Hey,

I have played a game with a stronger opponent, I was Black.

I was Pawn Up and immediately White played a passive move thats what I thought, And I didn't analysed the position well, Result:- Blacks strong position and Pawn Up advantage got collapsed with just one move.



Pls comment on Blacks response after 16. Nc6 & 17. Nxd5 and suggest your alternatives.

For PGN click here:

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Put your feet up comfy. Have a nice single malt handy. Ready? OK, read on.


Makes no difference to me whether you were playing Mr patzeresque or Magnus Carlsen in this game, as I would say the same - you beat yourself.
What happened to the guy playing game three? Did he take the slow boat to China?

It makes no difference who you play or what opening you play, you still must obey the chess basics. Yes, you new what to do with a certain bishop. True, you put her majesty the queen to some good use. Certainly you could enter your knights for the next series of Strictly come dancing. Your Steven Seagal pawns were years away from needing hair dye. With these pieces you did ever so well, but wait, oh yeah, hang on - that's ONLY half your army.
The rooks ( funny ashtray looking things in the corners ) did not exist. Kings bishop was yelling " remember me, please remember me ", right through to the end. The King ( poor thing ) must have been in shock from about move twelve, Forever after dreaming of ruby slippers.

9...cxd4 Why? White gets c3 for his knight. What did you get?
11...h6 patzer move. Your plan is titled ' looking for a free lunch '. ( hint, there is always a cost ).
12...g5 win a pawn, win a pawn the little foot solders shout. No no no shouts the king - but nobody hears. ( That crappy white squared bishop locked in by it's own pawns has a wry smile forming )
14..Qxd4 why not? Am I missing something profound in suggesting the most obvious move on the board?
16..Nc6 Was there a scary tactic? I want to know why the knight ran away please.
18...h5 doh! Listen....I can just hear....reme...m..ber...m..e. Maybe I'm just hearing things - forget it. Even a sixth rank for queen clearance cum knight hugging king move 18...Ne7 could save the day. ( try saying that last sentence after a few of those single malts )

Whatever the reason for the manner of this game - we will look on it as a blip. Had your plan worked and everything went rosy, you will still have played....ok, better stop-kids might be reading this.

( sorry, I have been feeling like utter crap for days and my humour is the only thing keeping me going )

I understand the reasoning behind cxd4, you want to free your dark squared bishop, however this isnt the way to do it.

In this advanced French. Some useful manoeuvres can be Ne7 to f5. also a move like f6 is useful. you want to keep attacking the white centre.

As for the moves you spoke of.
16.Nc6 I'm not sure of this move. I think you are concerned with Na4 distracting the queen. but on Na4 you can play Qb5. and then Bxd4 Nxd4 Qxd4?? Qxf1#

I prefer the idea of 0-0-0 followed by Bg7/Be7 and f6 to break up the white centre.

Keep posting games it is interesting to read your analysis and see you play.

Pobble: Pls find my comments below ..

Jtixs: Pls find my comments..

0-0-0 isn't far fetched. An attack on the c-file by itself is not dangerous in this structure. ...Kb8 and show me!

Thanks for reminding me - not.

The only time I've ever lost to a woman was the first time I had black in an Advance French. I castled by adding two extra zero's to it. ( the 4th was on my score card ) c-file bah. Got to admit Susan killed me. Worse she made sure it got published. Yuck.

Kartha, your logic about preventing c4 does not convince me. I really think best would just be keep developing and get your king safe that way. White's queen is not in a comfy position should the centre open.

Regarding move 14..Qxd4 it is by far the best move. It is also the only logical move. Think about it. What is the point of being materially up? Up material dictates the plan of heading towards a position where material difference is enough to win - the endgame! 14..Qxd4 wins a pawn and offers the exchange of queens, which is a big problem for white.

You did not lose because you missed a tactic, you were always going to miss a tactic playing like you did. As I always used to say when coaching ' this guy was playing for an accident '.

i've just spent about 2 hours on the advance french looking at the different plans for black, and 0-0-0 does happen quite often. obviously it is situational but I have to agree with zibbit than in this case the c-file isn't a huge weakness.

Zibbit: After castling Long and moving King to Kb8. if you see White already started Pawn push towards Blacks Queen side. Once pawn reaches Blacks pawns and if it can open any one file a or b with White Rooks The game can be easily win.

Please clarify, in case my understanding is wrong.

Pobble: Pls find my comments.

Jtixs: Pls find my comments.