Plans and Using your Entire Army

I've been trying to utilize IM Jeremy Silman's technique of using the differences in your position (imbalances) to your advantage, and I was wondering if this game is a step in the right direction. I started out with a blunder, but did my best to attack my opponent's weakness and involve all my pieces as strong as I know how to and I eventually recovered from my blunder.

I would appreciate any suggestions if you have the time. Happy Checkmating!

2. ....e5 is the Albin Counter Gambit, a real defense, but 3. ... f6 is a dumb move as after 4. pxp pxp 5. e4 white is up a pawn, has the better pawn structure and easy development.  Talking imbalances doesn't make sense here -- the issue here is that white is up a pawn and has free and easy development, defeating the purpose of a gambit.  All of that said, nf3 is also very strong.  

7. a3 ... super common beginner mistake wasting a move when the pin would be nothing here.  Among other things, it would instantly lose the bishop to qa4 check.  Moreover, since the black knight cant go to d4 black can't add another piece onto the pin.  

I have no worthwhile comments on the rest of the game which was decided by your opponents repeated blunders.

Allowing a knight fork on move 15 is bad, but I doubt it is that bad for the move to be labelled as a blunder. The remaining of White's pieces are sufficiently developed and White has an extra pawn as compensation, so White's position is not too terrible. Stockfish evaluates 15. f3? as +0.27, meaning that White holds a tiny advantage (even after allowing the knight fork).

When you play 19. h3, you must be careful of moves such as 19...Bxh3 trying to open up the king, I am not saying that the move is good in this particular case, but it should definitely be taken into consideration before committing to 19. h3 (and other similar moves in other games).

Next, I like the move 20. fxg4 better actually. You are correct in the sense that the queen-rook 'battery' along the f file proves dangerous to White. However, the f1 White rook is defended by both the d3 White bishop and the White king itself (yes, kings are good defenders too!). Chances are, if the f2 White bishop moves too, exposing a rook attack from White, Black's queen will chicken out from the f1 rook, defusing the dangerous threat.

22...hxg2 is a try worth considering. It opens up White's kingside where the White king is currently located. As an added bonus, Black has a zwischenzug 23...gxf1=Q/R+ bringing the White rook along with the Black pawn to the graveyard if White exchanges the queen on move 23.

For me I prefer to leave Black's c6 pawn untouched on move 25. Both are okay actually, since 25. dxc6 awards Black two queenside isolated pawns, while avoiding 25. dxc6 can help White focus on developing his other pieces. If Black plays 25...cxd5 and the White knight is still on c3, the White knight can then jump onto the good d5 square. Else, the option to capture the Black pawn by 26. dxc6 is still available.

On move 28 I like the greedy option Bxa7, winning the a7 pawn, and as an added bonus, Black no longer has pawns which can combat White's passed a- and b- pawns. Stockfish program likes the zwischenzug 28. Bc4+ even better, rating this as +3.06, sufficient to grind out a win.

On move 32, you mentioned that Nf5 is not good. This should be okay, and I may have played it too in a game, but Black recognises that the knight is too strong, and fortunately for him/her, he/she has a bishop to remove the knight. I can assure you that the White knight can prove fatal if it stays there, and Black would be probably more than happy to remove it even though Black would have to give up one bishop for it. Personally, I feel that the knight that you are holding is of 'extraordinary value'. A super knight. You must preserve this knight carefully.

After 33....Rg8, the game should be an easy win for White,

Other than mistakes by your opponent (plus the final bishop giveaway) and some inaccuracies from you (including allowing the knight fork on move 15), considering your rating, your play is quite decent,

Thank you so much for your feedback and suggestions! Do you think 15. h3 would be a good move? On move 20 I was just worried that if I opened the f-file he could completely crush me to bits with his major pieces, so I thought it would be best to keep the file closed. That would make sense to keep my knight for a little longer instead of letting it be traded off. I haven't played 30 min chess in several months so my rating isn't necessarily accurate!  It would probably stand at around 1400 or something. But again, thank you for your comment!

15. h3 should be ok and I believe it should be winning (all the other players here might disagree with me!), since the head-on collision 15...Nxf2?? clearly fails and the pawn push should be able to dislodge that nasty knight. But Black is not forced to chicken his knight out. I am a bit lazy to calculate what happens if Black decides to send the g4 knight to its doom for the greater good by leaving it at g4 (for example, 15...h5 16. hxg4 Bxg4).

I understand that it indeed looks scary to open up the f-file as you said. Well, we are human players and are not devoid of feelings (unlike computers). However, if you notice more carefully, the combined ideas of fxg3 and moving the f2 bishop discovers a rook attack. And if you complete a simple counting of defenders, you will then notice that you have just sufficient defenders. And Black definitely does not wish to trade his/her queen for a rook nor keep the queen along the f-file. This results in the sending away of the queen from the f-file, removing the immediate f-file threat.

For some reason I love knights more than bishops (different players have differing opinions on this). And I find that your knight is more powerful than usual since the position is not considered to be very open around the vicinity of the knight. Coupled with extra pawns, your position should be easily winning.

I appreciate you making this analysis. I guess it will just take practice to iron out those inaccuracies. My rating isn't necessarily accurate, because it was my first 30 min game in several months...

@WeakChessPlayedSlow @FunnyAnimatorJimTV

I believe that the player holding the Black pieces must have previously read into pawn breaks before, for him/her to come up with the idea 19...g4?, but he/she missed that the d3 White bishop was already guarding the f1 rook. In other words, this idea was played in the game at the wrong time. and 19...g4? simply donated the g4 pawn to charity.

woah i do the same (even the IM Jeremy Silman part) i have a book about imbalances pawn point theroy, etc. it really helped

just curious: which book are you reading? (or is it something else? i don`t know)