Rating change for session: 1125-1202.
I generally refuse to be one of those players who wants to analyze (read: brag about) wins and ignore losses, but I didn't really have any "instructive" losses tonight, so here is a pair of wins.
First, here is why I don't generally resign at this level, especially against a computer (as they are more likely to fall for quick combinations at this level):
[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2009.09.04"]
[White "KyleMayhugh"]
[Black "HEYNOWww"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1140"]
[BlackElo "1309"]
[ECO "B12"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann"]
[Variation "Advance variation"]
[TimeControl "1800+30"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. e4 Be6
6. Qa4 Qxd4
This was probably my worst move of the night. It was bad, but for me, any night where hanging a pawn is the worst move of the night is a good night.
7. Be3 Qe5 8. f4 Qc7 9. Bxc4 b5
I should probably remember that combination (queen on a4, bishop on c4, oopspawnfork) for the future, but I figured I could take two pawns and a blown open king side as solace.
10. Bxb5 cxb5
11. Qxb5+ Qc6 12. Rd1 Qxb5
I am willing to make the queen exchange, but I want it to be on my terms and still threatening the knight fork on c7. It's not as if his queen is going anywhere.
13. Nxb5 Na6 14. Ne2 Nxe4 15. O-O Bc4
Oops. I was so focused on getting my pieces out into the attack that I wasn't paying as much attention as I should. From here on out, the computer just gets careless and might have well as let me win.
16. Rfe1 Bxb5 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Nb3 Nc7 19. Nc5 Nxc5 20. Bxc5 Be6
21. Rd2 h5 22. Red1 Rg8 23. Bb4 a5 24. Bc5 Na6 25. Bb6 Bg4
26. Rd8+ Rxd8 27. Rxd8#
1-0
This game was a little better. I found a human opponent for a G/60. His rating was lower than mine, but close enough that I had to give him plenty of respect.
[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2009.09.04"]
[White "aapt"]
[Black "KyleMayhugh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "991"]
[BlackElo "1194"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5
I find people advancing the pawn on me a lot in this opening. I need to put this line on my list of things to study because it keeps coming up. I always end up with some really tough spots with pieces deep on my kingside with no good way to dislodge them.
4. Bd3 Bxd3
Good for him. I didn't want the exchange, but I just couldn't find a decent alternative.
5. Qxd3 e6
6. Nf3 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Bg5 Qb6
I really wanted to take some initiative in this game and create some threats, rather than sit back and wait for my king side to be overwhelmed.
9. b3 f6 10. Bf4 Nd7
11. Re1 Ne7 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bxe5
After his move 14, I realized I'd be leaving the e-pawn in trouble, but it seemed too late to do anything useful about it (other than commit a lot of pieces to protecting it). I figured I could create some threat instead, and do it by castling to the safer side of the board.
15. Rxe5 O-O-O
At this point, some machinations begin turning. I see two themes that tactics teachers have been telling me to watch out for: Back-rank weakness and an overworked piece. In this case, his queen is simultaneously trying to sit in a threatening square, give secondary protection to two pawns and provide some help on the back rank. Time to overwork it.
16. Rxe6 Nf5 17. c3 Rhe8 18. Rxe8 Rxe8 19. Nd2 Qc7 20. Nf3 Qf4
21. Ne5 Rf8
On move 21, I was beginning to feel like my attack had run out of steam and I was running out of ideas. I still hadn't gained much for the pawn I was down, and wasn't looking forward to being ground down to a loss from that. I gave myself a full minute of thought, and I began to notice that I had more advantages in the position that I thought. With his rook still inactive and his queen being stymied from making much threat because of the pawns on both sides, I had much more piece activity than he did (one of Heisman's four points to evaluating a position). He didn't have any credible threats in his immediate future moves, so I decided I had the time to make one of my own.
22. Re1 Nxd4
He can't leave that rook back there forever, of course, but this was a mistake. But I'm choosing not to feel too bad about his mistake, because last night I tried to play "as if I were playing a master" and got thoroughly destroyed. Instead, I played chess on the level I understand, albeit incorporating elements from lessons and with careful thought. And this time, the lesson was "move with purpose when you have the initiative, create threats."
I am free to take the pawn and regain material equality because of the threat of Qxf2, which forces mate in three. I was still formulating what my next moves might be when he moved but didn't rebut the threat of Qxf2, a welcome side-effect of making threats at my level of play is that they are often unnoticed.
23. cxd4 Qxf2+
Black sees the mate in two and resigns.
I really wanted tonight to work on my thought process. What I came up with was this, and I didn't follow it as perfectly as I'd like, but it's still a step in the right direction:
1. Check your checks (and more importantly, his checks). A check forces a move from the opponent, so it never hurts to consider them.
2) Check your threats (and his) to pieces immediately. What's en prise? Can your opponent respond to that threat without vitally weakening his position?
3) Check your ranks, diagonals, files and forks. I want to remind myself to check when I make a move to see if this puts two pieces in a compromising position. Queen in direct line to the king? Two pieces on the same diagonal ready to be forked (i.e. the first game posted above?)? Two pieces within range of a knight fork.
If I get through all these without any obvious concerns, I try to select a move that puts some sort of pressure on the opponent.
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