Serious Attempt at Getting Better, Part 1

Hi guys,  

I used to play chess when I was a kid, but at some point chess and I parted ways.  I recently got back into the game (28 now) and realized how much I love it.  At the same time, I also realized how bad I am at the game!  I really want to get better and as I have been exploring the site I have noticed that the advice available here on the forums can be of great help since there are so many better players here than me.  I'll be posting games from time to time in hopes that some of you will share your opinions and advice with me.

Here is a recent game that I won (gotta start out on a high note!), though I certainly did not know what I was doing at points throughout the game.  Also, I have only played a few games on the site, so I doubt my rating is anywhere near correct, not in a good way ;) 

Thanks in advance for any help!

-SD

that was some powerful chess played there.

You have played great , and cos that this is not a good game cos it's not showing your problems and we need to see your problems so we can suggest some improvements

LOL you deserve to lose. Your opponent played 22 Kh2?? when he could have just take the bishop on b4 with axb4 and all you have to claim is 1 simple check to eat the pawn on g3 after which the check can be blocked easily. 

Then on move 23 the opponent blunders again with Rb7 when he should have taken the bishop on h2 and allowed bishop takes b2 since 2 bishops are much stronger than a rook and pawn.

 What were the time controls of this game?

First things first:

• You should play people stronger than you (+100 point difference means you are 64-36 favorite in the game)
• Posting a game that you’ve lost would probably be more beneficial for pointing out the mistakes.

Opening: 

• You clearly know that moving central pawns and activating pieces is a good thing. I’d probably play 6…c6 or 6…c5 instead of 6…Nc6. 
• You played 7…a5 which is another natural move, good. 

Middle game:

• 11…Bh3 with the idea of exchanging the fianchetto bishop is usually a good idea. You should probably follow through by playing 13…Bxg7 (not 13…Qf5).
• I don’t like 15…Bc5, why not activate rook by playing Rfe8 or Rad8?
• You saw the tactic with 17…Bxb4, good.
• 19…Nxg3?! is another temporary sacrifice, at first I thought it works. It takes little bit of calculation and might be good in rapid games. (20.axb4? Nxe2+ 21.Qxe2 Qxb1 wins a pawn and exchange, 20.hxg3! Qxb1 21.Reb2 Qg6 22.Rxb5 Qxg3+)
• White missed an obvious way to win two minor pieces for a rook (23.Kxh3!).
• Ra1 is a pretty move, forces the exchange of rooks.

Black played a good game, you have an eye for tactics.

I think you're a much stronger player than your rating suggests, that was an excellent game of chess.

Like you, last year (august) I got back in to chess at the age of 29, having never moved a pawn for 16 years. Its amazing what pattern recognition the brain restores over the years!

I found I plateued at around the 1500-1600 level after 3 or 4 months simply because I was at the level where my opponents knew all the common openings and variations and traps. I didn't have the time to learn all the most common opening ands responses myself and wanted a 'quick fix', so I decided to specialise in just one lesser played opening for white (1. c3), and one opening for black (1. g3). I'm probably the worst 19xx player on this site, I know nothing about opening names, gambits, but what I am quite good at is reading several moves ahead.

You too seem to have a decent grasp of tactics, and being able to plan several moves ahead, I see no reason why you can't challenge some 1700+ players and give them a good game.

Cool, this is exactly what I was looking for, some very helpful advice.  I've noticed I have a tendancy to activate my rooks a bit late, which sometimes leads me to over extending my active pieces.  

I certainly will post games that I lose from now on.  I guess I wanted to toot my own horn with the first one.  I have a game going with a 1700+ player right now and if I lose that one, I will certainly post it for critique.

@bhaus - you mentioned a5 being a natural move in the openning.  At the time, I knew I had read somewhere that it was, but I could not recall why, and I went for it since I couldn't think of anything else to do.  So I guess my question is what is so good about it?  

Thanks again!

SD

I started to think about the a5 -move and if it really is all that important. Black has a lot of moves here (7...Bg4, 7...Bf4, 7...Qe7) but these can be played later as well. Playing a5 as a reflex after white has played a3 is because I'd want to be able to answer axb5 if white tries to start something on the queenside. White is already a bit cramped and needs to open somewhere. Text makes it harder for white to figure out where to make his play, black is grabbing more squares.

However, I'm not sure if b4-b5 advance is a real threat here and it is quite possible to just go on with developing pieces as usual.

@ponnupazoozu - after Kh2, I grabbed the pawn to threaten the rook so I could exchange a bishop for a bishop before I had to deal with the the threat to my h3 bishop.  Looking back it wasn't a great idea, it still wouldn't have saved my h3 bishop, but my opp moved in such a way that it worked out.