I guess no one saw this. I will show some more games while I wait. In my last 6 games I had 2 losses and 4 wins. I will show the losses first.
Game 1 I think 26... Qc5 was a mistake. I forgot he could take my queen. I thought I had an advantage earlier with the bishops and even declined a draw. How could I have played that better?
Also, how could I have held the rook endgame? I got too scared of his passed pawn. In the position after 42. c5 I thought I was lost. I think the engine said that's a draw, but I don't understand how.
Game 2 was mainly played on tilt after game 1. My main questions are how bad my moves 3. d5 and 13. g4 are. They seem unnecessarily weakening in hindsight. I completely missed Rxd3 on move 24.
After these two losses, I bounced back to get 4 consecutive wins! In Game 1 I played an opening I do not play much. I am wondering if I should do this more so I get experience in different positions and am less predictable. I think my opponent and I were both out of theory though.
Game 2 was a great game for me. My opponent gave me a pawn to displace my rook. I was able to fix it and then get a huge initiative to win. My one question is if I played the opening right, but I think I did.
Game 3 is just an example of how even 2200's can blunder. I hope this teaches someone that blunders happen at every level. Just look at the first game where I basically hung my queen. I think the main way to improve is to minimize blunders.
Game 4 was a typical Alapin middle game. I think I misplayed it and was worse. I also missed a free piece twice in the endgame trying to flag him. I basically only won this because of time.
Hello! My highest rating on rapid was 2411. My goal is to get to a 2500 rating as soon as possible. To hold myself accountable, I will be posting every rapid game I play on this thread, win or lose. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, it would be very much welcomed, regardless of your rating. I can also give advice of my own if anyone wants.
To start off, I will be sharing two games I played today at the 10 minute time control. The first game felt very equal until I found a tactic. In the second game, my opponent and I both missed a way to win a piece, and then I found myself up two pawns. I did not annotate the games, but I might in the future, so let me know if you think that would be a good idea.
I think I messed up the early middle game in both games. In the first game, when I played Nxd5 on move 14, he could have played b4 which wins a piece. That means I made a mistake earlier since my knight has no good squares. Was 11... Bb7 a mistake? That feels like it could be the wrong square for the bishop.
In the second game, I wonder if 10. Nxd5 was a mistake. I missed that d4 would be hanging at the end. The moves I am thinking of instead are cxd5, c5, or Be2. Let me know what you think of that position.