In my opinion, White's game is lost after 18.Qe2, allowing 18...a6 and winning a piece. I would have played 18.c5 and if 18...a6 19.Nd6 Nxd6 20.cxd6. White should be better here with the 2 bishops. Then White's plan is Qe2, then Qe4 (or Bc4), then Qh7 idea.
I don't know what 6.Ndb5 was about. 6.Bd2 lookd good. From move 9 to move 12, White always has cxd5 to simplify and control the center.
I would have tried 16.a4 and if 16...a6, then 17.Na3, 18.Qd2, 19.Nc2 and pick on that d pawn.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the comments. Even after going through the game a couple of times, 16.a4 did not cross my mind! I was so fixated with preventing Nb4 and keeping my light-squared Bishop. I also never considered making the d-pawn a target of annihilation. I just wanted his King. I try to keep an open mind on my targets during the game, but at times, all I want is the King and it doesn't always turn out good.
Thanks again.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the comments. Even after going through the game a couple of times, 16.a4 did not cross my mind! I was so fixated with preventing Nb4 and keeping my light-squared Bishop. I also never considered making the d-pawn a target of annihilation. I just wanted his King. I try to keep an open mind on my targets during the game, but at times, all I want is the King and it doesn't always turn out good.
Thanks again.
Good game. A lot of the above comments seem spot-on. My only concern is your comment regarding move 16. Bd3:
I decided to go for the Kingside attack and leave the Knight hanging for now. I saw moves like Bxh7+, Bd3, cxb5 and then try to kill the Black King -;)
Bd3 seems like it could be ok, but the reason you gave for it is not. I can see that you even make fun of yourself a bit for having wet-dreams about an easy king-side checkmate, but you must demand more from yourself. In this position all your attention must be toward the center. Specifically, you need to form a plan around the blockade of Black's d4 pawn, and find a way to make your queenside majority useful in the long-term.
RichardHayden, it was nice playing you. I am glad that you took sometime to make helpful comments about the game. We have already messaged back and forth regarding the game, especially about "seeing" moves like 15...Ne8, so I will not repeat myself here. I agree that I wasted time a couple of times, for example with a move like 6.Ndb5. I like your suggestion for 9.Bg5. It is not hard to see its advantages. I guess anaxagoras comment to demand more of myself rings true. I should have seen that by playing 9.Bg5, it would indirectly prevent d4, (since I could then play Ne4, etc.)
I wouldn't say I played my best Chess, but I like(d) the way RichardHayden took advantage of my inaccurate play.
Anaxagoras, I agree that I should have a plan like blockading the pawn, and go for the Queenside... however, that's just one plan. I guess the game would have been totally different if my eyes didn't look at the Black King.
I appreciate all your comments and analysis. RichardHayden, thanks for the messages. I appreciate it.
I would regard the blockade of the d4 pawn as a positional necessity!
Anyone else care to chime in on this point? Especially someone more accomplished at chess than I...
Misteratoz,
Black wanted to take the free knight hanging on b5. 20...g5 would be bad in a number of ways:
1. It's a distraction from the free knight on b5
2. It weakens the kingside
3. After 21. Bxg5 White might be winning.
Check out this line:
20...g5??
21. Bxg5 hxg5
22. Qxg5+ Kf8
23. Nc7!... Would you rather have white or black here?
I lost my 4th game to RichardHayden a couple of days ago. As stated in my Chess Diary, Entry 1, I am posting the loss here with my annotation. There goes another $5.00 to Charity. In this game, I gave up a Knight on the Queenside with the hope of creating an attack on the Kingside. No regrets for the loss, really. Sometimes you just have to try things out to see how they pan out. Your comments are welcome.
For my 3rd loss at chess.com click here.