Analysing My Own Games: Failure to Prepare

"Failure to prepare is preparing to fail" - Benjamin Franklin.

I have learnt this lesson once more the hard way. Unfortunately I lost my 4th round match in the Thematic Caro-Kann tournament. One good thing to come out of this was finding my mistakes through analysing my own games.

White to Move

Here I made the aggressive thrust f4. However, this is typical of the recurring mistake I make in games.

I have neglected my poor Rook at a1 that sits idly. Black's Queen invades my camp by sitting at e3, tying up my plans to expand and my pieces become in a tangle.

Rae1 and possibly Kh1 and only the following with f4 would have been an improvement. Black has no active threats at present, and I don't belive his .. b4 as any venom.

It is a commont theme for me to be one move short in my attacks, and this is often an indication I didn't prepare well. A hallmark of really top players is their preparation of pieces to all their best squares. I'll have to continue to learn the hard way.