Chess Tie Review - October 7th
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/184986259534/review
Opening: Queen's Gambit - Marshall Attack with Qa5
I do not like this opening even if I'm technically ahead with it. I worked towards a queen trade, which got rid of most of my advantage.
In this position I correctly spotted the fork, but only considered Rd1 or Bd3 instead of 0-0-0 which was best, dropping a pawn.
Mistakes:
In this position I got greedy and took, Bxa7 and got my bishop trapped for two pawns. I know that this is a thing, but somehow I did not calculate it as a possibility.
But then the engine showed me this:
Guess who missed mate in 1 - this guy. I was so convinced my Bishop was trapped that I missed the check!
Now I'm losing (-2.4).
But soon after, I return the favor:
Their bishop is trapped.
A few more moves, and the honest to goodness worst mistake of the match:
I had 2minutes on the clock, so I was worried, so I was convinced my bishop was gone (again!). I did not even calculate hxg6, which makes it a draw.
So now I'm in an absolute losing endgame:
But he's convinced he's going to stalemate and lets me swindle a draw as we both promote Queens.
Lessons Learned:
- Do not be so convinced you are going to lose a piece and give up.
- In critical positions, enumerate checks and possible captures and look for resources
- 0-0-0 is a great move sometimes if it prevent Nc2 forks and gets your king out in one move