Bah, I typed up a long post with variations, but lost it.

I think 30. a3!? is better than c3 as you have a strong chance to get united passed pawns.

Sigh. Playing really poorly lately. 2 more dumb losses today. First one is just laughable carelessness. Second one is still careless but I just didn't consider it when calculating my material-gain attack.

Man, I'm bad. I keep making massive mistakes. I keep finding my King with no escape route. Almost every game I have him over there behind 3 un-moved pawns, but I can't find the time to move a pawn forward to give him an out. Help!? There doesn't ever seem to be time to do this. I also always have my 2nd Rook buried and can't find the time to get my Knight out of the way...



Game 1

Game 2.

Move 7 e5 is dumb. Didn't even realize he can just take my pawn there.

14. g3 I'm not sure about but I don't want him to bring his Queen all the way over and put heat on f2.

16. Re5 I recognized he was 1 move away from mate. (But not later! lol). What I wanted to do here was get my Knight to f3 and exchange, then recapture with my Queen, threatening his Rook. Just wasn't able to.


From move 17 onward, the game is kinda fun, actually. Unfortunately I should have recognized the forcing move gets his Queen onto an open file

My last move should clearly be Qf3.

Thanks Rei.

Mark, I sat there for a while trying to figure which pawn was best to move. lol. I think I see what you mean, though.

He gave you a chance to win near the end. Instead of 45.Nc5+, 45.a7 wins. The knight can block on a5, whether he plays 45...Ra2 46.Na5, or 45...Rb2+ 46.Ka6 Ra2+ 47.Na5.

Yeah, so this isn't concrete analysis but let's say something like:
30. a3 bxa3+ 31. Kxa3 Rd7 and now c4 and look how your pawns are all connected and working together? Easy win from here.

or...
30. a3 a5 31. axb4 axb4 32. Nd3 and if Rd7 then Nxb3 and once again your pawns are connected and strong.

TimM, Yeah. I knew I must have messed up the ending. I couldn't believe he was wiping out my pawns and letting me advance. The funny (or sad) thing is, I wanted to put him in check before moving to a7 so that I could block with my Knight on a6. No idea why I didn't just do what you said and save a move.

3 pawns in front of your king is generally good.

In game one, just play Nf6 again and your king is safe. Or g6 and he is also safe but it ruins your pawn protection. I fall for this checkmate in my lightning games all the time.


Game 2:
I don't like 6. Qf3. Putting your queen on the same diagonal of the fianchettoed bishop can be a problem and your knight wants to go to f3. I would have played Nf3 here.

14. g3 doesn't accomplish much. You need to develop your knight and connect your rooks. Ne2, and if you are worried about the heat on f2 then Ng3 will simply end that heat (I don't think you should be worried about it anyways)

Instead of 16. Re5 once again you can play Ne2 and then load up on the d7 pawn with Rhe1. This also protects you from back rank mates.

18 is basically a blunder, but opponent has to find Nc7! and congrats to him for finding it. Instead, I think that maybe 18. Rxe6 Rxe6 19. Qxa8 might get you the rook you want, but I haven't checked it close enough to be sure you aren't susceptible to back rank.

Basically, you lost this game because you failed to develop your pieces and not because of the three pawns in front of your king.

Game 1:

9. e5 is better for White.

10...Nc3 is another empty threat. This is probably a leak worth fixing.

12...h6 doesn't need any commentary, but think about which of the alternatives you'd prefer (out of 12...Nf6 and 12...g6) and why.



Game 2:

5. d5 .

6. Qf3 is a bit awkward; your knight would love to come to f3 soon. If you want to shore up e4, e2 is a better square for the queen.

10...Ne4. Empty threats seem to be common at this level.

14. Rxf5 grabs a pawn (if 14...Rxf5, 15. Qxe4).

16. Black's ...Re1+ is not threat--after 16. Rxf5 Rd1+ 17. Kd2 his rook and knight are hanging.

17. Qd5+ .

Mark, how is move 18 a blunder? What am I missing?

Rei - you aren't missing anything. I look at it fast. 18 is fine as after Nc7 he can retreat the queen safely.

This is why I have refrained from posting in this thread as I am not nearly as good as most of the other posters offering advice, and when I play fast or look at the game fast I am not very good.

No please keep posting. I already recognized I could retreat my Queen to the 3rd file safely.

Here's a win finally.

I feel like I played really solidly here. It helps that his opening was really passive. But I developed my pieces quickly and nicely and even had a fire escape ready for my King if I needed it later. Though this move was a mistake imo.

I wasn't really sure about my finish. Obviously he fouled up bigtime at the end then typed "oops" and resigned. But I wasn't really sure how to handle my Bishop/pawn/Queen there around c7. I had a lot going on but there were too many options to calculate and weigh.

12. a3 is an empty threat. I wanted to get one of my pawns forward for my King to escape later. But I think it's a waste of time here.

15.f3 I took a long time to play. But I figured hey might as well pressure his Knight. It ended up working.

17. g3 I ignored his threat with the Knight since he had no backup and wanted to eliminate that diagonal for his Queen. Long-term play to weaken his pawns in front of his King. I'm surprised he traded here since he was down material and my Bishop was very inactive and immobile.


20. c6. I figured I had time to push a pawn and at least backup my Queen. I wasn't sure what else to do here. And I didn't want to force myself to be aggressive when I was already winning. And maybe make a mistake.

22. c7 not sure about this but ??? Thoughts appreciated.

He blundered but I wish he would have finished up.

8 Bc4 why not dxc6?
I see nothing wrong with 12 a3.
15 f3 looks good, you definitely don't want to allow the knight to take up residency there so you push it out (of course it shouldn't win the knight).
16... Na5 followed by Nxb3 is a strange course of action by your opponent, it's like he doesn't realize he's down material and shouldn't want to trade off pieces. So yeah, no reason for you to worry about the knight attacking your bishop.
22 c7 was well played imo.
No major mistakes from you afaik and your opponent handed you the game but sometimes you just need to be there to accept the gifts, as you did.

If 8.dxc6 then he plays 8.Qxd4, which has no backup and gets his Queen to a central square.

Right or wrong, I didn't want to mess with that. I also wanted to get fully-developed.

If I play your line I can capture 2 pawns and make him waste a move by moving his Rook forward, then put him in check with my Queen. Maybe that gets me somewhere.

Hmm, let's have a look at that first game.
http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=706814264

First four moves he goes for the scholar's mate but you react appropriately.
9... Nxd5 leaves you with isolated doubled pawns, 9... exd5 is better.
12... Qe7 is your first big mistake and your opponent's next move made you pay for it.
16... Qxf3, you're down material and trading off queens just makes your opponent's job easier. Better to retreat and leave the queens on the board.
Your opponent missed 28 Bxd8 but I think he played well for his rating.

8 dxc6 Qxd4 9 cxb7 Ra7 10 Bxb8 wins a piece* so I'd expect 8... Nxc6.

*At least! That pawn is protected and that rook has nowhere to go. Pretty much game over right there.

A win. This one was a bit different. We traded a lot early because mostly I'm tired of running low on time and wanted to shorten the game. I also lost my Queen on a good move by him but was able to calculate the best trade for it (I think). I also captured his Queen later on so it evened out. I was up material and he traded a couple pieces late, which was weird.

I think my endgame was pretty good here for me. I calculated that I was able to block his passed pawn just in time, then get my King involved before he did.

I think he should have played 6.e5. I was glad he didn't. I was hoping he would want to develop other pieces.

8. Qa5 is probably dumb and an empty threat. I was hoping to maybe get to B2 once he pulls his defender Bishop out.

10.Bd7. Once he pulls his Bishop out sends signals off to me that he wants to move his Knight and discover an attack on my Queen. I know he wants to fork my King and Rook in 2 moves so I try to defend this. Of course I can't block the other square. I'm basically ****ed here no matter what, I think.

11-12. My Queen is dead. I figure this is my best bet to capture 2 minor pieces and get my Knight onto a good square. If he moves his Queen next, I can fork his King and Rook. But he covers this.


14. Ne5 seems like a good square for me, and I threaten his Bishop, hoping he moves it off that diagonal. He blunders, and I fork his K/Q. Payback mofo.


His 18. Bxc6+ is weird, since his Bishop had a safe square and he's already down material. My positioning is pretty awful though, otherwise.

24. c4. Not really sure about this.

27. Rxc8. No idea why he's trading down.

30. Rxd1. I calculate beforehand that I can protect d8 in time.

He resigns shortly after.

The sequence 9. 0-0-0 and 10. Bb3 is dangerous. Castling queenside in this position is risky because his pawn storm can come with tempo--an eventual b7-b5-b4 will force your knight to move. The center is somewhat locked (you can try to open it with f2-f4-f5, but with your pieces in the way, that'll take some time) and Black still hasn't committed his king to the kingside, so you could be left planless while Black attacks and delays his castling.

Moving the bishop to b3 compounds these issues. It's not doing much there, it'll get chased away with tempo, and you'll often have to create a cubbyhole at a2 to save it, even though a2-a3 just lets his pawn storm get to your king shield more quickly. After 10. Be2, the bishop, though not very active, can be redeployed to the kingside or the b1-h7 diagonal when needed.

12. a3 is only suboptimal because 12. Bxd5 is better (the e6 pawn is pinned, and 12...Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Bxe1 14. Nc7+ should be good for White). 12. a3 relieves Black's bishop pin and creates the flight square your bishop might eventually need.

8...Qa5 isn't an empty threat in itself, but the maneuver to b4 is. A good rule of thumb is to ask "Do things turn ugly for you (or just get worse in general) after the correct response?" If not, it's probably not that bad of a move. Black's most common third move in the Ruy Lopez is a good example:



3...a6 (which you can read about here) is met "easily" by 4. Bxc6 or 4. Ba5, but it's not like Black is worse off after this sequence, and the move has many benefits.

By contrast, this is the position that results after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nf6:



4. Qe5+ is an empty threat, met by 4...Be7, after which Black is going to play 5...Nc6 and develop with tempo. Not good for White.

4. e5 (empty), allows 4...Nc6 (not empty), after which Black has a developmental advantage and White is struggling to hold on to the e5 pawn.

Most good threats are "easily met" (at least by a sufficiently skilled player). The defining characteristic of these good threats is that the sequence "threat --> correct response --> subsequent variations" improves your position or worsens your opponent's.

10...Qa5, with the idea of heading back to d8, should work.

6... d6 - too passive, you're blocking your own pieces in a bit, I'd have played 6...d5 immediately.

7... c5 really doesn't seem good because it creates a nasty hole on d6 (and to some extent d5). Now your pawn structure is already looking very bad. I don't know how many, if any, games come down to pawn structure at this level, though.

9... Qb4?? This instantly loses to 10 Nb5 and if Qxb2 in response, 11 Bc3 traps the queen. If some other queen move then you just lose to the fork on c7.

Rest of the game is just people taking it in turns to lose their queens

Obvious, but I meant 4. Ba4. Writing and doing heavy chess analysis at the same time is hard.

Probably none. I guess knowing about it can come in handy in the future, though.

If ARC had a propbet to get to 1400 as quickly as possible, just hypothetically, I'd suggest he spend 95% of his study time, over the first month or so, in two areas:

1. Tactics. (~85% here.)

2. The nuances of piece placement in the opening and early middlegame. Suboptimal piece placement can run the gamut from ever-so-slightly inaccurate (like 3. Bf4 here) to potentially game-costing (like, in that second game, the idea of putting the queen on b4 when White has a bishop on d2), and a solid grasp of the concept is probably worth quite a few rating points. Pieces (or the loss thereof) win games at this level, so putting them on the right squares is very relevant--not rarefied next-level stuff. (~10% here.)

Destroyed an 1132.

He resigned after 18 moves. He pulled his Queen out early and I made him pay for it dearly.

9. d3 is probably wrong and I didn't even notice that he's about to attack my Rook.

Luckily, I took forever here to figure out the best way to damage control. I calculated that playing 10.Bf3 should only cost me a pawn.

12. Qg3 has my eye on mate-in-2, and offers him the trade if he wants it. He's got nothing going on with his Queen. Qf4 is probably better, though, as I don't have to trade queens here and I still get on that diagonal.

15. I can maybe play Nc7 instead of blocking my King. This would put pressure on his Queen but if he moves close to my Knight, it's a dead man as it has no escape route. So I think this play is best (Ne2). This allows me to castle and unpins my Bishop. I considered playing Qe3 but I wanted to keep my Queen on this diagonal, as well as forcing him to keep his DSB buried so I can't attack his G-pawn on the vertical.

16. Again, I can play Nc7 and threaten his Queen but I take my time and determine I will sac my Bishop for the Qc7# on the next play. Otherwise I can have my pick at his Bishop or Rook.

17. Bxh8. I can maybe get cute here and capture his Bishop first then come back for the Rook, but I figure I'm up against a much stronger opponent - keep it simple and win another exchange.

His only move at the end is to trade Queens, so the end is near for him and he resigns.

4 Nb5 and 5 b4 is an interesting idea at least but I think it just wastes time unless you knew your opponent was going to fall straight into it. He can just play 5... Qb6 and then take the b-pawn after your knight slinks away, I think (or just develop his pieces).

9 f3 just wins a piece, forking Q and B.

10 Bf3 - Did you notice that black could have just played Qxh1 anyway, then take your Queen if you take his? I think you're losing the exchange either way so 10 Bxg4 looks better.

Only really major oversight was missing 9 f3, rest fine.

Yeah I noticed the Queen exchange. I mis-typed when I said I would lose a pawn at most. I'd lose the original pawn plus lose the exchange. I noticed this during play. I'd also lose the ability to castle to either side. But I still think Bf3 was the best play here, right?

4. Nb5 is an oversight on my part. I failed to consider he's got c7 defended by his Queen.

Also 9. f3 I missed. I stared at both pawns and tried to determine which one to move but I think because my B-pawn was already dead, I didn't want to weaken the pawn structure in front of possible 0-0 later. Of course this is laughably wrong since his next move wipes out a pawn over there anyway. But I want to say that was my reasoning. It's also laughably wrong because I get a Bishop here. And being up material already prior to the free bishop makes it A-OK to double up a pawn Kingside.

:/ Basically, it was a huge whiff.

He was my highest rated win so far, and one of my most decisive victories. It's cool to think that I could have played this much better.

Here's an awful game from both players. 1 of us accidentally won.

Not gonna comment on this one much since it's just really sloppy. I did a couple decent things like trapping his Queen (though trade-off), and my end game was not bad I don't think. Everything else sucked. Don't comment on it unless you are super bored because it's a lot of moves and there is a lot wrong in there so it's a lot of work on your end. I think I know most of the blunders I made, anyway. And he left pieces hanging, like his Knight and Rook. I saw the Knight and missed the Rook the first time around.

It's like we were both playing without looking at the board. "Ummm, tryyyyy Knight to c6, check." "That's not check". "It's not?" "No." "What is it?" "It's...nothing - it's just dangling. He's probably gonna take it--- nope he just made a dumb move, too. You're in luck. He played Rook do h3." "OKayyyyyy, try Bishop to..... I9." "I9?" "Yeah I 9." "There is no I 9."

But I want to post it as it's my first time breaking quad digits on chess.com. I'm now at 1002.