Thanks. I found the annonations helpful. I'm not always sure when to exchange pieces, but this helped me get some ideas.
d4 work paid off
Sort:
I'm glad it helped. Check out all the annotated variations, too!
I loved your description of your plans; they were easy to understand for a lower-rated player like me and helped me gain a better sense of what I will try to do. Thx
some things to consider:
12. f3 was impossible because of 12..Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Nxe4 with a discovery
in your notes to move 13, at the last position, 15. Nd5 would be interesting as after 15...Bxa1 16. Qxa1, White has a winning attack on the dark squares.
nice game though. how do you study the KID by any chance? :p
good point, I didn't realize that white should be more than happy to sacrifice the exchange in that situation.
As for the KID, I bought a book on it but never read more than five pages. What I picked up has been from looking at master-level games, listening to a CM speak his thoughts on youtube, and poking around on chess.com.
I used to use this database. After going a few moves deep into the opening, I just played through a hundred or more games, just watching the pieces dance across the board, to get used to common patterns (e.g. bishop sac on h2, rook lift to either f7 or f6, bishop to f8 to protect the "heel" of the pawn chain, etc.) and when they occurred.
The videos I'm referring to are by this guy who calls himself "Kingscrusher" on youtube. His actual identity is CM Tryfon Gavriel. To me he seemed particularly good at closed positions, and I think much of my French and KID skills can be attributed to that fellow.
Last but not least, I found a couple articles on chess.com really informative on the KID. I don't remember which ones exactly, but a search would probably pull them up.
As for non-Mar del Plata KID variations, I am probably terrible at them, and have yet to encounter one such game on chess.com that wasn't prearranged by me. Vote chess hardly counts (but is another useful resource, although games are deadeningly slow).
What was white thinking with their last move?
Maybe he just didn't want to play out a losing endgame? No clue.
Is the ending completely lost after 20. Qxe4 Rxe4 21. Ndf4 Bf5 22. Nxc7 Rc8 23. Nb5?
I agree black has some activity with the bishop pair, but white has some nice outposts and good counterplay.
Recently, I've been trying to improve my defenses against d4 (i.e. trying to put hypermodern ideas to use). I started a dozen or so correspondence games, and really tried to form and execute plans during those games. This 15-minute game (not correspondence) feels like the culmination of my efforts.