michaelmcrobert vs. likesforests

This was Live Chess where we each had 15 minutes plus a 10 second increment. michaelmcrobert is a fellow member of the Dream Team. I've written my own thoughts on the game but as always welcome outside analysis.  :)

Neither player did much to engage the other player's position and both seemed very willing to trade pieces.

Instead of 6. ... g6 I would have been thinking about castling queenside and playing h5-h4.

26. ... Bd4?! What about 26. ... Rd8 27. Bc6 Rd2 How does white defend the f-pawn? Evenually Rf1 will allow Rb2 winning the b3 pawn. This essentially happened in the game anyhow.

33. ... Rc3 really is throwing in the towel. I'm not sure how to make progress either, but just keeping the pressure and advancing the kingside pawns.

Thanks for taking a look. :)

Loomis> both seemed very willing to trade pieces.

Willing... when it benefits me. Are there any trades you felt I shouldn't have made, excepting move 33 which we discuss below?

•  10...Bg4 - I was happy to offer my bad bishop for a knight before ...e6.
  
•  14...Nd5 - When my opponent grabbed this piece, he opened the c-file for my Rooks and the long diagonal for my bishop.
•  21...Nc5 - When my opponent grabbed this piece, he gaved up a good bishop and the bishop pair, quite good for me.
  
•  23...Qxc6 - No choice, really (although I considered ...Rxd1).
  
•  25...Rxd7 - I gain control of the only fully-open file.

Loomis> Instead of 6. ... g6 I would have been thinking about castling queenside...

This is part of my opening book, so I'm confident about this move.

Loomis> 26. ... Bd4?! What about 26. ... Rd8 27. Bc6 Rd2...

Yup. I had noted that mistake in my Move List:

(26... Rd8! 27. Rd1?? An oversight. I avoided an immediate 26.. .Rd8 because I thought White would survive after 27.Rd1, when in fact it's totally losing for him.   27... Kf8 28. Kg2 Ke7 29. Kf3 Rxd7)

Loomis> 33. ... Rc3 really is throwing in the towel. I'm not sure how to make progress either, but just keeping the pressure and advancing the kingside pawns.

Ahh, thanks, you are right! It's OK that I didn't have time to calculate the killer move with certainty (one of my candidates, 33...Rb2+). But I should have kept improving my king's position and advancing my kingside pawns, hoping my opponent would crack under the pressure. Simple moves like that wouldn't have eaten up much (if any!) clock time and would've given me some small chances. I knew after trading we would be drawn.

26.... Rd8 and white (me) is lost.

michaelmcrobert> 26.... Rd8 and white (me) is lost.

Nah, compare the position after 26...Rd8! 27.Bb5 Rd2 28.Bd4 to the position after 30.Rc1?! Bd4! and you'll see they're more or less identical. In both cases I will win a pawn. That's why Loomis added, "This essentially happened in the game anyhow." 26...Bd4?! was inaccurate but it didn't affect the outcome of this game.

His idea of keeping up the pressure instead of throwing in the towel with 33...Rc3 is a very good one, although it guarantees nothing. One thing that would've really helped was conserving an extra minute on my clock so I would  have had more time to analyze 33...Rb2+!, ending the game very swiftly in most variations.

I think where you handed over the initiative was 22.Bxc5. Especially given that I was low on time, maintaining the pressure with Qe3 and a5 would've been more challenging to cope with than the simplifications after Bxc5 and Qc6.

Even though your light squared bishop is technically your bad bishop, I don't like parting with it if that's the only reason. The light squares won't always remain blocked and your opponent has a very strong light squared bishop.

I probably would have recaptured on d5 with the e-pawn. This will keep the a8-h1 diagonal sturdier. I think you can fight for the e-file. Just because your opponent has a rook there first doesn't mean it's his.

Individually each trade is not so bad, but in the end the game was drawn by attrition. I guess if you are ok with a draw as black, it's fine to play this way. But in general if you are looking to win it's a lot of trading material.

I dont know how useful this game is for me , but likeforests' endgame articles have really helped me alot,,

thank you ,,

I have kept you tracked

abdulyool> I would advise 25.Bd7. It allow the white keep control on the open file by doubling the rocks  and the king to approach to the open file (d) .

Well, the d-file wasn't really controlled by either player, it was contested. 25.Bd7 is a good try, but then Black has 25...Bd4!, a double-attack on both the White bishop and the f2 pawn. After 26.Bb5 Bxf2 27.Kg2 Bd4 Black has a passed f-pawn and I think White's defense is quite a bit harder than the text.

A simple move like 25.Kg2, centralizing his king would've been fine.

wdygml, Glad I can help. I have a new series of articles in the works. :)