1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5 43. Rxd2

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5 43. Rxd2 Rd8

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5 43. Rxd2 Rd8 44. Bh4

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5 43. Rxd2 Rd8 44. Bh4 Rd6

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. Re1 a6 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bf1 Re8 15. h3 Kh8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Bf2 Rb8 18. Qd2 Bd7 19. a5 Nc8 20. e5 b5 21. axb6 Nxb6 22. Ng5 Kg8 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Nge4 Rxe4 25. Nxe4 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 N6xd5 27. Nxc5 Bb5 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nc2 30. Ra5 Nxe1 31. Rxd5 Nc2 32. Rd2 Nb4 33. Bc4 Nc6 34. Rd7 Bxb2 35. Rxf7 Kh8 36. Rc7 Nd4 37. g4 Rf8 38. Bg3 Nf3+ 39. Kg2 Nd2 40. Bd5 Rd8 41. Rc5 Bd4 42. Rc2 Rxd5 43. Rxd2 Rd8 44. Bh4 Rd6 45. Rxd4

Ah, yeah. 45...Rxd4 46. Bf6+ Kg8 47. Bxd4 seems lost, so I resign. Good game. As a reward for losing, I get to read the spoilers first. I hope they show me that the Benoni is still playable.

Good game to you too, enjoyed it very much. I'm going to go through and read the spoilers and will post some thoughts on the game as well.

Been looking forward to reading these spoilers for a long time. Not being able to see them is torture.

If I may say, I think the main weakness shown by both players in this game is failure to think concretely enough. I saw a lot of lengthy posts describing the players' though process in words, but containing almost no variations. If you watch stronger players analyze, it's exactly the opposite, almost all variations and only occasionally thinking about general positional considerations.

I would say both players need to work on identifying candidate moves both for themselves and their opponent.

I appreciate the feedback and would be curious to hear more people's thoughts/criticisms/suggestions as well. Always looking to improve my game and stuff like this really helps.

I agree with you that I need to think more concretely, that's one thing I struggle with. I've been working on that, but without bettering my understanding of the game, I end up calculating and analyzing useless variations. It's like if 2300 elo is playing a 900. Even if you give the 900 the ability to move the pieces while calculating and limit the 2300 to something like 4 ply calculating depth, the 2300 will still crush the 900 based on his better understanding.

I've observed some interesting things through watching post-mortems with the top players. Some of them are very variation-oriented, like you said, rattling off long lines like a computer. Others seem more intuitive, just sort of being able to know where pieces belong and putting them there and speak more in generalities. A good analogy would be how some golfers are very mechanical, constantly working on their swing and analyzing every small detail, while others are what they call "feel" players, that rely primarily on rhythm and touch, rarely working on their swing's mechanics. Seems like there is a bit of this in chess as well. Of course all good players are great calculators when the position calls for it, no doubt about it.

I do feel like the majority of this game didn't require extreme calculation. There was certainly some, like the portion after black's exchange sac where I unforgivably missed the Nc2 fork, but a large part of the game was pretty thematic and there weren't many wild complications. I'm not trying to take away from your point at all, I completely agree that my calculation sucks.

That was longer and more rambly than I intended haha.

While this might be true or not (haven't followed the game to closely i have to admit), i think the general feeling amongst the crowd was that you could have got a larger advantage at several points by actually calculating some more forced lines.

Yeah, I agree with that. I'm not trying to imply I played the game perfectly, I hope it didn't come across that way. The main problem there was my inability to calculate accurately enough, and that's something I'll have to improve on.

I got roasted for not pushing e5 earlier haha. Only wlrs felt my pain with the hesitation of not wanting to push too early and hand over a bunch of activity/squares to black when he was pretty tied up at the time. I'm pretty risk averse when it comes to committal moves like e5. Unless I see a forced win or clearly favorable position with basically no play for the opponent, I'll hold off and maneuver a little longer. I need to be more aggressive and just trust the game/position more.

I think this is where the human element of the game comes in. The more complex you can make the position, the greater chance your opponent will make a mistake. I really liked the e5 push early and just attacking positions. Still, it was a fun game to watch. I haven't played a single move since the chess.com debacle, but like I said, if you want to play one of these vs. Nf3 b4 let me know

I really enjoyed this a lot. As someone who is worse than everyone who posted advice in the thread, I felt like I got a lot out of seeing the thought processes and the critiques. Definitely makes me never want to play another blitz game again and just play maybe a handful of games like this a year to try and improve.

Tex/gansta what do you guys feel you got out of it?

Good game it was fun to follow.

I learned a bit about this opening (like playing ...Nc7 instead of ...Nb4, and the importance of ...Bg4).

I'm reminded of how many blind spots I have given all the moves I didn't even consider that were/would have been strong for white.

In the opening, I assumed Tex knew the theory, an assumption I see wasn't entirely warranted (I don't know how to better phrase that -- I thought you knew it better than you did, not that you seemed lost).

And, a message I don't know why I don't get yet, I tend to underestimate attacks against me and overestimate my chances of making something from nothing. I'm sure that's common, but it's nice to see clearly.