yes he shouldve castled

@jkarp, this is certainly a blunder but White was already losing badly. He is a full piece behind.

@jkarp possibly looking at White's more active game right now. Worth more than a cursory glance was 11.dxc5 (see my previous comment), but other moves that might have been tried were 11.0-0-0; 11.d5; or 11.c4.

how not if he takes

It is not good that white allowed black to exchange pawns on his own terms.

No reason for white not to take back here.

White had to take on d4 - he can't afford simply to drop material for nothing. Of course, he might be going for a trap: aiming to place his Queen at g3 then play Ng6, attacking the Rook at h8. If Black were then to play ...fxg6; White slams his Queen down (Qxg6) and announces checkmate! But this shouldn't work, as White just hasn't the necessary time...

(!) Of course.

Anyone find it odd that black has yet to move a single center pawn!

Actually I would have preferred 13.fxe3 here, I think, having in mind that trappy line I mentioned earlier.

Rc8 is better get your rooks to open files

13...Bg7 was not possible, since there was a pawn there. This is not the worst move Black has made, though 13...e6 was probably better.

In my view this is a perfectly fine move by Black, gaining time and space - and hence catching up with White in this regard) whilst retaining his big material edge. White is being forced back, and given no chance to dredge up an attack. He can kiss his hand to any cunning plan based on Ng6 fxg6; Qxg6ch.

13. ... Bg7 is a poor move. The bishop is grand where it is. Meanwhile, the other bishop is locked away doing nothing, while also stopping black from castling. That needs to be black's priority. Though how best to do this is unclear. ***Edit*** - sorry; I'm looking at Bb7. I assumed jkarp had gotten the side of the board mixed up, but presumably instead he's forgotten that the pawn has only just moved to allow Bg7, and so Bg7 itself isn't allowed here.

Actually the best move for black was 13. ...d5! Threatening ...d5-d4! or 13. ...b4!?

This is getting ridiculous. Just loses the knight.

This move is so dreadful in so many ways. Black could simply take the knight, realising that White may not retake the pawn on account of the knight fork at d5. But Black doesn't even have to play that way He could instead go straight for an attack on the King by 14...Rc8ch 15.Kb2 Qc7 and White still hasn't time to save his Knight!

Rc8 instead then take gain time

wow this is screaming for 15. ...Nd5+

15...Nd5+ just wins the queen outright.

As dragon says, 15...Nd5+ is correct.

15...Nd5ch was surely the more reliable method of getting the White Queen out of the game. Again this bespeaks inexperience, which, of course, can come only with play (though I would also recommend some books on the game). Remember the knight fork motif can crop up anywhere on the board, not just squares like c2 and f2. It is also worth remembering that any man can attack two enemies at once - even the king can; even a pawn can.

oh my word what a game of comedy. @Ion as I always preach pieces do not win the majority of games pawns do!

what! what is he doing this is the worst played game by white

and u have a habbit of assuming

finally but it is never over

Ne2+ wins an exchange. But there's lots of winning moves here.

I wonder if black will play the whole game without moving a single center pawn!

Black is winning. With best play, white has literally zero chance of winning this game from a queen and two pieces down.

I would have played 18...Rxc2ch here. Even though it might not be the best objectively, it would have exposed the White King to an immediate mating attack by 18...Rxc2ch 19.Kxc2 Qc7ch (the point was to bring the Queen quickly into action) with the following possibilities: [A] 20.Kb1 Bd3ch 21.Ka1 Bg7ch 22.Bb2 Bxb2ch 23.Kxb2 Qc2ch 24.Ka3 Qc3ch 25.Ka4 b5ch 26.Ka5 Qa3#; [B] 20.Kb2 Bg7ch 21.Kb3 Qc4ch 22.Ka4 Bb5#; [C] 20.Kb3 Qc4ch 21.Kb2 Bg7ch 22.Kb1 Qd3ch 23.Kc1 Ne2#; [D] 20.Kd1 Be2ch 21.Kd2 Qe6ch and now [D1] 22.Ke3 Qd3ch! 23.Kxf4 Qd4ch and mate next mave; or [D2] 22.Kc3 Qd3ch 23.Kb2 Bg7#; or [D3] 22.Kc1 Qc6ch 23.Kd2 Qd5ch 24.Kc1 Qc4ch 25.Kd2 Qd3ch 26.Kc1 Qc3ch 27.Kb1 Bd3# (This Queen manoeuvre is known as the ladder); [E] 20.Kd2 Qd6ch 21.Ke3 Qe5ch 22.Kd2 Qd4ch whence [E1] 23.Kc1 Qc3ch 24.Kd1 Be2#; or [E2] 23.Kc2 Qd3ch 24.Kb2 Bg7ch 25.Kc1 Ne2#; or [E3] 23.Ke1 Qc3ch 24.Kd1 Be2#. ******** So Black would have had a forced mate all round. I'm not saying I saw all this when I thought of giving up the rook at c2, or even that I was dead-set certain there was a forced mate. It seemed highly probable a forced mate was on the cards, it brought the Queen quickly into play, and kept the initiative firmly in Black's hands. Good enough.

I don't think any of that is relevant, to be honest. However, black maybe should have played BxP+ instead. When looking for your next move, checks should always be considered as they force your opponent to deal with the check.

I like 19...Nd3+, personally, followed by 20...Bxc3+ or 20...Rxc3+ depending on where White moves. There are a lot of winning moves for Black here; castling is irrelevant.

I think of all the possible attacking moves here, I probably like the straightforward 19...Qc7 best here, although ...Bxc3ch, ...Nd3ch and ...Rc3 would all win. After 19...Qc7 20.Rc1 the game might have concluded: 20...Bxc3ch and now [A] 21.Rxc3 qxc3ch and mate next; [B] 21.Kb1 Bd3ch 22.Rc2 Be1! (To block the h1-Rook out of the game, if only momentarily) 23.Rxe1 Qxc2ch 24.Ka1 Qc3ch 25.Bb2 Qxe1ch 26.Bc1 Qxc1#; [C] 21.Kb3 Qc4ch and [C1] 22.Ka4 Bb5# or [C2] 22.Kc2 Qxa2ch and mates in 2; [D] 21.Kc2 Bd2!? 22.Kxd2 (if the K goes to the b-file, probably 22...Bxc1 will do) 22...Qd6ch 23.Ke3 Qe5ch 24.Kd2 Qe2#.

At this stage, there is nothing white can do to "not allow" black to win. Only black can screw up from here.