Just a note, if anyone else is considering doing a thread like this themselves, let me warn you now that it takes a LOT of self control. Those spoiler boxes are REALLY tempting, lol. I can't wait to finish the game so that I can read them

Dude! Spoilers.

THIS!!! Plzkthx

O-O O-O, I don't think this really requires any explanation.

Moves so far:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Nge2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O

Current Position:

Huh, very interesting, he played 9. f3?! That looks pretty good for me at first glance. I mean it prevents me from playing Bg4, and could potentially set up an e4 push if he wants to bust up the center, which could give him a strong position with pawns on d4 and e4, after an e4 dxe4 fxe4 tradeoff, but I can always just play e6 and not trade, and all he has is a little extra space in the center, but with a major weakness in his king position, and I don't think I have any significant weaknesses there.

The question is, am I prepared to jump in with an attack on his king position immediately? An immediate e5 push to try to break up his e3-d4 pawn chain and give me access to the g1-a7 diagonal looks promising. If e5 dxe5 Nxe5 then I have almost all my pieces aimed at his king, and moves like Bh6/Qb6/Nc4 to put heavy pressure on his backwards e-pawn. If he doesn't play dxe5, then I play exd4 exd4 and while we both have isolated d-pawns, his is a lot more vulnerable due to the weakness of the diagonal. Qc6 and Nh5 (or maybe not h5, but somewhere) are ideas to build pressure fast, along with a check threat.

I don't know for sure, calculation isn't my strongest point, and there's a lot of ways he could try to respond, but his pieces seem more cramped than mine, and f3 definitely put some weaknesses in his pawn structure, and I have a few attacking ideas that I like. I think e5 looks good. Let's give it a try!

Moves so far:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Nge2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. f3 e5

Current Position:

It's almost as if I've said nothing...

10. Qb3 counter attacks my d-pawn, which temporarily locks down my f6 knight, preventing an immediate discovered attack on b4 with my bishop (after exchanging pawns). It also threatens my b7 pawn, locking my white-squared bishop in place for the moment. So that crimps my "bust up the center and attack" plan a little.

I'd like to play b6 at some point, to free the white-squared bishop. Ne7 could solidify defense of the d-pawn, freeing the other knight to discover the attack on d-4 eventually, but that doesn't really do anything since I'm I'm just trading one attacker for a different one, and not actually building up more force there. exd5 is still on the table, to start working on opening up the diagonal, even if I'm not necessarily going to get my bishop/queen onto it immediately for an attack in the next couple moves, I still think that opening that diagonal will be beneficial in the long run. Though, the downside is it frees up his black-squared-bishop and if the middle opens in the wrong way suddenly it's his bishop pair/queen and a knight or two that are staring my kingside down, not the other way around.

I don't see any danger in dxe5 Nxe5, so it's not like exd5 is anything that has to happen immediately, if I am going to play it. I'm thinking about b7/Be6 to solidify my defense on d-5, and then look at a breakthrough in the center. b7 leaves the c-6 knight undefended though, and I'm not sure what I'd do about 10. ... b6 11. Bb5/Qb5/Qa4. Probably I'd have to play 11. ... Bb7, which means no Be6. Still... I don't see any better ideas here. (This is one of those moments I'm almost sure the spoiler comments will have ideas I'm not thinking of, which will probably seem painfully obvious in retrospect but which I can't see right now.) Also, it's possible this is just fueled by the fact that I've dropped that b-pawn way too many times, and perhaps I'm just being overcautious. Nevertheless, b6 it is.

Moves so far:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Nge2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. f3 e5 10. Qb3 b6

Current Position:

Just wanted to say I am basically a chess novice and this thread is really instructive/helpful to me, thanks for doing it!

After pushing the limits of "move in 3 days" time controls, my opponent played precisely the move I said I wasn't sure what to do about. What I didn't realize before is that 11. Bb5 isn't just annoying because it prevents Be6, it's also an active threat to win a pawn after 11. ... Bb7 12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. dxe5 Ne8 (13. ... Nd7 14. Nxd5) and I'm down a pawn with a very cramped position. I have a bishop pair, he doesn't, but the position is NOT good. (I'm sure everyone ITT other than me already knows this, thanks to the spoiler text, or in most cases probably just seeing it to begin with).

So, now I have to try to find a better move than Bb7, or else accept that I've already dropped a pawn. The only other way to defend the knight on its current square is a queen move that solves nothing, after Bxc6 Qxc6 and again dxe5. Fortunately the knight isn't pinned to anything so there is one other resource that looks like it saves the pawn. Na5 attacks the queen, and after she moves I can go ahead and play exd5 and keep material equality.

The lines aren't great, I think I'm behind here, and after 11. ... Na5 12. Qa4 exd5 13. Nxd5 my position is awkward. I have an isolated pawn, he gets the knight into a powerful spot in the middle of the board, my rook doesn't have access to e8, and his pieces are very active. All that being said though, at least I'm not down a pawn without compensation, and 13. ... Bd7 looks promising to start trading off some things and relieving the pressure. The attack I was dreaming of now looks like a pipe dream, but I think I can work my way toward a drawable (if uncomfortable) endgame still. And it's not like I won't have any chance of getting the initiative back if he gives me an opening somewhere.

Moves so far:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Nge2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. f3 e5 10. Qb3 b6 11. Bb5 Na5

Current position:

Glad you're enjoying it! This is exactly why I started this thread, I thought it had the potential to be very instructive, both for me and others, so I'm glad to hear that it's working out!

12. Qb4 exd4

I bought myself a move to save the pawn, now I do so. I'm still not thrilled with the position after 13. Nxd4 (and exd4 and Qxd4 probably still leave white with an edge, albeit a smaller one). I'd rather play those positions than be down a pawn with no compensation though.

Moves so far:
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Nge2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. f3 e5 10. Qb3 b6 11. Bb5 Na5 12. Qb4 exd4

Current Position: