I just wanted to clarify that in the game I mentioned that black played 31...Raf8. This is a mistake, black actually played 31...Rgf8. So keep that in mind when you're watching my analysis. It doesn't affect things too much, but it is important.

TO CLARIFY: the position is wrong from move 31 and forward since it is supposed to be Rgf8 and not Rdf8 and the f5 pawn was always guarded. Also I was never in time trouble, rather the opposite. So I can't blame the Rxe5 possibilty for my opponent on this. The mistakes were not made by JoshSpecht but by me when I gave the moves.


Anyway, thank you Josh for the very instructive comments on the game.

I really like your alternatives if white would have played 5.cxd There were some nice complications there and the line with 3 pawns for the piece is really interesting, although I think white stands well developed and I actually think his shatterd pawns makes his pieces more active in this position, but if there is a way for black to get developed he might be well off there.

Ironically the position with b5 was the move that I used the least time on and instead should have really gave it a good thought since I actually reckoned with b5 as a candidate. Unfortunetly I only looked at b5,Qb3 and ended there. I don't know why, it's not very good. I should force myself to think for a couple of more moves instead of disregarding a candidate right away.

One question I have is, if you would have got the position with the b5 possibility yourself in one of your games. How long do you think you would take on figuring everything out? How would you force yourself to do it?

Once again, thanks for a nice video!

SJplayer

It's hard to say how long I would take if I was in the same position and calculating b5. I think they key though is to check everything fully. There's a balance between saving time by never re-checking analysis and repeatedly calculating the same variations. The one thing I'd say is, if you generally play quickly, don't worry about slowing down a bit. Don't be afraid to use your clock. Now if you're constantly getting into time pressure I wouldn't advocate this course, but it sounds like this isn't the case.

Also it sounds like you might need to calculate a bit deeper before judging candidate moves. Simply your move and then black's reply isn't generally enough to evaluate a move. Try to go at least one move deeper and you'll be better able to evaluate the position.

Hope that helps.