Ugly Win Number 1

hey guys,

i'm new to chess.com, and starting to play some online chess (spent a while on the daily puzzles to shape my thinking). i won this match, but i don't know how i feel about it. i would love any comments on what i could have done better, and if white had an unseen advantage.

it just felt ugly to me.

...ryan 

2. ...Bd6 is very bad, much better is Nc6, as now the bishop is blocking the d pawn and is in a very passive position, while the Knight on c6 is active helping the control of two key squares, e5 and d4.

3. ...Nf6 is not a mistake, it's a perfectly natural move as you're putting pressure on e4 and helping the control of the d5 squares plus allowing the king side castle. c6 and f6 (or c3 and f3 if you're white) are the most natural squares for your knights.

6. Bg5, now is the third reason why your second move was bad, his bishop is pinning your knight, your bishop on d6 would be much useful on e7 to unpin the knight, which is now quite uncomfortable. 

7. h6 is not good, in this case he exchanged for the knight (bad move on his part), he had two good options here, Bh4 keeping the pin, or better, Bxh6!

8. Qxf6, your commentary "but it empties my back row" shows a big flaw in your thinking. The queen is much better placed on f6, as she now defends e5, and attacks the king side. There is a principle that says that developpement is complete when the two rooks are connected too, and that involves getting the queen off the 8th rank. What is your queen doing on the 8th rank? Nothing useful usually, especially in your case, and how is your back rank empty when you have two rooks and no threat of having something threatening your back rank?

12. ...Qh3,  I don't see why you think that move is so good, as white doesn't have to care about your queen, as it's not threaening anything and castle queen side.

13. ...fxg6?? means Nf4+ and you lose your queen in exchange for two minor pieces.

14. Nxf8? Qxh1+ 15. Ke2 Qxd1+ 16. Kxd1 Rxf8 with a gain of a full piece for black,

14. ...Qxh1?? lost your queen in exchange for a rook, very bad. fxg6 was bad as you lost your queen. You had a winning move here, Nd4+!!

15. Kh8 "I had a vision, stick with me". If white played 15. Kf1 you're whole vision was crumbling. 

24. Rd2 was not pivotal at all, a second rate move at best, achieved nothing. Bd2 was better winning back some material after Bxc3 and picking up the rook on a1. 

27. dxe5, I don't see how it's helping you as you gave up a pawn for that. It's not so bad on the short term however as he won't b able to do anything for now with it but you had better played d6 the move before as you're already down in material.

34. How is that being greedy? You really think any other move was worth a whole rook?

So basically you went from a winning game to a losing game at move 14, and afterwards your opponent did many mistakes and failed to do anything.

Well, the game was ugly. Neither player's move were based on a consistent strategy, and there were at least a dozen tactical oversights. But you have a strong fighting spirit which helped pull you through. I've highlighted a few points, below.

2...Bd6 - How odd to commit your bishop so soon, when you could have protected your pawn and developed a piece with Nc6. Your bishop is probably better on b4 or c5. At some point your opponent may play Ne4 or Nb5, winning a tempo or forcing you to lose your bishop pair and double your pawns. But I wouldn't bother if I were White.

3...Nf6 - You've aligned your knight and bishop in a forkable pattern. It's not bad per se, but it's risky. 4.Nxe5 Bxe5 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 is interesting. White wins the bishop pair, but you gain one development tempo. 

 7.Qc1?! Castling was a better. But if he liked the idea of attacking your kingside, why not Qd2... that would also help with other plans.

7...h6? - "He won't trade queen for pawns, will he???" He doesn't have to. You walked right into his kingside attacking plan. 8.Bxh6?! gxh6 9.Qxh6 and he's traded a bishop for two pawns and the ruin of your kingside pawn shelter. It's risky, but he might win. 8.h4! is even better. 8.hxg5 9.hxg5 Ne8 10.g6! and he probably has a winning advantage. 

8.Bxf6? - This makes his previous move, Qc1, a mistake. Why play down this path if he wasn't willing to follow through? Qd2, as I pointed out earlier, was less commital if he was 'considering' such an attack. If he didn't want to make such an attack, 7.O-O was best.

10.g3? - Yikes! He undefends his knight and makes a good outposts for your pieces on f3 and h3. g3 is usually only good if you have a bishop on g2.

12...Qh3 - "This is almost too easy" - What is? You have zero invasion squares. h2, g2, and f1 are all well-protected. You don't have any immediate way to eliminate his knight. I'll note again, if his queen were on d2, O-O-O would completely solidify his position.

13.Ng5 - Now he makes it too easy.  ;)

13...Qg2 - "I'm being short-sighted here, I should take his knight but..."  Take his knight?? Are you crazy?! If fxg6 Nf4+ and you lose your queen.

15.Nf4+ "okay, more queen pressure, hmmm..." Nope, no pressure, you've just lost your queen to a discovered attack. 14...fxg6?? was a blunder. 14...Nd4+ was much better.

16...Nd4+!? "It starts with this check" - Then you should have just done this check immediately--you're right it was a good move--and not the silly fxg6 thing.

17.Kd2?? - A blunder. Every other king move wins.

21.Qd2? - Another blunder. 

30.g4 - "I feel like I've won by this point" - No, you're still losing, but you have some counter-chances. It's great you keep on fighting in a lost position. It's not so great that you think it's winning.  ;)

32.a3 - "huh? this one I don't get" I don't get it either. I would have played Re2 much earlier, trading off your advanced rook. When you're ahead, you should trade pieces, especially dangerous ones! Then he should have gone on the offensive and traded off pieces as you allowed to win.

37.e6 - Your opponent missed a mate-in-one. Qxf2 would have kept him alive with some counter-chances due to his advanced d- and e-pawns. 

I think if he really wants to improve he should check all these comments and understand them, with a board in front of him, trying and understanding the different variations and if there's something he doesn't understand, ask for precisions.

I don't think there's any complicated comments like "after this exchange (insert 6 moves variation) white's position looks better than black's and will eventually lead to a superior endgame with winning chances".

I agree. Going through all of them with a board would be helpful, and if they seem too complex, just ask and someone will probably clarify.

YOUR first mistake, of what I've seen, was when you went for g2. When he moved that pawn into protection of the other two, the knight on f3 was left unguarded. A Qf5 would force him to move it, and give you some manouvering space.

At Qh3 I would move Rf1.

Would I NxRf8? No, I would go Nd4+. Possible moves for white are e1, e3 or d2. d2 is best for him. Then fxg6 and then Qxf2.

Kc1 was the correct move. Once your king gets past line 2, it's only a matter of time. And Ne2+ was a better move then Rxg2.

Rd2 wasn't foolish, but it was useless at that point.

a3 was a prelude to a threat against h2. I would of done it way sooner with a Queen and king combo.

Why Bxf7? Threaten the queen directly with Rxf7!

At Rff2 even sacrifice would have meant nothing. 

etienne and likesforests, wow. that was great analysis. it is as i suspected, strictly bad moves on my opponents part that allowed me a chance. there were times i cringed then smiled when he didn't do what he should have.

i think your comments (all of you) are very insightful. i stepped through my match with your comments in another window, boy was that helpful. it's like seeing the matrix when you can go back and see what would have been better.

again, thanks for the helping advice, it's truly eye opening.

if any of you would like a match (rated or unrated) i would love the opportunity. sometimes that's the best way to learn.

...ryan 

matalino,

i see what you mean there, but how is the bishop left hanging? what piece was threatening my bishop after 32. ? he should have sacrificed to get rid of my advanced rook, that i agree with for sure, since it's how i was able to mate him.

thanks.

...ryan 

hotflow,

i think some of the advice did go over my head, but only a little. it's easy to see what went wrong when the game's over and there's good observation like you've all given.

seeing it BEFORE you make the moves, that's the skill i lack, but learning learning, right?

btw, your comments were also very simple, concise, and eye opening, so thank you.

...ryan 

brutal indeed ray =)

i checked out some of your games. actually the ones you lost, because i saw your elo and was curious who was beating you. i saw the guy rated 1600 something, and was interested.  looked like a pin you weren't interested in continuing with? is that what caused you to resign?

in any case, thanks for the criticism, i need to toughen my skin either way, and get better!!

...ryan 

"i checked out some of your games. actually the ones you lost, because i saw your elo and was curious who was beating you. i saw the guy rated 1600 something, and was interested.  looked like a pin you weren't interested in continuing with? is that what caused you to resign?"

He was losing a rook. 

a rook he couldn't win without apparently?

...ryan 

If you don't have a compensation, you cannot win if you play against someone who knows what he's doing. I would have resigned as well.

Oops, I just looked again and he was losing his queen. 

Just play this variation. 27. Qb3 Rxd1+ 28. Kg2 Rxf2++

So he had to play 27. Qe2 Rxd1 28. Kg2 Rxf2+ 29. Qxf2 Bxf2 30. Kxf2 with much material lost and a very crappy position.

This game was obviously lost. 

gotcha, one day i'll have that kind of vision!!

=)

...ryan 

 Why move the bishop 2nd move?

Hay yall