Chess

[waterbat]

heh - i just reviewed the game without seeing your analysis, rego. I came up with the same
27. Qa6?? that really stood out as the point where you went wrong.
28. Kg2 maybe - but that looks ugly too (... Qa2 29. Rc1 Qb2)

[regoarrarr]

I think clearly we're seeing why I'm not very good at chess . It's odd though because I always think that I SHOULD be good at chess, given that I am good at other analytical things that people that are good at chess are also good at...

[Gustaran]

An idea for another tournament sometime: How about one of those tournaments where everyone uses the same opening move? IE everyone starts with 1. d4 or 1. c4. It could be fun.

I have played in tournaments like this before and I don't think it's such a great idea for the following reasons:

1. These tournaments are usually started at a quite far advanced point in the game, i.e. the Marshall Gambit in the Ruy Lopez is already 8 moves into the game. The point is that players want to play a game with certain characteristics or explore a very common position that occurs quite often among higher rated players.
2. Opening knowledge among our group members is rather limited. Forcing someone out of a basic opening he knows (i.e. e4) may be fun for a game or two but not for a rather large tournament.
3. These themed tournaments are usually rather small. At least to me it may be fun, to play 8-10 games in a King's Gambit accepted, but certainly not 15-20.

I think clearly we're seeing why I'm not very good at chess lol. It's odd though because I always think that I SHOULD be good at chess, given that I am good at other analytical things that people that are good at chess are also good at...

You should keep things in perspective. I found this insightful post on chess.com:

Remember that 1200 is an average of people who play chess a lot. They are basically the only folks who play enough chess to make it worthwhile to get rated.
Out of all people that know how to play chess, 1200 is very high. A player rated 1000 would probably easily beat every person he met outside a tournament or chess club.

So, the question of being "good" is always one of comparison to other players. Funny story:
Quite a few years ago, I played the qualifier for the official speed chess championship of my state. There were around 35 people there. I had a rating of 1550 at this time and I realized I was the worst player (according to rating) who attended. We played a complete round robin and my first opponent was an International Masters with a rating above 2400 and after that two FIDE masters rated ~2300. I think after half my games were done, people were still rated in the 1800-1900s. On this day, I played 34 blitz games in a row (which took around 7-8 hours) and ended up with 1 point out of 34.

[BRickAstley]

Since I have finished all my tournament games I am offering unrated takeback training games to the players with lower ratings. This game mode allows you to take back your move at any time and I will check all moves immediately with an engine and tell you in chat when you make a mistake so you can immediately take it back and look for something better. You also have the possibility to ask any question about the position in chat in case you are unfamiliar with an opening or want to learn a certain defense.

Since I'm down to 3 games at a time now (finally), I'll take you up on this.

[Gustaran]

Since I'm down to 3 games at a time now (finally), I'll take you up on this.

Sent you a challenge.

[Sian]

Just had a very interesting game against Kuro and would like some independent analysis on ... i started by winning an officer, followed by dropping a rook, followed by a premature g5 which left me free access to a forcing win

http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=62713552

What other that 30... g5 was possible for black at its position?

[MJW (ya that one)]

Just had a very interesting game against Kuro and would like some independent analysis on ... i started by winning an officer, followed by dropping a rook, followed by a premature g5 which left me free access to a forcing win

http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=62713552

What other that 30... g5 was possible for black at its position?

At the very least black has 30...RxN allowing his queen and light-squared bishop to defend the king--and getting rid of the strong knight of course. As he is a rook up he should win easly.

It is very common to give some material back when you have much more material to stop an attack like you had.

[waterbat]

I didn't use a computer for the following - so beware

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 ( Ahh, the alapin! A nice anti-sicilian system. As white I preferred to see ...d6, as I'd angle for a french advanced. As black, I liked 2...d5, but don't remember the lines at all. )

3.e5 Nd5 4.Bc4 e6 (e6 doesnt feel right, but then neither does white's next move. e6 blocks the light squared bishop. I think Nb6 reasonable)

5.Qf3 Nc7 (Nc7 with the aim of what? b5? that would be nice if Qf3 wasnt looking at a hanging rook on a8. Perhaps black expecting a big struggle over b5 i.e. 6.d4 Nc6 7.a4 a6 8. Na3 )

6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 d5 8.Bb3 Bb4+ (White's critical choice here with 8.Bb3. I don't think it is correct. Obviously he has created a weak spot on d4. in exchange, he has gained tremendous kingside space and initiative. That bishop needs to coordinate with that idea. On b3 - its likely to come back to c2 or even d1 anyway, so Bb3 wastes a tempo. (also - a useful posting on a4 doesnt seem realistic) I don;t terribly mind black's response, Bb4+, but the goal has to be undermining d4. Instead, he causes white to just play the natural 9. Nc3 where black will not exchange it anytime soon.)

9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Ba4 Bd7?? (...b5! as the night is pinned how did black let Ba4 become a useful posting? in fact after 10...b5, the pawn on d4 falls and white has to move 11. Bd1 to prevent losing his good bishop as well. interesting after 11...Nxd4 12. Qg4 though - probably ...Bxc3 13. bxc3 Nf5 -+)

11.Nge2 O-O 12.Bc2! g6 (black can't do this. his kingside is bare - about to get crushed and creating an empty fianchetto spot there is only going to make things worse)

13.O-O a6 (i'd be tempted by ... Qh4 - anything to bring more defenders over to the kingside)

14.Nd1 Nb5 15.Qg4 Nbxd4?? (expected Re8 followed by Bf8, or Qb6 followed by Be7 here)

16.Nxd4 Qb6?? ( If idea before was to exchange a Knight for the 2 central pawns, why not follow through on that? Black can play on after Nxe5)
17.Nxc6 Bxc6
18.Be3 Bc5 19.Rb1 d4! (interesting! pinning the white knight on the back rank, threatening discovery against king (if f4 to support e5), i really like this move - white will need to respond with Bd3 blocking that pawn in place )

20.Bh6 Rfd8 21.Qg5 Bf8 22.Bd3 Rd5 23.b3?? Qc7?? (b3 a terrible move. the B on d3 means f4 was perfectly safe (for now) - b3 doesnt need to support c4 or a4. (i.e. if f4, can follow with Nf2,Ne4,Nf6) Fortunately for white, again black has some aversion to capturing d5. Bxh6 24. Qxh6 Rxd5 followed by ...Rh5 ...Qc7 would have been uncomfortable for white with pressure on g2 and h2)

24.Re1 Qa5 25.Qd2?? Bb4 (I didnt see how bad Qd2 was at first)

26.Qe2 Bxe1 27.Nb2 Bc3! 28.Nc4 Qc5 (much prefer Qc7 as black can get back and cover kingside, also build up heavy pieces on the c-file, also as shown later - allows Bb4 if necessary to defend/attack a deadly white N on d6)

29.Bf4 b5 30.Nd6 g5 (as you stated - this was the true end)
31.Qh5 Be8 32.Qxh7+ Kf8 33.Bxg5 f6 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Kd8 36.Bxf6# 1-0


great game! i think move 25 was your only real blunder, but i believe you still had a won game. something like:

26. Qf4 and he cannot take your hanging rook on e1! he must respond with f5, Qd8, or Bf8. Then you play the move you meant to - Re2 or Re4
Its instructive, certainly.

[waterbat]

x-post with MJW - yes RxN called for. black cannot let that stand. also then he can follow with f6 e5 - securing his strong d4 point and recovering the d6 pawn.

black isnt up a rook - he's up an exchange - so exchanging back puts them on equal footing materially, but black might as well be up 2 pawns as d6 is not defendable. One of those pawns will be passed and protected on d4 - it must be a winning edge. white will struggle to create a BoOC ending that he might draw.

[waterbat]

black must be careful to avoid perpetual checks in that line. for example:

30.... Nxd6 31. exd6 Re8 32. Rc1 f6 33. Qg4 e5 34. Bxg6 hxg6 35. Qxg6