3. ..Bb4 is hardly "standard" I'd say a6-Morphy's defense or Nf6 - the Berlin Wall would be considered more "standard" Also 9. ..Bd7 would have helped you more than what was played...
First time self analysis of a lost game.
Agree on 3. ... Bb4 -- after you got chased around like you did, you wind up with white having three pieces developed to your one, better center pawns, your knight is still pinned ... It looks nasty, honestly. 9. ... Nf6 is a tactical blunder. You need to recognize that your knight can't move to save itself if white plays d5 (which he did), nor is there any way to remove the attacking pawn. (This is why the previous commenter recommended un-pinning with 9. ... Bd7.)
10. ... Nxe4 winds up pinning your knight to your king and ends in the loss of that piece as well (see the theme here?) 11. ...b6 again loses you your chance to unpin (by castling I guess), before the loss of the knight is forced. The situation with the advanced pawn is ugly regardless, of course.
Given the strength disparity between you and your opponent you had really lost this game even before your blunder on move 9.
Hey Jon, it might benefit you to notice that 3 move repetition has no effect on a chess game. 3 position repetition however leads to a draw. The position, not moves, must be repeated 3 times.
GM Jonny Hector has played 3...Bb4 a lot of times, so it can't be such a bad move (although hardly standard, of course)
Its hard to justify a move like this. I was wondering what could be the advantage of playing like this. It allows white to build a strong center with tempo for nothing that is apparent to me. Am I missing something?
My personal, 1270-something rated opinion is that piece sacrifices should hardly ever be played by low amateurs. We don't have the deep understanding of positions necessary to pull these off. There may be exceptional cases where it is obvious that within, say, 3 moves the sacrifice will reap benefits, but I have found those cases few and very far between!
This is my first attempt at self analysis of one of my games. I have been playing since I was 6 or 7, but hadnt really played all that much the last 12 years or so. The following game, started off standard, but I need to work on my middlegame and endgame strategies I do believe. I welcome all advice good or bad!!