Can someone good teach me how to analyze and critcize my game?

I am looking to wise and better players to guide me through my most recent game and also offer cricism. I am new to the game but I feel as though I have a hang of it. Now I have to learn from my mistakes.

Thank you in

advance,

A humble player

Lotsa hangs there, I'm afraid.

To analyse more deeply, you need to ask at every move the question "why did I play that, and not another move ? Can I support this by general chess principles or specific moves ?"

Your post includes only one analysis after 14.Qg4+ "here I made a plan to capture the queen" and that is not clear : the good way to state it was "I thought that after this I could take control of the g file by ...Rg8, and this plus the bishop on b8 that could look in the c8-h3 diagonal if the e pawn moves, controls many squares on the kingside where the white queen is. Additionally, the checkmate threat on g2 (...Qxg2) prevents White from moving the queen to far away. Thus I can threaten to win the queen". (of course, that's much more talky than needed, but that's to explain what you should put)

 

On to the game now. (in case you didn't know, X.thing means that White plays "thing" as his Xth move, and X...thing that Black plays "thing").

Don't replace your opponent's game (it doesn't have to be hidden contrarly to a common belief, and it looks like "Me vs. NN" : megaloman).

 

2.Nc3 (?) is semi-bad, you don't have to imitate it by 2...Nc6 (?). ...Nf6 is better. The idea here is that compared to the open games, the queens defend their d pawns, so attacking it with the knight is not enough. Thus, c2-c4/...c7-c5 is a useful move in general after 1.d4 d5 (compared to f4/...f5 after 1.e4 e5, it also has the advantadge of not weakening the kingside). That's why it is not advisable to place the knight on c3/c6 so earyl : it does not really attack the pawn, and it blocks the c pawn.

4...e6 (?) : you could develop your c8 bishop before playing that move ; now it is trapped. I would play ...Bf5.

5...a6 (?) loses a tempo. White will take anyways (the bishop can't do much better, so why not develop the Bf8 and castle, threatening to move the knight ?

7...Bb4 ? loses a pawn to Nxc6, and the error could be corrected next move (...Bd7 or ...Bb7 before castling)

11...Qb7 ? : ...Qxb2 keeps a pawn.

The rest is perfect for me.

AJBuzz123 wrote: Thank you all very much for the comments! I have used your tips and criticisms to improve my game. Bonesy 1116: Thank you and yes I will definitely practice my tactics! AndyClifton: Yes your right there were many, I just get wrapped in my plans and miss the occasional pawn hang, but I will be more alert next time. Irontiger: Wow! Thank you so much for taking time out to help me like this! I have taken heed of your advice and feel as though I have become a better player over all! You truly answered my questions :) thank you! To All: Anyways, words cannot describe my appreciation; however, my game might. I will be playing against one of my friends (who actually introduced me to chess) who is ranked 1690 elo to my 1168 elo. Nevertheless, with the help you have all provided, I know I can beat him. After the game, I will immediately post it in hopes for all of your help again. Thank you, AJBuzz123

Sorry for the confusion, I fixed my annotaions

I was white while Jack was black and yes I have his permission to post this game.

I have fixed my annotation and the diagrams info so if you will, please, check out my game.

Here we go (analysis of #6) :

The Alekhine defense (1...Nf6) is really full of traps, I suspect that's why your opponent played it. Without much book knowledge you can still create huge problems ; White must extend in the center to get an advantadge, and then in many games either White goes very wrong and loses one or two of his advanced pawns or Black goes very wrong and suffocates due to the lack of space.

3.Nf3 is not a very common line, usually White pushes his pawns by c4 and d4 and maybe f4 supporting e5 or c5 attacking the knight again (I wouldn't advise the latter, but there are legends that it is playable). The idea is not to get too much late in development, to keep an outpost on e5 without many weaknesses to defend.

4...g6 (?) looks a mistake. A very useful move in the Alekhine for Black is ...Bg4 ! : the idea is to trade on f3 at the right moment to lure the queen away from the defense of the d pawn. However, I don't see how White can take advantadge of the move order here... Any ideas ?

6...e6 ? is indeed wrong. ...Bg4 is needed, so ...c6 is indeed the move to play.

7...Bc5 ? is stupid. Much better was the fianchetto, attacking the weak/outposted pawn and providing some defense to the kingside.

8...Qd7 (?) this really looks bad. The less worse was ...Be7, though of course it admits the previous move was a mistake.

9.Bxd5 (?) : My plan would be Nd2 with the idea Ne4 and maybe to f6. This being said, 9...exd5 ? misses 9...Qxd5 ! where Black can get most of his pieces out via ...Bd7. White cannot trade queens, the endgame is in Black's favor (e5 becomes weak, Black has the pair of bishops , while the hole on g7 becomes not important at all, unlike in the middlegame) ; thus he has to lose time by 10.Qe2 (the best, controls c4 and also defends e5), after what Black answer 10...Be7 and should be able to develop the rest of his pieces and hold.

11...0-0 ? almost is a forced mate, but of course, ...Rg8 would have been so ugly that I wouldn't have tried it : castle and see, maybe he won't see how to mate... The g7 hole is terrible.

12.Na4 : it's not bad, but it's not good either. I would have played Qd2 where Black has to find 12...Re8 (forced, otherwise after 13.Qh6 it's mate in a few moves). Na4 places the knight on a bad square, even if it does not lose a tempo

12...Be7 is actually more or less forced. The bishop must absolutely stay on the same diagonal as f8, and the same result occurs after 12...Bb4 13.a3.

After this, you chose the 'square path' Qd1-d4-h4-h6 when the 'diagonal path' Qd1-d2-h6 is one move shorter. It does not change much though.

And finally, 15...h5 is forced indeed, but Black's position remains a nightmare to defend after 16.h3 (intenting g4 to open the h file by force).