This match lasted 3 hours and was against a team that usually beats us. The guy I played on first board today was the guy I played last year (he beat me twice back then). The main reason I am posting this is so that you can critique anything you saw wrong or what I should work on (you can be blunt about it). Also, if you notice anything he does that I could possibly take advantage of next time I play him (we play each town twice), please point it out.

I think you did good. Off the top of my head I didn't notice anything you did that was bad. Maybe if I had time to truly analyze the position I would find something you missed, but I doubt there would be much and I don't, so I will just say congratulations on a game well played.

Are you sure? Is there a way of putting these moves in to Fritz so I can check?

Out of interest, do you think you play better online or OTB? I think you play better OTB, although most people say that it's easier to see things online. The reason I'm wondering is because I feel I play better OTB myself.

And for Fritz, just play it move by move with 'Explain All Moves' turned on.

Do they really think that? I play WAY better OTB, I can't see anything online. I rush things and make dumb moves.

Nobody has any type of criticism towards my game?

Well you guys must not be very high rated, cause it was actually a pretty noob game, but well played, I would not have been so rude as to get the second quuen though.

Neither of us are rated, which is why I'm asking advice on how to improve. Getting the queen was necessary, he could have slid his queen to H8 for mate if I didn't do that.

One thing I noticed (but don't have in-depth analysis for) is that you opened up the position before you castled. Granted, nothing happened, but eventually you'll play people that can take advantage of that.

I don't like 12.  b4, it wreaks havoc with your pawn structure, and brings out your Q in a bad place.  It also weakens your c-pawn and helps black develop.

I also disagree with f3, as it opens up a vicious attack with blacks Q and KB after Qe7, Nh5, and other aggresive ways to open lines.

24. h5? was a blunder.  Blacks position is hopeless after Rxg7 and Ke2 which doubles your rooks on an open flie, menacing blacks king. An added bonus to this move is that you lose an isolated pawn for a strong one.

I also dissapprove of 40. Qe6.  It allows a discovered attack and other complications, and puts your king in a bad place.  Better would be Qe8, attacking to score another queen.  Good job to notice that Qc2? loses material to Rd2+.

Good game on the whole, despite a few errors.

What is your USCF?

Thank you for the feedback (I'm about to look at everything you suggested/mentioned). I have no rating if that is what you're asking, I don't know how to get rated.

To get rated, play in a rated tournament.

Here are a few things:

You should have castled one way or the other, rather than leaving your king in the center. therefore I think either 7. Qxf3 would be better, preserving your Kingside pawn structure, or you should have avoided 12. b4.

Pushing h4 was a mistake, because it created a big hole for his Knight.  If he had defended later with 24. ... Bf6 instead of the blunder Rg8, he would have done better.

In the end, I think you could have mated faster witht he two queens.

OTOH, his blunders were much bigger than your errors.

i was just wondering, what were you and your opponents ratings? also for anyone who is interested i posted some high school games of my own in my blog.

I'm not a good player, so my advice should be taken with a pound of salt :-)

I don't like your move7.  It opens up your king side such that castling will be disasterous there.  Accordingly, I like taking with the queen, but he will make you uncomfortable when he plays bishop to g4, but I think you can weather that storm.

After your move22, I like black's position.  You made a nice attack soon after that he didn't see coming.  I wonder how it turns out if he plays h5 on move 23.

You both played well ... and you better!

Good luck next time with him.  Bill

go to uschess.org and sign up for the USCF, but fair warning it will make you pretty competitive.

@ ELBEASTO: Why was F3 bad? I understand what you said but I don't get how he could have taken advantage of it. If I didn't push that pawn up he would have taken it with his knight (if I slid my bishop up I think it would have been significantly weaker.

@ DR_Fail: Like I said before, we are both unrated.

@ billrose: I understand now that I should have brought my queen out. I just thought that because of the situation in the middle I didn't need to castle just yet.

@Chessbee: Should I even bother yet? There are only 2 kids that are rated in our division (one is 1700 and the other is 2170) and they both slaughter me any time I play them. Do you know what my rating would be around if I did decide to start playing a lot?

I think 17. Qxb5 wasn't the best move. 17. cxb5 opening the c-file looks better to me. You can play Rc1 next. If black tries to contend for the c-file with Rc8 you can play Bh3. I think you'll have better control of the c-file than black does.

Also, the pawn on c4 is a potential weakness, so it doesn't hurt to get rid of it.

You could have mated a bit sooner:
44. Qb8+ Kc6
45. Qec8+ Kd5
46. Qbb7#

Might be a faster solution, but that's what I saw.  Once there were 2 Queens on the board, I knew there had to be a win in a few moves.