00015.4.22 Analyzed by Candidate Master Daniel Waite

(All right! Courage! You will learn more from your

losses than you will from your wins. If you study the

games you lose you will see the patterns that get you

in trouble and common mistakes you make. If you

minimize these then you will improve quickly. A good

source for this study might be Soltis' "Catalogue of

Chess Mistakes.")

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6

(Your move is a tad unusual but it works. Typically

the King's Bishop often finds its way to c4.

Traditionally the idea is to play 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4

first.)

4.O-O Be6

(Your opponent errs. The one thing you must be aware

of in the Opening is to grab any and all chances to

wreck your opponents pawn structure. Look at 5. Bxe6

fxe6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Nf6 9. f4. This

may be my personality but I feel Black has serious

problems organizing anything useful with the shattered

pawn structure. The only redeeming quality is that

Black as three center pawns.)

5.d3 Bxc4 6.dxc4 Nf6 7.Re1 g6 8.Bf4 Bg7

(Remember to play with a plan! The last few moves are

setting up a nice attack but do you understand what

you are trying? Often we hear the mantra to develop,

so we develop and miss the point behind why we are

making the move. The idea of the opening is to create

an "imbalance" [any difference in the position] -

especially in minor piece position - and develop

around it. One idea of developing the Bishop to f4 is

to play h3 to give the Bishop a safe haven while

keeping the Knight at bay. BTW the pawns at e4 and c4

are considered a strong strategy against the

Sicilian.)

9.Nc3 O-O 10.Rb1 Ng4

(Here you have to look at playing 10. Qd2 with the

idea of playing Bh6 to rid the game of the Dragon

Bishop. Also tempting is to blast the center with 10.

e5!)

11.Nd5 Qa5

(It always helps when your opponent misses a solid

move. …Nge5)

12.h3 Nf6 13.e5 Nh6

(It looks like your move loses a pawn but it is a

gutsy idea. The aggressiveness of your play will help

you as you learn the various tactical possibilities of

a position. One suggestion is to concentrate on

pattern recognition. Learn the various patterns

behind combinations. There are probably only about 20

common ones.)

14.Bg5 Qxa2

(Ouch. Black begs White to finish the game in a clean

stroke. There is an "urban legend" that tells of a

rich guy that left his son a vast fortune on the

condition that he would never play Qxa2 even if it

were the correct move. 14…dxe4 or 14…f6 was necessary

to hold the balance.)

15.Nxe7+ Nxe7 16.Bxe7 Rfc8 17.b3 dxe5

(I find in my lost games that I generally had a "big

miss." Well, this one is yours. After 17. exd6 the

game is over, you can hear the "fat lady warming up."

The pawn on d6 moves to d7 and completely chokes

Black's middle. The Black Rooks become totally

useless and you own all the important squares. All

this is helped by the useless placement of the Black

Queen. Even 17. Ng5 does close to mortal damage to

Black threatening both 18. exd6 and 18. Qd5.)

18.Nxe5 Nf4 19.Re4 Re8

(Please, do not help your opponent! Remember, never

force your opponent to do something you will regret.

19. Qc1! Attacks the Knight on f4, if that is what you

want, and holds the back line down nicely. One thing

you must learn is when a threat is real and when it is

not. The ideal is to ignore your opponent's threats

and execute your own. To do this you must learn to

distinguish between the real and the imagined.)

20.Nd3 Nxd3 21.Re2 Nf4

(21. cxd3 was necessary. It is ugly but playable.

It's better than what happened. White is saddled with

two "backward" pawns - on d3 and on b3. I'd call this

a positional nightmare, but against a weak opponent

you will have an interesting fight on your hands. The

squares in front of them are called "holes" where

Black will plant a piece. This is called a

"blockade." The strength of a blockade is that the

pawn is immobile. In chess, if it doesn't [or can't]

move it will suffer violence. Keep your position as

flexible as possible while coaxing your opponent into

making his as ridged as possible. Another strength of

the blockade is that it is a base of operation against

the opponent. The blockader can not be attacked

through the weak pawn.)

22.Re1 b6 23.Bg5 Rxe1+

(23. Qf3 or 23. Rc1. Your idea of chasing the Knight

with the Bishop is misguided and at this point fatal.

Don't attack something for the sake of attacking.

Always ask yourself, "what is my opponent

threatening?" "If I move this what can my opponent

threaten or take?" You must have a solid positional

reason to attack. Generally if it is mobile, look

somewhere else unless you are attempting to create a

weakness such as immobility or a poorly defended

piece. As much as possible "over protect" everything

[pieces and important squares]. By creating an

interlocking web of pieces you will make them "all"

mobile [perfect for attack or defense]. Think

"internet." Anything that "inters" it doesn't leave

with all its body parts.)

24.Qxe1 Ne2+ 25.Kf1 Qxc2 26.b4 cxb4 27.Rxb4

Re8 28.c5 bxc5

(O.K. your opponent is mortal after all. He misses

the "discovered attack." 28…Ng3+ 29. fxg3 Rxe1+.

This can be crushing if there is a check involved. Of

course 28…Bc3 forking Qe1 & Rb4 works. Next time you

see him, feel free to point this out to him and gloat

that he missed "all" the big moves in this game! -

grin)

29.Rb5 c4 30.f3 c3

(Black misses mate in five [forced]. Cover the screen

and figure it out.

30…Ng3+ 31. Kg1 Rxe1+ 32. Kh2 Nf1+ 33. Kh1 Ne3+ 34.

Kh2 Qxg2#. You should be able to follow this in your

mind and see it at the board because they are all

forced moves. Track forced moves all the way through.

Always consider check. A check is a free move.

Following a "line of checks" often leads to

checkmate.)

31.g4 Qd3 32.Rc5 Qxf3+ 33.Qf2 Qh1+ 34.Qg1

Qxg1 #

(O.K. so he got you in four moves, but he needed your

help. An idea to prolong the game would have been to

move your Q to b1 instead of moving the pawns. I

suspect when you start moving pawns you are out of

plans. Suggestions for improvement: Keep up the

slash and attack style. Be a threat to everyone you

meet. Put some effort into learning pawn play.

"Pawns are the soul of chess." Most plans revolve

around the pawn structure. If you get this down you

will become difficult for the "sharks" [2000+ players]

to handle. Don't give away pieces! Don't force your

opponent to do anything you will regret. Don't panic

- if you find yourself tempted to move pawns sit on

your hands and breath [that's when you inhale and

exhale air from your lungs - I often forget in a tense

game] then look for a logical line that the position

demands. Keep examining your lost games, your courage

will take you far! [I read that on a "Chinese

fortune" cookie once - grin.] Develop an attitude: If

my opponent can beat me they will have to do it

without my help!)