Newbee looking for thoughts on this game

I am VERY new to chess, less than a year of play.  Please take a look at this and give some suggestions on my weaknesses and strengths.  I played white and won.  The game felt very awkward but I'm not sure why.  I seemed I started well and gained an advantage that I lost quickly.  At some point I regained the advangtage.  But in all honesty I don't really know how or why I won this game.  Any thoughts for improvement would be great.  I only made a few notes in-game (22,32,& 33) becuase i really am not sure what moves were good or bad.  Thank you.

I'll be glad to contribute a couple of thoughts.  Around the point you felt you were losing momentum, I believe you could have helped yourself a lot more with 24.Ka1 instead of the suicidal 24.Kb3?.  At that point you would be threatening 25. Qxd7 mate (which has to be responded to) allowing time for 25. d6 winning the knight at d7 (if 25....N8f6 26. Nxf6).

Earlier, you could have played significantly more aggressively by chasing the knight (2. e5) or simultaneously developing and defending your e-pawn (2. Nc3), as opposed to the modest 2.d3, effectively locking in your light-squared bishop.

Not a bad performance all-in-all.  Welcome to the game!

Thank you for your help.  I will work on some of that.

No hurt feelings at all.  That gives me a lot to think about.  Thank you.  I never saw the bad play of Nd5.  Man I have a long way to go.  I just finished a game where to took a players king rook on the tenth move.  Huge advantage right?  Well...I lost.

Both players made plenty of errors, and the game turned very bad and good for you both more times than you seemed to be aware of according to your comments.

You were correct about one thing: 33...Rc3: you write: "not sure why he put me in check here"! well done, because this indeed seems to a colossal mistake on your opponent's part, after which you kept it to the end:)

That rook was badly needed to defend the black king. When he allowed it to be exchanged, black's king is quickly executed.

In the early stages of your Chess learning, try to see simple threats: defenders vs. attackers, hanging pieces in one move. Many pawns and pieces were left hanging in this game, in one move or two, and many were not taken.

Try to not leave these threats and to punish your opponent for leaving such threats.

Also, use your knowledge/understanding of the difference between the different chess pieces. For instance: on move 7, you play Bh3 for some reason, while you can just take 7.fxg4. True your opponent can take back, but you lose a pawn, and black loses a bishop. It should be clear that normally, bishops are much stronger than pawns, even without knowing the relative value of the pieces (if it's not clear, correct me on that, and I'll be happy to elaborate).

Nice finish!:)

Oh man, this game was painful to watch ... just kidding! Everyone was once a beginner. Speaking of which, you are not even really bad. You just need to work on absorbing a few concrete opening concepts. All I will do is point out moves that I have termed 'W.A.Y.T." moves. That stands for, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?" If you could explain to me what was behind your thought process when playing these moves, I should really like to know.

7.Bh3?

Why did you not just take his bishop with fxg4? You will be able to castle to safety after and you are up material.

9.g4??

Why not just move your knight to f4 or f2? Instead you rip open your kingside and leave your knight stranded on the edge of the board.

12. c3???

I cannot fathom what you were thinking; this move does nothing. I can't even understand what you were trying to accomplish when playing this. It's like throwing your turn away. All you did was weaken your d3 pawn.

24. Kb3??

If you learn nothing from my post, learn this: you MUST be able to see when and where your king is safe in chess. You only want to bring your king to the center of the board in the ENDGAME, when there are hardly any pieces and no queens on the board. Ka1!, shutting the king away and protecting it was much safer. You walked out into the fire with this move.

Please answer; I am curious to hear your response. Peace and have fun playing chess!

"painful to watch" made me laugh.  As to my specific thoughts:

12. c3.  My only thought was that my next move would be Qa4+.  I think I place to much value on getting an opponent into check without a clear plan on what to do after.

24. Kb3.  I remember specifically thinking that I want to prevent 24....Qa4 and a threat to my rook at d1.  Again, no thoughts as to what to do next.

As for 7 and 9, I don't specifically remember a thouht process.  But a lot of times I'm not sure what to do, so I think "well maybe if I just move a pawn, I won't get into too much trouble."  You see how that worked out.  Thanks Mimchi, I need brutal honesty!

I'm not any good myself, but i believe just solving chess puzzles everyday helps to improve ones ability alot. Even if your opening is bad, hopefully not that bad though, your opponent will not hav seen the position and your improved tactical ability can help you alot.

I think a lot of the stuff said allready is good.  However, I think you can really improve if you just look at all checks and captures before you move your pieces.  Their were so many hung pieces and hung pieces that wern't taken that it was almost comical.  I think your board vision is the first thing to work on.

after b3 you was a exchange up what would of been better than txt is qxb3 qxb3 axb3 and on move 5 nge2 or Be2 would leave black with nothing

was he the same level or 800 900?

I'm the last guy qualified to give advice, but I'll tell you what I've learned for myself.  I don't always follow these guidelines, that's how I know they are good.  When I don't follow them, it bites me...

1.  Study tactics.

2.  Look for checks, captures, and threats.

3.  Remember- your opponent has a turn.  Try to think what he might do next.

4.  See #1.

5.  Study middle game and end game.

6.  Study openings a little.

As a player who struggles quite a bit with hanging pieces himself, I personally think that concentration or a lack thereof is the most important part of that. When I am playing at my best, I always envision where I am about to move a piece and then make sure to examine every possible opposing piece that threatens that square. When I do that things tend go well, whereas when i get a little bit sloppy and start moving pieces without doing that, things go rather poorly. So just concentrate on every move and make sure to look at how your opponent will react.

Thats my best advice, if I am even qualified to give it.

So I wanted to check your progress and checked your last game.  Looks like you are doing a bit better at not hanging pieces.  Unfortunately at the end of the game you hung your bishop, but overall much better.  Don't worry too much about tactics or strategy yet, just keep working on this hanging pieces problem untill you get to the point where it only happens occasionaly and then start learning tactics.  Google chess tactics and look up all the free stuff on the internet you can.

Thank you jwhitesj.  I am continually amazed at the time and attention the members here put into helping other players.  I have really been working on the "don't hang your pieces" advice.  Although I'm still not winning  a lot of games, I feel like I am playing much better and making some progress.

Good advice. Except I'd put priority on studying the Endgame much more than Middlegame.