Vicariously-I (2200) vs ezani (1200) Game Analysis

ezani challenged me to some daily games and asked for my thoughts. My hope is that he and others can learn something from the games. Feel free to add your own advice for ezani and for 1200 rated players in general.

Game 1 & 2

Ok so to recap:

1) Don't move pieces or pawns multiple times in the opening without a good reason.

2) Get your King castled as soon as possible.

3) Don't bring your Queen out early without a good reason.

4) Try not to have undefended pieces in your position. If you do have an undefended piece then at least make sure that your opponent can't take advantage. 

5) Always ask yourself why your opponent made their last move.

Game 3

Your opening was much better in this game than in the others. You developed all of your pieces and got your King castled. That's great! The problem was that some of your moves were a bit passive and you got in a position where you couldn't easily get in a pawn break. If you don't use a pawn break to open lines for your pieces then your position will feel cramped and you'll basically be playing without a plan. Here are my thoughts on how you could have improved:

To recap:

1) Don't block your c-pawn in d-pawn openings.

2) Develop your pieces to the most active squares when possible. 

3) Use a pawn break to open lines for your pieces. 

Another thing is try to spend more time on each move. I know this is not easy to do when you have so many games in progress but you won't improve much unless you take the time to really think about each move in order to incorporate what you've learned. I would recommend greatly reducing the number of games you have in progress in order to do this. Quality over quantity is best. 

Game 4

To recap:

1) Develop your pieces and get castled as soon as possible. I can't stress this enough. This is very important. You did this pretty well for the most part in game 3. Try to play more like you did in that game. 

2) Don't waste time moving pawns & pieces multiple times in the opening without a good reason.

3) Don't develop your Knights to the edge of the board without a good reason.

4) Don't start attacking before developing your pieces and getting castled.

Game 5

This game was a big improvement! At least you got your pieces developed and castled. If you play more like this every game then I think your rating will increase.

To recap:

1) Don't give up your Bishops for Knights so easily. On move 7 you should have played Bg4. Bg6 was also ok because then at least you would get an open h-file for your Rook if I capture and your pawn structure would be much more solid.

2) Don't react to threats that aren't there. On move 13 you should have played Qc7 to reinforce f4. fxg3 was also ok. After you dropped the 2nd pawn your position became very difficult. 

3) Work on tactics and hanging pieces.

4) Take more time for each move. If you play too quickly then you will miss a lot.

Game 6

To recap:

You missed a lot of simple threats because you didn't ask yourself why I made my last move. If you don't fix this problem then it will be difficult to improve. I recommend spending much more time on each move to check for blunders. I also recommend improving your tactical ability by solving some chess puzzles every day. Really take your time. Don't make a move until you are confident that you've figured out the solution. 

Game 7

To recap:

1) Don't put your Bishop on f5 when you've played g6. Your Bishop can be vulnerable to Nh4 when it can't retreat to g6 or h7. It also might just get trapped like it did in the game.

2) Don't trade pieces when you are down material.

3) Work on tactics.

Neat!

Many thks for the game Vicarious and yes, I too hope others can learn from our games. I am by nature an aggressive, attacking player but being close to reaching my 2,000th game with Chess.com many of which against 2000+ players (Chess.com, thank you!), I am sobering down now more into defensive, positional play although its hard to get rid of that attacking streak in me. I think one of the best advise I received and which I would like to share is: if the position is trully equal and balanced, you cant force a win and if you do so, you will end up with a much lower losing position. But having said that, I've challenged Vicarious to a rematch and turned on my afterburners, so lets see...hi hi hi.

Thank you Vicarious for the rematch! I hope to give you a more difficult time!

You're welcome, ezani! Try to follow my advice in our next game.

Thanks, appreciate it!

Thanks for the feedback! 

Regarding your thoughts on the first game I think you are getting some of your notation mixed up. I assume you mean something like this:

I have to be in a very particular mood for bullet & blitz. I almost always prefer daily (correspondence) chess because I'm able to learn a lot more from longer games.

Your opening was much better in this game than in the others. You developed all of your pieces and got your King castled. That's great! The problem was that some of your moves were a bit passive and you got in a position where you couldn't easily strike in the center. If you don't use a pawn break to open lines for your pieces then your position will feel cramped and you'll basically be playing without a plan. Here are my thoughts on how you could have improved:

To recap:

1) Don't block your c-pawn in d-pawn openings.

2) Develop your pieces to the most active squares when possible. 

3) Use a pawn break to open lines for your pieces. 

Another thing is try to spend more time on each move. I know this is not easy to do when you have so many games in progress but you won't improve much unless you take the time to really think about each move in order to incorporate what you've learned. I would recommend greatly reducing the number of games you have in progress in order to do this. Quality over quantity is best. 

LittleLizz, a million thanks for your advice!

Can I just say what a lucky player I am to be playing Vicarious and getting this kind of Class A $50 an hour advice! I'm glad we are also sharing it so every lower player like me can learn! Thanks also to all who actively participate in Vic's articles comments. Lets try to be interactive and I as a lowly-rated chess layer of the below 1100 origins will also share my thoughts and try to improve with every next game I play. As an afterthought, what do you guys think will happen in the World Championship? Can Caruana tip the table on Carlsen? Cheers! Ezani

DanlsTheMan, thank you.

4....Bg4 intends to take out the Knight guarding the a2 pawn in front of the castled King. The opponent's position is weaker with his Bishop guarding the castled King rather than his Knight.

Yes I have gone so far as trying to come up with "The Complete Beginners Chess Player Checklist To GoThrough Before Every Move" ... you know (1)check Knight forks (2)check undiscovered Bishop pins (3)check that you're not going to be mated in your next move.

DanlsTheMan, thank you for your invaluable advice.

You're welcome! I enjoy helping others improve. 

I think Caruana has a chance against Carlsen. It will be an exciting match for sure.

Here's an interesting article for anyone interested:

13 Things To Know About The Carlsen vs Caruana World Chess Championship

Cheers!

Thanks

I have moved all of the games to the first post so they can more easily be found.

Game 4 has been added to the OP.

This was a phenomenally useful post - great to understand the thinking behind key moves from a quality player.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you found it useful.