QGD Tarrasch help?

Here's a blitz game g/4 + 3. I'd like to really analyze this game since it's important to the systems I play in OTB tournaments. Thanks for the help!

Well, the first thing that struck me is how come you know things like QGD, Tarrasch, isolated pawn (in other words the fine details of the opening) and yet your rating is still 1480? Judging from the comments you didn't learn this by heart - you can see reasoning behind you moves. If you keep up like that and try to pinpoint at least two moves ahead (I play, you play, I play, you play, then what?), both for you and your opponent, (with reasoning) then you can get promoted to class B :)

And yes, a very important thing. NEVER allow for opponent's mistakes to stay unpunished. Even if you are playing your friend. You should have gone for 16....Nb4+. This means you lack the killer instinct in chess. To play good chess you must have this hunger to make strong moves, you know what I mean?

14 you missed Be6! winning a piece.

also wouldn't 18. Kc3 fail to b5?

you should've moved 16...Nb5 forking the king and queen.

 Well when a player is around 1400-1500 and they know their openings well, the reason they aren't rated higher is generally due to middlegame play. That said it would probably benefit you bobereight if you read the amateur's mind by Jeremy Silman and go over some tactical puzzle books a few times, until you can do all the problems in your head without any trouble.

I personally don't destroy my weaker friends too badly because I want them to become better and be encouraged to play chess, but in a competitive match I could be playing my mom and I wouldn't hold anything back.

Exactly. Move orders can cause chess blindness. Work through all possible moves before concluding. I realize it's blitz.

I prefer 3 ... c5 so that I can spring a Von Hennig-Schara Gambit: 4 cxd cxd!? It's a great OTB weapon.

not necessarily! because 15. Qxb7!

15. Qxb7 seems to refute 14...Be6. Perhaps white had that option earlier in the game, also

Also, b5 does stop Kc3.

jcoby, it is true that I lack a sort of killer instinct. Phelan, I do tactics, but not nearly enough. My chess work now is on endgames, so it is possible that my tactics have slipped. It's sure that I don't miss these in longer, OTB games.

I think that 12... Nc6 should have been played since the forking square (b4) is sticking out like a sore thumb

Ok maybe Be6 doesn't pick up a piece but it does win a knight and a bishop for a rook and a pawn which I would say is in your favor.

also explain how b5 doesn't atleast pick up the bishop?

b5 does win a minor. The threat of b5 prevents Kc3

Blitz, but 18 .. Qe7(check) before the fork immediately wins at least another knight )in addition to the exchange) and probably a very quick mate.  Look for mating patterns.

-glenn

oh sorry I thought you sid b5 doesn't stop kc3

on move 12 i would say Rd8 was better than Bf5+.. makes his queen run and gives u potential for perhaps a pin with ur white bishop, or a chance to get his a4 knight with correct play. I'd say many more opportunities would happen with 12. Rd8

So I've been playing the Tarrasch quite a bit the last few months, and I have a book on it (Complete Defense to Queen's Pawn Openings by Eric Schiller), so I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out the inaccuracies in the opening. Everyone's more focused on the middle game tactics.

First inaccuracy was your third move. Schiller recommends developing your knights in alphabetical order in the Tarrasch - c6 then f6. You want your queen's knight to already be on c6 before your king's knight gets pinned by the bishop on g5, if white plays that way, for reasons that I'll explain when commenting on a later move. Thus, stick to 3. ... c5 if you're going to play the Tarrasch, followed by Nc6, and only then Nf6 (unless white plays e3 and can't get his bishop to g5 any more).

You're right that white's early dxc5 saves black a tempo. White usually doesn't play that until after black's already played Be7.

Your 7. ... O-O was bad, but the Qb6 move you suggest instead is just as bad. Key point here: You want to save your d pawn. As you found out the hard way, it's easy to lose it. Your 7th move should have been to push the pawn to d4! Your bishop on c5 is your saviour in this regard, as it protects d4, otherwise this would be a textbook example of why you needed Nc6 before Nf6. By not pushing the pawn to where it's better protected, you allowed your opponent to win it by a simple removal of the guard tactic.

At that point, white just needed to play 10. e3 to prevent the check on f2, and he could have gotten his bishop out and castled to safety with a winning advantage. Instead, he let you turn it tactical, which isn't likely to happen in slow games against decent opposition.

and after 7... d4 8. Ne4 what should black do?

That opening was the Semi-Tarrasch variation

the Tarrasch is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5

same basic idea but they can lead to different position's, the name really isn't important as long as you understand the move.

I think 5...Nxd5 is more correct since it avoids some of the problems you had early in the middle game defending your d-pawn.

This is not Tarrasch Defense help but rather tactics help. You're opening is fine. You lack an adequate chess engine to get your game zooming ahead like higher rated players.

The best advice is brush up on tactics. You won the games because you're opponent made mistakes AND you were able to spot them. The only way to improve on this is to work on your tactical skills and you'll definitely be Class B shortly if you do.