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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UAoqwUt.jpg)
A couple of cool things are happening as I explore chess with this new wind in my sails. Like I said, I'm just enjoying it a lot more recently, and with this new enjoyment I'm playing much better games.
The game in this blog will be a quick tactical victory, something that I would NEVER have imagined myself being able to do even a week ago. Almost all of my victories go beyond the 40 move mark because I was so tactically inept that I would simply go to a cookie-cutter endgame that I knew I would be able to win.
After lurking in TL's own chess thread I stumbled upon a post by a German (I've forgotten your ID, sorry) who said to another player at my rating that beginners need to stop playing "hope" chess. After reading that I made the decision to try to understand the exact details behind each of my moves, instead of vague understanding. It's slowed my play down considerably, but that's just getting used to having to do that.
Not totally related to this blog, I also have begun playing correspondence with my cousin from Poland and was surprised that he is just as good (bad?) as I am. This is hilarious to me because my cousin reminds me of one of these fools.
This is great for me, as it allows me to work on my literacy in Polish which basically amounts to being able to read food labels and street signs. I tried to read Samozwaniec by Jacek Komuda at a rate of 10 pages an hour, and stopped after my mother told me that my translations were very far off from the real text.
Enough of that though, you're here to read about chess, not about me.
I recommend that the blog be read like this, so that you can read my comments throughout while also being able to see the board for yourself.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RqqEvhf.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/r8ZwKJ0.jpg)
I was white in this game.
1.e4
1...e5
2.Nf3
2...Nc6
3.d4
3...exd4
4.Nxd4
The scotch is one of my favourite openings, simply because it seems to produce odd situations quite consistently. It essentially puts one or both players queens into play by move 3 or 4 which is always extremely dangerous for either player. It's sort of like playing on a tight rope in a sense. It makes the game exciting (for me at least.)
My opponent reacts to this with 4...Nf6, he clearly does NOT want an early duel between queens. However, this doesn't mean that my queen isn't still potent. It's become my rule of thumb that queens and rooks are extremely powerful behind bishops and knights because of how easy it is so clear their paths.
5.Nxc6
This move absolutely forces 5...bxc6, and I quite like where I sit as white already.
Black already has a doubled pawn that restricts his white squared bishop quite a bit. What I do have to worry about though is d5, as that pawn structure towards the center can be quite dangerous. Doubly so once his plans are revealed.
I play 6.Bd3 in order to castle.
Then he plays 6...Bc5.
The plan of black is the Ng4 threat. After d5 activating the white squared bishop will be supporting the knight on g4, however before all of this black neglected to castle and left a big weakness in his plan that I could take advantage of.
I castled, 7.0-0
7...d5
The ultra "passive" 8.Re1
My opponent really wants to play Ng4, but if he does that I can play exd and put him in check. One thing I did become worried about though was the potential for a fork by way of Bxf2, I didn't know where that fork would come from but I was aware of the weakness. Regardless, this is the perfect delay tactic on his attack.
If he takes my pawn I expect the move order to go something like dxe4, Bxe4, QxQ, Bf3+.
He also realizes this and plays 8...0-0.
I play 9.Bg5. Another delay tactic.
As you can see, I'm continually trying to prevent the Ng4 move because I have no way to defend it other than the ridiculous Bf1.
Then he plays 9...Qd7.
During the game I didn't realize WHY he had played this move. To me it looks like a horrible mistake, if he doesn't want the pin he needs to play Qd6 in order to protect his knight. But...
If he DOESN'T move his queen, e5 kills his knight.
If he moves his queen to d6, I fork his knight and queen with e5.
If he plays Qe8, I play exd.
Somehow this Qd7 ended up being his best possible move.
So I play 10.Bxf6 which forces
10...gxf6
I love giving my opponent doubled pawns, and this is doubly (har) good for me because now his king is in a dangerous corner.
11.Qh5
This is me trying to put forward a legitimate mate threat to my opponent. Less than 5% of my wins are mates like this.
My opponent plays 11...dxe4 in order to bait out Bxe4 and stop the mate threat with f5, but I see through it and respond with 12.Rxe4.
12...Kh8 is a move I strongly dislike. It doesn't achieve anything. It's like "passing" a turn. He could have taken some of the pressure off by playing Qf5 instead.
13.Rd4
This was quite an exciting move for me.
Now I'm one move from mate, and his queen is being threatened as well. I've won the game barring I don't make horrible mistakes from here on.
13.Qf5, what he should have played earlier, before my attack got scary.
14.Bxf5
14...Bxf5
If you thought this game was going to be a clean win from here, have no fear I can make it harder than it needs to be.
15.Rh4
This was a simple enough idea. Rh4, ???, QxBf5, mate threat.
However, he gets his own mate threat with 15...Rfe8
I have to save myself with 16.nc3, which gives him a pawn after 16...Bxc2, and also makes his mate threat that much more frightening.
17.Qxc5 because free bishop.
On second thought, the bishop on c2 isn't frightening at all. My knight protects the d1 square with the rook. So I'll trap his bishop in with 18.b3.
18...Rd2
Now I put my attention back on his disgusting doubled pawns from earlier once I realize that I'm not actually in an incredibly dangerous situation.
19.Qxc6
19...Red8
20.Qxf6+
GG. He resigned.
A shorter and simpler game than before, but I was surprised that I managed to produce something like this.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7pYDHsi.jpg)
 
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I really enjoy the scotch. In fact I play it almost exclusively as white, unless they play the Philidor defense, in which case... we're playing the Philidor. lol
This was a great game. I'm not going to dive into analyzing it and just say that your rating speaks for itself. You have really improved a lot. From here, a lot of it is keeping your blunderless streak going, taking the initiative during times when your opponent makes moves that are of no immediate consequence to you, and threatening mate with forks, like you did with the queen. I love moves like that, but it's a shame when they can be gotten out of so easily. (...Qf5)
Thanks for these blogs!
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I really liked this game, you played a great classical style: developing your pieces with threats and in a way where they played together. You still have a lot of work to do on your tactics but who doesn't.
Against 12...Qf5 13,Rg4+! wins the queen, (Qxg4 14.Qxh7 mate). If 12...f5 13 Rh4 and there's no effective defense.
Which brings me to my last point. Rd4 is a nice move but Rh4 is a simpler win (again no good defense against the Q and R threatening mate on h7)
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Just a thought: How much time do you typically have left in these games? Blitz games (10|0) are more fun for me, because I can still calculate 3-4 moves in a short enough period of time. Rarely I get a material advantage and have much less time remaining than my opponent. I sometimes will have 30-40 seconds left before the endgame, and I just have to make my moves so quickly that I typically blunder off a piece or lose on time. Recently I've had 2-3 minutes left in an average game, where I'm still able to create advantages.
Since reading your recent chess blogs I have started playing regularly again, and my blitz has improved 200 points to 1111. The 1000 mark was tough to hold onto, but since I've stopped blundering away pieces again, I've had an easier time winning. I have a 5 win streak!
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@hp.Shell
Thanks for your comment.
This game I had about 9 minutes on my clock, and 9 minutes on my opponents. On some of my games from last week I had 19(!!) minutes on my clock. Now I'm sitting at usually 10-12 mins. I'm trying to learn to use my time better, as I said I suffer from playing "hope" chess a lot.
I'm glad that I inspired you to play again.
@hypercube
Thank you for your advice, I missed those moves for sure.
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I haven't finished yet but I thought I would give my thoughts from reading the first few moves. I'll comment again when I finish later today.
I like the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit for a reason somewhat similar to your love of the Scotch. Instead of getting both Queens out in the open early, BDG prepares me for an early checkmate if my opponent makes the simplest mistake. It develops my pieces to their best opening squares right away while pressuring the opponent's kingside, including(in certain variations) advancing my Queen to an offensive square from which she can have a great influence on the game. Sometimes my opponent is forced to lose a Rook or Queen to save his King because of BDG, other times he opens the way for a tactic that I usually waste no time in taking full advantage of.
No matter what opening you are interested in, you should consider getting a recently published book on the opening to learn as much about it as you can. Joining the group named after the opening on Chess.com and looking through their forums and playing games with them to learn more helps a lot as well.
Join some Vote Chess games in said group and discuss with others on what the next move should be before voting. This can help you learn the reasoning and theory behind why certain moves are made and others aren't. Do not vote until agreed upon by the group, if you vote for a blunder without discussing with others you could be kicked from voting or even from the entire group. Even if you aren't active enough to vote every few days I recommend reading the comments for any moves you missed and see why they made the last move. If you don't understand a move, ask in the comments. This is a great way to learn the methods others use to make their moves and improve your own.
Good luck with your chess!
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United Kingdom36161 Posts
Interesting that 9...Bxf2+ fails to 10.Kxf2 Ng4+ (uncovering black queen attack on g5 bishop) 11.Qxg4! (desperado!) Bxg4 12.Bxd8 with a piece for a pawn up.
He should have just played 9...h6 instead of the horrendous 9...Qd7. That actually looks quite good for black, because if 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 dxe4! 12.Bxe4 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nxe4 and Black has won a piece. So maybe 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 is forced when Black just looks somewhat better to me.
Hmm, maybe 9...h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.e5 is interesting, 11...gxh4 12.exf6 Qxf6 and Black is a pawn up for a dodgy-ish structure. Still better for Black though as he has the initiative.
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I think your opponent seriously screwed up by playing 7...d5. He provoked crysis in the centre before ever getting reasonable development, which is dubious to say the least. 7...d6, 7...0-0 or even 7...Rb8 were better alternatives.
After 9. Bg5 and 9...dxe4 is essentially forced. Actually, I believe that your opponent missed a good chance: 9...dxe4 and you can't really recapture on e4 without damaging your position (10. Bxe4 Bxf2+ 11. Kxf2 Nxe4+ 12. Rxe4 Qxg5+ or simple 10. Bxe4 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Nxe4). The main point is that even if you interpose with 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 gives Black one more piece that attacks f2-pawn, so in this line it's even worse, because you can't take back on e4 without dropping the Exchange to 11. Bxf2+.
(BTW, @marvellosity - in your line 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 dxe4? 12. Bxe4 Qxd1?? 13. Bxc6++! (double check!) Kf8 14. Rxd1 wins for White, as 14. Bxa8 and 14. Rd8+ are both threatened. If not for this tactics, then I believe White cannot even play 8. Re1 without getting into horrible trouble.) NVM, this applies only to the situation where Black hasn't castled yet.
12...f5 would've been much stubborn defense for him. It closes the deadly b1-h7 diagonal, covers g4-square and shelters c5-Bishop. If 13. Rh4 f6, so you would have to do a lot more work to win this (13...f6 was apparently missed by @hypercube - the Qe7 defends h7 square while d3-Bishop is locked out by f5-pawn).
12. Qxc5 was a free Bishop much earlier than in what you went for, but going after the Queen with discovered mating threats is okay too. Either way, there was no point at getting a little frustrated that Black was "kicking" for a while - you were still comfortably winning in the end.
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United Kingdom36161 Posts
7...d5 is totally thematic, don't see the problem with it at all.
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Nice game. Everyone can lose to everyone, and everyone can make beautiful moves or frighteningly bad blunders. I try to hold myself to a higher rating standard than I am every game to keep myself from making blunders, moving too fast, losing the initiative, and possibly the game.
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9.e5 looks to be much stronger than Bg5. You gain space, open up the diagonal for your bishop and it's not clear where black puts his knight.
9...Be7 or de look to be major improvements over Qd7.
11...Qg4 looks to be significantly better than de. It forces the exchange of queens, and while you'll still have the better pawn structure, you no longer have any attack and black has the two bishops. So, maybe Nc3 or ed are better than Qh5.
If 12...Qf5 then 13.Rg4+ wins instantly. 13...f5 looks like black's best move. After Kh8, the game's basically over.
13.Rh4 makes for an easier win than Rd4.
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