hope this helps!
here is the pgn, if you prefer that:
[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2012.01.26"]
[White "carlgrace"]
[Black "Other Player"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1151"]
[BlackElo "1165"]
[TimeControl "15|10"]
[Termination "carlgrace won by checkmate"]
1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 { 2.Nc3 is a mistake. There are lots of better moves for white (for example, exd5 (see variation))
Nc3 is bad because black can gain tempo with d4 (see variation) } ( 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 { This opening is called the Scandinavian. Its not often played at top-level (by black!) because most top GM's think white gets the better of it. Thus if black plays 1.d5 why not play exd5 and get a nice game? } ) 2...dxe4 ( 2...d4 { Now where does the knight go? if he advances up the board he gets chased. If he moves back to e2 or b1 Black simply wins a tempo. } 3.Nb5 ( 3.Nd5 c6 4.Nf4 e5 ) 3...a6 4.Na3 e5 ) 3.Nxe4 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bf5 5.d3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4+ 7.c3 Nd4 ( 7...Be7 ) 8.O-O ( 8.cxb4 { You both blunder: Nd4? 0-0? Black should not have offered this sacrifice, and white should have accepted it!
Look at this position again...what danger do you see? } ) 8...Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 { Qxf3 was the right choice here: in general TRY TO AVOID WEAKENING THE KINGS PAWN STRUCTURE
(I'm 'shouting' at you because this is and important positional lesson.) } 9...Bd6 10.Bg5 ( 10.Nxd6+ { Nxd6 is a good move for two reasons...firstly IT GIVES YOU THE BISHOP PAIR, and this is generally considered an advantage.
and the secound reason is that you can force a nice position tactically.... } 10...Qxd6 ( 10...cxd6 { If cxd6 Qxb7 white wins a pawn. } 11.Qxb7 ) 11.Qxb7 Rd8 12.Bb5+ Kf8 13.d4 { ...and after d4 white keeps his pawn advantage. But even better black king cannot castle now! and thus it will be stuck in the centre! } ) 10...f6 11.Bf4 ( 11.Nxd6+ { Nxd6 works on this move as well... } 11...Qxd6 ( 11...cxd6 12.Bb5+ { ! This is called an 'in-between move' We WILL move the dark squared bishop, but before we do we will throw in a check. This check forces the king to move (stopping him castling) } 12...Kf8 13.Bc1 { Why do we move the bishop back to c1? well, if we moved it to d2 instead Black could play Qb6, looking to win the b2 pawn! } ) 12.Bf4 e5 13.Qxb7 { ! This is a great move for white... not only do we win a pawn we also smash through blacks king defence! } 13...Rd8 14.Bg3 ) 11...Bxf4 12.Qxf4 g5 ( 12...Qe7 { g5 is what we might call a postional mistake... sure it attacks the queen (which is a temporary advantage) but it makes a long term weakness; The king and the pawns are left vunerable to attack. Qe7 allows black to hide his king away with 0-0-0 next move. } ) 13.Qe3 h5 { Here is a simple little rule to remember: whenever you are not sure what to play ask yourself "can I improve the position of any of my pieces?"
And in this position you do have better moves, for example Rfe1 puts the rook on a same file as the enemy king (this is OFTEN A GOOD THING)
Rad1 places the rook on the same file as the enemy queen. (which is, likewise, often a good thing to do) } ( 13...Qe7 { once again black makes a double-edge pawn move. pawn storms are a good way of attacking...but in this position the black king is too vunerable for this to be effective. } ) 14.d4 c6 15.Nc5 { ! nice move. well done. } 15...Qb6 16.Bxe6 Bxe6 17.Qxe6+ Ne7 18.Qxf6 ( 18.Rfe1 { When attacking try to bring in as many peices as possible...we can eat the f6 pawn later!
In this position Black has to be super careful; white threatens mate in 1 and the knight. So how should black defend? } 18...Qc7 ( 18...Qd8 19.Qxf6 Rf8 20.Qg6+ Rf7 21.Kf1 { !? a clever little move -- the idea is to play Rxe7+ Qxe7 (Rxe7 is an illegal move) Re1 } ) 19.Qxf6 Rf8 20.Qg6+ Rf7 ( 20...Kd8 21.Ne6+ Kc8 22.Qxg5 ) 21.Re5 { with the idea of playing Rae1 very soon. } ) 18...Rf8 19.Qxg5 Qxb2 20.Qxh5+ ( 20.Rae1 { dont rush to eat all the pawns...Attack the enemy king by bring in the heavy peices!! } 20...Kd8 ( 20...Rf7 21.Rxe7+ Rxe7 22.Qg8# ) 21.Qxe7+ Kc8 22.Qd7+ Kb8 23.Re8+ Rxe8 24.Qxe8+ Kc7 25.Qd7+ Kb6 ( 25...Kb8 26.Qd8# ) 26.Qxb7+ Ka5 27.Qa6# ) 20...Rf7 21.Qh8+ ( 21.Rae1 Qxc3 22.Qh8+ Rf8 23.Qe5 Rf7 24.Nxb7 { with the idea of playing Nd6+ next move. } ) 21...Rf8 22.Qh7 Qxc3 23.Nxb7 ( 23.Rae1 ) 23...Rd8 24.Rfe1 { trying to get the rook involved } ( 24.Rae1 { when attacking you need to be very careful of counter attacks... notice that Rfe1 leaves that f2 pawn undefended. } ) 24...Rd7 25.Nd6+ { nice! } 25...Kd8 26.Rac1 ( 26.Qg7 ) 26...Qxd4 { Now look at that f2 pawn!! if only you played Rae1 earlier!!
unfortunatly its now black that is winning. } 27.h3 Qxd6 28.Rcd1 { this move just doesn't work because of.... } 28...Qb4 ( 28...Qxd1 29.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30.Kh2 Rxf2 31.Qh8+ Kd7 32.Qb8 Rdd2 33.Qxa7+ Kd6 { and now I think black should win. } ) 29.g4 Qf4 { loses the game } 30.Qxe7+ Kc7 31.Rxd7+ Kb6 32.Rb7+ ( 32.Rb1+ { leads to a much faster mate... } 32...Qb4 33.Rxb4+ Ka5 34.Rxa7# ) 32...Ka5 33.Qa3+ Qa4 34.Qc5+ Ka6 ( 34...Qb5 35.Rxa7# ) 35.Qxa7#
1-0
Hi everyone,
I just started playing chess a couple of weeks ago and I think this is the strongest game I've played yet. But, I am still a rank beginner and I feel like I missed a lot of stuff. I don't know any actual openings yet, but I'm trying to follow principles from a couple of books I read. I'd like to learn something from this game, because even though I won I feel like it was really sloppy.
Thanks!
Carl