Beginner To Master - Part 1

I've decided to take another break, maybe a permanent one, from my Taking Out The Trash series.  I hope those who read it learned something, but I think it's time to move from concrete engine analysis and move on to middlegame understanding.  So I've started a new blog!  

So here's how this is going to work: I'll be playing games against my students from time to time and having them annotate the game right afterwards.  I will also annotate the same game.  Our analysis will then be published side by side, allowing readers to see where our calculation and/or evaluation was different.  Hopefully this will be quite educational.

Hopefully you enjoy the first edition of this series!

My opponent - Todd, approximate playing strength of 1400.