Hi there, my first post so bear with me.  I hope the graphics and comments work ok...

I am playing as Black.

This is a game that i couldn't help but lose.  My opponent seemed to force me back not allowing me to develop.

Did he play really well or was i really bad?

Was there a key bad move?  Or was it a combination!!

I thought it was fairly even until i made a Bishop sac.  Then as the game developed - i didn't!

Any thoughts on the game are most welcome.

Thanks,

Chris.

I would have to look more but when you took their c pawn I was wondering why and when you sacked your bishop I was wondering 

why you didnt take their horse then push your g pawn 

to cover your horse...those were my initial thoughts if that helps. 

 

i'm a little tipsy so bear with me please. well you followed the dutch variation of the queen's gambit slave defense. instead of 9...nbd7 i would have played 9...c5 followed by 10. ka2 kc6 11. kxb4 kxb4 12. bd2 kc2 13. r1d1 cxd4 14.bc3 qc7. now you're out of the opening and up a pawn for the time being.

as for your game: very exciting. your mistake wasn't the bishop sac (although why not take the knight on f3?) it was the move before 12...nh5. we all know a knight on the rim is dim. if you played 12...nd5 it could have lead to 13. bd2 bxc3 14. bxc3 f6 15. bd3 bxf3 16. qxf3 fxe5. now you won a pawn.

continue: a better defense on 17 would have been ...17 nf8. but the true error happened on 20...c5. if you played 20...nf5 you would have had a good chance to win or draw.

 you played a better game than i probably would have played, it's easy to sit back and say where one strayed when there's no pressure. good luck next time.

You left your opponent build a strong center unopposed, which is a recipe for trouble... I would start by looking as moves such as 11...c5 (or 9...c5 as was suggested earlier) to see if they improve your position or not.

After you sacrifice the bishop, it's quite difficult to play.

12...Nh5?? was big mistake  correct move was 12...Nd5!

Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees!  I was convinced that i was going to lose the Bishop or the Knight and neglected to look further than Qxf3, pushing the g pawn seems so obvious now... Doh!

However, putting the Knight there in the first place seems to be a mistake, ...Nd5 being a better choice.

Thanks for the tips so far........

Chris.

I really enjoyed this game! Everything seemed to be in the right place following the opening. Apart from the questionable bishop sacrifice, a pivotal part of the game from my point of view was the sequence from 14...g6. This allowed my bishop to gain an unopposed strong position that was ultimately crucial to the mating attack once I'd managed to get the queen (and knight) off the 7th rank. Maybe you were concerned that I might also try a bishop sacrifice . Or was it a hiding hole for your errant knight?

Great game, I think we're both learning a lot from this. Thanks for posting it, and thanks to everyone who is helping us to understand it!

Simon