Chess analysis of some of my games (PART 1)

GolemMadness

Canada11044 Posts

July 19 2012 08:49 GMT

I'm a ~2240 CFC and ~2200 FIDE rated player and have been playing in tournaments for 16 years; starting when I was 7, and hitting 2200 CFC for the first time at the age of 15. Since then, however, my activity has gradually decreased due to lack of time and opportunity: this is the first year since 2009 in which I've played in more than one tournament.

I'm now starting to get back into chess a bit more, having just played in the Canadian Open where I surprisingly turned in one of the best performances of my career. Due to lack of activity and not spending a whole lot of time preparing (the only preparation I really did was some tactics on Chesstempo.com and right before each game) I came in without really any expectations.

In this post I've analysed two games; one in which I play someone rated a few hundred points below me, and in the other I play an IM.

Ways you can look at the games:

1) You can download Chessbase Light at http://www.chessbase.com/download/index.asp
2) Copy and paste the raw moves into http://www.chess.com/analysis-board-editor.html (just the moves are in spoiler tags at the beginning of the games; this is what you have to use) I don't believe it's possible to paste the analysis in as well, however. You will have to alt tab or have two windows open or something crazy like that.
3) Using a board and pieces. This is inadvisable because it is not on the internet, and stuff that isn't on the internet is dumb.

If you download Chessbase Light or have Chessbase or another program that can use PGN files, I've uploaded the two games here: http://www.2shared.com/file/Jtx3-vEF/Chess_Games.html

Davies,L (2214 CFC; 2174 FIDE) - Roback,J (1880 CFC; 1953 FIDE) [B23]
2012 Canadian Open (1), 08.07.2012

+ Show Spoiler +

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Nc6 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Bd7 8.Nge2 e6 9.Nd1 Nge7 10.Bh6 Bf6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.c3 0-0-0 13.Ne3 Rhg8 14.Ng4 Bh8 15.Bg5 f5 16.Nf6 Rg7 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 18.b4 fxe4 19.dxe4 Rf7 20.Rab1 Ne5 21.f4 Nc4 22.Qd3 Na3 23.Rbd1 Qb5 24.Bh3 c4 25.Bxe6+ Kc7 26.Qd2 Rf6 27.Bxf6 Bxf6 28.Nd4 Qb6 29.Qf2 Re8 30.e5 Bg7 31.exd6+ Qxd6 32.Bf7 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 The Closed Sicilian is quite possibly the best opening ever, which is why I've been playing it for like 14 years. For a while I played the Open Sicilian as well with decent results, but then stopped playing it due to forgetting all the theory in every line.

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2...a6 2...Nc6 is the main move. 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Nc6 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Bd7 Black's play feels very odd here. A very early a6 should be followed with b5 and putting his bishop on b7. Instead, a6 has done nothing to improve his position and in fact may weaken it later, and his bishop isn't as active on d7.

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8.Nge2 e6 9.Nd1 With black having not yet committed his knight on g8, I decided to play a bit of a waiting move. Now if black plays Nge7 and castles kingside after I've played Bh6, I'll still be able to go for a plan of pushing my h pawn. Nd1 also prepares c3 and d4, and enables me to kick the black knight should it go to d4. [9.0-0 Is also possible. 9...Qc7 (9...Nge7 10.Bh6 0-0 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.d4²) 10.f4 Nd4 11.Nd1 Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2] 9...Nge7 [9...Qc7] 10.Bh6

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Bf6?! If black's plan was to castle queenside, then 9...Qc7 followed by castling immediately made a lot more sense. Now black's bishop is a target on f6 and he no longer has the option of playing f5. [10...0-0 11.h4 Bxh6 (11...f5 12.h5 Rf7 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.Bxg7 Rxg7 15.Qh6±) 12.Qxh6 f6 13.Qd2²] 11.0-0 Qc7 12.c3 0-0-0± Black's position just slowly deteriorates from here.

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13.Ne3 Rhg8 [13...Rhe8 14.Ng4 Bh8 15.Bg5 f5 16.Nf6 Rf8 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 Is a slightly better version of what happened in the game.] 14.Ng4 Bh8 15.Bg5 f5 16.Nf6 Rg7 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 18.b4 fxe4 19.dxe4 Rf7 20.Rab1 Ne5 21.f4 Nc4 22.Qd3 Na3 23.Rbd1

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Qb5??+- [23...c4 24.Qe3 White still has a clear advantage, but it'll take a bit of effort to win.] 24.Bh3 c4 25.Bxe6+ Kc7 26.Qd2 Rf6 27.Bxf6 Bxf6 28.Nd4 Qb6 29.Qf2 Re8? 30.e5 Bg7 31.exd6+ Qxd6 32.Bf7 Black Resigns 1-0

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Ultimately, this was a game in which black didn't have a good enough understanding of the opening and never managed to recover, blundering in a position in which he was already clearly worse. It always surprises me how many people don't understand how to play against the Closed Sicilian, which is another reason why I love playing it so much.

Davies,L (2214 CFC; 2174 FIDE) - Piasetski,L (2410 CFC; 2290 FIDE) [B26]
2012 Canadian Open (2), 08.07.2012
+ Show Spoiler +

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Qa5 8.Nge2 Nd4 9.0-0 e5 10.f4 Ne7 11.Nc1 f6 12.Nb3 Qc7 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Ne2 Be6 15.Nbc1 0-0 16.c3 Nxe2+ 17.Nxe2 Rbd8 18.d4 f5 19.d5 c4 20.Rad1 Rd6 21.Bh3 Bd7 22.Qc2 h6 ½-½

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 For some reason I get white two games in a row, which turns out excellently, since I get another CLOSED SICILIAN. Truly a miraculous day. 2...Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.Be3 d6 7.Qd2 Qa5 7...e6 and 7...b5 are more common moves for black, but ...Qa5 can cause some problems for white as well.

8.Nge2 Nd4 White has some small problems with mobility temporarily; most of his pieces can't move for the moment, and f3 is a potential issue. 9.0-0 e5 [9...b5 10.Nc1 e6 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.Nd1÷] 10.f4 Ne7 11.Nc1 f6 12.Nb3

Qc7 [12...Qb6 13.fxe5 Black now can't take with the d pawn due to Na4 and his c5 pawn falls. 13...fxe5²] 13.fxe5?= [13.Bxd4! I was too focused on the positional aspects of the position and missed this tactical opportunity. Black's lack of development now causes him some major issues in this line. 13...cxd4 14.Nb5 Qb6 15.Qa5 Qxa5 16.Nxa5±] 13...dxe5 14.Ne2 [14.Nd1 Be6 15.Nc1 b6 16.c3 Ndc6 May be a bit of an improvement. It looks like white will be able to make better use of his extra knight compared to black, who may have difficulties finding a useful square to put it on.] 14...Be6 15.Nbc1 0-0 16.c3 Nxe2+ 17.Nxe2 Rbd8

18.d4? I felt as though I had to take what I thought an opportunity to get some initiative here, but this proves to be too weak to play immediately. [18.Qc2÷ White's d3 pawn at first appears to be a weakness, but it's very difficult for black to really get at. Meanwhile, white has the open f file and possibilities of playing d4 at a more opportune moment.] 18...f5? [18...cxd4 19.cxd4 f5µ It becomes very difficult for white to protect his d4 pawn.] 19.d5 c4 Or white will play c4 himself. 20.Rad1 Rd6

21.Bh3? [21.Qc2÷ White has to get his queen off the d file immediately.] 21...Bd7? [21...Bf7 22.exf5 gxf5 23.Bxf5 Nxf5 24.Rxf5 Bxd5 25.Rxf8+ Bxf8µ With black having the two bishops, my light squares being extremely weak and my knight on e2 having nowhere to go, white is in a lot of trouble here.] 22.Qc2 h6 With black starting to get into time pressure and needing to make 18 more moves to reach the time control, he offers a draw. Having not really liked my position for a few moves now, I quickly accepted. Black is probably slightly better, but there are a lot of complications and tactical chances for both sides, and it's not easy for black to find a way to break through here.[22...fxe4 23.Rxf8+ Bxf8 24.Bxd7 Qxd7 25.Qxe4 Nxd5 26.Qxc4÷] ½-½

While I managed to get a draw against an IM, I don't feel that I played well enough in this game. A missed opportunity to gain an advantage in the early middlegame and not calculating or understanding the position well enough when I played 18.d4 aren't mistakes that I should be making. However, this game does serve very well as a learning opportunity, and I know that I'll be better able to play these sorts of positions in the future.

This is my first try at putting my analysis up on here, so please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions or see some mistake I made on here!+ Show Spoiler +

Paljas

Germany6926 Posts

July 19 2012 11:18 GMT

good read.

ParkwayDrive

United States328 Posts

July 19 2012 11:50 GMT

i wish i understood chess for what it actually is. i know how to play but thats about it, not much strategy. all i can do while reading this is notice the similarities to starcraft.

good read man

Jerubaal

United States7684 Posts

July 19 2012 15:18 GMT

Hey, no naming and shaming on TL. Even in chess. :p

Jk, Jk.

MoreFaSho

United States1427 Posts

July 19 2012 15:57 GMT

Glad to see someone else posting reasonable chess stuff. I've been looking at playing some tournaments in Canada, but other than Edmonton (not interesting from a traveling point of view) and the Canada Open (too slow of a schedule to make it worth taking off days), what events are worth going to?

I think trying to play the closed sicilian in a pure way at your rating is going to start getting a little harder and you can get a pretty big psychological edge by being willing to opportunistically go for open sicilians against certain lines.

Was your second round opponent an older guy? Seems like 2290 is really weak for an IM. I also think his opening was inconsistant. generally players either skip d6 and play Rb8 to play a fast b5-b4 or they go for d6/a6/b5. It's perfectly fine to meet Be3 with b5. You can take on c5, but I think it's not considered good after b4 when black gets a huge initiative. Yout should be aware of this line, it is the whole reason for that move order.

Qa5 looked really suspicious to me, black just looks far behind in development and this really doesn't help. I don't think defending c3 was strictly necessary, Bxc3 is not a threat. I get that e2 is a normal enough move for the night, but considering you know that black is going to castle kingside eventually might make sense to start with something else like f4. He can still continue Nd4, but then I think Nf3 is probably a stronger option. Somehow I want to have e5 in the air and even if I have to play h3-g4-f5 that attack line could still be strong too with your lead.

I'll be honest, I didn't like your Nc1-b3 plan, just seems so wrong. The knight on d4 is strong, but it's black's only good piece, in the mean time you put your knight on the wrong side of the board and away from the center. I think I was struggling with a similar problem not long ago where I wasn't forcing myself to look forward. I think it generally comes from being overly positionally focused (I had this problem HARD for a while). Kind of like when you played Nc3-e2 it also struck me as backwards. Don't get me wrong, sometimes backwards moves are correct, I have no problem with the typical Nd1 followed by c3 plans in the closed sicilian.

GolemMadness

Canada11044 Posts

July 19 2012 22:06 GMT

On July 20 2012 00:57 MoreFaSho wrote:
Glad to see someone else posting reasonable chess stuff. I've been looking at playing some tournaments in Canada, but other than Edmonton (not interesting from a traveling point of view) and the Canada Open (too slow of a schedule to make it worth taking off days), what events are worth going to?

Other than Edmonton, I believe that all of the bigger tournaments these days are in Ontario or Quebec. You can see some of the tournament listings at http://chess.ca/tournaments

I think trying to play the closed sicilian in a pure way at your rating is going to start getting a little harder and you can get a pretty big psychological edge by being willing to opportunistically go for open sicilians against certain lines.

It's possible, but as I'm not seriously trying to become a GM or anything, I don't think it'll really become an issue. It's probably my most successful opening, so I think time would be better spent tightening up my other openings, as I've forgotten a lot of theory in many of them.

Was your second round opponent an older guy? Seems like 2290 is really weak for an IM. I also think his opening was inconsistant. generally players either skip d6 and play Rb8 to play a fast b5-b4 or they go for d6/a6/b5. It's perfectly fine to meet Be3 with b5. You can take on c5, but I think it's not considered good after b4 when black gets a huge initiative. Yout should be aware of this line, it is the whole reason for that move order.

Yeah, the FIDE rating chart only seems to go back to 2000, so I can't see when he first became an IM. I had a line with a really fast b5 without d6 against Pascal Charbonneau where he delayed Bg7 as well (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1311661). According to my tree though, Rb8 and d6 are pretty normal.

Qa5 looked really suspicious to me, black just looks far behind in development and this really doesn't help. I don't think defending c3 was strictly necessary, Bxc3 is not a threat. I get that e2 is a normal enough move for the night, but considering you know that black is going to castle kingside eventually might make sense to start with something else like f4. He can still continue Nd4, but then I think Nf3 is probably a stronger option. Somehow I want to have e5 in the air and even if I have to play h3-g4-f5 that attack line could still be strong too with your lead.

I think either line is fine; Nf3 does make it more difficult to get rid of the queen on a5, though.

I'll be honest, I didn't like your Nc1-b3 plan, just seems so wrong. The knight on d4 is strong, but it's black's only good piece, in the mean time you put your knight on the wrong side of the board and away from the center. I think I was struggling with a similar problem not long ago where I wasn't forcing myself to look forward. I think it generally comes from being overly positionally focused (I had this problem HARD for a while). Kind of like when you played Nc3-e2 it also struck me as backwards. Don't get me wrong, sometimes backwards moves are correct, I have no problem with the typical Nd1 followed by c3 plans in the closed sicilian.

Nc1-b3 is very normal in this line; white does spend a lot of time moving his knights around, but at the same time, black's forced to spend time moving his queen and knight around as well. In a lot of lines, after Nb3 white will play Nd1, c3, Nc1, then move his knights back to e2 and f2. Without going for this plan, a lot of white's pieces are just locked down defending and mobility is made very hard.

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Chess analysis of some of my games (PART 1)

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