other knight and g4 might be scary there (although Nf4 might work--worth calculating). Probably should look at central pawn tension first since there are forcing lines. I think 17. ...cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19. Bxd4 Nhf6 (hits e4 3x and it's defended 3x). Er actually playing Nhf6 first is probably better since it threatens all that stuff and maybe f3 is the only defense which makes the pawns very weak in front of the king.
(18) Ah so black takes with the e-pawn, I don't know if it matters which one.
(21) Black is up a pawn as some of the tension fell away. Nf5 was not the move for black many moves ago.
(22) White to win a pawn back? Don't try it: 22. Nxh6 Bxh6 23. Bxh6 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 Ng3#
(25) After Nh2, how should black solidify and win up three pawns? 25. ...e3 looks strong as it threatens Bishop and mate. If Rf1 then Qh4.
SOME NOTES USING STOCKFISH
Usually I have more of these but I ran out of time tonight. It's usually very helpful for me to grade my analysis with the engine.
(15) wow, Kf8 is a bad move, it directly allows the Qa2 battery idea I even spotted, haha. At least my idea of knight into f6 was a good one, although stockfish was sying Nhf6 which does make some sense.
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Fall Update
Due to a run-in with /r/chess involving me mindlessly posting a link to copyrighted material, I've decided to remove all book notes from my blog. I've saved those posts as drafts so I can still review them when I see fit but I don't want them out in the ether. This blog isn't widely viewed but I don't want the wrong person seeing it and reporting any posts with copyrighted material in it--even if it's just a diagram or verbatim quote.
Beyond that, I've taken a short 1-2 week break from playing a classical game but I did get my rating up to 1721. I'm about to embark on the Lichess4545 and Lichess Lonewolf Leagues so that'll absolutely force me to play games over the next six or eight weeks. I have a game tonight in the Lonewolf league (I think it's 30+30 time control) and then tomorrow I play my 45+45 game. I'm seventh board on the team.
I plan on getting ready by doing some mate-in-two problems from Polgar's 5334 puzzles book. I hope to analyze some of my slow games from these leagues on this blog. In fact, today I came up with a spaced repetition method for that book since they are all pretty simple and straightforward patterns.
Spaced Repetition on 5334 Chess Problems
I've been going through the book slowly at work. The book is massive and it's broken into:
306 mate-in-one problems
3412 mate-in-two problems
A few hundred mate-in-three problems
600 miniature games, etc
I've gone through all the mate-in one problems and ~150 of the mate-in-two problems. I want to set up a system of review such that:
1) I go through, say, 500 problems once
2) Go back over those same ones a second time, keeping an eye on time. Any problems that take longer than 20 seconds, I will write down and review later before my next cycle through.
3) Keep cycling through until I feel confident I can do the problem set in an average of 5 seconds per problem.
Beyond that, I've taken a short 1-2 week break from playing a classical game but I did get my rating up to 1721. I'm about to embark on the Lichess4545 and Lichess Lonewolf Leagues so that'll absolutely force me to play games over the next six or eight weeks. I have a game tonight in the Lonewolf league (I think it's 30+30 time control) and then tomorrow I play my 45+45 game. I'm seventh board on the team.
I plan on getting ready by doing some mate-in-two problems from Polgar's 5334 puzzles book. I hope to analyze some of my slow games from these leagues on this blog. In fact, today I came up with a spaced repetition method for that book since they are all pretty simple and straightforward patterns.
Spaced Repetition on 5334 Chess Problems
I've been going through the book slowly at work. The book is massive and it's broken into:
306 mate-in-one problems
3412 mate-in-two problems
A few hundred mate-in-three problems
600 miniature games, etc
I've gone through all the mate-in one problems and ~150 of the mate-in-two problems. I want to set up a system of review such that:
1) I go through, say, 500 problems once
2) Go back over those same ones a second time, keeping an eye on time. Any problems that take longer than 20 seconds, I will write down and review later before my next cycle through.
3) Keep cycling through until I feel confident I can do the problem set in an average of 5 seconds per problem.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Introduction One of Dan Heisman's list of recommended books is Bain's Chess Tactics for Students. In the note, he provides a guid... -
This book makes me feel like I'm doing serious chess work. It was largely review so that's nice although there were some very hard c... -
There are a lot of players looking for the right way to study, the best methods, book recommendations, the correct ratio of game-play to stu...