Nova Daily - 9 January 2025

Hi!

Once more I was confronted with my severe lack of opening knowledge regarding the Exchange Caro-Kann. I lost a pawn, but obtained quite some reasonable compensation in the process. Next to this, I received a checkmate within 15 moves and within four minutes. I ended with more time than I started, and that's definitely not a good sign.

So, let's have a look.

My aftermath analysis will come later. First I'm going to study this variation in more depth.

This game was only 15 moves long and resulted in a win, but it showed many mistakes, such as playing too fast, not having studied the opening properly, neglecting development and castling, trading active pieces for passive ones, going for flashy rather than sensible. All of this in four minutes of time. It's not wasted time, but it's rubbing in the mistakes that I must deal with.

What can I take away from this game:

1. Don't play the opening too fast, especially when not having done the proper study work. When the reflex moves are wrong, it means that I need to pause and study things in more depth. I don't know everything, and I shouldn't play like I do.

2. Abide by the rules. Develop your pieces, castle your king to safety. Don't trade active pieces for passive ones. It's not that difficult to understand.

3. Based on this game I'd diagnose myself with overconfidence without the proper skills to back it up. I should work on those skills.