Humbled

Aug 6, 2008, 8:41 PM |

So with my rating over 2050 (very much inflated), I sought a new game, this time setting the low rating seek limit to 1900. I was quite surprised to find myself in a new game with a 2500+ player. Well, lets just say my opponent probably didn't enjoy this game very much. Unless he enjoys the occasional slaughter of his opponents.

I didn't give him a very good game. My main mistake was a desire to get into a familiar setup. My opponent changed up the move order I'm used to and I walked into a trap. What makes it worse is that I'm familiar with the trap. I was too preoccupied with concerns regarding the opening setup veering out of familiar territory that I just spaced. I realized what I had done almost immediately after move 6. ... g6 in the game. I make other mistakes after that as I try to get myself out of the situation. There is some learning there as well, mostly strategy and psychology of handle that type of situation.

Anyway, here is the game. Maybe you'll enjoy watching me get crushed pretty quickly.

So the main thing I learned from this game was to not ignore the practical situation on the board due to some bias for how I want to play. In this case I could have played Nf6 on move 3 and later as needed play e6 without any problems. The other thing I learned is that if I feel that I'm trying to unravel a bad position, I need to look for practical moves, not moves that only offer hopes with no basis in the calculations of the lines. Of course, I should always pay more attention to exactly what the opponent will reply to a move I'm about to make. Had I thought that next move ahead on move 6. ... g6 and on move 9. ... d5, I would have avoid these bad moves. The opponent replies were easy to see had I taken the time to look.

After researching this opening move order a little, I plan to play 3. ... Nf6 in the future and then play e6 as needed. Also, anytime whites bishop is sitting at c4 and white has the choice of NxNc6, I should look for the e5 push and be prepared.

Humbled

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