Yesterday I have read the article "Study Plan for Intermediate Players: Bringing it All Together" by webmaster.

http://www.chess.com/article/view/study-plan-for-intermediate-players-bringing-it-all-together2

I haven't completed Task 1 yet, since it requires completing 20 rated OTB chess tournaments. I already have finished 12 tournaments, but only 5 of them were rated. The 2nd task was about analyzing your own games. I tried analyzing and annotating my games last year when I was still an amateur back them. Few nights ago I decided to read my annotated games and there were several miscalculations which in turn reduced my self-confidence in analyzing them. I tried analyzing an OTB tournament game once but it seemed to me that I wasn't doing it right. I saw blunders, better moves that might have been played during the game, I learned my mistakes but I haven't been able to apply them in my current games. That's why I moved into Task 3 where I have to publish my analyzed games here as a public forum to ask others for their feedbacks and opinions. This isn't the first time I posted a forum here but I'm still working on posting a chess game.

Here's a game that I played this morning:

I hope you find it interesting. Please share your comments if you found mistakes of my analysis, miscalculations, the things I have missed and/or any other comments you might have to offer.

At move 10 ("I don't have a plan, maybe because I don't know what to look for"), I would definitely play 10. e5. The plan is to break the center before he can castle, thereby exposing his king. All your pieces are out, so it should be quite easy. Probably Black is already lost at this point.

The rest of my annoations. I originally created everything in one elaborate post, but the stupid computer ate it all. Anyhow, enjoy:

Thank you so much Nachtwulf and keju! Your comments were indeed very helpful. I've been waiting for hours for someone to comment on this post.

keju thanks for the comment! I now know what I should have looked for. My other problem is that this isn't the only game situation where this position arises. At move 10, the position was winning for White but in my other games where the game was equal, coming up with a plan is muh harder. My thinking process is to play good moves even though I don't have a plan, unlike others who knows when and where to attack. Anyway, thank you again for the comment and I hope in the future you can still post your feedbacks about different games I will post. You made it clear to me in this game and I hope you can spare some time posting a comment on my other games I will be sharing here.

Nachtwulf I appreciate your efforts posting long but meaningful comments that made it clear to me throughout the game. Though I had more that three attempts to solve the puzzle you posted it was very helpful. You also managed to annotate my game spotting my mistakes. There's just this (33. Qxa5 Rxf8 34. Qx7#) in your last post wherein Black can play 33. ... Rxc2# if White plays 33. Qxa5. Anyway thanks a lot and I am looking forward for your helpful comments in the games I will be posting here in the future.

I thought Task 3 in "Study Plan for Intermediate Players: Bringing it All Together" would be a failure to me but it sure helped me a lot.

Sure thing Haded, good luck with your progress. Breaking the center when the opponent is slow to castle is quite useful to remember because this situation is quite common. You are right it is harder to find a clear idea in more balanced situations.

Ah, I missed that tactic. 33. Rxd8 does the trick, though! Your game was fun to go through, and I enjoyed annotating it. As for plans, I've found that reading Pachman's Complete Chess Strategy helps quite a bit, or simply watching youtube videos by Kingscrusher (CM Tryfon Gavriel) where he explains his thoughts and strategies as he plays 5 to 15 minute games.

I think it's a great exercise to annotate your games, and don't be afraid of making any analytical mistakes. That's what we're here for. I think it's worth mentioning that 4...Nd4, bringing your Queen to a powerful, centralized post, was a serious mistake.

I also agree that 10.e5 looks like your most promising move. Because you hit both the Nf6, he can't push past with d5, so he almost has to open the d-file, And since you've castled queen side, you already have a rook pointing at his Queen. Your lead in development won't last forever, so opening up the position makes sense.

I like the way Black goes calmly about his business while his whole house is on fire!  But don't you think 16.g6 was much more energetic? Here's a chance to get familiar with the methods you use in a pawn storm. After 16.g6, you have--at the very least--the threat of Bxf7+. And 16...hxg6 17.hxg6 just makes thing much worse. And after 16...Rf8 17.h6! Black is completely toast. This combination of g6 and h6, ripping open the king side, is a standard maneuver. Something like 16...h6 17.gxf7+ Kh8 18.Rhg1 looks like Black's best, but it's completely hopeless.

And 17.Bb3 looks way to tame. In a way you're letting Black call the tune here. He makes a "threat" and your first instinct is to react to his threat. Be more skeptical! What if you just ignore him and play 17.g6? After 17...bxc4 18.Qxc4 you're threatening the even more crushing Qxf7+. 17...Rf8 18.Qxc6 gets your piece back and your attack continues unabated.  Or just take his b-pawn with 17.Bxb5. It's not as good, but it leaves you with a big advantage. Don't get in the habit of thinking: "uh-oh, he's attacking me, I must defend." And 18.Nb1? is a worse example of the same kind on thinking. What about 18.Qc4! His best defense is 18...Rf8 after which you grab the Bishop on c6 with an easy win. Believe in your own position a bit more! When he says "You must move your knight!" Your first thought should be: "Says who?" After 18.Nb1, a huge advantage is back to an even game. Thank goodness for 18...Nb6 instead of 18...Nc5! And even more for 19...h6 instead of 19...d5, which at least kept him alive.

Oy vey! You build these nice positions for yourself, and then you don't pull the trigger. Why not 22.Bxh6! Obviously if 22...gxh6  23.Qg8#. So Black's only move is 22...Bf6. Then 23.Qg6 (threatening Qxf6) and it's all over. By delaying a move and allowing Black to play 22...Bf6, you turned 23.Bxh6 into a mistake. Black could have safely taken that Bishop. After Black gave you another chance with 23...Ke7? You finished him off with great energy.

Despite all my weeping and wailing, this was a pretty good game by you. You can see the areas that need improvement: You missed a bunch of powerful tactics, but I often do the same. Try to study the shots you missed and you probably won't miss them in similar positions. These attack ideas occur again and again, so it's worth the time to study them. The more important thing is for you to become more aggressive in your thinking. Don't take all your opponent's threats at face value and assume you need to react to them. You're the one calling the tune--not him!

Thanks again keju and Nachtwulf!

paulgottlieb I wish I could annotate my games like you did. You saw all my flaws throughout the game and made it clear to me! How did you do that? I'm terrible at annotating games, calculating tactics, finding best moves even with my own games. Thanks a lot!

First, go through the game on your own, and try to figure out what's going on. Try to work out the tactics and let you imagination go. Once you've done all you could on your own, try to go over the agme with a chess engine. Note the places where the evaluation suddenly changes. You will be amazed at all the tactics hidden in a chess game. It takes time, but it's worth it.

Thanks paulgottlieb! I'll try it in my tournament games.