Short game - Big lesson #2

This is the third post in a series of short games that will be released every Monday. If you want to be part of this journey you can share one of your games by sending me a message.

Last week we analyzed an old game that shows the importance of developing your pieces quickly, as it allows you to be the first to create a strong attack. However, sometimes this is not enough to win a game, and thanks to the analysis of the computer, we can now witness positions where a player is not developing his pieces at all to go for some pawns, which decades ago was a terrible mistake, now it is possible.

Today I bring you a modern short game where black prioritizes pawns instead of developing pieces, a big mistake only if you do not analyze it deeply with the chess engine to make sure you can survive and have a playable position.

Who would have thought decades ago that a player who has three pieces on the 8th rank and only one knight on the 6th would be winning? And who would have thought decades ago the same player got a winning position by boldly moving his queen to capture a pawn early in the game? This is the beauty of modern chess.

As always, I invite you if you want to become a better chess player to write your own conclusions about this game, here are mine:

CONCLUSIONS:

1. Be prepared in case you are going to capture some pawns in the opening: one of the main reasons why Black defended his position in this game was that he is an expert in this line, he has played not one, two, or three but I would say even more than 50 games counting the training ones. Prepare yourself enough in case you want to play for an opening like this.
2. Give back a pawn to complete your development: I have seen people who do not consider giving material back because they think they will lose their advantage, when sometimes it is the other way around, and if you do not do it, you will end up in a bad position.
3. Think twice before moving a pawn: White's position was awkward but everything fell apart after the move f4 which created weaknesses Black was able to use. I have already written about this in previous posts. https://www.chess.com/blog/GaboSalazar2001/think-twice-before-moving-a-pawn

Now let me add an extra conclusion, there are no rules in chess. You will often find posts with a clickbait like "the 5 most important rules of chess" or "the rules of the opening", but none of them are true, because none of them are applicable 100% of the time.

You cannot claim that "do not move your queen in the opening" is a rule because as you noticed in this game it depends a lot on the position itself, sometimes it is going to be bad to develop the queen early and other times it is going to give you a quick win with a checkmate

If there were rules that anyone could follow to play better chess, it would not be so difficult to progress in this game. 

I would prefer to call these rules as "ideas" you can use in your game depending solely on the position you are in front of. You have the "idea" that it is bad to develop the queen in the opening, but maybe in the game, if you develop the queen early, you make an unstoppable threat of checkmate. Do not limit yourself to one concept, but do not try to imitate Richard Rapport either when you cannot even calculate 5 moves ahead. 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I will do my best to reply as soon as possible. 

I am the chess Fide Master Gabriel Salazar, available for new students:
Contact: gabosalazarolchowski@gmail.com