A bullet game between two low-rated players that shows just how easy it is to miss obvious moves
We need more amateurs to post their annotated games.
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I think that is the longest I've ever seen a piece hanging. Interesting though that black could have gotten away with a5 as it threatens to trap the bishop if Ne5! didn't threaten checkmate. Sadly my last game was worse I quickly hanged my queen when I had a 30 minute time control.
AlcherTheMovie wrote:
#1638 why not 33.Kxg3? Am I missing something?
The continuation is correct. White can take without penalty. I simply made the line too fast here. The game should go to a forced win if Black simplifies. Currently the position is at move 29. I only get to play at the library and I was down to less than a minute when I posted this game.
Here is a 10 minute game where I played an inferior Semi-Slav opening but managed to make a pawn duo on the outside, superior to a full Knight advantage. G/10.
Mentally taxing here.
What's the line if 46)Nc3
Edit: Nevermind I think I found it. Your idea still works because ther is no time for Nxb5 after a3 and his king placement means he loses the promotion race instead of tying.
My finest win yet or at least strongest opponent that I've beaten so far. Please comment.
Nice handling of a Berlin Spanish here. the d3 move is an interesting reply that I was reading about yesterday in a NIC magazine (though it is not necessarily new, it was part of a "Anti-Berlin" system for White). So a couple of things to look at:
1. Nf6, Bc5 and Nd4 come in different lines of the spanish for Black in a lot of games though they are also interchangable. Bc5 is typically counterattack at f2 while Nd4 questions White's Bishop without the 3... a6 move having been played and is in some lines respectable. I do this with Sicilian lines as well, mixing ideas from other openings. Try if you play against certain lines to understand the ideas behind the moves as opposed to simply memorizing lines as many spanishlines go to move 25 and beyond.
2. Your Bishop on b6 is badly placed here so exchanging it is a decent idea. the c6 move is a good move and I am glad you see that opening a diagonal is just as important as a line for the Queen. Now, what are the 2 best squares for the lady and what would you expect White to do against either reply?
3. By move 15, you hold all the trumps here asnd just need a move to get it in.
4. What did White gain from the c4 move and why even move it off c3? The idea was likely to continue to close the position when the Knights become a factor. The pawns are on white as is your Bishop and the enemy King. So where should you play to attack? The dark squares are ripe like fruit here. Look at the position after move 28. Where is the new Queen going to be? 29. Qg3 is forced in view of the mate and then Black will win the exchange and the game.
Nice work there.
Thanks, I feel I did not get some of your comments though.
I never really sudied openings so I'm not entirely sure I got all your points. From what I found after your post Nd4 seems to be used is 4 knights variation as the pawn forces whitse knight away if there is an exchange. Does that mean I should not have played it here because there is no knight on c3 and tehn my bishop becomes oddly placed?
I can not seem to find the other square I would put my queen on. I liked b6 because e3 seemed weak and was in front of the white king. b2 could also become vulnerable depending on what happens on the queenside. I expected Qe2 to be the response as not many pieces can defend the pawn and the rook should stay on an open file. Re3 also seems like it could invite d5 threatening to pin the rook at the same time as attacking the center.
The position at move 15 seems to come about after back to back blunders. cxd5 seems premature perhaps Bg4 kicking the queen away from the pawn's defence first. Kh1 also seems out of place here as it allows me to defend my pawn while putting a piece on the king's new diagonal. What type of move fo you mean? Is there some sort of pawn break I can do without weakening my kingside?
How do I accomplish this? Put my queen on the dark squares for easy travel and safety and have it attack the light squares like a rook?
Sorry nsw, I should have written the responses from Black's perspective. The system with 3... Nf6 in the Ruy Lopez is called the Berlin Variation. Black seeks to immediately counterattack in order to neutralize the b5 Bishops scope. The Bc5 move you played is typically a line in the Classical or Cordel Variation and the Nd4 move is from yet another variation. Though these openings can mesh into each other, typically I try to follow a main line as close as I can without mixing ideas as then some later parts that are built into each line are not available, sometimes very critical moves.
Point 1 being considered there, point 2 was to highlight the fact of that the exchange of the Bishop as it was on b6 was needed since if White initiates the exchange (since both are passive), you end up with the weakened pawn structure. Once on c5, that Bishop will usually exchange anyway. I like the DSB on e7 sometimes but this is simply a matter of playing style.
Now on to point 3, your development is finished, you have attacks ready to go on the King's wing and White has a passive position with limited space. All that is missing for the win is a key move to breakthrough the position. Here, i would have perhaps played 15... Bg4 instead and seen how he responds and then go for the central break with 16... e4 when White looks like he may as well put the King on it's side and pursue something like Farmville for a bit.
Kh1 was made to try to not punch holes in the position but also to remove any pin threats and checks.
Still, this was a good solid game for you. Nice going.
This was the game against the highest rated opponent in my chess history.
I managed to draw, so the result was 0,5 - 1,5. I think it was one of my best games.
PortlandPatzer wrote:
Sorry nsw, I should have written the responses from Black's perspective. The system with 3... Nf6 in the Ruy Lopez is called the Berlin Variation. Black seeks to immediately counterattack in order to neutralize the b5 Bishops scope. The Bc5 move you played is typically a line in the Classical or Cordel Variation and the Nd4 move is from yet another variation. Though these openings can mesh into each other, typically I try to follow a main line as close as I can without mixing ideas as then some later parts that are built into each line are not available, sometimes very critical moves.
Point 1 being considered there, point 2 was to highlight the fact of that the exchange of the Bishop as it was on b6 was needed since if White initiates the exchange (since both are passive), you end up with the weakened pawn structure. Once on c5, that Bishop will usually exchange anyway. I like the DSB on e7 sometimes but this is simply a matter of playing style.
Now on to point 3, your development is finished, you have attacks ready to go on the King's wing and White has a passive position with limited space. All that is missing for the win is a key move to breakthrough the position. Here, i would have perhaps played 15... Bg4 instead and seen how he responds and then go for the central break with 16... e4 when White looks like he may as well put the King on it's side and pursue something like Farmville for a bit.
Kh1 was made to try to not punch holes in the position but also to remove any pin threats and checks.
Still, this was a good solid game for you. Nice going.
Ok thank you very much for your time. That was very helpful.
the Kh1 move looks odd to most players (and even some computers) but really there is a subtlety to it quite often. Usually it is a way to transfer the tempo of the game to your opponent if neither side has a weakness in their position, then when you move back to say g1 from h1, all of a sudden Black's pieces start to discover holes to attack in their structure.
An example came from a game I played this summer against a friend of mine in SW Portland. We began in the Petroff Defense and eventually came to be in an Italian Four Knights Variation. After 18 moves of play, there were no weaknesses to either side and my opponent decided to go for wing activity by playing 19. Ne1. After looking over the board and seeing no weakesses to my position, I played 19... Kh8!? Play continued 20. f4 a6 21. Nf3 and then i played immediately 21... Kg8! Although it took 45 more moves to prove out, Black had a winning position that looked like this:
.
Sometimes, that quiet move is a monster, other times an invitation to put the dog to sleep.
Sicilian Trap line that is higlighted by the 0-0 move. G/10
Interesting game though.
How often do you find a person who plays almost exactly like you all the way around the world? My opponent, an Iranian, played me to 2 draws in 2 games in Blitz and our ratings were separated by only one point through both matches. this was the first match.
G/10
Second G/10 match.
Credit to horas for two well handled matches here.
vengence69 wrote:
the Kh1 move looks odd to most players (and even some computers) but really there is a subtlety to it quite often. Usually it is a way to transfer the tempo of the game to your opponent if neither side has a weakness in their position, then when you move back to say g1 from h1, all of a sudden Black's pieces start to discover holes to attack in their structure.
An example came from a game I played this summer against a friend of mine in SW Portland. We began in the Petroff Defense and eventually came to be in an Italian Four Knights Variation. After 18 moves of play, there were no weaknesses to either side and my opponent decided to go for wing activity by playing 19. Ne1. After looking over the board and seeing no weakesses to my position, I played 19... Kh8!? Play continued 20. f4 a6 21. Nf3 and then i played immediately 21... Kg8! Although it took 45 more moves to prove out, Black had a winning position that looked like this:
.
Sometimes, that quiet move is a monster, other times an invitation to put the dog to sleep.
What I forgot when I made the comment is 16)... Qxe3+ allows me to defend my rook and leaves the knight hanging after 15) Bxd5 Nxd5 16) Qxd5. So although I understood the king wanted to break the pin which was important I did not see that Bxd5 was not a free move eventhough it threatens my rook. So it looked badly timed as it gave me time to mess with the center.
My first correspondence game (3 days per move although most of the game was played yesterday and today) and basically my first time playing the english game. The game had a lot of potential to be a tactical nightmare to me. I won an exchange but it costed me my DSB and left me with lots of very passive pieces and no space. I there was a point in the game where I spent 20-30 minutes per move trying to see if it would give white a forced win or tie. I will try to give an example of one a line I looked at. Things ended anticlimactically when white let me trade queens giving me a won endgame and white seemed to lose interest in the game or gave up based on the change in the level of play after this.
I'm still curious if white had a winning attack at any point.
Good job with the Anglo-Indian Defense you played. Aside from Kg7, there was little to be concerned with here as you held the exchange throughout the contest.
When down on material, it is almost unwise to simplify the heavy pieces (Rooks and Queen) unless you do it to stop mate threats since you lose a lot of tactical play at that point. You did really well for a correspondence game. Well done.
Also, so long as you are not consulting an engine during play or seek commentary from others during the game, i believe it is considered acceptable to consult openings databases to find out typical lines just as some will consult books while playing, though do not quote me on that.\
Best of luck in future correspondence games.
#1638 why not 33.Kxg3? Am I missing something?