Vicariously-I (2200) vs HolographWars (1500) Game Analysis

To recap:

1) You wasted some time in the beginning with Bd6-c7-b6. You Bishop on b6 also prevented you from getting counterplay with your Queenside pawns.

2) Playing f6 was a mistake because you created weaknesses on e6 and e5. This allowed me to build up pressure and eventually win the e6 pawn. I was also able to eliminate your dark squared Bishop which made controlling e5 much easier.

3) In Rook endgames it's very important to have an active Rook. It's often better to go down a pawn or 2 than to have a passive Rook.

Thanks, Lizz!

The line starting from rc8 seems to be drawing, if black can swap a pawns it's dead drawn

active defence and one pawn down draws usually

29 you claim rook endgame is winning. I'm skeptical. After rb8, b6, c4, a5, the rook gets very active and whites pawns are very segmented. The rook endgame has lots of winning chances, but I think it is drawn in either of the lines I mentioned with good technique

Superb game from both players and Michael continues to show his absolutely deep understanding of positional chess for each and every move BOTH players make. After the main trade-off, following the capture of e6, even being only a pawn up can make a massive difference especially if its Michael! The great thing about Michael's explanation of the game is he identifies where you went wrong which is especially vital info for lower rated players like me. Sometimes even a subtle, innocent-looking f6 becomes your worst move of the game after all the eventual moves are played out. I also had my adjacent Bishop and Knight forked by Michael's advancing pawn and one must be wary to avoid such positioning. Personally it puts me off Giuco Piano (Italian game) because the Bishop at the 4th rank for White (or 5th for Black) can be forked with the normal Knight moves to the 3rd (or 6th rank) if one is not careful. Ahh...its back to the drawing board for me to hitch up a plan to beat Michael! And I must consider why the opponent made his last move, what the opponent's plan is!

Tbf Caruana just lost a drawn rook endgame pawn down in rapid

Thx, very instructive!

@Daniel1115 

Thanks for your input.

The computer evaluates the Rc8 line as +1.8 so it should be winning for White. Maybe a better try would be Ra6 instead of a4.

The computer evaluates the start of the Rook endgame on move 29 as being +1.4 so maybe it's not winning yet but it's at least very close. Practically speaking it's very difficult to hold. 

Thanks ezani!

You're welcome! Feel free to share any thoughts you had about the game as well.

Just going off computer evaluation might not be enough, computers tend to underestimate defensive resources/fortress/stalemate tricks.

I know ZERO opening theory on the reti or KIA

Yeah it's true that you shouldn't always trust the computer evaluation. It's possible that I overestimated my chances in the Rook endgame. Maybe Black can defend with active play but even then it's not easy.

Just remember that Black wants to push the pawns on the Queenside to create counterplay. You can look through some master games in the database to see some of the ideas.

can I play you in 1 daily game @Vicariously-I ? 3 days unrated

Ok you can send me a challenge.

Great analysis !! Very helpful for me  
Thanks @Vicariously-I

Glad you found it helpful!