Advice on improvement based on recent slow game

Hi all,

Here is my latest slow game (45/45) a loss as White here on Chess.com. I study chess seriously for 2 years now and although I have improved a lot I cant seem to improve rating wise.

I post the above game vs a 1750 elo player (I am 1270) because it is very indicative of how I lose my games. I am most of the time a little better after the opening phase and usually have some good chances to increase my advantage during the middlegame, but then little by little I collapse.

It seems like I cannot play as well after the middle middlegame and lose all advantage I have built up to this point.

I am solving puzzles regularly here on chess.com (1820 rating) and from books, but still I think my calculation is very weak.

I would appreciate any comments on this game and for any advice regarding a study plan, books etc I could do in order to improve further.

A close game in which you competed well before it slipped away. It is not obvious that there are nearly 500 rating points between you. I think it was a mistake to exchange queens (and then rooks) on the c file. 27.Qc6 looks nice, attacking the Nd5, intending Rc1, and black does not want to go Qxc6 bxc6 as your pawn is then very strong. After the exchanges of major pieces black is better largely because the outside passed pawn on a5, which is much more dangerous and hard to stop than your own passed pawn on d4. After this I think you were still in it but 33.Ba3 was a miscalculation as it turns out you cannot trap the Nd1 and black activates his own dark square bishop instead. Maybe Kf1 is an alternative. But don't be too discouraged, you lost due to small inaccuracies and your opponent took advantage. 

Thank you very much for the very useful comments. Are very similar to my own analysis, albeit with the assistance of the engine (a habit I have to stop i know). Indeed as i mentioned my opening and early middlegame are much bettet than my rating but in the late middlegame usually i collapse. I would like some suggestions on how to improve on this. For example the move Qc6 i didnt consider at all..

It's mostly about analysing and correctly assessing the resulting positions after you commit to a series of moves or a plan. Take as long as you need or can afford until you are as sure as you can be. You avoided major blunders here and did not lose material for nothing which is like passing level 1. To pass level 2 you must analyse and assess accurately (both your own moves and plans as well as the other guys) as your opponents will also be capable of playing a game without blundering material and will have ideas of their own. 

Some thought about opening.

 

Your London system is very inefficient vs your opponent's Kind Indian Defence , that can be seen after move 10... e5. ( your opponent knows how to respond vs London)

In that opening set up. I would rather do these setup

3.Nc3

4.e4

f3

Qd2

O-O-O

h4

I think you played well here against someone much higher rated then you. perhaps he/ or she has an advantage based on experience. I decided to work on a couple of openings 2 for white and 2 for black. I am finding it helps to know a little about the different openings and defenses just so I don't get destroyed early in the game. The hard part is putting it all together. (checks, captures and forcing moves ) basics of controlling the center weather from the flanks or center. (calculating moves yours and opponent accurately) candidate moves. for me I'm trying to get to 1100 and stay there then 1200.    

I think this is an excellent game to go over a lot of positional things with you.  I don't have the time right now, but will try and do so tomorrow if no one really takes up the challenge.  There are a few tactical things that were missed as well.

You played the middlegame well. Landing a knight on d6 was quite an achievement, and you could have got a winning position with active play: 26. Qc6! N7f6 27. Bc4 Be6 28. Nxe4 when white wins a pawn. Unfortunately you gave up all your advantage in two moves, trading your best piece (d6-knight) for a passive bishop on c8.

To be fair, your loss in the resulting endgame is entirely forgivable. Weaker players often find it difficult to hold equal endgames, particularly those with knights, because their opponents are much better at calculating forced lines. It can feel like wrestling with someone twice your weight.

IMO books of annotated GM games are probably more suitable for you than puzzle books. Especially so if you’re an adult. Misplaying promising middlegame positions — missing 26. Qc6!, for example — has more to do with one’s positional understanding than tactical prowess.

Thank you all for the helpful comments! I see now that i traded my best knight for a passive bishop, but winning the bishop pair was so tempting at the moment. To clarify i am not dissapointed of losing a game to a much stronger player but the fact in almost all my games i get a small advantage and miss strong moves to make it decisive. Qc6 i didnt even think about yet it seems quite obvious to you. I guess such experiences will help me see similar moves in the future, but still is very discouraging always losing in the late middlegame after having some advantage. This is what i want to work on and i beloeve as suggested reading annotated games could help in rhis direction.

This forum of mine might be relevant for your calculation practice. https://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/calculation-training 

By no means should you feel obligated to post if you don't want to, but I think this kind of study could be useful for everyone - especially those wanting to improve calculation skills. The most recent puzzle in this forum is still currently unattempted, but also take a look at the prior puzzles in this forum too - they are all insightful positions I have collected over time. 

Biggest mistakes in this game:

1) 13. Bxh4 instead of 13. Na3 looks better damaging blacks pawn structure.

2) 26. Nxc8 - horrible move. You've exchanged you very strong knight for blacks dull bishop. Think more about pieces activity. Which piece is good and which one is bad. Don't exchange good piece for bad one.

3) exchange everything on c-file and going into endgame where your opponent has strong protected past a-pawn. Of course, engine can hold this and probably evaluate this around equal. But in a practical human game i would take black without any doubts.

4) not blocking a-pawn.

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Advices in general based on your other games.

1) Work on tactics. You're very often missing quite simple tactics.

2) Put your pieces on more active squares (principle of maximum activity). You're very often put your pieces on passive squares. Especcially, when your opponent attacking your piece (i saw such moves with your queen) you put your pieces back, when there was a possibility to go forward and create threats.

 

 

Very heplful advice and very good summary of the mistakes 50kg. Thank you very much also for taking a look on my other games. Lately i am playing some blitz for opening training mainly and for sure my tactics there are weak, on longer games is a little better but still a lot of work needed.