I've looked over one of your recent games, this one to be exact:
And after reviewing it, I think the biggest flaw in your play right now is that you are either leaving your pieces vulnerable to being captured, or just hanging them. A hanging piece is an undefended piece that can be taken for free by your opponent. Especially at critical points in Chess games, hanging pieces can mean the difference between winning and losing.
To show this more clearly, here is one example of this in the aforementioned game:
When Black played ...Bd6, you ignored the threat and just played Bd3, which is an inaccuracy. This just allows Black to take your Bishop and gain a slight advantage. Maybe you were too focused on getting the London formation together and didn't see it? Either way, you left it hanging.
I've offered an alternative line that you could have played: if you instead played Bg3, then if Black still takes the Bishop with ...Bxg3, then you recapture with the pawn, and now the h-file is open for your Rook. You trade off equal material and retain a slight advantage.
Here's another example from the same game, and this one arguably cost you the game:
When Black played ...Ng5, forking your Rook and pawn, you tried to kick the Knight away with h4. This is a blunder because it leaves your Rook hanging. In that fork, Black likely had their eye on your Rook more so than your pawn, so it would have been better to move your Rook out of the way.
I've offered an alternative line for you again: if you had played Re3 instead, this moves the Rook out of danger and protects the h3 pawn as well. If Black uses the Knight to take that pawn with check, you can capture the Knight and retain your advantage.
So the main takeaway from this is that you need to work on your piece safety. Don't leave your pieces hanging, and don't leave your pieces with an inadequate defence. Here's a few ways you can work on this in your future games:
- Before you make a move, look at all of your pieces and see if any of them are currently under attack. If a piece is under attack, see if you can move it to a safer square or protect it with another piece.
- Before moving a piece to a square, be sure that you aren't going to move it somewhere where it can just be taken for free. Either move it to a defended square, or one that is not yet being attacked or defended by your opponent's pieces.
It will take some practice; I still hang pieces from time to time. But by taking the time to look at your moves and evaluate your positions more, you'll gradually start to learn where and how you should be moving your pieces.
Hope this helps!
- Logan
I've always known how the pieces work but since only recently have I actually started trying to get good at chess. I've learned a bit of the london system and watched youtube videos but I still can't win my 200 elo games. Can someone please look over my recent games and tell me what I'm doing wrong.