What were my chances?

Hello, everyone!

So I recently gotten back into chess.  I learned from my dad, then got very good tips from as a senior in highschool (five years ago), and then pretty much stopped.  Now I'm trying to learn how to really play well, including getting a grasp on openings and the like.  Before getting there, I've been going through Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, and going through some basic material. 

Today I decided to try my luck against a much better player, someone in the 1600's.  I tried using some of the things I have learned.  Until I got disconnected, that is.  Could you please take a look at the game, give some feedback on how I played, and tell me who was better positioned by the time I got disconnected?

Thanks a lot!

I didnt like 8.Bf3, you should try to avoid moving a piece twice in an opening unless forced to do so.

13. Bf4 was a good aggressive move its just that it should have lost you a pawn if your opponent played correctly. Perhaps f4 instead.

18. Remember, knights on the rim are dim. Bxh3 you traded your good bishop for his bad knight. Also if you open up your light squares with g3 or your dark squares if your black with g6, you want to make sure that if you trade it at all, you trade it with his same colored bishop. This is so he cant use the openings in your kings defences.

It looked like you played much better than a 947 player, you are improving.

In my personal opinion, you have good control of the central squares but, your rooks are under developed compared to blacks bishop and queen....maybe should've developed more before exchanging pieces.

how are his rooks under developed? they are connected and one is on the half open file.

I have the same opnion with Phelon. Additionally, I think that your position now is not bad, but white king's position has many vacancies, especially white squares. Black can exploit that. May be it's better if you don't move the pawns too far on the side which you castled to, except it causes a considerable threat to opponent's king.

You developed good, but now I don't see a clear plan for white. Your knight isn't in good position to attack, rooks and queen don't pose any considerable threat(as I can see). Though, you still can defend enemy's attack, and counter when opportunity comes.

chessmariani> who was better positioned by the time I got disconnected?

In the final position, both sides are nearly equal, with no glaring weaknesses. I think White wants to trade off his knight and then either play on the semi-open d-file or penetrate with his queen, while Black wants to preserve his bishop and then open up the position to enhance it--a subtle battle. At least, given adequate time to play it. 

chessmariani> What were my chances?

You were playing at 10+0 time controls, so the outcome would probably be determined by a blunder. And statistically, based on your ratings, there was only a 1 in 74 chance that you would have come out on top. Well, you asked.

Thanks to all of you for your reponses!  I really appreciate your time and opinions, as they will allow me to see things a newbie (like me) wouldn't generally see.

Phelon> I didnt like 8.Bf3, you should try to avoid moving a piece twice in an opening unless forced to do so.

I see.  I remember reading about that somewhere.  I guess the point at the beginning is to deploy as many pieces as possible, rather than making one jump around the board.  It looks like Qb3 would have been a better option.

Phelon> 13. Bf4 was a good aggressive move its just that it should have lost you a pawn if your opponent played correctly. Perhaps f4 instead.

Thanks for the reminder on the concept of material.  I am trying to get the beginer's thinking that, "it's just one pawn" out of my head.  One pawn can make all the difference!  And I also see how taking the knight was a rather poor move.  At the moment, I suppose, I couldn't see any other moves due to feeling the pressure of time.  I'm going to try seeing what other moves would have been better. 

white_wizard> May be it's better if you don't move the pawns too far on the side which you castled to, except it causes a considerable threat to opponent's king.

Normally I leave the pawns on the king's side alone (or queen's side if that is where I castled to).  On this game, I went with the flow a bit, which probably wasn't a good idea.

white_wizard> You developed good, but now I don't see a clear plan for white.

That's what I noticed at that point.  I couldn't see any good set of moves!  After studying it a bit, I think I came up with a few scenarios.  Maybe you can help me navigate through the best one?  I guess we are now entering what is called end game territory?

I'll post my moves soon.

Thanks again!

Here are some ways I could see the game unfolding, considering it's my turn to move:

Hmm... I can't seem to find a good tactic to get ahead in the game.  Any suggestions?

chessmariani> Here are some ways I could see the game unfolding...

Your suggested lines are poor because they all begin with White blundering a piece. At that point a 1600 should have very little trouble finishing you off. I had already suggested to you a superior way to handle this position:

likesforests> "I think White wants to trade off his knight and then either play on the semi-open d-file or penetrate with his queen, while Black wants to preserve his bishop and then open up the position to enhance it."

In other words, look at Ne2-Nd4, possibly followed by Nb3-Na5. Of course, your opponent may try to stop these plans, or push forward with his own plan, but that is chess! Whether best or not, this is a huge improvement over giving away a knight.

Actually since your rating is 900 the game is unlikely to have ended without you blundering away material and getting crushed. Perhaps missing a checkmate in 1 or hanging a queen.

Not being mean just an observation. Forget all the opening perperation, forget the tactics and focus on simply not giving up material. Your move 13 not only should have lost a pawn it would could have activated the black army and exposed your K.

idosheepallnight> [chessmariani's] rating is 900... focus on simply not giving up material

Agreed.

personally, i would play the knight over to the kingside to shore up some of the weak white squares. I would also consider maybe trying to post up the queen at d6 to make blacks centre expansion a little more difficult.

It's tough to see how to proceed in this position. You have a good knight vs. a bad bishop and more centralized pieces, but there are lots of pawns and your opponent's positon is solid making it hard to break through. As one person said, the idea of Ne2 and Nd4 is one good way of continuing. Another thing I would consider is trying to get in f4, e5 (be careful here, your opponent may make mate threats), and Ne4 (with the threat of Nd6 which is an extremely strong knight). This allows your opponent to trade his bad Bishop but he's left with a weak pawn on d7 (it can't advance and the Bishop is no longer around to defend it).

knight + 2 rooks > bishop + 2 rooks