Annotated chess game: A lesson to be learned...

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ANNOTATED GAME

A lesson to be learned...
jamesxc (1420) vs. peck (1364)
Annotated by: jamesxc (1513)
Chess opening: English opening (A10)

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1. c4	This game is intended to teach an amateur player why not to overexpose their queen in the opening. 1. c4 is known as the English Opening, and is one of my favorites, because though it often draws at the elite level, among amateurs, it simply produces positions that are not suceptable to common tricks and traps that amateurs learn from more skilled players.



1... d5	A playable gambit, though it must be played correctly.



2. cxd5	Accepted



2... Qxd5	?? This is not how to play this gambit correctly! Exposing the queen this early is nearly always a mistake. Better would have been Nf6.



3. Nc3 Qf5	? Another mistake, this allows white to continue to harass the queen while building an insurmountable lead in development and center control.



4. e4 Qe5	?? Same thing...



5. Nf3 Qa5	? And again...



6. d4	Now white has established the ideal pawn center as well as developing both knights to their ideal squares while black has yet to develop a minor piece or have a pawn off of the seventh rank. White is now winning handily.



6... e6 7. Bd2 Qb6 8. b3 Qd6	8 moves into the game, and 6 of them have been queen moves for black. That is never a good sign...



9. Bd3	White is now fully developed, while black still has only the queen and the e-pawn off of their home squares.
	1 comment galactus (1982) on 28-Jun-14: No, White is not fully developed, not even close. "Fully developed" means that ALL of your pieces are developed not just 50% of them. Your king is not castled; your queen has yet to find a job and both of your rooks stand uselessly in the corners as if each have been given a "time out". The term "development" is not limited to just minor pieces.


9... Bd7 10. O-O Nc6 11. Nb5	Threatening the queen and the fork with Nxc7



11... Qe7	more or less forced...



12. Nxc7+ Kd8 13. Nxa8	While this draws the knight out of position, the exchange for the rook is still well worth it.



13... h5	?? I assume that black is trying to launch a king-side assault, but it is far to little, far too late, and black would be better served trying to shore up his king position.



14. Re1 h4	...continuing the desperate push...



15. h3	...and stopping it completely.
	3 comments game_player547 (1200) on 07-Apr-09: I know I'm a novice here, but why not 15. Bg5, pinning the Q? harveybecker (2086) on 14-Jun-14: cause black can play f6 or Nf6 rockstermaniac (1200) on 06-Jun-16: f6 yes but Nf6 loses badly to e5


15... g6 16. d5 Nb8	16. ... exd5, 17. exd5 loses tempo when black must move the queen to a useless square for defense.



17. Qc2 Bh6	The end is nigh, and yet black is still trying to develop his pieces. This is the punishment for moving his Queen thither and yon during the opening.



18. Qc7+ Ke8 19. Qxb8+ Qd8 20. Nc7+ Ke7 21. Bb4+	winning the queen, which causes black to resign. I think that there is also a mate about 3 or 4 moves down the line, but I didn't bother calculating it. PM jamesxc with comments, improvements, or just to rant about life in general. I will surely read your message, and hopefully improve myself by doing so.