Wartime streak, Day 1: Loss (1539-1495)
Today's game was against one GHayrumyan, rated 1522 out of Armenia. On move two I was already cursing my opponent for playing a loony opening, even though I knew it to be better for me. When all was said and done, GH emerged the winner. Chess.com's Game Review slapped me with an accuracy score of 48.1 -- the lowest I can remember getting for a game. There was a time when a loss like today's would haunt me or lead to a tilt spiral, but now I welcome it as a necessary part of the growth process.
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| Position 1: Black to move |
Assigned the black pieces, I replied to White's 1.d4 with 1...Nf6. Then came 2.b4 and I replied 2...e6, attacking White's awkward b-pawn. White defended with 3.c3, and I pushed 3...d5. 4.a3 was another puzzling move, and I replied 4...a5. White surprised again with 5.Qa4+, and I counterattacked with 5...Bd7. White blocked my attack with 6.b5, and for the next few moves the computer insists I should have played ...c5 -- but I didn't like the idea of my c-pawn getting en-passanted by White's b-pawn, and I still don't understand why 6...c5 was the best move. I understand 6.b5 hampered my knight's development, but how would the knight be helped by 6...c5? Instead, I prepared to castle with 6...Be7. After White's 7.Bg5, my advantage stood at -1.25 -- but again only if I played 7...c5. I pushed 7...b6, and after 8.e3 0-0 9.c4 Ne4 the eval bar stood at -0.16.
White initiated an exchange of dark-square bishes with 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 and developed his light-square bish with 11.Bd3. I sought to exploit my lead in development to expand in the center with 11...f5, and White prepared to castle with 12.Nc3. Again, seeing as White was still uncastled I sought aggressive play and initiated a pawn exchange with 12...dxc4 13.Bxc4. Again attacking I targeted White's pawn on e3 with 13...f4, but White ignored and castled with 14.0-0. I needed to involve my b8-knight in the game but was still reluctant to exchange my c-pawn for White's b-pawn, which left rocking my bish back as the only move: 14...Bc8. White set up a battery pointing at my double-defended pawn on e6 with 15.Qb3, and I attacked White's queen with 15...a4. White rocked the queen back with 16.Qa2, maintaining the battery, and at last I attacked White's b-pawn with 16...c6. White double-defended with 17.Qb2, and I double-attacked with 17...Ra5. White attacked my undefended knight on e4 with 18.Bd3, and I counterattacked White's knight with 18...Ng5. White moved the knight with 19.e5 such that it joined the attack on my c6-pawn, and finally I chopped White's b-pawn with 19...cxb5. White recaptured with 20.Bxb5, and the eval bar flipped from +1.35 to -1.54. It swung back to +1.11 after I played 20...fxe3.
1. Why did I choose 20...fxe3?
In the sequence I foresaw, White's king ended up on f1 and my queen could give a check from f8. I didn't have a plan for what to do next, but at least White would have less pieces on the board.
2. Why is my move not ideal?
White's best move after 20...fxe3 was 21.Nc3, double-attacking my pawn on a4 and connecting rooks. Since my pawn was only once-defended, at the very least I should have attacked White's bish on b5 with 21...Ba6. The engine says White is winning after 22.Bxa6 Rxa6 23.Nd2, but at least in the short-term material would remain equal.
3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top move was 20...f3. White's best continuation would be 21.Nd2, but that's not the kind of move a human would play. A human would chop with either 21.Nxf3 or 21.gxf3 or advance 21.g3. If 21.Nxf3 then 21...Nxf3+, and after 22.gxf3 Black's best move is 22...Qg5+ forcing 23.Kh1, and Black can chop with 23...Rxb5. If 21.gxf3 then 21...Nxf3+, and after 22.Nxf3 Black's best move is 22...Rxf3 followed by 23...Bb7. Lastly, if 21.g3 then 21...Nh3+ forcing 22.Kh1, and Black has a tactic with 22...Rxb5 because after 23.Qxb5 Black has a skewer with 23...Ba6.
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| Position 2: Black to move |
The game continued 21.fxg3, whereupon I initiated an exchange of rooks with 21...Rxf1 and 22.Bxf1. Expecting White to recapture with 22.Kxf1, I needed to come up with a new plan. White's queen was discovered-attacking my undefended pawn on b6, but I still wanted that check to f1 with my queen, and 22...Ba6 was a way to accomplish that. White, however, ignored and developed with 23.Nd2, and now he had three ways to recapture on f1. I nonetheless chopped with 23...Bxf1, and White chopped back with 24.Rxf1. I pushed 24...b5 to defend the pawn, and White threatened a fork with 25.Rc1. 25...Qb7 was a prophylactic defense against the fork, whereupon White attacked my rook with 26.Qb4. 26...Ra6 was actually a relief since at least now my rook had horizontal scope. White's 27.Rc5 double-attacked my pawn on b5, but it also threatened a discovered attack on my undefended g5-knight. After 27...Rb6, double-defending my b5-pawn, White's 28.h4 basically forced 28...Nf7, and after 29.Nf3 the eval bar showed -0.53. It sunk to +1.89 after my 29...Nd6, and White went on to grow his advantage from there.
1. Why did I choose 29...Nd6?
My two major pieces were stuck double-defending my b5-pawn. 29...Nd6 brought in reinforcement and freed up a defender.
2. Why is my move not ideal?
Three of White's four pieces were in attacking positions, and 29...Nd6 allowed White's rear knight to become the fourth attacking piece. My pieces, meanwhile, were passively oriented.
3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
I make it a point to remind myself before and during games to scour the board for forks, pins and discovered attacks, but I missed that 29...Na6 was a fork on White's rook and queen.
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| Position 3: Black to move |
If this game could be distilled down to one moment where my misunderstanding of the position cost me the game, it would be move 6, shown above. Since I didn't agree with the engine's insistence on pushing my c-pawn to challenge White's clamp on my queenside, I've enlisted the aid of Google Gemini to revisit the position.
1. Why did I choose 6...Be7?
Having developed my kingside knight on move 1, 6...Be7 prepared castling kingside.
2. Why is my move not ideal?
White's 6.b5 took away my queenside knight's most natural development square. Addressing that should have been my top priority.
3. Why is the better move better than my chosen move?
The engine's top three moves are 6...Ne4, 6...c6 and 6...c5. The point of 6...Ne4 is presumably to reroute the knight to d6, where it would be a second attacker targeting White's b5-pawn. Google Gemini explains the point of 6...c6 three ways:
a. White's b5-pawn is a squatter and the soul of White's position. 6...c6 forces the issue, as White has to either trade pawns or mobilize a defender.
b. If White trades with 7.bxc6, I recapture with the knight, winning back the crucial c6-square.
c. White wasted time establishing his pawn on b5. Trading my more central c-pawn for White's flank b-pawn, while seemingly a capitulation, is advantageous because Black would benefit from a meaningful lead in development.
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