for my first match against Mathew it was a very interesting game with many intriguing turns with many controversial moves i would have been rather foolish not to accept, given the position/material + of a Pawn, albeit isolated, doubled. And, your 2 B's vs my 2 Kn's. However, I am not sure that the Bishop pair is any advantage in this Pawn structure. Have never played 2 B's vs 2 Kn's in an endgame that I can recall. Nonetheless, Black has no opportunities to better himself, given the lack of a complete blunder on White's part, and I do not believe that will occur. So, I accept your gracious offer, given that I am unproven here, Black, and lower rated.
Mathew, thank you for being a good and conversational opponent. I wish you well in the other games here and will be pulling for you.
For the next games i decided to take my skill online and i played against an anonymous player c However, one-sided games can contain some instructive value, as the viewer gets to see one side’s strategy play out perfectly. The present game also gave me a chance to test Avrukh's Slave Repertoire. Even though my opponent deviated from theory quite early, I was able to apply a few of the ideas that were recommended by Avrukh in other variations.
The concept of “learning ideas instead of memorizing moves” has become rather a hackneyed phrase, usually associated with products such as chess DVDs, and books that place less emphasis on detailed analysis than the GM Repertoire series. However, I have often found my general understanding has been elevated by studying high-level opening books. (Not just from Quality Chess; the “Opening According to Kramnik/Anand” books from Chess Stars also spring to mind.)
Alan Jelfs (1922) – Andrew Greet (2485) D15
Glasgow, 04.03.2014
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 a6 6.b3
My opponent was obviously not familiar with this particular set-up with the pawn on a6 and bishop on f5, and he chooses an innocuous reply.
6…e6 7.Bd3 Bd6!?
I decided to leave the bishop to be taken, as the change in the pawn structure would make the game more interesting.
A decent alternative is: 7…Bb4 8.Qc2 (8.Bb2 Qa5) 8…Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Black has won a tempo and is doing fine.
8.Bxf5
Interestingly, about a month later I reached the same position against the same opponent. On that occasion he avoided exchanging on f5 but made the strategic error of blocking the centre with c4-c5. It was a strange attempt to improve, and I won quickly.
8…exf5
During the game, I remembered that one of Avrukh’s lines featured a similar position, but with the white knight still on g1, which gave him the option of putting the queen on f3 and knight on e2 to challenge Black’s central pawns. (I have since checked and found the line on page 57 of GM 17.) Here there is no such plan, and I already assessed my position as slightly preferable.
and for one of my last games i played a game that was up and down. I was better, but overplayed my position and at the end I was even a bit worse. But with neither player having more than a minute, a draw was agreed. e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 0-0 10.c4 Bd6 11.g3 Nxe4 12.Rc1 Be5 13.Nf3 d6 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qd4 Nf6
The most important thing i have learnt from playing all these different games is one of the most well-known principle when you are way ahead in a game is to trade pieces, but I have found it's more accurately stated:
For the next games i decided to take my skill online and i played against an anonymous player c However, one-sided games can contain some instructive value, as the viewer gets to see one side’s strategy play out perfectly. The present game also gave me a chance to test Avrukh's Slave Repertoire. Even though my opponent deviated from theory quite early, I was able to apply a few of the ideas that were recommended by Avrukh in other variations.
The concept of “learning ideas instead of memorizing moves” has become rather a hackneyed phrase, usually associated with products such as chess DVDs, and books that place less emphasis on detailed analysis than the GM Repertoire series. However, I have often found my general understanding has been elevated by studying high-level opening books. (Not just from Quality Chess; the “Opening According to Kramnik/Anand” books from Chess Stars also spring to mind.)
Alan Jelfs (1922) – Andrew Greet (2485) D15
Glasgow, 04.03.2014
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 a6 6.b3
My opponent was obviously not familiar with this particular set-up with the pawn on a6 and bishop on f5, and he chooses an innocuous reply.
6…e6 7.Bd3 Bd6!?
I decided to leave the bishop to be taken, as the change in the pawn structure would make the game more interesting.
A decent alternative is: 7…Bb4 8.Qc2 (8.Bb2 Qa5) 8…Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Black has won a tempo and is doing fine.
8.Bxf5
Interestingly, about a month later I reached the same position against the same opponent. On that occasion he avoided exchanging on f5 but made the strategic error of blocking the centre with c4-c5. It was a strange attempt to improve, and I won quickly.
8…exf5
During the game, I remembered that one of Avrukh’s lines featured a similar position, but with the white knight still on g1, which gave him the option of putting the queen on f3 and knight on e2 to challenge Black’s central pawns. (I have since checked and found the line on page 57 of GM 17.) Here there is no such plan, and I already assessed my position as slightly preferable.
and for one of my last games i played a game that was up and down. I was better, but overplayed my position and at the end I was even a bit worse. But with neither player having more than a minute, a draw was agreed. e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 0-0 10.c4 Bd6 11.g3 Nxe4 12.Rc1 Be5 13.Nf3 d6 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qd4 Nf6
The most important thing i have learnt from playing all these different games is one of the most well-known principle when you are way ahead in a game is to trade pieces, but I have found it's more accurately stated:
Make fair trades of pieces but not necessarily pawns.
However, trading pieces, IMHO, is not the single most important principle to follow when you're winning easily; it's not even the second most important. In my mind, here are the big six:
- Think Defense First - I often get misquoted that this means "Play defensively" but that's quite different. I discuss the difference in the column
- KISS - Keep it Simple. Complications always favor the player who is losing, unless the one ahead is a top computer.
- Make fair trades of pieces, not necessarily pawns
- Make sure you are using all your pieces all the time - it's like you are on a hockey power play
- Don't worry about the little things, e.g., if you are ahead a knight and can force the trade of queens but it will double your pawns, double away.
- [Bonus] Avoid unnecessary time trouble. For example, if you win a knight with 40 minutes left on your clock in a sudden death time control, aim to have about 5 minutes left at the end of the game, not the normal "almost zero".
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