Help Bob Improve

Hello all,

I am a novice chess player. I'd like to start analyzing my games in order to improve. I'm going to start posting my games in this thread for feedback. If you feel so inclined, take a look and share with me where you think I made mistakes and why those moves were mistakes. Today's game was against computer level 1 (for some reason the embedded game says level 10, I do not believe this is true).

Edit: Apparently this game was against computer level 10. I've since played level 1 and beaten it easily.

A few of my thoughts: 6. d3 ended up being very troublesome for me as I was basically forced into 10. Bxf7 Rxf7 11. Nxf7 Qxf7 which I believe really hurt my game. By 18. Bxc5 Rg6 the game was basically over for me, I didn't see any options. Thanks for any thoughts you might share.

Hello Bob,

Here is my analysis (without the use of chess engines):

1.e4 Nf6:

The Alekhine Defence. I play it myself.

2.Nc3:

Perfectly playable although 2.e5 is considered the main line. It leads to original positions and I play it with both sides.

2...e5:

The normal counter from Black is 2...d5 in order to remain in Alekhine territory. The move played transposes to more traditional lines. I believe the position after 2...e5 is called the Vienna Game. 

3.Nf3 Nc6:

And you have reached the four knights game. I played this a lot as a kid but haven't done so in many years. Usually the main ideas are to play for a break with either the d- or f- pawn (for both sides). But the exact theory from here onwards is unknown to me.

4.Bc4 Bc5:

This is normal development for both sides. Do keep an eye out for tactics based on Nf6xe4 followed up by ...d5 forking two pieces (after you recapture with your c3-knight on e4). This can often relieve a lot of the pressure on Black.

5.Ng5:

This is the first move from White which seems odd to me. In general you shouldn't try to move a piece twice in the opening before every piece has moved once. The threat on f7 can and will be countered by castling and the bishop on c1 is still undeveloped. I would have played 5.d3 in order to develop the bishop, probably to e3.

5...0-0:

This is good; the threat on f7 is countered by a developing move. 

6.d3:

Good! This gives your dark squared bishop options. 

6...Nd4:

This is OK but also possible is 6...d6 in order to develop the light squared bishop. The move played could also serve another purpose since moving the knight gives Black the option of supporting the liberating move ...d5 with ...c6. It seems better than White's 5.Ng5 for this reason.

7.Nd5:

This move can probably be played but developing the dark squared bishop should have top priority. Notice that Black can play 7...c6 now and effectively win time since the knight will have to move again. 

7...b5 8.Bb3:

Black threatens the bishop and White saves it. 

8...a5:

There is a threat to win the bishop: 9...a4 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Bd5 and now 11...c6 traps the bishop.

9.Nxf6+ Qxf6:

Now White has to save the bishop with either 10.a4, 10.a3 or 10.c3.

10.Bxf7+?:

This is a mistake as the bishop isn't trapped as indicated above. Giving up two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn is generally regarded as a mistake in the middlegame since there are not enough open files for the 'extra' rook that White now has.

10...Rxf7 11.Nxf7 Qxf7:

This will be an uphill struggle for White. I expect moves such as ...d5 + ...Qxd5 (if White takes on d5) + ...Bb7 in order for Black to take advantage of his unopposed light squared bishop.

12.0-0 Ne6:

I prefer 12...d5 as indicated above. But nothing especially wrong with Black's move. Controlling f4 in order to prevent the pawn break in the future has its charms too.

13.Qg4:

In my opinion it is essential to move the dark squared bishop and challenge its Black counterpart by playing 13.Be3. You either neutralize Black's pressure on f2 or open up the f-file (if Black captures on e3). This is good since the White rooks must be activated. And the extra pawn on e3 would also support a d4 advance, opening even more files for the rooks.

13...Bb7:

This prepares ...d5 and frees the Black rook so it looks good.

14.Bh6:

I prefer 14.Be3 for the reasons I indicated above. Moving the bishop to h6 won't mate Black and it effectively forces the White queen to pin the g-pawn. Black could just ignore the bishop and play 14...d5.

14...Rf8:

This activates the rook so no complaints here. The f-file is semi-open and should be used by the rook. But I still want to play ...d5.

15.Qg3:

This doesn't really threaten e5 since the bishop would be hanging without the queen's pin on the g-file. I still prefer 15.Be3 to open the files or at least unpin the White f-pawn. Black's ...Nd4, threatening both the c-pawn and a fork on e2, must be taken into account now.

15...d6:

I like this move since the complications after 15...Nd4 16.Qxe5 (now possible since both the dark squared bishops are hanging) 16...Ne2+ 17.Kh1 Bxf2 are a bit risky. We're not computers and Black has a comfortable position after 16...d6 so I would probably not risk it. But it does look enticing because of the ideas of sacrificing the knight on g3 with check followed up by a queen check and mate on the h-file. I'm too tired to analyze this in my head now.

16.c3:

It makes sense to prevent ...Nd4. 

16...Qh5:

I like this since I still want to play ...d5 and the queen move defends the e-pawn and also wins a tempo on the bishop. The drawback is that the bishop will be forced back to a superior square.

17.Be3:

Finally! But things look desperate for White. Notice how the White rooks are doing nothing. This is a very important lesson from this game.

17...Rf6:

The rook joins the attack by being able to move to the g- and h-files. The game looks very difficult for White.

18.Bxc5:

This looks forced since after ...Rg6 the queen must have a square available. Neither h3 or f3 are available since the g-pawn will be pinned so the Black queen can just take. And a move such as 18.h4 in order to make h3 available for the queen looks totally wrong.

18...Rg6 19.Qe3 (forced) Nf4!:

This threatens 20...Rxg2+ 21.Kh1 Qxh2 mate.

20.g3:

Forced but the pawn advance weakens both f3 and h3. Black exploits this at once.

20...Qh3:

This threatens mate on g3. White has only one response.

21.f3?!:

I don't give this a question mark, only the dubious mark, since after the move 21.Qf3 (preventing the mate on g2) White doesn't save himself from another forced mate; the game could be won by Black with the following moves: 21...Rh6 (threatening mate on h2) 22.Qh1 Ne2#.

So Bob: I think that you should use this game and especially the play by Black (...Rf6 + ...Nf4 + ...Qh5-h3) to improve your attacking skill. 

I hope you got something out of my analysis. As mentioned I didn't use any engine so there will probably be mistakes but analyzing on your own is more beneficial than simply seeing variations given by a computer.

Best wishes for your future,

Playdane

Playdane & ripachu: Thank you both so much for your feedback! What I am hearing from both of you is that I need to work on developing sound, long term attacks, rather than the simple attacks I used in this game which were easy to defend against. I will try to meditate on this advice. A little more about my thoughts during the game and responses to your collective feedback:

I'm not really familiar with Alekhine's Defense, so I was stumbling through 1 - 3. I was happy to see it transpose to something a little more familiar. Thank you both for the tip on Nxe4. I will watch out for that. It seems everyone agrees that 5. Ng5 was a bad move. I tend to rely on that line of attack. I will avoid it in the future. I wasn't sure about 6. d3 after 4. Bc4; thank you for your reassurance about this one. I'm not sure what I was thinking with 7. Nd5, it seems obvious to me now that 7. Be3 would have been better. 10. Bxf7 is the other move that everyone seems to agree was a mistake, at the time I felt that the bishop was lost so I'd be better off trading it. After some reflection 10. a4 would have been better. 13. Qg4 was my feeble attempt at striking back. It failed 15. Qg3 was a mistake. I didn't play it to threaten e5. I was thinking 15. ... Bxf2+ 16. Rxf2 Qxf2. In retrospect there is 16. Kh1. For the rest of the game I was mostly trying to stop the bleeding, but the damage was done.

Thanks again!

Here's a really embarrassing loss, but I think I can still learn a few things from it. The first obvious lesson is: don't be hasty! I made two really obvious blunders because I wasn't paying enough attention to the board. My third blunder was less obvious, but something I think I still should have seen coming. Without further adieu:

I think you should first try playing the level 3 and 4 here........the levels you r playing are way too high for you and even me......

In the second game, you have to be cautious grabbing those pawns when you are castled over there and he can safely castle on the other side.  I will tell you that the engine thinks bxg7 is the best move, and has some defensive improvements for you.  However, as you are a human, and given your strength, perhaps the best lesson here would simply be the first sentence - be3 rather than bxg7 would have preserved a white advantage and been safer.  All of that said, the engine really favors grabbing the first pawn (with bf6 after rg8 instead), believing it provides a sizeable advantage.  If you are going to grab the second pawn, the engine still likes that slightly better than avoiding all of this with be3, but you *must* retreat the light square bishop to be2 not bb3, so that when you play g3 after bh3, the light square bishop can recapture the rook and provide defense on the suddenly weak squares.  The computer rates this position as +.9 because white is fairly safe, has the two bishops (an advantage compared to two knights), and can cause problems with that pawn mass with f4 right away, and maybe the other pawns later if you can trade off the queens.

By the way, your position is already dead lost when you supposedly made your first big blunder.  Nf3 is coming -- how the heck can you deal with that?  You can't.  This is why I would avoid being grabby when it is going to open up the gfile on your castled king.  Maybe the result will be a position a chess engine likes, but as a beginner/advanced beginner it is hard to recognize all of the threats and mount a proper defense.  I am much stronger than you, and suspected the engine might like bxg7, but it would have made me very nervous to play that in an OTB game.  I would have burned at least 10 minutes and probably still not done it.  

Thanks for your comments!

batball4411: I'm trying to find the level that I cannot quite beat. The last level I played was 5 and I beat it fairly easily. I'm going to try 7 next.

ArtNJ: Yeah, I felt unsure about grabbing the pawns, as my skill level isn't really high enough to take advantage of the material gain anyway. You recommend Be3 over Bxg7. What is the theoretical basis for that? Is there an adage or concept that leads to that conclusion? I'm trying to understand why that move is better and I cannot immediately see it. Also, thank you for pointing out Nf3. I didn't see that at all! Looks like I need more practice

Bob's not alive anymore. But you can always pay your respects.

Bob, I recommended skipping the grab because it opens the gfile up, and your king is sitting on the gfile.  I picked Be3 as the alternative because it is not quite true that bishops and knights are both worth three as beginners are taught.  In closed positions, knights are worth more than bishops.  Bishops are generally somewhat better in open positions.  Knights that get a secure outpost on the 5th or 6th rank can be incredibly powerful.  And, important here, it is known and accepted that having the two bishops in an open position is worth more like 7 (as opposed to 6).  Absent be3, black *will* trade that knight for the bishop, and the position will be closer to equal.  Be3 is the only choice to keep the bishop if not playing bxg7, but it does potentially eye h6 and in certain circumstances could create viable bishop sacs if black chooses to castle over there.  So if you aren't going to get grabby and subject yourself to an attack along the g-file, be3 seems an obvious choice.  That said, f4 certainly doesn't look bad and might preserve some white pull despite giving up the two bishops.  

@ArtNJ: Thank you for the advice. I think I understand what you are laying down. Today's game is slightly less embarrassing, though still not free of silly mistakes:

Main comment on game 3:  go to chesstempo.com to practice tactics after registering for a free account.  Folks that want to can point out some positional errors, but the reason you lost is tactical errors.  For one thing, 11. a3 or a4 would have allowed you to preserve the material balance.  You'd still be losing by a bit, but nothing serious.  

I'm not saying it is out of whack with your overall play, beginners make tactical mistakes all the time, usually many serious ones every game, but there were several big easy things in the last game, and that is the direct reason you lost.  So my assessment is that some time spent over at chesstempo would be very worth it.  

@ArtNJ thank you for the advice. I think I'm going to start practicing tactics on my lunch break and playing games at night because I seem to get distracted at some point when I'm playing at work and it usually results in some crucial mistake.

Per a3 / a4: I see. a3 / a4 would have allowed Ba2. Missed that one. Tactics indeed...

@jengaias: Thank you for your comment! The first game I posted I did not include many of my thoughts initially, but I have tried to include more indepth comments on my thinking since then. I have been playing various levels in an attempt to find the level which is just good enough to consistently beat me. I believe that level is 7. I love losing, especially when I feel I've tried my hardest and been bested I appreciate the tips!