Disclaimer: I'm not very good at chess, leaving some personal notes here to try and get better.
Game 1
Against bot (level 1600). Countered Queen's Pawn with Queen's Pawn Opening: Chigorin Variation. Game outcome: win. Accuracy: 90.3%, ELO for game: 2250.
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| End of theory |
End of book opening. I chose to go for a Caro-Kann style wall. One bit I was confused about was when to take the bishop, I saw the nice doubled pawns but didn't want to give it the chance to play e5.
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| Move 8 |
I went for it once I realized that my wall was vulnerable to the black bishop, and I could create a mismatch. I think this was a good choice since it made white's white bishop useless for most of the game. After some exchanges the bot pushed its b-pawn and I was very confused on what to do:
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| Move 13 |
I was trying to think of what vulnerabilities to exploit. The a-pawn is undefended, and the c-pawn looked weak. But I was also worried about a continued push on the b-pawn. I eventually went Qd5 which attacked both the weak a-pawn and monitored the b-pawn but I wasn't sure at the time. The computer says a better move would have been Qd6, but I'm not sure why. I guess it puts presure on the f4 pawn (now White can't move the e-knight) and threatens Qa3 but with the linked d/c-pawns I'm not sure where else I could play from there. The next move I played re8 which the computer said was okay but it would have really preferred I move the knight out. I can see the fundamentals there, development and I can hop to f6 from there, which is a nice vantage point for the knight. Also we get the rooks connected. I think there's a lesson here, a move that has two development steps in one is better than one than sets up two attacks (especially in the middlegame where I really should be developed by then).
The bot blunders on move 16. From there, I make some suboptimal moves in the name of forcing exchanges since I'm up on material. Game over in a few more moves.
Lessons learned:
- Try to get rid of the color bishop your pawn structure is vulnerable to
- A move that has two development steps in one is better than one that sets up two attacks (material-gaining tactics aside of course)
PGN: (sorry for the bot comments lol)
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/computer/280819260"]
1. d4 {Not quite best by test, but not bad.} 1... c6 2. Nc3 {The blunders are
all there on the board, waiting to be made.} 2... d5 3. g3 Bf5 4. Bh3 {Don't
look now, but I'm up to something.} 4... Bg6 5. b4 Nf6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. e4 e6 {What
are you planning $2} 8. Rb1 {What are you planning $2} 8... Nxf4 {One step closer to
the endgame.} 9. gxf4 dxe4 10. Bg2 f5 11. Nce2 Be7 12. c3 O-O 13. b5 Qd5 14. a4
Re8 15. Qd2 Qc4 16. Rb4 Bxb4 17. cxb4 cxb5 18. axb5 Qxb5 {You're playing well.
I'm going to need to find some tricks.} 19. Nc3 Qd3 20. Bf1 Qxd2+ {I like
endgames anyway.} 21. Kxd2 {I'll take that one. Gracias $1} 21... Nc6 22. d5 exd5
23. b5 Nb4 24. Ke3 Rac8 25. Nce2 Red8 26. Nh3 d4+ {Oof. I'll get that king
safe.} 27. Nxd4 Rc3+ 28. Kd2 Rc2+ 29. Ke1 Rxd4 30. Ng5 Bh5 31. f3 h6 32. b6 axb6
33. Ne6 Rdd2 34. Rg1 Bxf3 35. Rxg7+ {Jaque $1} 35... Kh8 36. Be2 Bxe2 37. Kf2 Bc4+
{Uh oh. I'm starting to get worried.} 38. Kg3 Bxe6 39. Rxb7 e3 40. Rxb6 e2 41.
Rxe6 Rd1 42. Rxh6+ Kg7 43. Re6 e1=Q+ {Have a queen, if you can keep it.} 44.
Rxe1 Rxe1 45. Kh4 Rg1 46. h3 Rh2 47. Kh5 Rxh3# {Good game $1 I'm going to have to
study that one. Want to play again $2} 0-1
Game 2
Against bot (level 1600). I played a fairly aggressive Vienna opening, the Max Lange gambit. Outcome: win. Accuracy: 84.8%. ELO for game: 1700.
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| End of theory |
End of book opening. I like the Vienna game, it lets me play a little aggressive and opens up a lot of tactics very early on. I don't mind the doubled pawns in the exchange because I get the open f-file and a big dagger into Black's space. Eventually we get to this,
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| Move 14 |
I'm fairly happy with my development here, got stacked bishops, both knights out, castled and connected rooks. I was able to push Black around enough that they are relatively underdeveloped. I remember being pretty confused as to do what to do next. I overfixated on defending what I saw as vulnerabilities, namely the b-pawn and the e-pawn. I also spent a lot of time worrying about the pin on the knight and considered Qd3 to protect both the e- and b-pawns, but figured Bb5 would make me lose tempo. The computer recommends Ng5 which is a great tactic, it attacks the queen and threatens Nxf7, a great little tactic. However, I think I briefly considered it but I wasn't sure what would come next. Qg6 is forced, then maybe Bc4 to put pressure on that f-pawn? The computer suggests 14. Ng5 Be6 15. Qd3 bxc3, but I don't understand why you wouldn't just do Qg6. In fact the computer seems to loathe to move the Queen out of the way in the line. The alternative lines are also putting pressure on the Queen (e5) or backing up the two pawns (Bd3, similar to my Qd3 idea but better). I'm not sure that I would have been able to catch Ng5 even if I had taken it seriously due to being unable to calculate/understand why it leads to a good position, so my punishment shall be a bunch of puzzles to improve my calculation.
That was really the only head-scratcher in the game; eventually I got a nice pin:
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| Move 22 |
and then pressed the advantage with a discovered check and forced trades to strengthen the material imbalance. Game over after some endgame.
PGN:
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/computer/280844380"]
1. e4 {And we're off $1} 1... e5 2. Nc3 {An open game. Let's go $1} 2... Nc6 {The
blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made.} 3. f4 Bc5 4. fxe5 {One
step closer to the endgame.} 4... a6 5. Nf3 Bd4 {Don't look now, but I'm up to
something.} 6. Ne2 {What are you planning $2} 6... Bb6 7. d4 d5 8. exd6 cxd6 9.
Nc3 Qf6 10. Be3 Bd7 11. Be2 Ba5 12. Qd2 Nce7 13. O-O {You're playing well. I'm
going to need to find some tricks.} 13... Rb8 14. Rab1 Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Rc8 16. Qd3
Bb5 17. Qd2 Qg6 18. Bxb5+ {Oof. I'll get that king safe.} 18... axb5 19. Qd3 b4
20. Rbc1 f6 21. Qb5+ Nc6 22. d5 Qxe4 23. dxc6 Qxc6 24. Qxb4 Ra8 25. a3 Ra4 26.
Qb6 Ne7 27. Rfe1 Rc4 28. Re2 O-O 29. Qxc6 {I like endgames anyway.} 29... Nxc6
{I'll take that one. Gracias $1} 30. Rce1 Ra8 31. Bd2 Rxc2 32. Bc3 Rxc3 33. bxc3
d5 34. Re8+ Rxe8 35. Rxe8+ Kf7 36. Re1 f5 37. Ne5+ Kf6 38. Nxc6 bxc6 39. a4 d4
40. cxd4 f4 41. a5 Kg5 42. a6 h5 43. a7 g6 44. a8=Q {Have a queen, if you can
keep it.} 44... c5 45. Qd5+ Kh4 46. g3+ {Uh oh. I'm starting to get worried.}
46... Kg4 47. Kg2 f3+ {Jaque $1} 48. Qxf3+ Kg5 49. Re5+ Kh6 50. Qf4+ g5 51. Qf6+
Kh7 52. Re7+ Kg8 1-0
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