Game Analysis

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ok

Not 100 % sure you can access this, w/out a premium membership, but here's an analysis by the chess.com engine: https://www.chess.com/a/3A3ixUMYz2KuAE

I haven't reviewed the game in depth nor am I qualified based upon my rating however, I have a free account and was able to see the analysis.

My recommendation is to first annotate your game with your own thoughts and then ask for input.

I couldn't see it w/o re-analyzing it. Thanks, anyway.

This should be it. Thanks for the advice.

The Hippopotamus Defense is tricky. White has better development but Black has no weaknesses. Black tends to wait for White to advance in the center, close the center and then break on the flank. For example, when White has a two pawn center and advances with d4-d5 then Back plays ...e6-e5 and goes for a pawn break with ...f5. If White advances e4-e5 then Black closes the center with ...d6-d5 and goes for a ...c5 break.

An ideal system for White appears to be to go for a three-pawn center (e4/d4/c4 or d4/e4/f4) and force a break with either c4-c5 or f4-f5.

The Hippo is a tough nut to crack because Black has no weaknesses and the appearance of passivity makes the White player want to punish the set up. You won't see it much at the higher levels because Black voluntarily accepts a cramped position for a long time. If White is careful and patient I think he can eventually force a break through. If you examine the pawn structure, the only places to force that breakthrough in a Hippo (pawns on b6/d6/e6/g6 double fianchetto and knights on e7/d7) is c5 or f5.

18.) You missed a Tactic--> KnixD6, QxKnid6, KnixF6+, QxKnif6, BxQf6, RxF4

@PFathomG Actually that tactic is not as good as it looks. Black gets three minor pieces for the Queen which is *some* compensation (18.Nxd6+ Qxd6 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6! 2.Bxf6 Bxf6). White is a bit better but it isn't easy playing with a queen against three minors.

A better move is 18.Nxf4. It gets wildly tactical but White comes out on top in the melee. Check it out with Stockfish. Very interesting.

Thank you so much for your help. Two questions: Is the analysis of every game all based on the opening played? Also, if black plays d5 here, should white trade pawns? And thank you @Mouselip for your detailed analysis.

@PFathomG I agree that Nxf4 was a better move, but the engine says yours was good, too. Look at it. Thanks for your help.

Also, would you mind analyzing more of my games? The help would be very appreciated.

I need a bit of clarification on your questions. The opening is a good place to start analyzing because it is the start of the game. :-) 

When it comes down to pawn exchanges in the center always remember that the person who *initiates* the exchange will no longer have pawn presence there but his opponent will have either pawn presence or a centralized piece.

I am not sure where you are asking about Black playing ...d5. If the play went 1.e4 e6 2.d4 Ne7 3.Nc3 d5 then, no, I don't think White should capture the d5-pawn here. Always think about what the pawn exchange does on the board. Any time there are pawn exchanges there are files and diagonals opened. Look at which files and diagonals and what they do. If White exchanges with 4.exd5 then he has 1) Opened the e-file for himself and, after the natural recapture 4...exd5, 2) the e-file is also open for Black. Also, Black's light squared bishop (which is typically his most difficult piece to use in the French) has an open diagonal (c8-h3) to develop on.

Before the exchange White *had* two pawns to one in the "sweet center" (e4/d4/d5/e5) and has one-to-one after the exchange. Overall, Black profits from the exchange more than White at this point.

Now consider if you kept the tension in the center and just developed with 4.Nf3. White doesn't need the 3 pawn center to force open lines because he or his opponent can choose to exchange center pawns at a more advantageous time. If the play went 1.e4 e6 2.d4 Ne7?! (a dubious move) 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 dxe4 5.Nxe4 then White still has majority pawn presence in the direct center *and* he has a centralized knight -- Black does not have the open c8-h3 diagonal for his bishop.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Had to go back through and correct some errors. I think I will also add some more diagrams to show my points.

Sorry for the confusion. What I meant to imply was all the opening information you gave me was only helpful for the hippo defense, and in any future game where my opponent plays something else, this info may not be useful. I thank you very much for the help and don't mean to imply otherwise.

By d5 I was going on what you said about white shouldn't push d5 or e5 as black can close the position. My Q was if BLACK were to push d5 or e5 in that position should white make sure to trade to open it up? Of course if black goes for the french and does d5 right away that's a different situation, but thank you for the pointer. Am I right in answering my own Q that even in that position white can still wait for a trade when he wants as black needs white's help of e5 to close the position after d5?

By talking about the opening I was hoping to show that you should develop with purpose based upon how your opponent arrays his forces right from the beginning. The same general idea applies to all openings.

I am still not clear on which position you are talking about the ...d5.

Generally you do not want to *initiate* the exchange unless you want open lines at that time. The person who initiates a pawn exchange gives up something... the question is -- do the open lines compensate for the lack of the pawn's presence? If you can make immediate use of the open file/diagonals then it may be quite advantageous to exchange pawns.

It is often (but not always) advantageous to delay pawn captures... especially if the enemy pawn cannot advance. Get yourself developed to *use* the open lines and *then* open the lines.

Make sense?

I should also add that you can exchange pawns if you can then gain time by attacking a higher valued piece ... for example 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 gains time on the Queen. It is not a serious advantage for White, but he *has* gained some development time.

A more modern idea is to delay Nc3 and play a timely c4 to "hit" the centralized Queen.


For example: