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I'm currently playing attila22 ( rated 1425), and my rating is 1200. Here's a link to our game. So far, he's had the advantage over me. I'm afraid it's game over in a move or two.
 
I'm currently playing attila22 ( rated 1425), and my rating is 1200. Here's a link to our game. So far, he's had the advantage over me. I'm afraid it's game over in a move or two.
 
Because there is no doubt about the outcome of the game and because I have nothing to do at the moment I will comment on the game even though it is currently in progress.

The first thing you must focus on in the beginning of your chess career is trying really hard not to let your opponent take your pieces without you getting one of equal value from him. Think of it in sports terms, when you are down in number of players (like a player in the penalty box or a red card in soccer) it's really bad for you. Especially if it is for the rest of the game. The same principle applies in chess.

One thing you need to do in chess is to look at your opponents move and decide if it threatens anything. Did he make a threat that I need to adress or can I continue with whatever plan I have?

So let's take a look at your game. 1. e4 e5 this is a good move taking space in the center and opening lines for your bishop and queen. No pieces are under attack yet. 2. Nf3 Nc6 white threatened your pawn on e5 so you need to protect it somehow. Your knight now protects the pawn. All is well. 3. Bb5 b6 After white plays Bb5 you should as usual decide if white has a threat. What does this move do? It threatens your knight on c6, right? So, you need to look and see if he can just take it off. It is protected by two pawns so no immediate danger there. But here's the tricky part - if you remember on move 2 you moved the knight to c6 so it could protect your pawn on e5. If white were to trade his bishop for your knight on c6 you don't lose material on that exchange but the pawn on e5 would now be unprotected! This is a tricky tactic called "removal of the guard". It is difficult to see before you get some experience. (As more experienced players know there is sufficient counterthreats that black does not lose a pawn in this particular position but we are talking basics here.)

Your c6 move is not so good because you lose a pawn after Bxc6 dxc6 and Nxe5. So your game is already much harder with a pawn permanently in the penalty box. 4. Bxc6 dxc6 After white takes your piece you have only one way to recapture it so that's a good move. 5. Nxe5 f6 After white takes the pawn on e5 you had a chance to be tricky yourself with a tactic called a "double threat". Qd4 threatens both his knight and the pawn on e4. He would have to guard his knight somehow and when he moves away you can take his pawn on e4 and you are no longer down in material! (If he plays Nxc6 that's very good for you, can you see why?) Had you seen this move (Qd4) you would have a very good position. f6 is not so good. One reason is that you take the f6 square away from your knight. Knights usually want to go towards the center and now it's best square is occupied by that pawn. Also you move a pawn in front of the king which is usually bad. The pawns there shield your king from your opponents pieces. And most importantly it allows a dangerous threat that is not so easy to see at your level.

6. Qh5+ Ke7 Your move is very bad because you lose the queen to a tactic known as a "fork". If you know about piece values you know your queen is the most valuable piece and must be protected at great cost. Losing the queen is so bad that you must try something else. 6...g6 blocks the check and threatens the queen. Unfortunately white has a good tactic here too to win material but at least it doesn't lose the queen. Don't feel bad, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) loses their fair share of games when they start playing chess due to threats on the f7 square. Eventually you learn to spot this type of danger and do something about it before it's too late.

After 7. Nxc6+ Kd7 and 8. Nxd8 you are so much behind in material that there is no hope left for this game. What you need to do is practice on not losing material. Don't worry, it does get easier the more you play. An additional tip is to not move so many pawns in the opening. Try to move some pieces out instead. This is one of those general rules that you can just try to follow in the beginning and later learn why it is good. Thanks for sharing the game and don't hesitate to post some more. Since it's considered bad ettiquette to help anyone while the game is in progress (your opponent is playing you after all, not all of us here on the boards), it's good if you wait until the game is over before posting it.
 
Panz is the analysis master. :bowdown:. Did you get my PM, man? You will make 30 if you join but it's still your call. We'll start in a few hours or right away if/once you & stwils join.
 
Here's the end result of my game vs. attila22:

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 b6
4. Bxc6 dxc6
5. Nxe5 f6
6. Qh5+ Ke7
7. Nxc6+ Kd7
8. Nxd8 Ba6
9. Nf7 Re8
10. Qd5+ Kc8
11. Qc6 h6
12. Nxh8 Ne7
13. Qe6+ Kb8
14. Ng6 Nxg6
15. Qxe8+

I resigned after his last move because I had no moves to get me out of check.:cry:

I'm now playing petergrimes (peter grimes here) and drumstick. I opened smart against PG, but opened very stupidly against drumstick. Both should be interesting matches. Anyone care to watch and give commentary?
 
Well you could move your king to b7 or bring your bishop up to block but the end seems fairly close one way or the other. Have faith, almost everyone has had games like that in the beginning (I know i have!). :)
 
Looks like you were slightly worse as you were down two pawns.

Also, you missed the shot 9. Re1 which looks like it would've netted you a free pieces (9. ... f5 not allowed since that pawn is pinned & if 9. ... d5 you can just take the sucka).
 
Here's the moves of my latest game which was a loss in 25 moves (This time against petergrimes.):
1. d4 d6
2. Nc3 e5
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. e3 c6
5. Bd3 Be6
6. O-O Be7
7. b3 O-O
8. Ba3 a6
9. Rb1 b5
10. Rb2 c5
11. Qa1 Nc6
12. Rbb1 d5
13. Rbc1 cxd4
14. exd4 b4
15. Qb1 bxc3
16. Bxa6 Bxa3
17. Rce1 Ne4
18. Bb7 Bg4
19. h3 Nd2
20. Nxd2 cxd2
21. Rd1 Be2
22. Rxd2 Nxd4
23. Qa1 Qg5
24. c3 Bf3
25. cxd4 Qxg2#

Where did I go wrong here? I would appreciate all input.
 
I would appreciate all input.

Sure thing. Here is some input.

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3

You have actually already made a small mistake. When opening with the d-pawn you should never play Nc3 before moving your pawn to c4. One of the main points of opening with d4 is to exchange your c-pawn for your opponents d-pawn. The reason for this is above your level but it is something to keep in mind for later. One of those general rules we keep talking about.

2...e5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3

On every move you should look at all checks captures and forcing moves. Had you done so you might have found an immediate way to win a pawn with 4. dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nxe5

4...c6 5. Bd3

This is a little risky. By placing your knight and bishop on d3 and f3 there is a chance that black can at some point play his pawn to e4 and fork those pieces. Right now you are covering that square twice and he only once so he cannot play e4 immediately but sometimes you forget about it and move a piece away that was guarding against that or he moves more pieces to guard that square and you lose a tempo moving one of the pieces away. This is not a mistake by any means but it is a bit risky and you now need to remember to make sure on every move that he cannot play e4 and win a piece. You can still win a pawn with dxe5.

5...Be6 6. 0-0

Castle often and early, another general rule. Your game looks good so far. You still had the option of winning a pawn with dxe5.

6...Be7 7. b3

Moving too many pawns in the opening is not good. Did you really need to play this move, what was the purpose? You still have dxe5, winning a pawn.

7...0-0 8. Ba3 a6 9. Rb1 b5 10. Rb2

This is the first big mistake. Unfortunately it is a really big one. First of all, why on earth did you play this move? What was your plan, in what way did you think this move would help you?

All moves in chess does something good and something bad. Hardly any move is all good or all bad. You are trying to find the moves that does the most good and least bad. In most cases a mistake is a move that seems good at the time but turns out to be more bad than good.

In this particular case I can see no positive thing about this move what-so-ever. In the bad column it moves from the back rank disconnecting the rooks (connected rooks are good), makes it hard to move the rook to a better file, blocks the bishop on a3, puts the rook on a potentially dangerous diagonal, and most importantly allows a tactic to win a piece.

10...Qa5 threatning the bishop and knight winning one of them. This is a good time to introduce another general principle: Loose pieces drop off! That is, pieces that are not guarded by your pieces or pawns are vulnerable to tactics such as this one. Here both your bishop and knight were unguarded and this should have cost you a piece and the game. Fortunately your opponent missed that.

10...c5 11. Qa1

Again, what was the purpose of this move? Did you have a plan or didn't you know what to do? Not that you could prevent it but black can now win a piece with b4 forking your bishop and knight.

11...Nc6 12. Rbb1

You have now moved the rook three times to get it one square to the right. I think you can appreciate that this is not ideal. Time is very important in chess. Time is spent developing your pieces. Development of your pieces is used to gain the initiative. The initiative is used to win the game. Failure to do so usually result in losses and grinding of teeth. To boot you have managed to displace your queen to a1 where it does very little good.

12...d5

Fortunately your opponent gives you every chance to get back into the game, somehow missing b4.

13. Rbc1

Seriously, you have other pieces also. You don't need to spend the entire game moving your rook a square at the time. The immediate concern is the fork on b4.

13...cxd4 14. exd4 b4

Much better is just taking the bishop with Bxa3.

15. Qb1

Your position is critical. Your opponent is threatning to just win a piece. This is a good time to consider some complications rather than the quiet move that does absolutely nothing. 15. dxe5 at least wins back a pawn and threatens his knight. Your move does nothing allowing your opponent to grab material in piece and quiet. Pun intended. In addition, it allows a second fork with 15...e4.

15...bxc3 16. Bxa6

Do you know about piece values? In order to know what trades are good and bad we usually use a point system where pawn=1, knight=3, bishop=3, rook=5 and queen=9. If you are aware of this you should be able to tell why Bxa6 is bad. You gain a pawn=1 and he gains a bishop=3 with Rxa6. Or did you just miss that the rook was guarding the pawn? Besides, your bishop on a3 is unguarded and under threat.

16...Bxa3 17. Rce1 Ne4 18. Bb7 Bg4 19. h3

You should take his knight with Bxc6. It is unguarded, you can just take it for free. Why would you not take his piece for free?

19...Nd2 20. Nxd2 cxd2 21. Rd1 Be2 22. Rxd2 Nxd4 23. Qa1 Qg5 24. c3 Bf3 25. cxd4 Qxd2#

Where did I go wrong here?

I would say that simple tactics is the problem. Most importantly you need to recognize when a piece (yours or your opponent's) is unguarded and can just be taken. Also, you spent valuable time moving your rook and queen lots of times even though those moves did little for your position. It is important to get all your pieces out. If one guy moves all his pieces out to fight and one moves half of his pieces out to fight who do you think will win?

My suggestion, if you are serious about improving, is to do lots of simple tactics. I would recommend using a commercial software such as Chessamaster or Fritz where you can get lots of help for your level.
 
Apart from a late night loss of concentration that unfortunately put things in context, I enjoyed this one

It has the computer analysis with it, in the spoiler

Lots of inaccuracies on my part, but no blunders, according to Big Chess.

Spoiler :

[Event "CFC 3rd Annual !"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2008.11.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Chamnix"]
[Black "bathsheba666"]
[ECO "B54"]
[ChesscomGameID "10597826"]
[Annotator "Chess.com Computer Analysis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1322"]
[BlackElo "1607"]
{Inaccuracies(?!): 5 = 16.7% of moves | Mistakes(?): 0 = 0.0% of moves | Blunders(??): 0 = 0.0% of moves}

1. e4 {(Book Move)} c5 {(Book Move)}
2. Nf3 {(Book Move)} d6 {(Book Move)}
3. d4 {(Book Move)} cxd4 {(Book Move)}
4. Nxd4 {(Book Move)} a6 $6 {(+0.79) INACCURACY - Perhaps better was 4... Nf6}
({BEST MOVE (+0.00)} 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 $10)
({INACCURACY (+0.79)} 4... a6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Bd3 b5 8. O-O b4 9. Nd5 e6 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Bc4 $16)
5. c4 g6 {(+0.84)}
6. Nc3 Bg7 {(+0.74)}
7. Be3 {(+0.68)} Nf6 {(+0.76)}
8. f3 {(+0.51)} Nc6 $6 {(+0.82) INACCURACY - Perhaps better was 8... O-O}
({BEST MOVE (+0.51)} 8... O-O 9. Be2 e5 10. Nb3 Nc6 11. O-O Be6 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. cxd5 $14)
({INACCURACY (+0.82)} 8... Nc6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. e5 Ng8 11. Bf4 Rb8 12. Qe2 Be6 13. Rd1 $16)
9. Be2 {(+0.51)} O-O {(+0.62) ALTERNATIVE - The game is now roughly equal. }
({BEST MOVE (+0.50)} 9... Nxd4 10. Bxd4 O-O 11. O-O e5 12. Be3 Be6 13. Nd5 Rc8 14. Rc1 Nxd5 15. cxd5 $14)
({ALTERNATIVE (+0.62)} 9... O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. O-O Be6 12. f4 Nd7 13. Bd4 Nc5 14. f5 Bxd4+ 15. Qxd4 $14)
10. O-O {(+0.46)} Bd7 {(+0.49)}
11. Qd2 {(+0.48)} Rc8
12. Rac1 Nxd4
13. Bxd4 Bc6
14. Rfd1 {(+0.48)} Nd7 {(+0.51)}
15. Bxg7 {(+0.48)} Kxg7 {(+0.51)}
16. Qd4+ {(+0.54)} Kg8 {(+0.54)}
17. Nd5 {(+0.28)} f5 $6 {(+0.68) INACCURACY - Perhaps better was 17... e5}
({BEST MOVE (+0.24)} 17... e5 18. Qe3 Bxd5 19. cxd5 Qe7 20. b4 Nf6 21. b5 a5 22. b6 $10)
({INACCURACY (+0.68)} 17... f5 18. exf5 Rxf5 19. Bd3 e5 20. Qg4 Rf7 21. Qe6 Bxd5 22. cxd5 $14)
18. Bd3 {(+0.03)} Nc5 $6 {(+0.76) INACCURACY - With that last move you went from roughly equal to having a worse position. Your best continuation was 18... e5}
({BEST MOVE (+0.04)} 18... e5 19. Qe3 f4 20. Qe2 Qg5 21. b4 Bxd5 22. cxd5 Nb6 23. Re1 $10)
({INACCURACY (+0.76)} 18... Nc5 19. exf5 Nxd3 20. Rxd3 Rxf5 21. Nb4 Qd7 22. Re1 Rc7 23. Nxc6 Qxc6 $16)
19. Bb1 {(+0.01)} e5 {(+0.02)}
20. Qd2 {(+0.00)} fxe4 {(+0.00)}
21. Bxe4 {(-0.12)} Nxe4 {(-0.06)}
22. fxe4 {(-0.02)} Qh4 $6 {(+0.39) INACCURACY - Perhaps better was 22... Kg7}
({BEST MOVE (-0.03)} 22... Kg7 23. Rf1 Qh4 24. Qd3 Rxf1+ 25. Rxf1 Rf8 26. Rxf8 Kxf8 27. g3 Qg4 $10)
({INACCURACY (+0.39)} 22... Qh4 23. g3 Qd8 24. Rf1 Kh8 25. Rxf8+ Qxf8 26. Rf1 Qg7 27. Rf3 Bxd5 28. Qxd5 $14)
23. Qd3 {(-0.16)} Rf2 {(-0.23)}
24. Ne7+ {(-0.20)} Kg7 {(-0.11)}
25. Nxc6 {(-1.22)} Rxb2 {(-1.30)}
26. Rf1 {(-1.22)} Qg4 {(-1.13)}
27. Rc2 {(-1.16)} Rxc2 {(-1.25)}
28. Qxc2 {(-1.18)} Rxc6 {(-1.22)}
29. Qf2 {(-1.17)} Qf4 {(-1.38)}
30. Qe2 {(-1.59)} Qg5 {(-1.50)}
31. Qd3 {(-1.61)} Qe7 {(-1.59)}
32. Rb1 {(-1.63)} Qc7 {(-1.68)}
33. Kf2 {(-2.60)} b5 {(-2.46)}
34. cxb5 {(-3.12)} Rc2+ {(-3.18)}
35. Kf1 {(-3.18)} Qf7+ {(-2.85)}
36. Qf3 {(-2.85)} Qxa2 {(-3.15) BLACK WINS - Play might have continued...}
({CONTINUATION (-3.15)} 36... Qxa2 37. Rd1 axb5 38. Kg1 Qa7+ 39. Kh1 Qf7 40. Qg3 Qc4 41. Qe3 Qc5 $19)
0-1


1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6?! 5. c4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 Nf6 8. f3 Nc6?! 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Qd2 Rc8 12. Rac1 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Bc6 14. Rfd1 Nd7 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Qd4+ Kg8 17. Nd5 f5?! 18. Bd3 Nc5?! 19. Bb1 e5 20. Qd2 fxe4 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. fxe4 Qh4?! 23. Qd3 Rf2 24. Ne7+ Kg7 25. Nxc6 Rxb2 26. Rf1 Qg4 27. Rc2 Rxc2 28. Qxc2 Rxc6 29. Qf2 Qf4 30. Qe2 Qg5 31. Qd3 Qe7 32. Rb1 Qc7 33. Kf2 b5 34. cxb5 Rc2+ 35. Kf1 Qf7+ 36. Qf3 Qxa2
 
Please analyze this game against LoneWolfEburg (1642):
1. d4 d5
2. Nc3 Nf6
3. Nf3 Nbd7
4. Bd2 b6
5. g3 c5
6. Bh3 cxd4
7. Nxd4 e5
8. Be3 exd4
9. Bxd4 Bb4
10. Qd2 Bxc3
11. Bxc3 Bb7
12. O-O-O d4
13. Bxd4 Bxh1
14. Rxh1 O-O
15. Bf5 Qe7
16. Bd3 Rad8
17. Bf5 Rfe8
18. b3 Qxe2
19. Qb4 Qf3
20. Bh3 Qxh1+
21. Kb2 Qxh2
22. Bf1 Ne4
23. Qa4 Nxf2
24. Qxa7 Qxg3
25. Qa3 Qg1
26. Bc4 Nd3+
27. Bxd3 Qxd4+
28. Kb1 Re1+
29. Qc1 Rxc1+
30. Kxc1 Re8
31. Kb1 Re1#

I think my worst move was: 31. Kb1 (I could have moved the King up and right instead of left and avoided the checkmate by the Rook.)
 
I think my worst move was: 31. Kb1 (I could have moved the King up and right instead of left and avoided the checkmate by the Rook.)

Not really. That would only prolong your suffering. The outcome was decided at that point.

Your first move which undeniably qualifies as "bad" was 8.Be3 instead of retreating your Knight at d4, which was treatened by my pawn at e5. Thus, I won a Knight for a pawn.

The second one was 12.0-0-0, which allowed me to win a Rook for a Bishop and a pawn by 12 ... d4.

Another one is 18. b3. Your pawn at e2 is attacked by a Rook at e8 and a Queen at e7. It's defended only by a Queen at d2. Thus, I could caoture the pawn without any danger, which I did.

The move 19. Qb4 allows a tactic known as a double attack. After my move 19... Qf3 my Queen attacks both your Bishop at f5 and your Rook at h1. One of them must die.

To aviod it, you should have played, say, Qf4, defending f3. Or you could have exchanged Queens, even through it's not the best thinh to do when you are already down material. The way to prevent all that mess was just to protect the pawn at e2 by 18. e3.

You'd also be slightly better off saving your Rook instead of Bishop.
 
I was unexpectedly drafted to our first team this round of division play. Our second team has no game this round so I wasn't expecting to play. I'll probably get someone around 2000 on the last board so it will be a challenge. I'll update this post later today with the game.

UPDATE:

Just got home (although writing this took a few hours). Haven't checked it with a software yet but it is likely I missed a whole lot. First off I have played white for the last three years or so (perogative of being team captain) and thought I would be white on board 8. Turned out I was put on board 7 with black. Would have been nice to know more than 30 minutes before the game. The good news was their team was really weak so I ended up facing a mere 1600-player.

I decided to try and post what I thought during the game rather than any objective comments. I did check briefly with the computer just before posting but didn't change anything. Turns out I was rather wrong about several things. And I played worse than I thought.

Spoiler :
1. e4

Okay, so now what do I do? I was supposed to be white damn it. I don't have a clue what to do against e4. I have looked at e5 and decided I don't like it. I have tried the Caro-Kann, not my cup of tea. I have tried a dozen sicilians and I guess I could play that but I have no clue what I'm doing there. I have tried and discarded the King's Indian, I have played the French lately but gave it up due to that pesky exchange variation. So by deducting things I am left with...

1...d6

The Pirc that I have just started to look at. I'm not sure what I think yet as this is my first game with it. I know like two lines in the Austrian attack so far so let's hope he plays that.

2. Nf3

Ruling out the Austrian attack. Things are going smoothly. Move 2 and I am completely out of book. Time to improvise.

2...Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7

Couldn't find anything better than the standard setup.

5. Be2 0-0 6. Be3

Now I am completely on my own. I have no clue what to do here. I remember some advice from the "Pirc Alert!" book that you are supposed to leave the d7 square for your f6-knight to retreat to. But I'm not sure if it applies in this position. I do have the e8 square if worst comes to worst. And I'm not sure what else to play.

6...Nbd7

To reinforce my pawn break probably c5 or possibly e5. I toyed with the idea of Bg4 to exchange that bishop for his knight since I have noticed that bishop can be as difficult to find a square for as in the French. But ultimately I decided against it.

7. h3

Time for my pawn break. I guess. What else is there?

7...c5 8. Qd2

Okay, so he's going for the standard plan of exchanging the dark squared bishops. cxd4 Nxd4 looked like it helps him more than me. So I decided to go with the pawns on the queenside. Might make castling there less attractive if I have an already made pawn storm.

8...a6 9. Bh6

Not playing the common a4 to restrain my pawns.

9...b5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. e5

So he gets in e5. Nothing much I could do to stop it. Also responding to my threat of b4. I didn't like the looks of dxe5 so...

11...Ne8 12. h4

Bringing up terrible images from the Swedish Champinships where I lost 4 games in a row (and 85 rating points) to the brute "keep my king in the center and just throw everything at poor Panzar's king". Am I already lost? At least he spent two tempi on that pawn move. That should help some. I spent like 30 minutes here. The threat of h5 is brutal. Maybe with a computer it's easy peasy but in a team game with the clock ticking... h5 looks insanely dangerous, as does h6 and g5, if rook h8 he could play h5-h6 and how fun is my rook now? I spent some time on the Rg8-Kf8-Ng7 setup but it looked thoroughly unconvincing. The queen, rook, knight and bishop are very strong. I found nothing I thought was good so decided to play...

12...cxd4

Well at least it seems he cannot immediately play h5 because dxc3 threatens the queen. Had that not been the case I'm sure he could just ignore that knight and play h5 directly.

13. Qxd4 Qb6

And this enabled me to develop the queen as well.

14. Qf4

I wasn't sure during the game if d2 was a better square for the queen. On f4 it is more aggressive but could also get entangled in his own pieces a bit.

14...dxe5

Threatning his queen to keep him from getting in h5. If Nxe5 Qc7 or b8 looks good.

15. Qg3

Felt like a good move during the game. h5 felt like a very dangerous move. Between his h4 and my next move I burned more than an hour on the clock. Again, h5 looks suicidal with his bishop ready to chop it off soon.

15...Qb8

First point is it defends my extra pawn which is nice. And more importantly against h5 I now have e4 challenging his queen. I could not find a better defence against h5 in the game.

16. Ng5

I was a little surprised about this move. It seemed wrong somehow.

16...h6

I was worried about h5 hxg5 Qxg5 I'm still not sure if it wins on the spot for white or if it's defendable for black.

17. Nh3

I was happy to see this move as I thought it was probably not his best choice. The knight now blocks the rook which gives me some breathing time. Enough that I thought I could get away with a move on the queenside.

17...Bb7

h5 looks less dangerous now with the rook file blocked by that knight. I guess my opponent agreed as he played...

18. 0-0-0 Ndf6

Or Nef6... while clearing the back rank was something I wanted to do it seemed more important to be able to move the knight on f6. If Nef6 that knight would be tied down to defending the other knight.

19. h5

Showtime. Let's see... what have I got? If g5 Nxg5 hxg5 Qxg5+ Kh7 he has Qf5+ is Kh8 an improvement? Looks dangerous. Also, I have burnt all but 20 minutes of my two hours and the time control is still 21 moves away. No time to look too long on each line. Nd6 takes away the f5 square from the queen but then hxg6 fxg6 he hasn't sacrifaced a piece and g6 looks apallingly weak. (Not to mention the pawns on the e-file now that I look at it afterwards.) Time to quickly play the move I had planned before.

19...e4 20. Qh4

Maybe there is an easy way to hold up his attack but I had been under pressure the whole game and was in mild time pressure now. I didn't spend too much time here but I figured getting his bishop off the board would be good for me and I didn't see anything forced winning for him.

20...Nxh5 21. Bxh5 gxh5 22. Qxe7

During the game I thought Qxh5 felt more dangerous but now I'm not sure.

22...Nf6 23. Qc5 Qc8 24. Qe3 Qf5

As I'm low on time I play a few moves quickly that looks reasonable. My queen is now better placed and the rook on a8 might finally get into the game at some point.

25. f3

Totally unexpected. I thought this move was terrible during the game and it doesn't look that good now either. I was expecting Ne2-g3. After this move I thought briefly about putting a rook on e8 but ended up taking the pawn.

25...exf3 26. gxf3 Kh7

I couldn't see anything horrible after Qxf3 but the knight on f6 looked a bit loose and with little time I decided not to invest any time looking at that move. Now I see that Rhg8+ Kh7 Qxf3 Bxf3 and Rdf1 looks bad for black. Bg4 doesn't lose a piece but it still looks pretty bad.

27.Rdf1 Rae8

There was no point to this move other than trying to make it to time control. I spent next to no time on it.

28. Qd3

Again, very surprising. I cannot believe this is good for white. I was expecting Qa7 or Qb6 or some such move. I spent very little time deciding to take the queen.

28...Qxd3 29. cxd3 Rc8

I'm sure I had better moves but with less than a minute per move until move 40 I went for the cheap tactic. :)

30. Kb1

Obviously he saw my threat of b4. But during the game I felt Kd2 would be better.

30...Rg8 31. Nf4

Playing this move my opponent offered me a draw. Asking the team captain if I could consider his draw offer he answered with "no, absolutely not!" so I never even evaluated the position. Looking at it now even if I think I am better I estimate there was probably a 50-50 chance I would have accepted his offer. Our times were him: 30 minutes left me: 9 minutes left.

31...Rc5 32. Ne4

I thought I had to take it. If Rf5 Nd6... my head is still spinning from the game, I cannot concentrate . Is Rxf4 just fine for black? Looks that way now. Anyway, I decided to take it and I'm still not sure if taking with the knight or bishop is better. On principle I want the bishop but can I then defend h5 and how active can I get the bishop to be with his pawns on f3 and e4? I decided I was probably not worse with knights left and an extra pawn.

32...Bxe4 33. fxe4 Rg7

With little time left I think I saw a ghost here. I figured Nxh5 Nxh5 and Rxg7+ was a threat but now it just seems to net me a piece... perhaps that rook could have gone somewhere better.

34. d4 Rc4 35. e5 Ne4 36. Rd1

Very little time left on the clock... did he just allow a fork? Let's just play it and see later.

36...Nf2 37. Nxh5

Tricky one. Did I just lose a pawn AND the exchange I thought I had won? After the time control I saw that Nxh1 Nxg7 Kxg7 Rxh1 Rxd4 might have been a possibility. At the time though, I had no time to spend contemplating.

37...Rg2 38. Nf6 Kg6 39.Rhg1

Almost at time control and have I played away any advantage I may have had? It sure felt that way. I had enough time left to see that Rxg1 Rxg1+ Kf5 ran into Rf2 so I quickly played...

39...Nxd1 40. Rxg2+ Kf5

So... having reached time control and gaining an extra hour on the clock it turns out this game will probably affect the outcome of the entire match. I was pretty sure I had played away one or more wins previously but I still felt I was probably slightly better due to the outside passed pawn and his king currently being cut off.

41. Rd2 Ne3 42. Rd3 Ng2 43. Nd7 Nf4 44. Rd2 Rc8

He was threatning Nc5 maybe trapping my rook. Maybe not. I decided to be catious.

45. Nc5

With a computer and a clear head I'm sure this position is very easy. With the clock ticking and the match riding on my game, having been under constant pressure all game I was somewhat dizzy and unable to calculate long variations at this point. a5 seemed to run into Nb7 still winning that pawn due to the fork on d6. I felt that running the h-pawn was probably winning so truth be told I hardly calculated at all playing the next two moves.

45...h5 46. b4

Another move I didn't understand at all.

46...h4 47. Nd3

Now I was pretty sure I was winning again. I just wasn't completely sure if Nxd3 was wining or if there was some hope for white. All rook endings are draws after all.

47...Nxd3 48. Rxd3 Ke4 49. Rh3

Worse than moving the rook backwards but I didn't see any way to stop me from winning now.

49...Rh8 50. Kc2 Kxd4 51. Rf3 Rh7 52. Kb3 h3 53. Rf1 h2 54. Rh1 Kxe5 55. a4 Rh3+ {white resigns} 0-1

The match overall? We won 4,5 - 3,5.


Spoiler :
Event "Swedish division 2"]
[Date "2008.11.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Terry Ericsson"]
[Black "Jan Persson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1640"]
[BlackElo "1567"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:3600"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 0-0 6. Be3 Nbd7 7. h3 c5 8. Qd2 a6 9. Bh6 b5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. e5 Ne8 12. h4 cxd4 13. Qxd4 Qb6 14. Qf4 dxe5 15. Qg3 Qb8 16. Ng5 h6 17. Nh3 Bb7 18. 0-0-0 Ndf6 19. h5 e4 20. Qh4 Nxh5 21. Bxh5 gxh5 22. Qxe7 Nf6 23. Qc5 Qc8 24. Qe3 Qf5 25. f3 exf3 26. gxf3 Kh7 27.Rdf1 Rae8 28. Qd3 Qxd3 29. cxd3 Rc8 30. Kb1 Rg8 31. Nf4 Rc5 32. Ne4 Bxe4 33. fxe4 Rg7 34. d4 Rc4 35. e5 Ne4 36. Rd1 Nf2 37. Nxh5 Rg2 38. Nf6 Kg6 39.Rhg1 Nxd1 40. Rxg2+ Kf5 41. Rd2 Ne3 42. Rd3 Ng2 43. Nd7 Nf4 44. Rd2 Rc8 45. Nc5 h5 46. b4 h4 47. Nd3 Nxd3 48. Rxd3 Ke4 49. Rh3 Rh8 50. Kc2 Kxd4 51. Rf3 Rh7 52. Kb3 h3 53. Rf1 h2 54. Rh1 Kxe5 55. a4 Rh3+ {white resigns} 0-1
 
Lone Wolf, you really got me with that comment in our second match. I was like "Huh?" for a few seconds, til I decided to just go and concentrate on my game.
 
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