Game 2

Ok I think I may just post 1 game a night- no promises though. This game is vs a rated 1818 player. Give your thoughts and feedback.

The most unsure part of the game i had was how to proceed after castling. c5 definately seems like was the way to go and I missed it. Anyways, here's the game.

Fantastic post. In bed right on cusp of sleep but will take a look tomorrow. Much easier to read now.

Well, i don't see the point for white to castle short ??!
Just asking for trouble in my opinion.

There is no way the center will fall soon, not to talk about the queenside, which is virtually blocked. White should put his king there.

This 22. o-o is simply very bad.

Talking about the opening, i often prefer to fianchetto both my bishops in this kind of games, bacause i noticed it forces the fight in the center, and you can favorably exchange white dark square good bishop against Nf6.

Also {Bd7, Nc6} and {Bg7, Nf6} alltogether is a good setting.

I think white's 22nd move was his best option. Fritz suggests O-O as his best move. If white doesnt castle then black just keeps tension on f file reroutes his pieces to help on kingside attack.. ie Qd8-Qc7 & Rg8 even possibly dbling rooks since the queenside play is completely locked. And at any time black may open queenside attack with b6. Meanwhile white's position is completely cramped.

When white castles he connects his rooks and can prepare himself by rerouting his light squared bishop to the queenside by Bd1-Bb3 with attacking chances. I think white can defend his kings position just fine after castling and exf4 in this case he just did it poorly.

Code:


FEN: r1b2qk1/1p5n/1Qp1r2p/p1Pp2pB/3Ppp2/P3P2P/1P1N1PP1/1R2K2R w K - 0 1

Rybka 2.3.2a 32-bit:
 5  +0.10  00 Nh7f6
 6  +0.04  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2
 7  0.00  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Re6e7
 8  -0.05  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Re6e7 h3h4
 9  -0.16  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Re6e7 e3xf4 g5xf4 Kg1h1
 9  -0.14  h3h4 Re6e7 Bh5g6 f4xe3 f2xe3 Ra8a6 Qb6b3
10  -0.17  h3h4 Re6e7 Bh5g6 f4xe3 f2xe3 g5xh4 Rh1xh4 Nh7f6 Rh4f4
10  -0.16  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Re6e7 e3xf4 g5xf4 Kg1h1 Bc8f5
11  -0.26  00 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Re6e7 Kg1h2 Bc8f5 Rb1c1 Qf8b8
11  -0.16  h3h4 Re6e7 Bh5g6 f4xe3 f2xe3 g5xh4 Rh1xh4 Nh7f6 Rh4f4 Re7g7
12  -0.25  h3h4 Re6e7 h4xg5 Nh7xg5 Rb1c1 Ng5e6 g2g3 f4xe3 f2xe3 Qf8f5 g3g4 Qf5g5
13  -0.22  h3h4 Re6e7 Bh5e2 Bc8f5 Rb1d1 Qf8g7 Nd2f1 Nh7f6 h4xg5 Qg7xg5 e3xf4 Qg5xg2
14  -0.26  h3h4 Re6e7 Bh5e2 Bc8f5 Rb1d1 Qf8g7 Nd2f1 Nh7f6 h4xg5 Qg7xg5 e3xf4 Qg5xg2 Rh1xh6 Nf6g4
14  -0.22  Qb6b3 Re6e7 Ke1d1 a5a4 Qb3c3 Bc8f5 Rb1c1 Nh7f6 Bh5e2 Ra8b8 Kd1c2
15  -0.18  Qb6b3 Re6e7 Ke1d1 a5a4 Qb3c3 Bc8f5 Bh5e2 f4xe3 Qc3xe3 Bf5g6 h3h4 Re7f7 h4h5


Well, i agree for the reloçcation of the bishop, but i still think O-O is not the best option. So i put the position on engine analysis, and first O-O is considered, then h3h4 with king staying in the center, and finally after longer analysis Qb3 followed by Ke1d1 is achieved.

So you can see, that the retreat of the white king on the queenside offer good perspectives, because it's not easy for you to breakthrough.
Of course Fritz could be able to defend well O-O with sharp tactics, but for an human, long term strategical advantage like the safety of the queenside is better since white will be less subject to mistakes.

This is why i like ICS course, before i was too much focusing on short term tactics, like the O-O move, but now i see more the interest of the pawn structure and the consequences. Here the pawn structure is stable and queenside is relatively safe, so my king should go there.
How i will do later, i don't know, but you can put confidence in it, without worrying too much calculating the lines, while O-O require immediate attention to avoid being crushed, like it happens in the game for your opponent.