I was wondering why only rob was replying... Good game I think that's the first I've seen where two knights control a diagonal hehe

P.S. Were you able to get to sleep? Also ensomnia probably isn't the best time for chess play lol

Dilon

First of all, great game. I especially liked how you controlled that whole diagonal with the knights. And like I said in my journal, I like playing against you as it gives good practice against the hyper-modern ideas you like so much, which I NEVER get to see at my level from people on FICS. Mostly people around 12-1400 there just play either standard games or have some stupid little trick that works the first time people see it and then they refuse to ever play you ever again.

I'm glad to hear you think I handled the opening alright, once again this is something I really hadn't seen before so I just kind of winged it. I did a lot (as you said) to try and keep you from playing e4 that was pretty much my main focus of the opening. I now see that Nc6 was kind of funky as playing c5 would have been nice first and that pawn was stuck there for the entire game, but I wanted to prepare for e5 and since I don't know much opening theory I didn't know how to turn what you played into other systems.

11... Nd8 I knew it was kind of odd looking when I did it, but I didn't want to take with the other knight as I was worried you'd play Ne4 and I'd have no way to dislodge it. I thought I was only giving up one pawn at the time, soon found out it was two and that I really need to pay more attention to exchanges.

13. ...Nxd5 I'm still kicking myself for that move. I think that was the first real mistake I made. (you could argue that the pawn sac's were to gain activity or some such) What I WANTED to do was play Ng4 here. I thought you saw that I was threatening some ugly things on your kingside with that and that was why you moved your knight there. I didn't even know that knights could control a full diagonal like that, and was duly surprised when I realized that's what happened and that I was going to lose that bishop. ('He was so young and beautiful!")

I think that would have looked something like 13... Ng4 14. Nxg4 Bxg4 (pinning the knight to the queen and blocking your g2 bishop. But all of this leads to more exchanges and bein' two pawns up I don't think it would have worked that well, but still better than what happened.

19. Rxe8# I never even paid attention to that rook, one of my major shortcomings is that I'll forget about pieces that are out of the action for a while.

Good game, a lot of fun and I look forward to playing you again soon.

13 Knxf7
14 Bxf6

seems decisive... significant advantage

Lol, indeed, playing during insomnia does really strange things to your chess.

After 11...Nd8?? White has a huge edge, but after 12. Nxe5 Qf5 I strongly recommend 13. Qf3! consolidating and making threats on the diagonal. But 13. Ndf3?! Nxd5?? 14. Nd4! worked very well during the game!

Black thought quite a long time on move 14, since everything seems to lose two pieces... you missed 14...Qg5 15. Bxh3+ Kc8 16. Nd7+ winning the e8-rook. Granted, at 3am that's really hard to find.
(On 14...Qg5 15. Bxh3+ Ne6, 16. Nxf7! wins a rook and maybe even the e6-knight.) You were right, "Taking a piece with tempo has got to be good," -- it's really hard to improve on that!

Well, it was a fun game, but I might not recommend the double-fianchetto in future games. Thanks for posting it!

Writing BKildahl to express my appreciation for your commentary. The commentary, the thinking aloud, provides me with insight, both "OK, If I do this, then he does that," as well as "why did he do that?" Such commentary lends itself to building confidence in the quiet world of chess contemplation. This, and I appreciate your side notes (I.e. "My cat is mewing outside, and I may need to let her in.")

I built my meager rating on the back of the French and Dutch figuring correctly, that my opponents at novice level would be bewildered. How I managed to win so many games in Reno without this sort of resource and experience is equally bewildering. Many years back I started a chess club ("En Passant") in Riverside Ca. thinking that lively discussion of play would ensue. Play did, discussion did not.

Thanks again. As time permits I'll be watching more of your videos.

Bear

Thanks for the kind words, Ursus.

Is your club still going? I can definitely sympathize with you on the anti-social behavior of some players. I used to play at a club in Massachusetts, and though I met many nice people, they were far from social butterflies!

Good luck in your games!