Lack of vision to see obvious threat/captures

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rib_rob

Hey guys its me again with my 3rd 45/45 game. I'm mainly concentrating my analysis on the first 20 or so moves as this is what I'm focusing my development on. Also I'm ver much aware I got nearly everything wrong after move 20-21. 

I noticed fairly quickly into this game that im not totaly calculating every move and making very basic errors because of that. I'm just really trying to focus on my opening theory and would love advice on how to improve.

I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say and I thank you in advance for the advice :-)

cats-not-knights

wow that's some fast improving, hard to believe it was your the game you posted a couples of days ago. probably you lost the thread at 8. d5 you were actually utterly better.

don't take my analysis too seriously because I don't play e4 and I don't know the lines, besides it was a lightining analysis... 

I say keep up the good work and results will come soon. 

 



ArtNJ

6.  yes, of course, take the free pawn.  

8.  pxp, pxp (or nxp nxn then pxp), qxq, kxq and the f pawn is free.  But d5 is a bad idea anyway, as it greatly restricts your bishop's movement.  Somethig like be3 or bg5 would be more logical.

11.  rab1 shows you have no plan.  May as well try and trade off your lousy light square bishop with bb5.  Its not helping you, whereas black's is potentially useful to him.  

You start playing very poorly around move 20, making many blunders, which you already know.  Practice tactics problems, here, or at chesstempo.com (free account).  

Also, just playing a 45 minute game doesnt help if you arent using your time.  Make yourself think about both sides options before moving.  Look at checks, captures, threats.  Every move.  

Inexorable88
He missed 29 Nf2 mate which was a bit funny. Would have been a good looking mate. Lots more too but I must sleep
Inexorable88
I will say, first big mistake, not taking the E5 pawn. Second mistake, D5, totally shutting out your LSB. It went from being the strongest active piece to the worst in one move
Inexorable88
Also when you didn't take the E5 pawn and he played D6, you could have still taken it for free because of A) you had the knight and d pawn attacking it and B) Dxe5, dxe5??, bxf7 losing the queen
AWSmith61

My rating sucks, but after 1. e4Nc62. Nf3e53. Nc3Bb44. Bc4, I like 4. ... a2, then;

5. Bxc3 dxc3 (Miesesish pawn structure that I don't mind playing.) Any other move of the bishop costs black a tempi which can help. I personally don't play well with the b2 pawn moving over to the c file ever.

5. .. bxc3 - I'd take with the d2 pawn b/c I trust the Mieses .  with exc3 the queen is open and later you can still castle queen side ad get a rook on the e file. I think this is an exception to taking towards the center.

5. ... Nce7 is awful.  it blocks the queen off and costs a tempi.

6. d4 vs 6. Nxe5... hmm.  Its called 'pawn grabbing' when you take a pawn and are likely going to have to move the piece again afterwards.  With the lead in development (you have 5 pieces developed at the end of move 5 vs black's 2 and his knight is poorly developed). Its about how good positions came come up in the future.  In this case, I'd go pawn grabbing and just plan on moving the knight if he attacks with a pawn. f7 is easily defended by making the move f6. Calculating much past this point is tough b/c there are lots of moves to be made that (IMO) are going to be relatively equal. 

7. Ng5 is not good b/c of 7. ... d5 which can remove the bishop protecting the f7 square.  Don't expect your opponent to not see something you have seen to counter your move.

8. d5??  I'd have not done that b/c it cuts the bishop off.  NOW its good to play 8. Ng5 b/c black has to defend that f7 square or lose a rook to a knight. black would hae to play e6, then you can take d6 with e5, then plan on moving to d7 to open the bishop attack back up to f7 maybe.


After this point, I'm kind of at a loss to comment on the various moves.  I'm just NOT that good. I'm only now scratching and clawing at a 1300.










SonofaBishop67

4. Bc4 was ok, also 4.a3 Bxc3 5.dxc3 taking with the d pawn instead develops your c1 bishop.  4.a3 gives your bishop a retreat square on a2, in case of ...Na5 or a timely ...d7-d5. The a2-g8 diagonal is a great one to control as it points toward the black kingside and the usually vulnerable f7 pawn. If Black castles kingside, the f7 pawn is pinned!

Because of that, 8.d5 probably isn't so good; you handcuffed your bishop and kept the position closed, which favors knights. Opening the center while black is uncastled and behind in development is always fun!! Here you should win AT LEAST a pawn, maybe a queen, while creating an open board your bishops would own. A couple of lines here: 

8.dxe5 dxe5 9. Bxf7+ wins the black queen; the king cannot recapture on f7 because of Qxd8, so 9...Ke7 10.Ba3+  :)

8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10. Bxf7+!, same thing, White wins the black queen. (10...Kxf7 or 10...Kf8 11.Qxd8, 10...Ke7 11.Ba3+)

Black's best response to dxe5 is to accept the loss of a pawn and develop something. See what I mean about the a2-g8 diagonal? Wink

Inexorable88

Sonofabishop67, after dxe5, dxe5, Bxf7, king has no choice but to take the bishop because of that ridiculous knight on E7. 

SonofaBishop67

Inexorable88, there is no knight on e7, the black knights are on g8 and g6, so the king would have e7 to go to although black still will lose the queen after 8.dxe5 dxe5 9. Bxf7+ Ke7 10. Ba3+, I was commenting on the position after 7...Ne7-g6.

Inexorable88
Move 5 Nce7
Inexorable88
Oh I see, we're talking about different games? I'm talking about the first game
Inexorable88
I see. Different position.
SonofaBishop67

Yeah...I just noticed that black drops the queen after Bxf7+  (After 8.dxe5, first game)

rib_rob
[artNJ] " Also, just playing a 45 minute game doesnt help if you arent using your time. Make yourself think about both sides options before moving. Look at checks, captures, threats. Every move."

This is a discipline I definitely need to incorporate into my game and fast. Ok I might not make the best moves but by just taking the time to evaluate the board will stop me from hanging pieces and missing easy captures. Eradicating these simple mistakes should bring me more success.
rib_rob
Thanks guys for all your input it's much appreciated.
ProCrazy

Here's my expert analysis of the first 7 moves of the game. I'll continue the analysis later.



ProCrazy

Move 7 is actally a blunder. Check my annotation.

Mal_Smith

"I'm just really trying to focus on my opening theory and would love advice on how to improve." 

 

Don't just focus on opening theory, focus on *everything*. The experts say that tactics are more important anyway, so you might be best focusing on that, if you want to improve quickly. But if, like me, you like opening theory then use studying openings as a reward for having a hard session of tactics...

Inexorable88
ProCrazy wrote:

Here's my expert analysis of the first 7 moves of the game. I'll continue the analysis later.



Did you just copy and paste what Chessmaster 10th edition analyzed? That terminology, sentence structure, wording, literally all of it is 100% identical to the Chessmaster analysis tool. 'You move your knight to f6. White counters with pawn to d4. Your pawn captures pawn, which threatens White's knight at c3. White responds with knight takes pawn, which removes the threat on White's knight at c3.'

 

That's not how any Human being writes or speaks.