Positional Crush, A Favourite of Mine

I guess I haven't posted a game in the game showcase for a while :)  So here's one...

A pretty interesting game I just finished in the U2200 chess.com tournament (round 1).  I've annotated it with alternate lines and with an eye on practicality.  Hopefully it makes sense :).

Lol ... not sure what the point of making a 'I hate the ruy lopez' statement is in the game showcase.  But to each his own :)

RainbowRising, I felt that you missed out on a very well annotated game.

Thanks for posting it.

The ruy exchange isn't interesting! :P.  It's a dull way to draw with the white pieces which I have since taken up (cuz of that GM who does lectures on the site, Melihk Katchyan or something) ...

I dunno, I like it because white pretty much can't lose, but still has at least some winning chances.

In a way, you're often right.  Be careful not to ignore what white is up to though, as happened in this game!

And that's basically it.  If you know your opening better than your opponent... they're gonna play average chess and no more.  Move by move my opponent never blundered in this game.  However, he was unable to come up with a reasonable plan, and my 'simple' plan of advancing my F pawn couldn't be stopped.  In the end he 'blundered' with Rf5 (although for whatever reason rybka takes a minute to realize it's a blunder), although the game was lost anyways. 

I, personally, am a huge advocate of specializing in openings.  Look at Karpov with the Caro-Kann.  It's a 'boring' opening that very few players like to study... but Karpov specialized in the black side and managed many wins, and very few losses.  Nakamura with the english is another great example.  Or Kramnik's berlin vs. Kasparov. 

Even at SuperGM level, when you're getting openings you want to play, you have very good chances.

Thanks for sharing this game.  Your comments were thorough, but still written at a level that a patzer like me can understand.  Well played.

I love exchanging vs higher rated opponents, it leads to a very drawish position and difficult to lose in!

I'd replace 'drawish' with 'subtle' but you're right.  A good player should be able to hold his own.  If you search MrBill vs. ih8sens (2009) on chess.com you'll find an awesome game where I played the black side of a very 'drawish' variation and got destroyed.  It's a great game lol

Nice game and well annotated, illustrating how careful black needs to be in the exchange Ruy, white's plan is simply to exchange down and win with that K-side majority :)

An outstanding annotation for new chess players like me. Thank you!  Chess dot com should hire you to provide video instruction for beginners. Your explanations for each move were easy to understand.   

I pay for all the bells and whistles this site has to offer, however, most of the video instruction is way over my head and mostly used to treat insomnia.     A minor complaint. This is still the best chess site on the internet.

HEhe Musikamole ... I'd love to do something like that :).  Do me a favour and harrass erik for me will ya? :P

It was a mistake to stop reading after 3. Bb5, unless you knew in advance that 4. B:c6 was going to be played.

I have once in the past.  It was pretty awesome :).

I think you're still a bit generous about giving yourself !s (annotation examples; 4 Bxc6, and your analysis of 5. ... Bg4 where you claim that Black equalizes 7 moves into a line with 2 !s for White in the Ruy, where white is supposed to maintain a small if solid advantage for a long time. The game on the whole, however, was very well played technically and you should be proud of it.

Superficially, I'm curious about 13. h3 (which was good) and your opponent's response. Doesn't having the Bishop increase his chances for a favorable outcome, even if it costs him the tempo to retreat it (even several times?

If you read the annotations more carefuly you'd understand the !'s, all of which I stand by. 

As for giving the bishop away... I suppose you're right.  Even up a pawn it may be harder for white to convert the full point.

I can't think of a particularly reasonable line mind you... The bishop isn't all that strong in this position.

must ... remember.... v pawn... formations.....

=) good game!

Nice game, well annotated.Good example of white's King-side majority.