Chess Match: AvatarVecna vs. Lethologica

[Lethologica]

Knight b3 takes a1.

1. f3 e5
2. e4 Bc5
3. Ne2 Nc6
4. c3 d5
5. d3 Be6
6. b3 Nge7
7. c4 dxe4
8. dxe4 Qxd1
9. Kxd1 0-0-0+
10. Nd2 Nd4
11. Nc3 c6
12. a3 Nxb3
13. Ra2 Rd7
14. Ra1 Nxa1

[AvatarVecna]

King D1 to E1.

[Lethologica]

Knight a1 to c2, check.

1. f3 e5
2. e4 Bc5
3. Ne2 Nc6
4. c3 d5
5. d3 Be6
6. b3 Nge7
7. c4 dxe4
8. dxe4 Qxd1
9. Kxd1 0-0-0+
10. Nd2 Nd4
11. Nc3 c6
12. a3 Nxb3
13. Ra2 Rd7
14. Ra1 Nxa1
15. Ke1 Nc2+

[AvatarVecna]

King E1 to E2.

[Lethologica]

Rook h8 to d8.

1. f3 e5
2. e4 Bc5
3. Ne2 Nc6
4. c3 d5
5. d3 Be6
6. b3 Nge7
7. c4 dxe4
8. dxe4 Qxd1
9. Kxd1 0-0-0+
10. Nd2 Nd4
11. Nc3 c6
12. a3 Nxb3
13. Ra2 Rd7
14. Ra1 Nxa1
15. Ke1 Nc2+
16. Ke2 Rhd8

[AvatarVecna]

Knight D2 to B3.

[Lethologica]

Bishop e6 takes c4, checkmate.

1. f3 e5
2. e4 Bc5
3. Ne2 Nc6
4. c3 d5
5. d3 Be6
6. b3 Nge7
7. c4 dxe4
8. dxe4 Qxd1
9. Kxd1 0-0-0+
10. Nd2 Nd4
11. Nc3 c6
12. a3 Nxb3
13. Ra2 Rd7
14. Ra1 Nxa1
15. Ke1 Nc2+
16. Ke2 Rhd8
17. Nb3 Bxc4#

[AvatarVecna]

Indeed. Well done.

[Lethologica]

Good game. Let me know if you'd like to review.

[AvatarVecna]

*shrug*

It won't help, but it wouldn't hurt, I suppose. I also don't really think I'd be able to offer any particularly useful insights myself...but then, I doubt that's particularly surprising.

[Lethologica]

All right.

I started out thinking about attacking f2 after you opened with f3. Instead, the opening turned into a war over the d4 square, and I thought 5. d4 would have been a solid continuation. Either d3 and b3 would have been stronger as d4 or b4, challenging my developed pieces and gaining space and tempo. The game line made your position a bit cramped, and allowed me to develop freely without pressure on my position.

7. c4 weakened the dark squares, especially d4. I used my control over that square to pressure your position with my rook and knight. The a3 blunder gave me a solid material advantage to go with my more active pieces, and some unfortunate moves hastened the game's end. Instead of a3, perhaps 12. Na4 would have been a solid move to contest the dark squares.

I probably could have benefited from dxe4 for a while before I actually made the move. After 7. ...d5xe4 and 8. d3xe4, I missed a move: 8. ...Bc4-f2+ would have forced you to hang your queen. If you correctly take with the f pawn, that still might open up some kingside play for me with moves like ...Qf6.

If I were to make suggestions, they would be:

-Leave the f pawn alone for the first several moves of the game in most openings. Developing it can easily lead to weaknesses along the e1-h4 and g1-a7 diagonals.

-Allow your pieces to become active. Another weakness of f2-f3 is that it took the natural f3 square away from your kingside knight. In the game, the knight instead developed to e2 and trapped the bishop on f1. That bishop never contributed to your position as a result, and took away the option of castling.

-Identify moves you want to make, build towards them, and make them. Ne2 and c3 appeared to be building towards d4, and completing that sequence would have left you with a solid pawn center. It also wasn't clear whether you wanted to castle, and on which side--always an important consideration.

-Consider what moves your opponent wants to make and take them away. With ...e5, ...Bc5, and ...Nc6, I was focusing a lot of my development on the d4 square. A pawn on c3 is a strong hindrance to that. On the other hand, I didn't have strong control over the d5 square, and you didn't have much use for the d5 square. So moving 7. c4 benefited my position more than yours.

Those are my thoughts.

[AvatarVecna]

I started out thinking about attacking f2 after you opened with f3. Instead, the opening turned into a war over the d4 square, and I thought 5. d4 would have been a solid continuation. Either d3 and b3 would have been stronger as d4 or b4, challenging my developed pieces and gaining space and tempo. The game line made your position a bit cramped, and allowed me to develop freely without pressure on my position.

5. d4 seemed like it would result in a piece advantage for you, something I wanted to prevent in the earlier part of the game; in hindsight, it's easier to see that sacrificing a pawn for the extra space would've likely done me better, although by how much is pretty debatable, considering our relative skill levels. My biggest blunder in this regard was changing my mind about how I wanted my pawn structure to develop...halfway through developing it in a particular direction; the move or two I lost as part of the transition put me at a serious disadvantage even ignoring the space issues it created.

7. c4 weakened the dark squares, especially d4. I used my control over that square to pressure your position with my rook and knight. The a3 blunder gave me a solid material advantage to go with my more active pieces, and some unfortunate moves hastened the game's end. Instead of a3, perhaps 12. Na4 would have been a solid move to contest the dark squares.

At that point, I really should've just dedicated myself to D4, rather than looking elsewhere as I did, yeah. My recollection of conventional wisdom to avoid putting a knight on the edge made me dismiss the a4 move; although I'm less certain of its usefulness even in hindsight, I can certainly say it would've been better than the move I went with.

I don't suppose you'd be up to another game? I doubt it'll be any more interesting than the first, but hopefully I'll make at least a few less major mistakes. If so, would you like white or black?

[Lethologica]

d4 is not a sacrifice; it would have been attacked 3 times and defended 3 times. And ...dxe4 could be met with dxc5.

I'm down for another game. I'll take white this time.

Pawn d2-d4.

1. d4

[AvatarVecna]

d4 is not a sacrifice; it would have been attacked 3 times and defended 3 times. And ...dxe4 could be met with dxc5.

I'm down for another game. I'll take white this time.

Pawn d2-d4.

1. d4

Ah, I see what I'm missing: I'm putting the new move as move 4 instead of 5. My bad, once again.

Pawn E7 to E5.

1. d4 e5

[Lethologica]

That's a white pawn.

[AvatarVecna]

Fixed, sorry.

[Lethologica]

Pawn d4 takes e5.

1. d4 e5
2. dxe5

[AvatarVecna]

...I think I need to stop now. I'm not really used to playing by notation, and it's making me even worse than I already am. I'm sorry for wasting your time like this, and I appreciate you humoring me so far.

[Lethologica]

Okay, no worries.

[Bartmanhomer]

Great chess battle AvatarVecna and Lethologica. I watch the whole thing. I didn't want to interrupted your chess game. But I must admit this game is more better than Death Battle and Cartoon Fight Club. I'm battling both of you right now in the other thread that is.