good

what a game.

nice

Yeah! first 2 questions answered correctly , but the last was failed.

I guest 29... Nd4, what was the minus of that move? thanks for explaining before..

I still thinking that 20...d5!? is the best choice for black to destroy white's domination on the center. But 20...c5 can't do it and will block the bishop.

...Bc8 was a nice move to solve it and 21...Reb8 would attack the queenside, but white could neutralize it by pawns blockade.

That was just my opinion

I just want to say that GM vbhat had the great articles! Thanks

Thanks for the game Mr. Bhat.

Fantastic comments, Vinay. Thanks for sharing.

I thought it looked like a draw if Rxa3 then Nxa3, but okay what ever floats your boat.

Great comments, Vinay. As Botvinnik said one player who want get better need to analyse critically their games and, even, to expose them - and their mistakes, of course - to other people.

So, thanks for share your game with "normal" people like us, and good luck with 2600's barrier! :-)

Hi, For question 1. What was your opening plan with 1...e5? Was it to challenge White for control of center space or establish a queenside breakthrough? It looks to me that after 16...g6 you may have wanted to start a kingside pawn storm or were you playing a waiting game hoping that White would make a mistake that you could convert?

 For question 2. I think I would have exchanged queens  and use knights to put more pressure on White's king, but the positional features are still equal, and White has been maneuver a passive game as I would say you were. 

For question 3. active defensive maneuver; for example ...c5 or ...Ng5 with the intent of opening a file to put more pressures on White's king and bring the rooks into the game.

Then again it's aways easier to make comments after the game when I'm only speculating not challenging wits against a wily opponent . I'm still learning about when to maneuver passively or actively to gain an advantage to convert, and that's the lesson I'm taking away from you game. Thanks for sharing it with us, and good luck with you chess career! 

eXecute

I think players of all levels can gain something from this article and series that will make them stronger. The general idea is that you're studying a game from a top player, and it is annotated by him. Of course, the more advanced you are the more you will be able to learn from this game. But even novices can gain familiarity with a strong opening choice for White (Ruy/Spanish) and typical move orders for both sides. For me, all the moves up till 11. ... Bd8 were very straight-forward and intuitive; I could blitz them in my sleep.

But the stronger you get, players make very small/no errors in the opening and middle game, so you have to respond with subtle and patient strategic moves like 11. ... Bd8 and 13. ... Nb8 which look counter-intuitive because you are temporarily "undeveloping" a piece in order to move it to a more productive square. I'm just starting to implement moves like this in my games on a regular basis.

I think what he was saying was that trying to defend the e-pawn with 26. ... Nd7 was a losing battle to begin with, so he should have just let White take it and use that sacrifice to gain some tempo with 26. ... c5 and maybe he would have a better chance at drawing the game with some more active pieces. Instead 26. ... Nd7 was a losing move because White was going to take the pawn anyway, and Black was going to be down a pawn and having tons of really bad pieces that aren't able to cover key squares in his position. All of this he explained during the annotations.

As you become a stronger and stronger player, they say one of the best ways to learn is to study Master-level games, especially ones with annotations. But still, all players can get something out of it. The point is defintely not to just try and memorize the moves because that never works.

GM vbhat, I'm guessing your article is aimed at high rated players who actually understand why you make a move and when you point out the mistake, why it's a mistake.

But to me, all your moves seemed fairly straightforward until you sacrificed the bishop needlessly. Sure they weren't aggressive moves, but you mention like Nd7 is a big mistake and that one pawn capture is the "losing move", but you don't explain why it's the losing move, and what the better move was, and what is allowed by the losing move for the opponent.

What lesson or conclusion am I to draw from your game to apply to my own games??? Am I suppose to have learned that if my opponent plays this exact routine that in that specific situation I should not make the same mistakes?

I also noticed that 20...c5 could be good move...

Dear GM Bhat

Interesting game...

the position on 20...Nf8? cought my eye.

Here you mention 20...d5! as the best alternative... but... When looking at the position I feel that 20...c5!? is quite a good move too...

I do not think white has any particular advantage after

20...c5!? 21.d5 Reb8 22.Bg2 Bc8

Did you consider 20...c5!? and is there something wrong with it, that I have not noticed?