7...a6
was wasteful. In the opening you want all your moves to be development or center oriented unless there's a definite threat the keeps you from doing so.
If white played exactly what you were fearing it would actually have been a mistake for him.
8.h4
is as bad as your reply (8...d5) is good. h4 has nothing to do with development or the center and it's definitely not giving him an initiative. Your move d5 gains some center, and is already threatening to open the position more with d4 which would be disastrous for white's undeveloped army.
The knight sac isn't best or necessary, but what I like about it is it opens the position. Of course after winning a queen and being up in development you can pretty much do anything you want.
Hello,
In an effort to improve my chess understanding, I figured I would post a few of my games here for analysis. This game was interesting because my opponent used an irregular opening, that is, 1.e3. I responded with e5. I suppose the biggest help I could receive is in dealing with irregular openings. Did I play the opening well? The rest of the game is less than interesting... I trapped his queen, but he played on anyway. However, ideas regarding better use of my forces to gain the win will be well appreciated. There was also a knight sacrifice. I wanted to know if it was sound. Thanks!
Chessman
edit:Haha, it appears that 20....Re4?? is a blunder. I thought that the knight on f3 couldn't be saved, but after 21.Bxe4 dxe4, 22. Ke2 threatens the bishop, which would leave me down the exchange. I suppose I got a little careless. If it persists as a habit, my chess playing skill will never improve :(