John,
I took a bit of time to analyze your game and came up with the following reccomendations:
-tactics, tactics tactics! You made a lot of calculative errors, such as when you blundered your queen on f4. In practical play, I would reccomend always trying to check twice before you make a capture to survey its ramifications.
-You might want to become familiar with some of the plans (not necessarily move orders) in the opening(s) you play. For instance, in the French defense, you want to put a lot of pressure on d4 and then make a break with f6 to attack the e5 pawn when appropriate (from my experience playing the French)
-In the endgame, you want to limit your opponent's chances, so you want to make sure a race like the one you had in the game in which white had a win with 49. Rxf2!!
-Hanging pieces: you seem to be good at winning material, but make sure your own pieces are not hanging first.
I enjoyed looking at your game and hope my analysis was helpful.
[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2012.05.06"]
[White "Eagle5"]
[Black "johnmusacha"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1390"]
[BlackElo "1370"]
[TimeControl "30|3"]
[Termination "johnmusacha won by resignation"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1.e4 e6 2.e5 { A rather unusual way to try and play the advance variation. Normally, white will play d4 and wait until black commits to shutting in the light squared bishop with d5. With that said, I like the look of playing b6 instead of b5 and then putting the bishop on b7 because it allows black to take advantage of white's newly weakened light squares. Nevertheless, d5 is fine as well. } 2...d5 3.d4 c5 { The most classical way to break white's pawn on e5, striking at e4. } 4.Bb5+?! { In my opinion, this is not a very good move for the following reasons. 1) It does not directly deal with black's attack on d4 in the long run
2) it gives black the opportunity to exchange the one positional weakness so far: the light squared bishop with 4... Bd7 or free it with 4... Nc6 and if 5. Bxc6+ 5... bxc6 and the black bishop will end up on a6, preventing white from castling. } 4...Bd7 5.Qd3 Qa5+ { maybe better was cxd4. While white is not forced to recapture the pawn immediately, say after 6. Nf3, black could follow up with Qb6 and pressure white's position, while when white recaptures with 7. Bxd7+, black recaptures with 7... Nxd7 and white's e pawn is under attack. The black knight will go to e7 and then g6 or c6, and black should be fine. } 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Bxd7+ Nxd7 8.Qxd4 Bb4 { Again, the same idea of Ne7-c6 seems really strong as the e pawn will be pressured twice and the queen will be kicked as well. If white plays Nf3 and then after Nc6 Qe3 or f4, then bb4 would perhaps be stronger, with Bc6 as a different option. } 9.Bd2 Ne7 { Herein lies the disadvantage of Bb4. The a3-b4 push is coming, so black has to use a tempo on the queen. Luckily, black has a good square in c7, but Nb5 could be problematic in the future. } 10.a3 Bc5 11.Qa4 Qc7 12.Bf4 O-O { Now e5 is under attack, but Nb5 is still a problem. } 13.O-O-O { note that taking on f2 with the bishop could become awkward, but black has a solution: } ( 13.Nf3 a6 14.O-O Nc6 15.Rfe1 b5 16.Qb3 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 { The e5 pawn looks isolated and doomed. Black has no weaknesses and is better. White will have no space advantage, black will have no weaknesses and the asset of the open c file and a good infiltration square of c4 could be vital. } ) 13...Nxe5 ( 13...Bxf2 14.Nb5 Qb6 15.Nd6 Be3+ 16.Kb1 ( 16.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 17.Kb1 Nxe5 { White is in serious trouble. The knight on d6, so good when the e5 pawn is well supported, is now lost in black's territory and will soon fall. } ) 16...Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Ng6 { The e5 pawn is gone and the knight on d6 should follow. } ) 14.Nf3 Nd3+ { This tactic would work if the queen was not on the 4th rank. Better was instead Ng6, defending your pinned piece and attacking the pinned: the f4 bishop. } ( 14...N7g6 15.Bg3 a6 { ! Now Nb5 is no longer a problem if black defends the knight on e5 with Bd6. } 16.Rhe1 Bd6 { Black is just a pawn up and should be strategically winning; white is on the pure defensive, b5 is coming along with a slaughter on the queenside. } ) 15.Rxd3 Qxf4+?? 16.Qxf4 { I lost the Queen due to an oversight. } 16...Bxf2 17.Ne5 { Another serious error. Nf5 is an ideal move to play, but your bishop on f2 is hanging! } 17...Nf5 18.Ng4 { Luckily for you, your opponent missed the opportunity to seal your fate with Qxf2 } 18...Rac8 { Your bishop is still hanging... were both of you running out of time here? } 19.Rf1 { Again, your most generous opponent neglects to capture on f2 } 19...Bb6 20.Rff3 f6 { e5 is the threat. } 21.Nb5 Rc4 { A strong move that picks up material, but white has no need to give up the queen here. } 22.Qxc4? { Here white chooses to trade a Queen for a Rook. } 22...dxc4 23.Rc3 a6 { Now the wayward knight on b5 is trapped. } 24.Ne3 { White should instead try Rxf5+ in order to then play Nd6, rounding up a pawn on either c4 or f5 (b7 is awfully risky) } 24...Bxe3+ { Picking up a piece with tempo } 25.Kb1 axb5 26.g4 { sacrificing the rook on f5 is white's best survival hope, but white is still lost at this point. } ( 26.Rxf5 exf5 27.Rxe3 Kf7 { preventing the rook from penetrating the 7th rank and winning the game. Black's extra pawns will be decisive, even the doubled ones. } ) 26...Bd4 27.gxf5 Bxc3 { Winning the exchange! } 28.bxc3 e5 { Strong move. Why not make a passed pawn? } 29.Re3 Rd8 { Good technique. Taking the open file for your rook. } 30.Re4 { Rooks are not meant to blockade. White will not last long. } 30...Kf8 31.Kb2 Ke7 32.a4 bxa4 33.Rxc4 b5 34.Rc7+ Rd7 35.Rc8 Rd8 36.Rc7+ Rd7 37.Rc8 g6 38.Rb8 gxf5 39.Rxb5 f4 40.Ra5 f3 41.Rxa4 f2 42.Ra1 Rd2 ( 42...Rb7+ { Probably a better move to give check here! --I agree, the immediate check wins. If the king runs to c1, you queen (as your analysis shows), but if Qa3 Ra7+ will exchange rooks on a1 following by queening on f1. } 43.Kc1 ( 43.Ka3 Ra7+ 44.Kb2 Rxa1 45.Kxa1 f1=Q+ ) 43...Rb1+ 44.Rxb1 f1=Q+ ) 43.Rf1 Ke6 { e4 is much, much stronger because e3 will arrive protecting everything. } ( 43...e4 44.Kc1 e3 ) 44.Kc1 Re2 45.Kb2 { ?? Kd1 will force black to give up the pawn, even though white is still lost. This is why playing e4-e3 is vital. } 45...Kd5 46.Kb3 Ke4 47.c4 Kf3 48.c5 Kg2 { Oh no! You let the c6 pawn run and should lose because of the following: } 49.c6 ( 49.Rxf2+ { !! The white pawn will now queen and black might not be able to win at all. } 49...Kxf2 50.c6 Rd2 51.c7 Kg2 52.c8=Q Kxh2 53.Qf5 { White will win, with accurate technique. } ) 49...Kxf1 50.c7 Kg1 51.c8=Q f1=Q 52.Qg4+ Qg2 { The difference from my most recent analysis is that white allowed you to queen. If white sacrificed the rook for your f2 pawn, you would have lost. }
0-1
I am new here and a beginner at chess. Is anyone interested in this game of mine? Any tips would be appreciated, as well as criticism. Thanks.