4...Nbxd7 might have been a little better. Answering 5.Nf3 with Nb6. Your Queen was out of place on e7; it should have been on c7.
Playing 6...c6 protects your knight but it makes it difficult to develop your queens knight on b8. I would have played 6...e6 instead.
11...exd4 allows white to place his knight on a great post. I would have considered 11...Bd6
I can't see your reasoning behind 13..Qd5. Bc5 looks okay.
Qd5 was a trap baiting Qxg7 after Bb6 but I really shouldn't have played it cos he didn't fall for it lol.
...18. Bxh2+??
...what was that for? It just gave you 2 pawns for a bishop.
On balance I think you both played rather well. Your opponent played stronger than I expect a 1400 to play.
Early on, you mention trying to avoid passive play and that's exactly right. I think you went wrong with some passive moves.
16...Rc8 You felt this was a mistake and I agree. I don't like it at all. Yes, he's got the Nxc6 threat, but it's at least a move away. You took your rook off a beautiful open file and pulled it into a defensive crouch behind a pawn... Man, don't do that unless you are forced to! You had other options. Notice what your opponent does, immediately -- He plops his own rook down right on that file creating a nice threat with the N discovery. It's from this moment on you are scrambling to answer his threats. Almost anything was better than 16...Rc8 how about 16...h5 with the beginnings perhaps of a pawnstorm against his kingside, at least getting a whiff of some counterplay against his kingside? Or 16.Nc5, or Nc7, (using the rule, when in doubt, improve your worst placed piece) even Bxa3, heck it's a free pawn... what you did was worsen the position of one of your best placed pieces. If you were really worried about his N taking advantage of the pinned b pawn... there's even Kc7!? (although the potential for Bxa7 looks problematic, there).
Another defensive (but not passive) idea would have been Be5 (threatening to exchange the menacing N) with the idea perhaps of g6, Re6 and then doubling your rooks on the e-file with Rhe8. That's my notion of how to play. I think it's an improvement -- and I'm also sure it can be improved upon.
No doubt there's other things to see in the game, perhaps more important things... but what stuck out for me, was Rc8.
yea...thats so true...Rc8 lost the game for me...I think I like Nc7, Nc5 idea cos the whole game I was trying to move that knight but didnt have enough time...although, none of this would've happened if I had played 6...e6! haha
Technically, 2. ...Nf6 is not the scandanavian defense.
The general idea of the scandanavian defense is to build a solid colour complex with a strong knight outpost on d5 . 7. ...e6 is by no means passive, it is development with a plan, supporting hte knight on d5, isntead of moving for the sake of it. I understand you were trying to be aggressive, but the plain truth is that the pawn on e6 was doing more than the pawn on e5 (especially with no light squared bishop for either side)
0-0-0 is to be considered an inaccuracy as there were more useful moves and you could be castling into a potential attack
yea, e6 is definately a much better move then e5.
I thought ...e5 was fine. It stakes out space in the center, and f6 to protect isn't as damaging with the white-square B off the board. Sure, you'll have to exchange it eventually, but otherwise white gets a free pass on his pawn to d4.
I didn't like the queenside castling, though -- your position over there is a little loose, as you saw. Much better on move 10 would have been Bd6 or Bc5, preparing to castle kingside while the Q covers g7.
Move 12 is another good chance for Bd6 or Bc5, particularly if Bc5 Nb3 Bb6, moving to c7 to protect the king & aim at the k-side. I would say c7 is the ideal square for that bishop in this position.
Even aside from missing that opportunity, 12...Nxc3 is a big mistake -- you're trading off your best minor piece, and opening a file leading right to your castled king, all for no reason! If I had to pick one move that led to your downfall, this would be it -- the later Rc8 was in reaction to the possibilities that this move handed to white.
Agree that 13... Qd5 doesn't accomplish much -- except that now the bishop is tied to defense of g7 again. I'm guessing it was a continuation of the plan initiated by 12... Nxc3, though. Don't play for traps (in an even position); always expect your opponent to play the best move.
JG27Pyth is right that 16... Rc8 is weak. I might've preferred the simple Ka8.
However, on the next move when you did play Ka8, it seemed like panic. Why not just Qe5? The Rc8 that you just put there defends c6, and now black has to take a move to do something about your threat to h2. If Nf3, then Qe7 allows you to regroup.
You are lost after 18. Nf5, but even so, the pawn-grabbing on the Q-side afterwards isn't putting up any kind of defense.
Not a badly played game initially, just seemed like you kind of lost your head under pressure of an attack.
Thanks for that analysis...it was really good hearing the comments...I really should'nt have traded my best minor piece, true! I have learned so much about chess in just this game and your comments! thanks!
Technically, 2. ...Nf6 is not the scandanavian defense
Just to be nitpicky, anything after 1. ...d5 is the Scandinavian Defense. 2. exd5 Nf6 is the Modern Variation.
well...
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 you will find as being called the Portuguese variation. I used to play it! and after 3.c4 e6 you have the Icelandic Gambit which is played by such players as Australian IM (hopefully soon to be GM) David Smerdon and also I think morozevich has had a go at this opening as well.
Hi all,
Hoping you can shed some light on this game I played at a club tournament. I played a 1400 player and I'm unranked. Here is how the game went.