Here is the pgn (can be pasted to pgn-viewers like winboard with comments) with some of my suggestions:

[Event "Eastern Open"]
[Site "Washington USA"]
[Date "2003.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Specht,J"]
[Black "Sherzer,A"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2128"]
[BlackElo "2494"]
[ECO "C65"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. h3?!
{
6. c3 Bg4? 7. d4 +-
}
O-O 7. Bg5?!
{
7. c3
}
h6 8.Bh4?!
{
8. Be3=
}
g5 9. Bg3 Nh5
{
black has a nice active position
}
10. Kh2
{
other option was 10. Bh2
}
Qf6 11. c3
{
I like the thematic idea of 11. c3 but 11. Nc3 was an option
}
Nf4 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. d4 Bb6 14. a4 a5 15. Na3 Ba6 16. dxe5
{
opens some lines (good for black) but leaves black with a bad pawn structure (good for white)
}
dxe5 17. c4
{
17. Re1 was possible but I like the game continuation
}
Rad8
{
17.. Rfd8 might have been more accurate, leaving the a-rook to protect the weak a5-pawn
}
18. Qc2 Bd4 19. Rad1 c5 20. Qd2 Qb6 21. Bxf4 exf4
{
21.. gxf4 would leave the king too weak
}
22. Nxd4 Rxd4
{
other option was 22.. cxd4 with a passer but 22.. Rxd4 was maybe more active
}
23. Qc2 c6 24. Qe2
{
good because after c6 black queen cannot protect king's side so easily, so maybe h4+Qh5 is a threat (also on next couple of moves this idea might give some counter play)
}
Re8 25. Rxd4 cxd4 26. Rd1 Qc5 27. Qd3 Rd8 28. Ra1 Kg7 29. b3 Qe5 30. f3 h5 31. Rd1 Bc8 32. Nc2 c5 33. Ne1 g4
{
33.. f5 might have been better
}
34. Qd2 Qg5 35. Nd3 gxf3 36. Nxf4 Kh7 37. Nd5?!
{
first mistake after many accurate moves, 37. Nd3 was better
}
Qe5+ 38. g3 h4?
{
38.. Qe6 39. Nf4 Qxe4 kept the advantage
}
39. Qf4 Qxf4 40. gxf4?
{
40. Nxf4 with idea Nd3 was the best try
}
f5 41. e5 Kg7 42. Kg1 Kf7 43. Nf6
{
43. Kf2 was possible also, attacking f3.
}
Bb7 44. Kf2 Be4
{
44.. Bc6 was also good, but there is no hurry
}
45. Rd2 Ke7 46. Nd5+ Ke6 47. Nc7+ Kd7 48. Nb5
{
this protect the weak b-pawn from the rook but h3-pawn is now in danger
}
Rg8 49. Kf1 Rg2
{
most accurate was 49.. Rg3 but this also wins easily
}
50. Rxg2
{
50. Rf2 would have held few more moves but 50.. Rg3 51. Rh2 Rg2 -+
}
fxg2+ 51. Kf2 d3 52. Nc3 d2 0-1

Nice analysis Pogga

Some suggestions:

The first move that jumped into my head after 5. ...d6 was 6.Be3. If black takes the doubled pawn would control the sqaures f4 and d4, white would also get an open f file and get rid of black's bishop. What do you think?

I think 16.dxe was just bad. Black has the bishop pair so why open up the game? Besides black is better coordinated, look at the white pieces they have no good squares. So any opening of the position will benefit black. The doubled pawns on the queenside aren't really a weakness, there is no way to attack them. Moreover they cover important squares and give black an open b file to shoot at white's b pawn.

Let me know what you think, thanks

Thanks armis, I'm happy you liked it!



I like that move, especially because it's a safe choice against a very strong opponent. I also think my suggestion 6. c3 was good, both seem to be good alternatives to 6. h3.


I think you are right in that also, opening the position was dangerous. I have actually a little mistake in my analysis: I said 17. Re1 was another option but computer suggested that a move earlier (on move 16). There is likely other mistakes in the analysis also, because I didn't write lines down when I analyzed this, I just relied on my memory. Thanks for suggestions!

Hi poGGa! Thanks for the analysis. I'm working now, so I can't watch it, but I'll make sure to tomorrow morning

Argh this was a really great video. I typed up a really long response in a text editor, which crashed near the end while I was watching the video, so I lost everything

Anyways, I appreciated that you provided an overview of the Ruy Lopez lines and some opening explanation, since what little Ruy lopez theory I knew at the time has left my head.

Also I like your discussion of the small inaccuracies I make that allow my opponent to get a better position. You're definitely right that 6.c3 would've been much better than 6.h3 and that Bg5 was not a great move. I think I should've tried either 6.c3 or 6.Be3.

I'm glad i found accurate moves once I had a tough position! But, I completely missed Nd3. The knight would've been great on d3. Thanks for the idea!

The discussion of the ideas surrounding my decision to trade on e5 and play c4 was great (even thought my decision to trade on e5 in the game was far from great )

I had forgotten how complicated that endgame was. I'm pretty happy with my play overall (considering my opponent was a grandmaster).

Thanks for the analysis it was very in-depth and instructive!

I'm happy you liked it, I had fun going through this game.

very interesting poGGa!
Thx.