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Gah, I'm an idiot...

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jacobhrobertson

So in the game below, I stupidly offered a draw when I thought I was going to have to check perpetually. After my opponent (no doubt gleefully) accepted, I saw my mistake: I missed a simple mate in 2! Grrrr. Anyway, mind taking a look at this one for me guys, posting general comments and advice?

Twpsyn

The first thing that comes to mind is that queens pawn games are not the same as kings pawns game. Namely because the pawn on d4 is protected where as e4 is not so there is not much point in attacking the pawn with your knight on move 2. That knight move is a bit of a bluff and kind of blocks a lot of queen pawn opening ideas like c4.

jacobhrobertson

Reedemed myself today! (Blitz, thus the blunders by both sides)



konhidras

Just keep playing dude enjoy the game.Wink

KhabaLox

The minor piece trades at the beginning are pretty good.  You give him bad pawn structure, and his only compensation is a half open b file (which he puts to good use)

 

18. g4 gives away a pawn and tempo by allowing him to check you (not to mention putting your king in a worse position.  Better would be 18. b3. This does weaken your dark squares and remove support for your knight, but your losing the pawn anyway.  You're OK while the center remains closed, but after 18. b3 you should be looking to trade your knight for his bishop.

 

After 20....c5 you take in the center with Nxd5 which ends poorly for you. You should counter attack with Nb5. It could go.. 21...c4 22. Qf1 c3+ 23. Nxc3 and he's out of useful moves. 

 

When you force the queen trade, you are down a pawn and should lose the endgame. You don't protect the pawns you have, and don't take his when you have the chance (moves 29 and there abouts). By move 31 he's up two and you're in bad shape.  While you missed the mate, you were lucky to score 1/2 a point.  

Abhishek2

haha, same mating pattern. Well learning from your mistakes is key.

melogibbo

move 32. should have done RG7+, you lost a tempo by running, it would have been mate in 2.

shepi13

In the first game I disagree with Khabalox, all of the trades allow black to equalize, or maybe even play for an edge. He has control over the center, mainly the e4 square, and he also has pressure down the b file on your king and your pieces are uncoordinated. Chess is more complicated than pawn stucture. If you even just look at a few moves black has easy play, he lines his pieces up on the c file, can push the a pawn to provoke weaknesses, can play c5 to open the long diagonal when he is ready, and white has no plan - his centralized rooks don't accomplish anything as his pawns are blockaded, he lacks space, and his c3 knight looks stupid.

 

After 18. b3 then 18...c5 might be exceptionally strong. White is definately not better.

After 20...c5 21. Nb5 why would black play c4?! or c3?? Simply 21...c6 22. Nd6 cxd4 and black wins a pawn. Nxd5 at least takes a pawn in return, but as you can see white's position is falling apart.

I agree that the queen trade was a bad idea, but white has good drawing chances in that rook ending, as he is quite active. Also, after move 31 a) black is only one pawn up and b) white can win a pawn by Rg7+ and Rxh6 - which isn't mate in 2 melogibbo, unless Rg7+ Kf8 somehow leads to mate in one (which it doesn't).

 

In the second game, either 9. Nxe5 Qd6 Qf3 or 10. Bb5! seem to kill black instantly, as he can't hold f7 and c7.

stephen_33

It's been mentioned already but the one thing that jumped out at me was 32.Rg7....

32. Rg7+ Kf8 33. Rxh6   & that will eventually lead to mate after a few desperation checks by your opponent, say...

33...Rg2+ 34. Kc1 Rg1+ 35. Kb2 Rb8+ 36. Ka2  & Black then has nothing except a fruitless rook sac.

KhabaLox

shepi13's analysis is much better than mine.  Foot in mouth

shepi13

Bonesy's analysis is better than mine too, at least at some points. If white puts a knight on c5 he has good chances to perhaps equalize, but still shouldn't get anything more, as  he still has some problems to deal with. The one point is that 18. b3 runs straight into 18...c5, where I'm pretty sure black is just winning. Also, 22. Nxf6 is probably a good move, eliminating the strong bishop, but Qc3+ is a terrible follow up.

MSC157

First rule: Offer/accept a draw when it's clear it's already been the repetition. :)

But just keep playing - you will drastically improve! :)

TheGreatOogieBoogie
Dr_Cris_Angel

If it makes you feel ANY better at all, I once played and was ahead in material 38 to 17.  It wound up in stalemate since he had no legal moves yet wasn't in check.   And I missed a mate in one.  An easy one too.    That's why I'm a beginner!!  ;)    (I've learned a lot since then, I'm happy to say!)

jacobhrobertson

Thank you all for your excellent analyses. I am still quite new to the game, and you assistence is helping me grow as a player.