Chess-Analysing your games by an Expert

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Game Analysis : Claude41 - *Student

Claude41 2030- *Student 1264

  ( White )           ( Black )

1. d4                c5

2. e3

( The most usual here is d5.  White plans to confuse his opponent. )

2....                  cd4

                    ( This will give white's pieces some freedome...parti-

cularly his bishop on c1 will have an open diagonal.  Black does

better by just waiting for white to take on the c-pawn and just

develop his other pieces. For example: 2...Nf6  3. dc5  Qa5  4. Bd2

Qc5, and white's black-colored bishop still needs to open up the c1-h6

diagonal to make some use of this bishop. )

3. ed4                g6

                      ( Another common move here is 3....d5 which

tries to keep white from gaining strong center pawns after white

plays c4.  If white plays 4. c4 here, he might find himself having

a weak d-pawn after black plays 4....dc4  5. Bc4.  This will give

black a good game. )

4. Nf3                  Bg7

5. Bd3                 Nf6

6. 0-0                  d6

7. b3                   0-0

8. Bb2                 Nc6

9. Nbd2               a6

                       ( This pawn move should not yet be moved as

black still has some other pieces to develop, like his bishop on

c8 and placing the two rooks on a good file to prepare for some

opening of files in the future, and placing the queen in a better

square than on d8...then after that, pawn moves can be justified

as a possible option.  Remember that in the middle game,

moving pieces are more priority than moving pawns, and it is

only when there is no good move for any of your pieces can

pawn moves be okay. For example: 9....Bd7  10. Rc1  Rc8

11. c4  Re8  12. Re1  Nh5  13. g3  e5, with a good game for

black as he focused his pieces towards a center play. )

10. Rc1                Bd7

11. c4                  Re8

12. Qe2               Rc8

13. Rfd1               Bg4

                      ( A good try for black is to play 13....Nh5 as

this knight looks on the f4-square which is an effective square

for this knight.  White can try to avoid that by playing 14. g3  f5

15. Bb1  e5  16. de5  de5 with a good position for black, with

good center pawns and piece placement. )

14. h3                  Bf3

15. Qf3

( The more natural move here would be Nf3 as this move

strengthens the defense of the d4-pawn and opens up the d-file

to prepare white's rook on the possible opening up of that file

in the future. )

15.....                    Nd7!

                         ( Immediately targetting one of white's weakness...

his d4-pawn.  Having a good awareness of the weaknesses in the

opponent's position and immediately trying to take advantage of that

weakness is one of the characteristic of good players...)

16. Qe3                 e5!

                         ( Another good move, as it takes advantage of

the positioning of white's queen on the e-file, and with this move,

black can be able to open up his e-file to attack this white queen

effectively. )

17. de5                Nce5

18. Bb1?              Qe7?

                        ( This is a time to look for a good move with

black's knight on e5, as moving this knight will immediately

attack white's queen with black's rook on e8.  The best move

for this knight would definitely be 18....Nc4! as this places the

knight in a square where it effectively attacks white's bishop

on b2.  White is now forced to play 19. Qe8  Qe8  20. Nc4

Rc4  21. Rc4  Bb2  with a winning position for black. Other

options loses also for white. )

19. Re1                 Qe6?

                           ( This still places the queen on the e-file

where white's rook on e1 can take advantage of.  For example,

white can now play 20. f4!  Nc6  21. Qf2! and white now traps

black's queen, and to save this queen black needs to lose a

piece by, for example, playing 21....Nde5  22. fe5.  This means

that positionally speaking, the logical move for black is to keep

away from the e-file where white's rook may find a way to take

advantage of the positioning of this queen, and the better option

for black would be 19....Qh4! with a plan to play Bh6! with good

possibilities for black while keeping the queen away from the

fire of white's rook on the e-file.  )

20. Bc3?

( 20. f4!  Nc6  21. Qf2! wins the exchange )

20....                        Re7?

                            ( This will still allow white to win the exchange

with 21. f4!  Nc6  22. Qf2!  The best way for black now is to find an

escape route for his queen to d7 with the move 20....Nc5, and if

white now plays 21. f4  Nc6  22. Qf2  Qd7 is now possible with

good fighting chances for black. )

21. Nf3?

( 21. f4!  Nc6  22. Qf2! )

21....                       Rce8

                            ( This is good, as the doubling of the rooks on

the e-file strengthens black's power on that file, so that when black

will be able to move his knight from e5 away from that file, the power

of black's rooks on that file will be felt. )

22. Nd4

( White has a good try with 22. Ng5  Qf6  23. f4  Ng4 < 23...Nc4?

24. Bf6  Re3  25. Re3  Ne3  26. Bg7  Kg7  27. Rc7! > 24. Bf6  Re3

25. Re3  Ne3  26. Bg7  Kg7  27. Re1  Nf6, and black's position holds. )

22....                       Qf6

23. Qg3                   Bh6!

                            ( Good move!  This bishop attacks white's rook on

c1 while having an immediate threat of Bf4 which traps white's queen.

Black will win the exchange with this move )

24. Rc2??

( This immediately loses to 24....Bf4 which wins the queen for black.

The better option is to give up the rook for black's bishop with the move

24. f3  Bc1 < 24....Bf4  25. Qf2 >  25. Rc1 with a lesser loss for white. )

24.....                      Nc5?

                           ( Black missed the move 24....Bf4! which traps white's

queen. Anyway, this is understandable in a game of blitz...)

25. Rce2??

( White still didn't see black's Bf4 threat....unlucky for him that black

finally discovers that )

25....                      Bf4!

26. Re5

( Probably the best way to lessen the loss of materials for white )

26.....                      Bg3

27. Re7                   Bf2

28. Kh2                   Re7

29. Rf1                    Qf4+

                           ( Better is 29...Qe5 < keeping out of white's rook pin

on the f-file >  30. Kh1  Bd4.  Anyway, almost any move white makes at

this point should be winning. )

30. Kh1                   Ne4

31. Be4                   Re4

32. Nf3                    b5

                          ( Give up the bishop in a tricky way as black will be able

to win back the exchange with a queen check... )

33. Rf2                    Qc1

34. Kh2                   Qc3 etc...

0---- 1

Summary of Lessons Learned:

1. In the opening, choose moves that will make it harder for the opponent's

pieces from developing.  Black's 2....cd4 move makes it easier for white's

bishop on c1 to develop.  The option that will make it harder for white's

bishop to develop is to play  2...Nf6  3. dc5  Qa5  4. Bd2 with the e3-pawn

still blocking this bishop.

2. In the middle game, we should give priority to pieces move than pawn

moves wherein we will try to play our pieces most actively to create some

attack or make some threats.  Pawn moves should be made only if it is

necessary and if there is no more good moves with the pieces.  The move

9...a6 is not yet necessary as there are no white pieces planning to go to

b5 with a threat, so other pieces should be moved here by black to follow

this rule of 'priority of pieces to pawn moves'.  For example, it would be

better for black to play 9....9....Bd7  10. Rc1  Rc8 11. c4  Re8  12. Re1

Nh5  13. g3  e5 and the move a6 has not been necessary.

3. Having a good awareness of the weaknesses in the opponent's position

and immediately trying to take advantage of that weakness is one of the

characteristic of good players. Black did very well when he played 15...Nd7!

as this move immediately attacks one of white's weaknesses....his d4-pawn.

Oftentimes, winning a single pawn in the middlegame can be crucial and

many games are won by simply winning a single pawn. We can look at

several games of the former world champion Anatoly Karpov to see proofs of

it!

4. Black did well with the move 16....e5!  by taking advantage of the positioning

of white's queen on e3 which is on the same file with black's rook.

5. Because of the positioning of black's rook on the e-file and white's queen

on the same file after white played 18. Bb1?, black should be able to take

advantage of this by looking for a good move with his knight at e5 which will

open up the e-file for a 'discovered attack' to white's queen with his rook. And

the best move for this knight should be 18....Nc4!  19. Qe8  Qe8  20. Nc4 Rc4

21. Rc4  Bb2  with a winning position for black.

6. As much as you can, keep your queen away from the same file of the

opponent's rooks where that rook can threaten your queen for his advantage.

Black didn't keep away from the file of the white rook when he played 19...Qe6?

and now white can take advantage of that with the moves 20. f4!  Nc6  21. Qf2!

and white now traps black's queen, and to save this queen black needs to lose

a piece by, for example, playing 21....Nde5  22. fe5.  So the right move for black

that keeps his queen away from the 'fire' of white's rook on the e-file is the move

19...Qh4! with even a good idea of playing Bh6 next!

7. Doubling rooks on an open file is always a good plan if you wanted to

strengthen your control of an open file.  Black did that well with the move

21....Rce8.

8. I praise black's move 23....Bh6! as this is the winning move in this game

with the immediate attack on white's rook on c1 and the threat of playing

Bf4 that traps white's queen.

9. I praise this game highly, considering this is played in a fast game of

3 minutes per player...and especially playing against a 2030 rated player!

Well done!  Playing well in blitz and faster games will surely help you even

in your standard games wherein there will be many times you will need

to play fast if both of you are in time scramble.

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