I played a club cup match last night and was paired on board two against a guy rated 153 BCF (which converts to 2015 FIDE). Since this is my first season, I don't have a rating yet and so don't know if I was completely outgunned ratings-wise. So far I've played seven, won five, lost one and drawn one.

Anyway, I played a Benoni, but the fact that I don't really know the opening all that well showed pretty quickly as I messed up and lost a pawn within a few moves. I generated some quite strong counterplay, and my opponent ended up making a horrible blunder, losing a rook.

Here's the game, any comments/analysis appreciated.

Nicely played :)

OTB, I still keep playing like white did in this game -- too often :p

I believe black is losing after 13 moves and then white proceeds to throw the game away with bad moves and then a horrible blunder. You played well to take advantage of his mistakes but your opening needs work .

Interesting game... i agree with Reb, Black had problems!  I think all White needed to do was to find 19.Kf2 and Black's Kingside B and N were very awkwardly placed. Even after going a rook down he might have played on with 20.Nb1, leaving your queen in a mild predicament and with his retaining some possibility of getting back some material with his passed d pawn, far-fetched perhaps, but not outside the realm of the possible. His Bishop pair  might have made your life difficult. But he cracked under pressure like a rotten canteloupe (wait, they don't crack, they get all squishy... dubious metaphor.)

I agree I was in a bad state before the blunder. I think after Kf2 the game would have been on, probably still with advantage for white. I should have played 13...Bf8 instead of Ng7, allowing the bishop to find a more active square. Then the open diagonals on white's king would have been more telling.

I definitely agree I need more work on this opening! This was the first time I'd ever played it OTB, and hadn't actually come up against the e5 push before.

In this line 8 e5 is the Mikenas attack and quite dangerous for black. Black's best response is 8... Nfd7 which is slightly better for black.

Thanks Reb. I didn't really give Nfd7 much thought (not that I gave Qe7 much thought either; completely rushed that move for no reason), although I should have done seeing as I'd looked through the Taimanov earlier in the day. I think I will perservere with the Benoni for a while, and maybe try out the KID for a while.

I did try the Dutch for a short while a few months ago, but decided I didn't like it all that much.

OTB games can turn on a dime !!

bcf / fide elo conversion , multiply by eight and add six hundred

153 x 8 + 600 = 1824

fide elo / uscf conversion, who knows, some say add 100 to 300 dependant upon the grade

say fide 2000 + 200 = uscf 2200.

you played with great initiative after the loss of the d6 pawn and deserved the success

BCF to FIDE Elo 

BCF < 216Elo = (BCF x 5) + 1250 

BCF ≥ 216Elo = (BCF x 8) + 600 

He converted it correctly. 

Thanks.

The conversion rate between BCF and FIDE is pretty confusing, to say the least, since the first page of Google results suggests at least three different ways of converting, all giving different figures. The BCF site suggests BCF * 8 + 650, although that's from the 'new grades'. Apparently they've changed their own grading system recently.

Although, according to http://www.sudburychess.org.uk/BcfEloCalc.htm, for grades under 216 BCF, the method is BCF * 5 + 1250.

Anyway, this is kind of besides the point. I was just quite chuffed to pull it back from the brink of defeat.

Sorry I didnt realise grades below BCF 216 were calculated differently. Perhaps I should as I'm rated otb well below 216 but then I've never played in any FIDE rated events only BCF in which some of the higher rated players had both BCF and FIDE ratings stated after their names. Anyway looking on the bright side by the correct calculation method my FIDE grade has increased from what I thought it should have been by one hundred and twenty points, hurrah. Now if I add a couple of hundred for the USCF conversion well then its looking even better.

PS good luck with the Benoni, my results with the opening were never much good. I found the knight tour variation inparticular water torture, if you face the line demolish it for me.