Thanks, zeitnotakrobat, for the insights and ideas! Just to make sure I understand what you're saying about critical moments, let's make sure I understand the concept. Mostly based on my reading of Jeremy Silman, I think of a critical moment as being one of these game situations:

• Complex tactics are on the board, and require careful analysis.
• A candidate move that would change the nature of the imbalances is available. A positional sacrifice is an excellent example.
• A candidate move that appears to be a winning shot needs to be evaluated.
• A transition between phases of the game can take place. For example, should I trade queens and head for an endgame?

I agree that I should pay more attention to these moments in my analysis.

As for the specific moves and positions....

You suggest 15...Na6 as an alternative to 15...Nbd7 in the position below, and I must admit I never considered it.

The threat of bringing the bishop to f5 is much stronger after 15...Na6. I can't really explain why I didn't consider it, other than to note that my objective was to plant a knight on e4. But b4 looks like a better outpost, I agree.

In fact, if the maneuver Na6 - b4 is designed to get the bishop to f5, why bother playing 14...Bg4 at all? It would seem to waste a tempo. Instead, in this position...

...I could just play 14...Na6 right away. Then 15. Nf3 Nb4 16. Qa4 (16. Qb3 Bf5+ 17. Kh1 Nc2+ 18. Kb1 Nd4+ -+) Bf5+ 17. Kh1 Nd3 18. Bxd3 Bxd3 and white's position is about to dissolve.

With regard to the TonyPepperoni game: I had already criticized Be6 as an ineffective move in my original post, though not for the same reasons you did.

In fact, the pin on the e3 pin is an important tactical factor to consider, as you point out. And far better than the conventional 12...g5 that I analyzed in my post is your suggestion of 12...Bg4! The reason it works so well is that white has deviated in a couple of important ways from the standard plan (Be2 followed by 0-0):

1. On e2, the bishop would have prevented any pins on Nf3 and the e3 pawn. On d3 the bishop is not only playing bad defense, but it is also subject to a pin from Rd8.
2. He has delayed castling for an extra move by playing 12. a3, which means that the e3 pawn is still pinned. (And again the lack of a bishop on e2 is felt.)

Based on white's best candidate moves, black appears to be in great shape:

• 13. Qc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nd4! (as you point out) 15. Qd1 Nxf3 16. Qxf3 Rxd3 -=
• 13. 0-0 Ne5 -+ (the pinned Bd3 is about to drop)

I share your feelings about the position after 21. Ndb1

Now that white's pieces have been pushed into the corner by the attack on Nc3, it's time to attack on the kingside, I think. 21...Qg4 is worth considering, as it threatens 22....Nf3. It also defends the Ne5 from white's queen after 22. Qe4, and it threatens 22....Bf5 as well.

Very prompt reaction !

Well, what is a critical moment? I am not influenced by Silman's books (and must admit I never read a single one), they are not so popular in Europe.

In the TonyPepperoni game the position is critical because you have a lead in development for your sacrified pawn. If you don't find the right moves white can consolidate, being a pawn up. So you have to increase the pressure against appropriate targets.

In the other game you are a piece up and have to decide how to finish your opponent off. Na6 has several advantages there:
1) you can go to b4 or to e4 via c5 this means flexibility
2) as he cannot allow you to go to b4, it seems he has to play a3 which means the gain of time and you managed to delay his development. But a3 also weakens b3, in that case Nc5 to b3 is a new option.

Hope this is at least a bit clearer...

@zeitnotakrobat - Thanks for stopping by again, and for sharing the excellent insights!

After winning 9 straight blitz games, I was bound to fall victim to the "regression to mean." I do believe in analyzing blitz games; Kasparov evidently analyzed all his, and look where it got him! I don't think I'll really make it to the Chess Olympus, but I can learn about my blind spots, which show up most readily in the blitz format. Of course, the format is prone to ragged play, as you will notice.



1. B 2. B 3. B

4. B 5. W

My analysis:

1. Black has 2 problems:

• white has a little more space, and is threatening to gain more by pushing e4
• white has a big lead in development (3 pieces developed vs. 1; castled vs. not)

The right way to proceed is to get developed, then when the black army is ready and the king is safe, black can engage the battle fully. Thus a move like 8...Be7, followed by 9...0-0 and 10...Nbd7, is a good plan. In this blitz game, though, I was thinking only of the first problem, and played the pawn break 8...c5?. With a lead in development and the a4-e8 road to the king now open, white pounced immediately with 9. Bxb8 Qxb8 10. Qa4+ Nd7 11. Ne5 and my (black's) situation was precarious.

2. With annihilation on d7 threatened, black must protect his N. 11...Qd8 is the sensible way to do it, as it would avoid the tempo-losing 11....Qc7 12. Nb5 Qd8, and now 13. Nxd7! forces 13....Kxd7 (13....Qxd7 14. Nc7+ Kd8 15. Qxd7+ Kxd7 16. Nxa8). I unfortunately walked right into the trap and played 11...Qc7?.

3. White had just captured my knight on d7, so I had a decision to make: recapture with my king or my queen. I saw that 14...Qd7 would drop the exchange (similar to #2 above), so I played 14....Kxd7.

Astute readers will notice that I had a third option: 14....axb5 and black wins! Lesson: don't recapture automatically! (The difference from #2 above is that 13. Rc1 a6 has been interposed before the capture on d7.)

4. With the king's position quite precarious, black has to keep things as closed as possible and flee for his life. 22...Kg6 is called for, and black, though probably lost, is still alive. I played 22...e4 instead, and immediately regretted it after 23. f4! and black's position is melting down.

5. 27. Qc2+ (or Qd3+) leads to mate: 27...Kh5 28. Qf5+ Bg5 29. Rh4+ Kxh4 30. Qg4#. Mercifully, my flag dropped anyway.

I went astray against my opponent's Alekhine, and found myself down 2 pawns. I was almost certainly lost, but decided to put up the maximum resistance against my opponent anyway. After all, no one ever won a game by resigning! When my opponent made a tactical slip, I pounced, won a piece, and eventually the game. The endgame is particularly interesting, as my lone rook was able to defeat my opponent's 5 pawns.



1. W 2. W 3. W

4. W 5. B 6. W

7. W 8. W 9. W

My thoughts:

1. Black is trying to undermine white's center, and white has to choose between

1. exchanging on e6, which cuts back white's space advantage in the center but preserves it on the queenside, or
2. allowing black to exchange on d5, hoping to take advantage of black's isolani on d6.

I chose option (b) because it looked like a straightforward positional path to a plus. However, I didn't look far enough down the road; in fact, it allows black to bring his forces to life, and white never has the chance to attack the d6 pawn. The game continued 13. Nf3?! exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 and we get to the next diagram. Best was 13. dxe6, and then a game between 2 IMs continued 13...Qe7 14. Nf3 Nc5 15. f5 gxf5 16. exf7+ Rxf7 17. Bg5 Qe8 18. Nb5 +=.

2. White must be satisfied with a mild space advantage (15. cxd5 Nf6 16. 0-0 Re8 17. Bf2 Ne4 18. Bc4 =), but I chose to play against the d6 isolani with 15. Qxd5?!, which allowed 15....Nf6.

3. White must play 16. Qd1, and after 16...Re8 17. Bf2 Ne4 18. 0-0 we have equality. My choice, 16. Qd2?, drops a pawn after 16...Ne4! 17. Qd1 Qa5+ 18. Bd2 (18. Nd2 Bc3) Qb6 (threatening mate on f2) 19. c5 Nxc5

4. 23. Kf2 and white will work to blockade and/or capture the passed d pawn. Overlooking the potential fork on d3, I played 23. Bf3? Nd3+ 24. Kd1 Nxc1 25. Bxa8 Nxa2 -+.

5. Black needs to retreat his pieces to safety, regroup, and use his 2-pawn material advantage to win. 32....Be6 33. Kd3 Rc7 and black is ready to play a5, rescue the knight, and win the game. However, black wanted to land a knockout punch with 32...Nc3? 33. Ke3 Be6, but then after the fork 34. Kd3 it turns out that black was leading with his chin.

6. I saw that if I could force the Be6 to move, I could give mate with Re8. The only means I considered was Bd5, though--even though the pawn advance 37. f5! beckons on the other flank. For some reason I have a hard time seeing tactical pawn moves.... Anyway, after 37....gxf5 38. gxf5 Bxf5+ 39. Kb2 Rxc3 40. Kxc3 black is dead lost. 38...Bd7 also succumbs to 39. Kb2 Ra4 40. Re7 Bb5 41. Be2 Kf8 42. Bxb5 Kxe7 43. Bxa4.

7. Kb2 or Kd2? It's going to be 5 pawns against a rook, and I decided to centralize my king as much as possible with 43. Kd2. Then 43....Rc8 44. e8=Q+ Rxe8 45. Rxe8+ Kg7 the rook is able to capture that a/b pawns, and will also be able to pick up d pawn. From d2 the white king will be poised to stop the f and h pawns long enough to allow the rook to join and win the fight.

8. Mate is on the board after 56. Rh8 Kh3 57. Rh7 Kh2 58. Rxh4+ Kg1 59. Rh8 Kf1 60. Rh1#. There are other branches in the analysis, but they all end up basically the same way. I missed it, but fortunately after 56. Kxf4 white is still winning.

9. This time I found the knockout punch: 58. Ra2! and black resigns. Let's see why:

• 58....h2 59. Rh1#
• 58....Kh1 59. Kg3 and 60. Ra1# next move.
• 58....Kf1 59. Rh1#

A fun way to end the game.

Unfortunately, I didn't, and spoiled an otherwise decent game. I failed to examine my pawn structure for weaknesses that could be exploited by my opponent's knight. Instead, I glanced at the endgame, saw that the pawn structure was better for my bishop than my opponent's, and plunged ahead. Lemmings plunge ahead like that, too, and meet a similar fate. What good is my superior pawn structure if it disappears under the hooves of a rampaging, hostile knight? Alas...

Missed an opportunity to play the Tarrasch via move transposition, drats! The opening was an Anglo-Indian.



1. B 2. B 3. B

4. B

My analysis:

1. In this roughly equal position I played 19...a4 in order to close the queenside, and thus move the focus of play to the kingside, where I had a little bit of a space advantage.

2. I have some difficulty seeing dynamic pawn moves, which I proved by overlooking the very strong 26...d3! 27. Qa2 (Qxd3 e4! -+ [another dynamic pawn move]) Qd7 28. Kg2 e4 29. Nd4 Bxd4 39. c6 Qd6 40. exd4 Qxd4, winning a pawn. I quickly evaluated 26...d3, but didn't see the follow-up, probably because I wasn't seeing the coordination between the e pawn and the Re8.

3. This is truly a critical moment: keep the queens on the board, or enter a markedly different minor piece endgame? Glancing at the colors on which the queenside pawns were fixed, I thought that trading queens via 32...Qd8 would lead to an advantageous endgame in which the wall of pawns would hem in white's dark-squared bishop. However, that is not at all the case:

• My b5 pawn would be very weak, and would have to be defended by a knight on a7. Talk about knights on the rim being grim!
• White's queenside pawns are far enough advanced to allow his bishop some breathing room. On the other hand, the e5 pawn is truly an impediment to black's bishop. I was hoping to be able to advance it to e4, but white's knight never let that happen.

Thus I needed to keep the queens on the board, and improve the position of my most inactive piece. While the bishop is for the moment has little elbow room, the knight is even worse. So 26...Ne7, swinging the knight toward c6, is called for.

4. The knight is maneuvering to devour my b5 pawn, and I must find a defense. 27...Ne7 followed by Nc6-a7, as unpalatable as it is, is the only hope. After securing the b5 pawn, I can then look for ways to improve my bishop's activity, kingside pawn structure, or king's activity. Not seeing the threat to my b5 pawn, I looked to improve my bishop's scope with 27...Bc7 followed (eventually) by e4. Not a bad idea, per se, but certainly not the need of the moment. Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and flatman was looking to improve his bishop's scope while the b5 pawn was about to topple!

The rest of the game is really uninteresting, so it shall pass without further comment.

You can read dozens of articles, including many on this site, about how to deal with your own time pressure. But what should you be trying to do when you have adequate time, but your opponent does not? I faced that situation in my most recent FICS game. By playing the von Hennig - Schara Gambit as black I acquired many dynamic possibilities, but after missing a couple of tactical shots, my attack was gone and I was just down a piece.

However, my opponent was almost out of time, and we were playing with a 10 second increment. So my plan was fairly simple:

1. Keep as many pieces on the board as possible; more pieces = more complexity = more thinking time needed.
2. Give your opponent as many problems to solve as possible.
3. Failing that, give you opponent as many options as possible. If he he has only one good (and obvious) move, he can move rapidly, but if there are several different reasonable moves to choose from, he may try to weigh them all. Which takes time.
4. Take enough time to fully implement this strategy. This doesn't mean you should move slowly, or spend long thinks concocting elaborate plans. If your opponent sees that you are not just blitzing almost randomly, though, he may be afraid of making a mistake that you can jump on. Which means he will have to take time to exercise caution.

I will review some tactics in my next post. In the meanwhile, here is the game in which I swindled my opponent through zeitnot pressure.

These are from the game in my previous post.

1. B 2. B 3. B

4. W

My analysis:

1. This is a critical position for black, as white is still vulnerable--king in the center, knight c3 is pinned. But if he can castle next move, his position will improve substantially. As it so happens, black can strike a winning blow on just the 13th move: 13....Ba3!, undermining the pinned knight's defense. If 14. 0-0 black wins at least the exchange by 14....Bxb2. If 14. Rb1, black wins quickly by 14....Bxb2 15. Rxb2 Qxc3+ 16. Rd2 Bxh3!

I considered 13....Bb4 in order to pile up on the pinned c3 knight, but after 14. 0-0 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Qxc3 17. Qxf7, black has little dynamic compensation for his gambitt pawn. Not seeing 13...Ba3, I chose 13....Ne5 14. Qg3 h5, which isn't a bad plan for a kingside initiative but not nearly as convincing as 13...Ba3, of course.

It is worth pointing out that Ba3 continued to be the best possible move for a while, but I continued not to notice it.

2. White has continued to play somewhat dubiously; 15. f4?! was particularly questionable, as it weakened e3 just to chase the black knight. Since white is still on the verge of consolidating if black merely defends f7, it is vital to strike immediately at white's weaknesses. Black accomplished this by playing 18...Bc4! I wasn't quite sure how I would continue after 19. Nxf7, but it seemed that with the king in the middle and e3 so weak, the move just had to be right.

3. So white has continued 19. Nxf7, threatening further material gains while diverting black from the attack. I was looking for a way to strike a decisive blow, but after 19...Rhe8 20. Nxd8 Rxe3+ 21. Kd2 Re2+ 22. Qxe2 Bxe2 23. Kxe2 Kxd8 black has little attacking potential to compensate for the material deficit of Q vs. 2R + P. As a result I played 19...Bxe3, thinking I would win after 20. Qxe3 Rhe8 with a winning pin. Or so I thought; after white played 20. Qxe3, I realized that white responds to 20....Rhe8?? with 21. Nd6+, which concludes with white up a rook. So I played 20....Bh5, hoping to get a pin on the Q after 21. Nxh8. We'll investigate this line in the next diagram.

In the meanwhile, the winning blow was 19...Rd3!, attacking the weak pawn from the 3d rank instead of from the e file (which was where my attention was focused). White is lost indeed:

• 20. 0-0 Bxe3 -+
• 20. Nd6+ Rxd6 -+
• 20. Nxh8 Rxd6+ 21. Kf1 Qa6+ (the move I missed) 22. Kg1 Rxc3 discovering a pin on the queen and winning. Alternatively, 21. Kd2 Rxc3! and next is either a devastating discovered check or a quick mate.

4. As mentioned previously, I was hoping for 21. Nxh8 Re8 22. Qxe8 Bxe8 and the knight on h8 is trapped. However, white found 21. Qe6+! Kb8 22. Qe5+ Qxe5 23. Nxe5 +-.

In this Alekhine, I made an inferior move coming out of the opening, then blundered away a couple of pawns. Rather than resign, I fought for activity, posed some problems to my opponent, and jumped on a blunder to give checkmate when he went astray. As you examine these positions, perhaps you will see the appalling error that both of the players missed.



Key moments:

1. W 2. W 3. B

4. W 5. B 6. W

My analysis:

1. Black wants to play the pawn break ...d5 in the near future. A good way to delay black's plan is to play 9. b3, which makes black's pieces uncoordinated after 9....d5 10. c5 Nd7. Black could continue 9...Bf5 instead, of course; the point is to prevent black's strongest moves. However, I played the routine 9. 0-0?!, after which 9...d5! 10. c5 Nc4 (not possible with a pawn on b3) and black has active play.

2. Material is equal but white's pawns are an awful mess. The move that makes the most sense here is 22. Kg2, which allows the king to protect the h3 and f3 pawns, and in turn allows the white queen to adopt a more active role. Impatiently seeking immediate activity, I instead played 22. Rd7?, which would have been fine if black had just cooperated by playing 22...Rxd7. Unfortunately, black was not feeling cooperative!

3. 22....f5! cuts off the line of communication between the white Q and R, allowing black to gain some tempi to grab some pawns. I tried to maintain as much activity as possible by 23. Qd4, but after 23...Qxh3+ 24. Kg1 Rxd7 25. Qxd7 Qxf3 I was in a world of hurt, down 2 pawns.

4. White must prevent ...f3 to stay alive, and has 2 ways to do it:

1. 33. f3 (which gives luft to the white king)
2. 33. Rg1 (harassing the queen and threatening Qxg7#)

Since Rg1 looked more active, I chose that path...and I was gravely mistaken. (You will see why next diagram!) So 33. f3 was the move to make here.

5. Black could have announced mate in 4 with 33....Qh4+ 34. Kg2 f3+ 35. Kf1 Qc4+ 36. Ke1 Qe2#. Fortunately for me, he did not see it, and played Qh5+ 34. Kg2 f3+ 35. Kf1 Qh3+ 36. Ke1 Qe6+ 37. Kd1 Qe2+ 38. Kc1 g6 instead.

Note well, chess players: make sure you calculate forcing lines all the way to their end! I and my opponent did not, which caused both of us to miss a mating pattern.

6. White can defend and maintain tension by playing 39. Rh1 h4 (the only reasonable way to prevent mate on h7) 40. Rh2. In this position the weakness of black's king makes the path to victory difficult to achieve. For example, should he go pawn-grabbing with 40...Qxa2, white has the tricky 41. Qd6, threatening the Rf8 and the g6 pawn. And if black tries to defend both via 41...Rg8??, white prevails by 42. Rxh5+!

• 42... gxh5 43. Qh6#
• 42... Kg2 43. Qe7+ Qf7 44. Rh7+! Kxh7 45. Qxf7+ +- You should pay attention to this pattern for luring a king away from a piece it is defending, if you are not familiar with it.

41...Qg8 is also unsatisfactory because of 42. Rxh5+! gxh5 43. Qh6+ Qh7 44. Qxf8+ =. Consequently 41....Qf7 is probably best, but after 42. c6 there is plenty of play left on the board.

As it turns out, I played the simplistic 39. Qd6 instead, which threatens mate in one but is easily defended. In one of those miracles that only happens in chess and in the final inning of a Little League baseball game, though, black quickly replied by grabbing the f2 pawn with 39....Qxf2??, after which 40. Qxf8# suddenly brought the curtains down.

Until very recently my chess style has been materialistic. It's not that I would never try to seize an initiative or play for mate; it's just that I would rarely even consider investing some material in the enterprise. But as I have been working on complex tactics at chesstempo.com and studying grandmaster games, I have started to "see" that dynamic factors like inroads for an attack or well-coordinated pieces can be more important than material.

I've noticed that I'm starting to consider possible sacrifices during games, almost involuntarily. In other words, I'm looking at a position, and the idea of sac'ing a knight on f7 or a bishop on g6 will just pop into my mind. Never happened before!

In a game I played yesterday--blitz, no less--I saw that a sacrifice could open up some deadly lines of attack, and went for it. Without a doubt, I wouldn't have played the continuation six months ago, as I would not have even noticed the possibility. So yes, keep studying those grandmaster games and those tactics: you might occasionally notice a nugget of gold in one of your games, a nugget you would have previously overlooked.

The final stroke in this game is my best tactical shot ever, so enjoy!



1. W 2. W 3. W

4. W 5. W

My analysis:

1. I'm playing the King's Indian Attack against the French Defense, and already on the 4th move we are in uncharted waters. I chose 4. d4 in order to claim more central space, but the result was simply that my opponent was able to enter a version of the Advanced variation with more dynamic possibilities (due to my wasted tempo). Better is 4. Be3, when black should not exchange on e3 because of the strong center white obtains. And if black moves the bishop, he just loses a tempo himself.

2. With the black K and Q and 2 minors on the c file, white must do everything in his power to open the file and create havoc on it. Thus 17. c4 is the move of the moment. Even though it closes off the activity of his c5 bishop, black should have replied 17...d4. Instead he chose to counterattack on the kingside with 17...g5, which was premature. He needed to stabilize the center before starting a king hunt.

3. I have put my rooks on open central files, I have a target on d5, and black's situation on the c file is looking rather dubious. On the other hand, a black storm is gathering on the king side. What should I do?

I saw that a6 was somewhat vulnerable, as Bxa6 bxa6 would leave the Nc6 undefended. However, 23. Bxa6 bxa6 24. Qxa6+ Qb7 was unconvincing; for example, 25. Qxb7+ Kxb7 26. Nxd5 Bxf2 and white's attack is floundering. Then it struck me like a thunderbolt from the blue: start with 23. Nxd5 first! The point is to force the light-squared bishop to a vulnerable position and open the d file for action.

4. What's another piece when you can pry open your opponent's defense? 24. Bxa6! and black is lost, even though white has just offered a second piece. Let's analyze:

• 24...bxa6 25. Rxd5 (rather than the "automatic" Qxa6+) and black is going to drop at least one more piece on the c file and lose the cover for his king....and be down 2 pawns to boot. He could try to minimize the material loss with 25...Bxf2, but then the devastating 26. Rxc6+ Kb8 27. Qxa6 and black's position is hopeless.
• 24....Be6 25. Qb5! bxa6 (25...Kb8 26. Rxc5 Qd7 27. Bxb7 Qxb7 28. Qxc6 +-) 26. Qxc6+ Kb8 27. Rxc5 +- (white is up 2 pawns with an attack)

Even though the above 2 lines leave black down 2 pawns and defending against a ferocious attack, either would have been better than the line he chose: 24...Bxg2+ 25. Kxg2 bxa6 26. Qxa6+ Kc7.

5. It looks like black has weathered the attack and emerged with a material advantage. Although his king seems somewhat exposed and his position seems a bit shaky, he looks to have all his vulnerabilities protected enough.

Of course White could play the routine 27. Qb5 here, pick up the Bc5 and win the resulting endgame. But a sacrificial combination deserves a better finish than this...

Suddenly, another thunderbolt: 27. Rd6!! This powerful move combines 3 tactical motifs:

• Interference: The R cuts off the Qe7's defense of the Bc5. So an attempt to protect the Nc6 with, for example, 27....Qe8 fails to the simple 28. Rxc5.
• Pin: The Bc5 is pinned because of the alignment of the Rc1, the Nc6, and the Kc7. For example, 27...Bxd6 28. Rxc6+ Kd7 29. Qb7+ Ke8 30. Rc8+ Qd8 31. Rxd8+ Kxd8 32. exd6 with mate in 2.
• Piling on: The Nc6 is now threatened by 2 pieces that can combine for a powerful mating attack, instead of just the Qa6. In the game black tried to undo the interference and the pin by playing 27....Qxe5, but after 28. Rxc6+ he was facing a quick ruin. 28...Kd7 29. Qb7+ Ke8 30. Rc8# is mate; 28....Kd8 29. Qc8+ Ke7 30. Qb7+ Ke8 31. Rc8 is a slightly slower mate; and 28...Kb8 29. Qb5+ Ka8 30. Ra6+ Ba7 31. Qxe5 drops the queen.

While black was mulling over these unpalatable choices his flag dropped, but the game was already decided anyway.

I wish I played this way every game! I don't think I'll ever reach the grandmaster level (would be pretty hard for me, a 50 year old father and gainfully employed software architect), but if I keep working I think I can uncover a few more gold nuggets.

Huh? How could having a winning position be dangerous? In today's game, I saw that I had a strong advantage, and started telling myself I was just going to develop my attack and my opponent would collapse. I had a lot of emotion rolling down Cruise-To-Victory Lane, let me tell you. And it led to my demise.

The problem was that I gave only a cursory analysis to my opponent's desperation counterattack. "I can withstand it easily," I thought. Famous last words. Indeed, I could have, but I needed to do some real analysis to accomplish the goal.

The odd thing is, just a couple of days ago I had read IM Bryan Smith's excellent description of the dangers of overconfidence in his article on Over- and Underestimation. I read it, but maybe I didn't grasp it.

Lesson: when you feel like you're winning, take a moment to tell yourself something like this:

"The game isn't going to win itself; I have to work hard on both offense and defense all the way to the end."

The game was a Levitsky Attack:



1. B 2. B 3. B

4. W 5. B 6. B

My analysis:

1. Probably the best plan here was to play 8....Ne7, then Qc7, Nd7 and castle long. With almost no thought I grabbed the king and moved it to f7, though. Moving impetuously is *not* a good habit!

2. Here's where I was thinking lovely thoughts about my position. Indeed, white's pieces are far more passive than their black counterparts...black owns the c file...the white king is at greater risk than blacks. The a4 pawn was looking vulnerable, so I decided to go after it.

How to do so? Well, the knight is poorly placed and needs a job, so why not use it? Thus I moved 21...Rc4?! in order to make room on Nc7 - a8 - b6. Of course, this allows white to consolidate with 22. Qd3, and if 22...Qxa4?? the simple pawn fork 23. b3 wins. So it was not a good choice.

And it wasn't even necessary to move the rooks; the knight can reach b6 by the route b8 - d7 - b6. Don't waste tempi in a sharp position!

3. Here's where the superficial analysis bit me. I quickly saw 23...g5 24. h6 Rh8! and black is on top, and played it on the spot. But of course white is not obliged to plunge headlong over the cliff with 24. h6. Doh! 23....gxh5 24. Rxh5 is much better, since white still needs a few tempi to launch his attack, but in the meanwhile black can attack on the opposite wing.

4. White demonstrates the folly of black's lazy thinking with 24. Qd3!, and suddenly the black kingside is looking quite vulnerable.

5. Black's in trouble, but probably his best chance is 25....R4c6 26. gxf5 exf5 27. Qxf5+ Rf6 28. Qxg5 Qxa4. White's attack looks more dangerous, but black is still alive and has counterchances. Instead, I tried a defensive sac 25....Rc3?!, but after 26. Nxc3 bxc3 27. Re2 Qb4 28. Qb5! my attack was over and I was down the exchange.

6. I was thinking about using the weak bank-rank with 37....Na2+, but after 38. Kb1 Rc1+ white simply grabs the knight with 39. Kxa2. The analysis engine at ficsgames suggests 37....Na2+ anyway, because after 38. Kb1 Nb4! black is threatening both mate and a repetition (via 39. Kc1 Na2+, etc.). Thus 37...Na2+ 38. Kb1 Nb4 39. Re1 Rd2 and now black is threatening perpetual check along the second rank, so 40. Rc1 d4! and the threat of d3 looms. (40....Rxf2 41. Rb7 Rf4 is also worth considering.)

hey, you appear to be interested in getting better with your chess. If I can be of help please feel free: http://chesstrainingschool.com/

my contact info is there, any questions I will answer them.

Charles

Thanks for the offer, Charles; it looks like you have an interesting training program. Personally, I feel a great measure of gratitude towards Dennis Monokroussos for all of his helpful (free!) material that he publishes, so I would probably seek him out for a few lessons if that's what I were looking for.

(In fact I would love to get some lessons, but with my daughter headed off to college this fall I'm pinching every penny at the moment. Maybe in about four years... )

Having done a lot of work on ChessTempo.com and Chess Tactics Trainer, I drop a piece (or overlook an opponent's hanging piece) only very rarely. So what's the problem?

Pawns, pawns, pawns. I haven't calculated it scientifically, but my gut feeling is that 2/3, if not more, of the tactical mistakes that make me lose games involve the loss of a pawn. But how many of the tactics on the tactics servers involve snatching (or saving) pawns? Small wonder that I overlook the pawn tactics!

So if the servers are focusing on the bigger game, how can I practice the small-potato tactics that are frequently the cause of my downfall? Ideas, anyone?

In a blitz game, my opponent played an offbeat Spanish. I was able to gain a nice little edge, maneuvered my opponent into a bad bishop, and he cracked. In a completely winning endgame, though, I lost the thread and the game.

On the positive side, I decided not to over-respect my opponent's ranking (around 200 points greater than mine). For a moment I felt a bit intimidated, but then I just decided I would play my best chess, and make him bend to my will (if I could). My lack of endgame technique ultimately cost me the point, but I feel like the game indicates I've made some progress anyway.



1. W 2. W 3. W

4. W 5. W 6. w



My analysis:

1. Black is not counterattacking the e4 pawn, so it's time to build a central space advantage with 4. c3.

2. The book continuation is apparently 9. h5 Nh4, but I thought the anti-knight strategy of 9. g3 would make it hard for black to find a good plan. Which is in fact what happened!

3. Here I played 10. d5 in order to leave black with an uncomfortable bishop (central pawns fixed on its color) as well as a space disadvantage.

4. Trading off the queens with 14. Qa4+ Qd7 (otherwise black's king is stuck in the middle) 15. Qxd7 Kxd7 16. Ke3 brings white closer to the favorable endgame he's dreaming of.

5. 24. Nfg5+ and white wins a pawn without conceding any counterplay. Play continued 24....Bxg5+ 25. hxg5 h4 26. Rxd6+ Rxd6 27. Rxd6+ Ke7 28. gxh4 Nxh4 29. Rxc6 and white had a lovely 2 pawn advantage.

6. White's N is beautifully placed in the center, so of course I should have protected it with 32. f3. If 32...Nh4 then 33. Rxa6 Nxf3 34. Nd6+ Kg8 (Ke6/g6 35. Nb5+ +-; Ke7 35. Nf5+ +-[fork]; Kf8 35. Ra8+ Ke7 36. Nf5+ +-) 35. g6 Kf8 36. Ra8+ Ke7 35. Nf5+ +-.

I missed the opportunity to clinch the win, and played the far weaker 32. Rxa6 Rxc4+ 33. Kb4. It didn't throw away the advantage completely, but it made winning a good bit harder.