Hi
It doesn't seem like you need much help. You won both games right? I think the obvious way to play is to develop your pieces - as you did - and take advantage that your opponent is undeveloped.
Steve
How to play against all pawn opening
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In the first game, you're playing fine, you don't need a better way to beat your opponent- most of your first moves are practically spot on.
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9. d5?? loses you a piece for a pawn (although your opponent doesn't see it until later). Then you recover via moves 10 and 11, which is excellent.
But then you mess it up again with 13. O-O-O?? 13. h4 would have saved your piece.
In your notes for move 17, you say 'Qc5 better?' I'll assume you mean Qc4 or Qd5, as Qc5 loses the queen (dxc5) in which case both these moves would have been slightly better.
Move 19, 'Qa5 better?', no, Qb3 is good.
22. Kb2? Preferrable would have been Qxd6, winning a pawn. After Bxe3 fxe3 whatever black plays 24. Nb6 and you're piling on the pressure. (This possibility still exists on move 23.)
On move 24, you have a chance for an advantage but don't use it- instead you play Qxd6, good a move ago but not so much now. Better would have been 24. Bxf4 exf4 and then 25. Qxd6, where white has a slight advantage.
Move 26, black has just played Rg8? and now you have another chance for an advantage- if you had ignored your pawn, and gone for Nc5 or Nb6, threatening to win a knight and putting black in all kinds of trouble. Black then plays Rg6? so again, Nc5 or Nb6.
As you say, 28. Rxh2 is a serious blunder, Qd3 is much preferrable.
31. Nc5? You needed to neutralise that e-pawn via fxe4. Your opponent later capitalises on this mistake (though he doesn't do it very well). After Qc7, you put the knight back where it was- this piece had the perfect opportunity to capture on e4 also!
33. Bg5? This move doesn't do anything. Better was Bh6, forcing your opponents response to defend the knight.
35. Rg8? loses to Rxa4. If you recapture, black has a mating attack (albeit perhaps hard to spot): 36... Qb6+ 37. Kc1 Qd4 38. Rxf8+ Nxf8 39. Kb1 Qb4+ 40. Kc1 Qa3+ 41. Kb1 Rb6+ 42. Ka1 then Qb2# or Qc3#.
37... Qd4+ 38. c3 Perhaps your opponent is getting cocky now, for here is when his rather large advantage starts to drain away.
39. Ka3?? You would've had a much easier time of it if you had played the simple Bxd2, capturing his queen with your bishop! In fact, Ka3 is a massive blunder, leading to another mate: 39... Rxa4+ 40. Kxa4 Qxa2+ 41. Kb5 Qxb3+ 42. Kxa5 Qd5+ 43. Kb4 Rb6+ 44. Ka4 Qa8#
42. R1xf2? This move actually would have lost you a bishop if your opponent had captured with either rook.
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Not sure if you wanted analysis of a whole game, but there you go. My advice is, to counter it how you ARE countering it- there is nothing wrong with how you're playing. Sorry that I don't have time to look over the second game.
nytik,
wow thanks! I appreciate your full game analysis very much indeed!
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9. d5?? loses you a piece for a pawn (although your opponent doesn't see it until later). Then you recover via moves 10 and 11, which is excellent.
But then you mess it up again with 13. O-O-O?? 13. h4 would have saved your piece.
******** Glad you pointed this out. It reminds me how often I miss pins
In your notes for move 17, you say 'Qc5 better?' I'll assume you mean Qc4 or Qd5, as Qc5 loses the queen (dxc5) in which case both these moves would have been slightly better.
******** I meant Qc6 to maintain the knight pin
Move 19, 'Qa5 better?', no, Qb3 is good.
22. Kb2? Preferrable would have been Qxd6, winning a pawn. After Bxe3 fxe3 whatever black plays 24. Nb6 and you're piling on the pressure. (This possibility still exists on move 23.)
******** wow this is great!
On move 24, you have a chance for an advantage but don't use it- instead you play Qxd6, good a move ago but not so much now. Better would have been 24. Bxf4 exf4 and then 25. Qxd6, where white has a slight advantage.
Move 26, black has just played Rg8? and now you have another chance for an advantage- if you had ignored your pawn, and gone for Nc5 or Nb6, threatening to win a knight and putting black in all kinds of trouble. Black then plays Rg6? so again, Nc5 or Nb6.
As you say, 28. Rxh2 is a serious blunder, Qd3 is much preferrable.
31. Nc5? You needed to neutralise that e-pawn via fxe4. Your opponent later capitalises on this mistake (though he doesn't do it very well). After Qc7, you put the knight back where it was- this piece had the perfect opportunity to capture on e4 also!
******I meant to note that I had no idea what to do when I made that move. No idea how I missed fxe4. I paniced when the Queen came out.
33. Bg5? This move doesn't do anything. Better was Bh6, forcing your opponents response to defend the knight.
35. Rg8? loses to Rxa4. If you recapture, black has a mating attack (albeit perhaps hard to spot): 36... Qb6+ 37. Kc1 Qd4 38. Rxf8+ Nxf8 39. Kb1 Qb4+ 40. Kc1 Qa3+ 41. Kb1 Rb6+ 42. Ka1 then Qb2# or Qc3#.
******What should have I done instead?
37... Qd4+ 38. c3 Perhaps your opponent is getting cocky now, for here is when his rather large advantage starts to drain away.
39. Ka3?? You would've had a much easier time of it if you had played the simple Bxd2, capturing his queen with your bishop! In fact, Ka3 is a massive blunder, leading to another mate: 39... Rxa4+ 40. Kxa4 Qxa2+ 41. Kb5 Qxb3+ 42. Kxa5 Qd5+ 43. Kb4 Rb6+ 44. Ka4 Qa8#
******Yes. I didnt even see the possible queen capture until move 40
42. R1xf2? This move actually would have lost you a bishop if your opponent had captured with either rook.
******I thought I had no hope at this point still. I moved in desperation to elminate a rook
Apr 17, 2009
0
#5
Right, so I'll try to have a go at your second game. My first impression is that here also your overall setup is perfectly ok, so you don't have to worry too much about the way your opponent treated the opening.
Some thoughts:
6...e4 gains space and is supposed to fix your opponent's light-squared weaknesses. As you aren't very well developed yet, however, you will not be able to maintain that kind of bind or use the light squares - that is, if your opponent doesn't help you like he did in the game. Therefore I would prefer a normal developing move: 6...Be6, 6...Nf6, 6...Be7 or 6...g6 with the intention of Bg7 all look fine to me.
I like 12...Nxb4+, when White's only chance not to be a queen down goes 13.d3 Nxc2 14.dxc4 Nxa1 15.Nd2. I think it is unlikely you will find a way to extricate the knight, but after something like 15...Nc2 16.Kd1 Nxa3 you are an exchange and two pawns up with a better position.
But in fact there is nothing wrong with your move either, only that you need to find the correct escape route for your brave horse: 13...Nd3 opens the way back to e5. I suppose you feared 14.Bf1, but needlessly so, as after 14...Nb2+ 15.Qxb2 Qxf1+ 16.Kc2 you can adress the threat of c4 by 16...Bg7 or even go on snatching material with 16...Qxg1 17.c4 Qxh2 18.Qxh8 Ne7.
After 13...Nb3 there is no way out.
18...0-0-0: castling long into the open file may look risky, but should be perfectly ok given the insecure position of White's king.
20...bxa6: opening your king's position like that was not at all necessary, instead 20...b6 kept all lines closed. Mark that your light squares are in no immediate danger, as the variation 21.Qf2 Bd7 22.Qf3 Bc6 shows.
The tactical hand to hand fighting which ensues is quite complicated, and I think I would need more time than I have on my hands to analyse it in a way which is really useful, but let me point out one last opportunity:
27...Rb4 is a forced win: 28.Qxh8 Rb1+ 29.Ke2 Qd3+ 30.Kf2 Qe3+ 31.Kg2 Rxf1#
A pity that in the ensuing struggle your opponent's attack got strong enough to cost you the queen, but still I don't think your win was so undeserved as you seem to consider it.
Quite a wild game, keep up the good work!
12 ....knight x c1is blunder but if it will be Nxb4 then white queen looses
If your opponent keeps pushing pawns in the opening then just follow basic opening principles. Control the center, develop your pieces to active squares and get castled as soon as possible. You don't need to do anything special in the first few moves. After you've castled open the center to make use of your superior development and to create threats against your opponent's uncastled King.
I recently played the same opponent twice and each time he almost moved all his pawns before developing any of the back pieces. As I new player I try to develop my back pieces as soon as I can and never move any piece twice before moving the rest but these pawn moves quickly have me confused and on the defensive.
because my opponent made blunders in both these games I won by luck. I would really like some advice on how to approach these type of games in the future.