00035.5.20
Analyzed by Candidate Master Daniel Waite
[You
did not miss an obvious win. Your
opponent did
miss a
chance to equalize and probably gain a
significant
advantage.]
1. Nf3
[Every
chess player must progress through stages.
At
the age
of 15 and a rating of 1179 this is not a good
opening
for you. Until you reach the 1500+
level you
should
play some variety of 1. e4 (in your case you
may
want to explore the King's Indian Attack).
You
must
learn the tactical end of the game and practical
end
games that come from "Open" games.]
2…f5 2.
d4 e6 3. Bf4 3…Nf6 4. Nc3
[Generally
in Queen's Pawn games the idea is to play
c4
before Nc3. The idea is to take up
space in the
center
with the c-pawn. More pieces equal more
control
- and more targets for your opponent.]
4…Be7
5. g3
[In the
opening you must look for ways to disrupt your
opponents
pawn structure. The move here is 5.
d5.]
5…d6 6.
Bg2 O-O 7. O-O
[Do not
castle because you can. Castle because
it
fits
your plan.]
7…Ne4
[A poor
move. It looks aggressive but notice
that
Black
is not developed.]
8. Nxe4
fxe4 9. Nd2 d5 10. f3 Rxf4
[Black's
idea gives away material, but almost works.
The
strategy depends on if you panic over the pawn at
e3.]
11.
gxf4 e3 12. Nb3 Bd6 13. Nc5
[Consider
13. Qe1]
13…Bxf4
[13…Qf6
is Black's chance. Suppose the game
follows
lines
similar to this game: 14. Nd3 Qxd4 15. c3 Qf6
16. Qa4
Bd7 17. Qd4 Qxd4 18. cxd4. Now Black
can
choose
between …Bb5 and there are too many hanging
pawns
for White to defend. The move …Nc6 is
even more
devastating.]
14. Nd3
Bxh2+
[Black
continues to give away material. At
this point
White
is solidly winning.]
15.
Kxh2 Qh4+ 16. Kg1
[Excellent,
you side step the trap involved in 16. Bh3
e5.]
16…Qxd4
17. c3 Qf6 18. Qa4
[Simpler
is 18. Qc1. However, this move has
potential.]
18…a6
[Missing
18…Bd7.]
19. Qd4
[When
you are ahead this much material follow a basic
principle:
trade into oblivion! The idea is to
take
out the
opponent's most dangerous piece. In
this case
the
target is the Queen. The easiest way to
eliminate
the
Queen is to play 19. Qe8+ Qf8 20. Qxf8.
Another
interesting
idea is to play 19. Ne5.]
19…Nd7
20. Qxe3 e5 21. Bh3
[Personally
I liked 21. Rad1 to exploit Black's
underdevelopment
and lack of support in the center.
Worth
considering is 21. f4]
21…Qh4
22. f4
[22.
Be6+ Kh8 23. Rf2. Remember that
"check" is a
free
move. It's like getting to move twice
in a row.
Always
consider the forced moves first. Many
Masters
will
often stop analysis if they find a satisfactory
continuation
along forced lines. Forced lines are a
"sure
thing" as opposed to other lines.
I also liked
22.Bxd7
Bxd7 23 Qxe4 with the idea of Rf2.]
22…e4
23. Nf2
[Another
idea to consider would be: 23. Rf2 exd3 24.
Qe8+
Nf8 25. Bxc8 Qg4+ 26. Bxg4 Rxe8 27. exd3.]
23…Nf6
24. Bxc8 Rxc8 25. Qh3 Qxh3
[Very
nice! Finally you force the critical
trade.
With
enough time White has a dominating lead in
material.]
26.
Nxh3 Ng4 27. Ng5 Ne3 28. Rf2 c5 29. Rc1
[Moving
Rf2 should naturally suggest Rh2. Play
with a
plan
and stick with it until your opponent forces you
to
change.]
Re8 30.
b3 d4 0-1 Tough loss, I knew I had the win
[The
win was a matter of time. Some lessons
from this
game
would include the following ideas.
First when
you started
with 1. Nf3 you told your opponent that
you
were not a tactical threat and probably have
trouble
on defense. This invited his unsound
attacks,
which
must have kept you busy. You must
understand
that
your opponent must still be beaten.
Generally
time
problems are a matter of attitude. The
suspicion
is that
you fell into the trap of what Soltis calls,
"Believing
Him." This is a fear of attack,
respecting
your
opponent, second guessing, not trusting your
calculation,
reacting to your opponent instead of
playing
your own plans, seeing threats where none
exist. Another very common problem is the
"over
calculation
syndrome." This when a player will
consider
line "A" then go on to line "B" and so forth.
Possibly the player will then consider
"C" which will
be
rejected. Now the player will go back
and think
through
line "A" and then see line "D." After all
this
time, the player will consider line "B" again
then
panic. The player will realize that a
lot of
time
has been lost in uncertain ideas and play move
"E"
which as not yet been analyzed.
Several
cures natural present themselves.
First, play
a
"forcing system." (Colle,
Stonewall, King's Indian
Attack,
etc.) If you are addicted to 1. Nf3 as
a
starting
move you can try the King's Indian Attack.
There
are several nice ideas surrounding 1.e4 that are
positionally
strong and provide lots of chances for
quick
wins. Mainly the Max Lange and King's
Gambit.
Try to
strengthen your tactical abilities.
This will
help you
calculate the severity of your opponent's
attack. If you know what you will play the first 8
moves
of a game, it will save time. Second,
develop
an
attitude. Put to use "Fischer's
Rule." Attack
something,
if it doesn't move take it! If you
cherish
positional
chess, learn end games. (This fits well
with
"Fischer's Rule.") The idea
is to get to end
games
against higher rated players as quickly as
possible. This puts them on your territory and at a
huge
disadvantage since few players have learned end
game
play. Another way of putting this might
be: play
to your
strengths. Never look at your
opponent's
rating. If you did not know this player was a 1700
player
you would have thought he was a beginner and
treated
him like a complete idiot. Finally,
after a
loss
ask yourself: "Where did I give the opponent
control
of the game?"]