Had a good start....

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Avatar of ThoughtfulTheist

So I was wondering if you guys could show me where i went wrong with this game. I had a great position with the Scotch Game but lost it all. Thanks.

Avatar of jonnin

Whites game by move 8 is set up to try to pound on the castled king.  Long castle for black is better, that light bishop can linger on the board for the entire game, pointed at the king and deadly.   I would have taken it pronto on move 8.  White should not have allowed this, since it is a key piece in the position, Nd5 prevents you from taking it, consider what you would have done after Nd5 carefully.  (Na5 is a popular black response in these positions).

14) g5.  I am just not a fan of using your king's defensive pawns to chase an elusive bishop.   You can't trap/catch it, all you are doign is let your opponent bait you into "often" bad pawn moves.  It can be handy to push those pawns, but it can also leave you with a defenseless king ... 

19)  Qg6 and your following moves are what really cost you the game, though.  One fast and loose rule of thumb is "avoid self pinning".   QXQ instead of RXR would have left you in a drawish position, or possibly even a way to turn it around and win, but RXR was suicide.  After you lose your queen --- look at the board.  Your bishop is trapped and can do little.  Your rook is out of position.  Your king is exposed.  You are way behind in material.  It is *done*. 

After QXQ, any of the other combinations should leave R&B vs. R&B and endgame/tactics/pawns will decide the game in the distant murky future, but eyeballing it seems drawn given excellent play by both sides and no time problems etc...

Avatar of ThoughtfulTheist

I posted the wrong game.... Haha sorry about that, the correct game is now edited in.

Avatar of ThoughtfulTheist

it was correspondence chess so 1 day time limit. I think I just didnt look close enough at the board

Avatar of ArtNJ

I'd play 9. a3.  Black's bishop is in a really bad place, just a big pawn.  May as well prevent it from improving its position.  9. qd2 sets up that pin, and requires 10. bd3 to protect the pawn.  10. a3 is a big mistake.   16. nh4 and the moves that follow...thats either giving up, or serious tactical weakness.

Either way, best bet is to make a free account at chesstempo.com to practice tactics.  

Avatar of jonnin

7) d5 just limits your bishop's future.  Does nothing for you, develop instead. 

10) a3 is already covered

13) just hangs a pawn accomplishing nothing else.

16) hangs the knight and accomplishes nothing else.

17) ?? black could take with the pawn, freeing his bishop to move, but decides that a trade is faster

19) trades down a rook

and not that it matters but 21 pawnXN reduces your material loss a little. 

Um, this is really not much of a game, to be blunt.  You hung piece after piece until you were a R, N, and B behind and hopelessly lost.  Focus on that... learning to not hang pieces to simple combos and blunders is critical else no matter what else you do, you will lose .. a lot.  Its simply not easy to win when you are behind in material in most positions, so every time you surrender material, you need serious reasons to do so -- usually game winning or material recovery reasons!

Avatar of ThoughtfulTheist

Okay, thanks for the tips! I do tactics everyday, but I have horrid board awareness. Any tips on improving that?

Avatar of jonnin

Slow down and actually look?   Memory helps -- what you figured out last round is all still there except for 1 move, so what changed?  Look at the piece that was move, what does it attack, pin, fork, etc?  What does the piece it was blocking attack now?  Where are your undefended pieces, are they at risk of immediate loss or some tactic?   In a slow game you can look at everything; turn the board around and consider moves for both sides for each piece.   In a fast game, stick to the changed pieces and spend your precious time in a fast game on the middle game by knowing your opening and endgame material.

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