How did I lose?

Check out this game, if you don't mind.  I played Black.

I recognized a halfhearted threat at 10. Bf4, and at this point was running out of ideas for strategy.  10. ...a6 was just to put a little pressure on the Knight, since I didn't really fear Bxc7 in any case.  After the next sequence of moves I was definitely ahead at 13. ...Qxd6.  Seems to me that I should have been able to turn this one into a win, but somehow my assault fell apart.  Can anyone help me see what happened?  What would have been a good course of action after 14. a3 ?

A lot more experience or higher rated players than me can give a better analysis..my move after 14a3 probably would have been qf4..with hope that next move would have been knight to e4 capturing pawn, which he may have answered by capturing my e4 knight with his bishop, and I would have taken the bishop with the pawn, putting his king in check and winning the pawn in the exchange.

Instead of 19bg4; which cost you the bishop, I probably would have moved the a8 rook to c8; protecting the c3 pawn.

22qe5 probably cost you the game. I would have looked at qf4, threatening the c1 rook and somewhat pinning the d1 rook to protect it.

23rac3 was where things really started to unravel, maybe you were trying to protect pawn but with the threat from bf7 coming and the ability to take e5 knight with knight or rook and eliminate the threat, either would have been much better.

Finally 27nxg4 was probably not a good idea, as it just leads to an exchange that threatens your rook, and when you are behind you don't want to trade pieces; although you were pretty much done anyway.

The 20 qxd suggestion is very good also.

Hope that is helpful, as mentioned I'm not really experienced enough to dish out advice, but those are some ideas.

This is my sort of general ongoing problem.  Right after 9... O-O, I was out of strategy ideas.  The bishop-knight-pawn exchange was an interesting tactical diversion but after 14. a3 I was really looking for what to do to advance the grand strategy.

So once the opening is out of the way, and things are starting to get kind of locked up in the center, what do I need to do to make way for an attack (short of waiting for a blunder)?  How does a middle game progress?  I do OK when it's obvious, but what if it's not?

In my opinion, your first mistake was taking the pawn with your queen (move 3). Then you  had to retreat your queen, wasting time that should have been spent developing a piece. 

That wasn't me, I played Black.

I would have considered 15...Bd5 (maybe 15...Bf5 is similiar) because white's e-pawn is pinned.  White would probably play 16. Nd2 to protect that pawn and then black can go for doubling rooks on the e-file with 16...Re7 and maybe 17...Rae8.  That is just a thought though.

Sometimes you want to improve the position of your pieces rather than to try to find some tactical play on the board.  On move 14, I would be thinking about improving the rooks.  White's e-pawn seems a little weak because he has his king and queen on the same file.  It is good to keep an eye out for good tactics though.

in my opinion. the start of bad sequence for black is 20 Bg4? the passed c-pawn is threatened so you should have taken time to defend it..

also being a piece ahead, one of ur plan should include going into the endgame by exchanging pieces..

20. ... Nxf3+ 21.. Qxf3 then you could play Rec8 or Qc6 defending the pawn (this will become your ace sooner or later)

with an extra knight you're doing well..

then the losing move for you is of course 22... Qe5?? your plan is correct there.. your queen is under attack you want to move it away from attack while defending the c-pawn.. the problem is you put it in a square controlled by your opponent..

i've had a problem like this before, the solution as GM larry evans said in his book "everytime you make a move ask yourself, i know i blunder far too often, is this the move thats gonna ruin my night?" (10 most common chess mistakes and how to avoid it by GM larry evans)

one last thing, you made a very bad move with 22... Qe5. the opponent sees this and capitalizes on this opportunity. but dont despair when you made such a bad move!

seek for at least a little compensation.. 23.... Nxe5 at least taking a knight for the queen.. 23.... Re8????? i dont know how many questions mark i will put to describe this..

also in the game description, it says live chess.. maybe you should play a game with longer time control.. (thinking hard in fast time control will have you lose on time) 60mins every 40 moves maybe is good enough., (dont know the settings of live chess, i'm new here but CRAFTY has that time control) you dont learn by playing FAST, you learn by thinking hard..

losing is part of a game, the greatness of losing is we learn most when it is accompanied by a bad experience such as losing a game you should have won.

as i always learn, by losing we learn, good day!

cheers,

---glenn

It looks to me like 14. ... Rfe8 was the correct move. Execution of the attack fell apart a bit after that point though.

I know where I would have gone from there and will go through it shortly if you like. However I think it would be useful first if you think about what your plan at that point was (and post it) so that we can address how you were thinking about the position as well what (I think) the correct plan should be.

your mission: king assassination!

attack,attack

You've made several blunders, is all.

19...Bg4? (better is 19...NxB I think, which wins another piece, and looks like that advanced pawn is heading to the endzone).

22...Qe5?

Strategywise, I can see lots of problems with your play - consider picking up a basic positional play/strategy/middlegame book like Yasser Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategies. (I will post the game with my observations shortly).

Okay, you are absolutely correct to single out 14.a3 ..?.. as a critical time in the game. Basically, when you come to a point like this, when you're not sure how to proceed, stop and take an inventory of the position (absolutely critical!).

Your advantages after 14. a3:

+ You have a material advantage, so you can exchange down.

+ You are better developed, so it's best to make threatening moves rather than quiet development moves which would allow him to catch up.

+ Your pieces are eyeing both his wings - you are hitting 8 squares on his king- and queen-sides, and 5 in his center. He can only manage 2, 3, 2, or something like that, so you are well and truly 'leaning' over his position and are set-up to strike.

+ You have a good bishop, his is bad.

Disadvantages

+ You have an isolated pawn but it's well supported.

After 14. a3 I would be looking to make a threat. If he hasn't even castled yet, and his rooks aren't connected and yours are, definitely throw everything you have at his weak points - I would target his semi-isolated e4-pawn.

Here's some notes on the game:

I would advise you to find a book on strategy, which will expand your 'inventory of advantages', and so avoid you pressuring yourself into disaster trying to push your position to places it cannot go.

thanks for this advice sir.. i'd learned something and that is HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE IF I'M LEADING IN DEVELOPMENT!

make threathening moves rather than quiet developing moves, that sure makes sense.. i appreciate it alot..

when you hang a queen...you are likely gonna lose

Thanks for all the advice, guys.  This has been really informative.  I think the best solution so far has been this one:

[quote]Okay, you are absolutely correct to single out 14.a3 ..?.. as a critical time in the game. Basically, when you come to a point like this, when you're not sure how to proceed, stop and take an inventory of the position (absolutely critical!).[/quote]

I think if I had spent just another 30-60 seconds on the first few moves after 14, I would have seen a clearer path to victory.