Red Army vs. Chess Association games

Cboard (Red Army) is hit with a fishy opening (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5?!), and does not take the best advantage of the situation -- better than 3. d3 is 3. exd5, and if 3...e4, then 4. Qe2! This move is counterintuitive, but leads to the win of the pawn and generates pressure on the e-file. 3. Nxe5 is the other main move here -- the best thing to do if you want to answer 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 is work out these two lines for yourself and see which one you are comfortable playing.

Black gets the better game after 3. d3?! and White is left groping around in the dark. But then Black overreaches with 17...b4? and loses a pawn. After that, cboard masterfully squeezes out the point and has a nice liquidation at the end that leads to a won king and pawn ending.

Cboard (Red Army) drops a piece on move 8 and the outcome is never in doubt. The only way to avoid these kinds of blunders is to keep working on tactics. Don't assume that just because it is a developing move that it is immune to these kinds of shots. Remember a simple rule -- Loose Pieces Drop Off (LPDO).

One of the most exciting games of this match even if it was not the best played as Red Army's pool_rosas (1408) goes for over 50 moves against a much stronger player as White.

First of all, he started very badly -- he failed to take advantage of an opening lapse by Black as he went ...Bc5 instead of ...Bb6. The basic aim of most e4-based openings is to get in d4 in a way that is favorable to White. Therefore, making the moves 8. Ba4? and 10. Nc4? were serious mistakes because they failed to utilize this basic principle. In both instances, d4 was better, hitting the Bishop with tempo. Black's subsequent play is a direct result of White's failure to get in d4 in the opening. Also, it is rarely a good idea to move a piece twice in the opening unless forced.

Black fails to punish White's mistakes on move 8 and 10 at first as 10...Ng4 would have won right away. But then White gave him another chance by locking in his Queen Bishop on move 12 (Nd2?) in response to the threat of a fork instead of leaving the way open for his queen Bishop to defend (Bb3) or blocking the diagonal of the Black Bishop with Ne3. Then, he compounds the mistake with 13. Qf3??, guarding the attacked f2 pawn with the Queen instead of the Rook. White thus lost his Queen on move 13.

But when Black overlooked mate in four with 24...Qxh2+!!, White begins to play some excellent chess. When you're down material, the goal is to keep the struggle going as long as possible -- perhaps the other person will make a mistake and give you a way out. And White, thanks to his persistence, nearly saves this game. First, Black gets his king into a mating net (42...Ke5?, 43...Ke4?, 47...Kd3?). Not only that, Black passed up two chances to promote his passer (44...Qb1+, a useless check instead of 44...Qd1+ 45. Rf1 e2; 46...Re8? instead of 46...e2).

White has a chance of a perpetual on move 48, but he should have played 48. Rd7+ instead of 48. Nf3. The Black King is forced to move in front of his passer, where he is vulnerable to Nf3 and Re1 mate. After 48...Ke2 49. Kg1 Qc3 50. h4 Qb4 51. Nf3 Rf8 52. Rc1, Black must capture the Knight on f3 and submit to the perpetual; he may actually lose if he fails to do so. Thanks to White's mistake on move 48, Black is able to get out of the mating net and reestablish control. One should always find the most forcing move first and look at it, then work your way down.

Soon to be 4-2 -- I have my opponent beat in our first game.

I have had a recent love affair with the Smith-Morra Gambit as White -- it takes Black completely out of his game plan in the Sicilian; his Queen has a lot of trouble going to c7 because the White Rook hits it. There are several good ways for Black to respond; the best, in my opinion, is 3. c3 d5!, which transposes directly into the Alapin Sicilian rather than waste a move grabbing the pawn and giving White a big lead in development.

But Black plays 3...dxc3 4. Nxc3 g6?, an ugly and bad move; after 5. Qd4, Black has to play either 5...Nf6, when I pushed his Knight all the way to g7 and won in 20 against another 1900, or the text, 5...f6, when the loss of time that White has in moving the Queen to a4 is more than compensated for by Black's slow development.

However, I did not fully take advantage of the situation and could have lost this game. Black makes a speculative pawn sortee on move 11; possible was 11. Nd4, since the Knight is going to be hit anyway. I had the right idea of reacting in the center, but went about it wrong. After 11...Nge7 12. f4 gxf4 13. Bxf4, which stops Black's counterplay completely.

Instead, what I actually did was 12. e5?!, which simply gives away the adjacent square to the Black Knight, which becomes really active. Always make sure you are not giving up squares when advancing pawns.

Nothing was hurt yet, but on move 13, I should have continued 13. exf6. I rejected this move because I was afraid that he would play 13...Nxc3; however, it turns out that this move is completely harmless. After 14. Qc2 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 h6 16. Bc1!, Black must give up the exchange for White's passer on f6 to maintain equality.

But 14. exf6? could have caused the loss of the game. I thought I could bring his King out into the open at the small cost of two pieces for Rook; however, after 14...gxf3 15. f7+ Kxf7 16. Bxh8??, 16...fxe2 would have won a third piece for the Rook and the game.

Thankfully, I get back on track after that and then Black drops a piece on move 17. I missed several chances to mate in five in the endgame. I thought there was a mate somewhere, but I could not find it so I simply continued on with my plan of promoting my passer. Also, on move 25, I missed a shot that would have actually won all of Black's remaining pieces. These variations are contained in the notes.

First of all, it seems like Black thought he was playing the Center Counter -- instead, he was playing 1. c4 d5?!, which is a lemon. The advantage of the Center Counter is that White does not have the kind of central control that he has in normal king pawn openings; the King Pawn is already traded off. But 1. c4 d5?! simply trades off a central pawn for a non-central pawn, leaving White with an advantage as he is able to take control of the center.

Secondly of all, passive play bears the seeds of defeat -- moves like 3...Qd8 are a loss of time. 3...Qa5 is much more active than the game continuation.

Next, 4...Bg4 was another mistake. It is normally better to develop Knights ahead of Bishops, and this is a reason why. White should have answered this with 5. Qb3, when Black would have had to go right back to his initial square with the Bishop. It is normal to punish premature development by the Queen Bishop with Qa4 or Qb3 because Black thereby weakens his Queen side. This is especially true in cases when the other side cannot meet it with Qb6, as in the game.

Then, Black's next mistake was 8...c5? At that point, with White about to complete his development, it was high time for Black to get his pieces out. It is always a bad idea to open the position up before one is properly developed.

But it is the nature of chess that one can make all sorts of errors and still have a chance to win. White's 10th move was a blunder that cost a piece; the simple recapture with 10. Qxd4 would have left him with a powerful Queen in the center. After the obligatory 10...Bxf3, White would have recaptured with the Bishop and had it on a powerful diagonal with no opposition from Black.

Black is winning from that point until he makes the final blunder with 15...Qb8, ignoring a threat to f7. It is always important to check for threats before doing anything else.

Black moves the Queen out too early and pays the price. First of all, it is important to know the basic moves of one's opening -- the book move after 3. d3 is 3...Nf6. Knights should be developed first, then pieces, then the Queen. If Black wants to play a sharper alternative, he can play 3...f5!?, leading to a Latvian. More positional alternatives are 3...g6 and 3...d6. 3...d5?! is one of the weakest of the Black alternatives because of what follows.

Let's compare Black's third move to the Center Counter -- if Black is interesed in positions in which his Queen is active right off the bat, he should consider taking up that opening. The Queen goes to a5, where it is active and it can range freely. Black plays ...c6, ...Bf5 or g4, and puts the Knights on d7 and f6. The Bishop goes to e7 or d6, depending on the situation. If the Queen is chased, it can always drop back to c7, where it can form a battery with the Bishop on d6 against the White King. If White chases the Bishop on f5 and exchanges it on g6, Black can castle long and bring his Rooks to bear on h2 as well.

But Black has none of this sort of play in this line -- the Knight is already on c6, meaning that the Queen cannot drop back to c7 as described. Therefore, White can push the Queen around all game.

By move 11, we start seeing the consequences of Black's 3rd and 4th moves -- the pawn on e5 becomes a target and will soon fall thanks to the pin. This sort of thing is never possible when Black develops his pieces normally and castles.

Another mistake that Black made was exchanging his Knight on f3. Not only did it involve moving a piece three times in the opening, something that should generally not be done unless forced or unless it's been worked out, it brought the White Bishop into powerful play.

When the Queen Bishop finally comes out, it is a wasted move -- 14...Bd7 was better because with 15. d5, White can get a free move in while making use of his pawn majority.

It is the easiest thing in the world to say that Black lost the game because he stumbled into a back-rank mate. Actually, these sorts of tactics are the direct consequence of Black's earlier play. Black would have lost even if he had not fallen for that -- he is helpless against the advance of White's pawns.

Black dropped his Rook on move 13 -- and White didn't see it. Instead, he saw the threat on his Knight and it never occurred to him that Black was leaving something hanging. But White didn't need to be asked twice -- Black overreached while trying to push White's Queen around and moved away his critical defender, the Knight, away from the defense of his King. Jwhitesj didn't need to be asked twice.

Dennis_Webb's idea of developing his Knight to e7 and then pushing the Pawn to d5 in one go is sound, but the execution is wrong. By throwing 5...a6 in first, Black could have gotten his pieces out quicker as he would have gotten his Knight to g6 and gotten his Bishop out after the retreat of the White Bishop. His actual choice, 5...d5, could have been answered by Qe2 and then the Knight can't move anywhere and Black can't finish his development. For instance on White's 10th move, 10. Qe2 could not have been answered by 10...g6? because the d-pawn was hanging. It is generally not a good idea to open the position while behind in development.

There were other chances to stop Black from completing his development -- for instance, 13. Na4 was perfectly feasible since White can occupy the dark squares on the Queen side -- the Black Bishop is still locked in. After 13...Re6 14. Nc5 Rxe1 15. Qxe1, the pin on the Knight on e7 is maintained.

There was no need for White to make the passive 14. Bd2?! -- the Knight is still forced to cover the pawn on d5, and after 13. Be3 Nf5?, the pawn on d5 drops.

The game was even until White dithered with 19. Ne2, and then moved it right back to c3 in response to 19...Qa4. 20. Qc3 would have held this position since 20...Qxa2 would have been answered with 21. Qb4, and White regains the Pawn. 21...b5 is not possible in this line because Black's Queen gets trapped.

Black should have captured on d4 on his 21st move with the Knight and not the Bishop -- instead of giving up the back-rank mate, White could have forced a draw by 22. Bxd4 Qc1+ 23. Nd1 Nxd4 24. Qxd5 Nxe6 25. Qxe6+ Rf7; Black is up the exchange, but it is not clear how the King will escape the checks. Had Black captured with the Knight, his Bishop would have sheltered the King from checks and Black would have been winning easily.

But all that became academic when White blundered with 22. Re2??, allowing a mate in two.

The consequences of failure to develop are illustrated as White neglects the development of his Knight; he does not get this piece out until the 24th move, when the game is already decided.

The 12th move is the first critical position of the game. The late development of the Queen Knight is typical of these Spanish positions, but that does not mean that White can simply ignore the problem -- in fact, he has to figure out how to bring the Queen Knight out. Otherwise, he will, in effect, be playing a Rook and a Knight down. One way to do that would have been 12. Qd1, forcing the capture of the c-pawn. White is down a pawn in this variation, but has fair compensation. It is always better to develop a pawn than neglect one's development. There are some lines in which it is better to sacrifice a piece than it is to neglect one's development; for instance, the Muzio Gambit.

Instead, White stranded his Queen with 12. Qg3? This is one of those moves that looks aggressive but is not -- in fact, it is simply cut off from the rest of its pieces. This should have been answered by 12...Nh5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Qh3 Nf4 15. Qg3 Ned3. Lasker taught that it is totally justifiable to play like this from Black's point of view when the Queen or King is the target. From personal experience, I would add getting a passer promoted as well.

Later, White should have driven off the Knight with 16. Qe2 Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Qxc4. White's Knight is ready to come out and no serious harm has been done. But White allows Black to turn his Knight into a weapon and the position transitions into one in which Black's pawn majority is farther advanced than White's as a direct result of White's failure to bring his Knight out when he had the chance.

White could have resisted with 22. Kf1, but he overlooked the fact that his King was the last line of defense against the Queen penetrating into his position.

bsankar follows the same policy of mass simplification that he follows in losing to an 1100, but this time, he holds a draw against a much stronger player after being in hot water for much of the middlegame.

White dropped a pawn in the opening as he didn't know the basic moves of the Gruenfeld.

This is what happens when people don't know the basic moves of their openings. Wkf (Red Army) evens the score as White doesn't know the basic moves of the Gruenfeld (8. Bc4?) and drops two pawns. Later, he blunders into mate in one in frustration.