That was a fun game to watch.

I was looking at Nxe6 during the game too. It seems pretty killer. My computer points out that it also works a move earlier: 11..Bxe4 12.Nxe6! fxe6 13.Bxd7+ Qxd7 (13..Ke7 14.Ba3#) 14.Rf8+

Yeah, I started to fret about that too and was relieved when he didn't go for it. OTOH, he didn't have to because I was hell-bent on proving what a first-class knucklehead I am later in the game. It sucks to lose a game through a blitz/patzer oversight like that but I guess if I continue to lose games that way, maybe eventually, I'll wise up Detroitman punished my greed with a lot of pressure and of course, that was a major factor in me cracking up. It was an enjoyable game- just wished it had lasted longer. Congrats to Detroitman for his well-deserved win!

gg. it was interesting to hear your thought process on preparation for the game. I did look at some of your games also and knew you played these queens fianchetto lines. I didnt really prepare but I knew it would be easier and more flexible to start off with d4. As far as the game it seems like you have a decent advantage the first 5 moves. like qh4+ and bc5 and just killing me on the dark squares. the dark squares were basically your advantage. You could probably just develop normally and just destroy me on d4 and c5. I wasn't comfortable at the beginning. When you traded away your dark square bishop I knew i could stir up an offense because i will be castled and have many lines for my pieces + 2 bishops. Nf6 i believe falls to rxf6 then qxe4. ....Bxe4 isnt totally losing but it gives me a way easier game as i can just create threat after threat. Ba3 really sealed the deal because its no way your king is leaving the center and my rooks are right there to jump in with the two bishops and that is just too much to defend. GG.

Thanks Detroitman- FWIW, f3 is perhaps not the best reply to the QB Fianchetto due to the move I played ...d5!? which was a line that either Spassky or Ivanov found (can't remember) - IM Andrew Martin recommended it as a spirited response. Too bad it was one of the last good moves I played in the game . I haven't had a chance to analyse the game yet but your analysis seems spot-on. Good luck with the rest of the tournament!

Firstly, thanks for sharing what was a quick loss. Those are always painful, but you took it with very good humor I thought. OK, so I'm probably going to be super-critical, hope you don't mind.

I thought you played the first 8 moves well and were fine. As you pointed out, Bc5 is a great resource- so why did you take that resource away with 9...Nd7 (which blocks the queen's control of d4)? If 9...Nc6 I think black is fine.

After that, you broke the opening rules: don't pawn-grab unless you are better developed! I think black is objectively lost after grabbing on e4- white's development is easy and threats are just going to snowball as detroitman points out.

I think your and Detroitman's analyses of my errors is correct. I seem to have developed a habit of throwing away my good bishops for pennies on the pound that I'm going to have to undevelop. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment- I always appreciate the feedback.

"He is attacking my rook in the corner ... my queen protects it atm"
14...Qc7 *ouch*
Damn!...position looked quite interesting. Black's king stuck in the centre but white's structure looks barbaric. Would have liked to see that
Was retrieving the PGN while watching and was shocked when I saw that is was a " one liner" . Couldn't believe my eyes!

While the opening by White was not played perfectly, it's still fine. 8. d5 was necessary, though. After 9..Nc6! Black is okay (as Sarc pointed out), 9..Nd7 looked almost losing to me watching the video and the engine confirms my suspicion (in fact it's definitely losing). 10..Bxc3 just makes things even easier. Conclusion: 8. 0-0!? is a tricky move to face for the first time, and one to keep in mind.

@GW Structure doesn't matter when there's a winning attack going on. Let's suppose 14..Rc8 15. Rae1 Rc5 16. Bxc5 bxc5 17. Nxe6 Rxe6+ Kf8 18. Bxd7. The idea of sacking the Knight on e6 is prevailing in every line.

An instructive game that shows how important development is in an open position (and how the lack thereof leads to tactical possibilities).

Aargh! That was painful to witness - I doubt you'll find much solace in the knowledge that I empathise whole-heartedly - seeing a threat sometimes almost turns you blind to it. I thought you were seeing a lot in the opening - very interesting possibilities seemed to abound!
Thanks for another enjoyable video.

It shows good character to post the games were you lose quickly, the same thing happens to me and it can be a sharp reminder to consider your opponents threats, and to blunder check your moves.

I think you spent a lot of time for the first 6 moves and maybe that played on your mind to move quicker later on and hang your piece.

Despite this I think your opening was good and I enjoyed hearing your thought process. Look forward to more videos.

Oh the pain! I think you know already what I'm about to say, as you hinted at it yourself in the video - you calculated too much. This also explains the blunder at the end. It is almost like a law in chess that when people over calculate variations they make simple blunders, and usually just as you did, to simple tactics they had already seen. Kamus, you are not alone, I have seen this scene play out to hundreds of people. Calculation ( a word I never use for myself, when it is just counting ) uses a lot of energy which is obvious, but what is less well known, is it can also create a type of self hypnotic state if over done.

I wont get into the positional errors but instead will focus on the calculation of variations, otherwise known as concrete analysis.

Regarding move 6. Just as you did, I would have looked at all the forcing moves. I would NOT have calculated ANY variations. It would have been obvious to me by simply seeing the first reply to each, that the variations could not be good for me.

An attacking move increases your activity, while also lessoning your opponents. The forcing moves at move 6 all break this rule, as they increase the activity of the white pieces.

A move like Qh4+ is forcing but a reply like Ng3 only develops white - note the knight is forced forwards and not back. All you have succeeded in doing is exposing your queen. ( oops sorry, I was not going to mention positional stuff ) Going over the same variations repeatedly is ignoring your intuition which is telling you the line does not work! Instead of over stretching your vision into the future and your looking for a possible killer move, look really early into a variation, as it will be either on the first or second move.

Had non of the above which I wrote been really obvious to anyone who has watched this video, I would urge them to watch it again but with these comments in mind.

Thanks, as always for your considered comments, Pobble- I think you're right about the "hypnotic state". It's almost like "well I'm calculating all this stuff so I can't be missing anything!" -ROFL!. It's funny that in my first round game against GW, I wasn't calculating enough and with this game I guess I overreacted- that means, next game is the Goldilocks one!