How to Reach 1800, Part 2

This is second part on my series on how to go from 1600 to 1800. I'm analyzing a game that was submitted in the comments of my previous blog post, and sharing the top 5 mistakes I saw in the game. If you prefer to learn from a video lesson, you can see this content in my YT channel as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZNw8ojtcQ&t=814s

Here's the full game with my annotations. I'll discuss the key moments in the following sections:

Error #1: Playing Routine Moves & Ignoring Opportunities

White played a somewhat unusual and premature expansion on the queenside. Black could have exploited that by playing 7...a5!?, immediately challenging their expansion, but instead, chose to play a routine move.

Missing 7...a5 didn't hurt Black's position (they were still fine), but they missed an opportunity to get an early lead. I find this is a common mistake in this rating range. Players can sometimes be too focused on their goal, and forget to consider additional opportunities.

Error #2: Ignoring the Space Advantage / Disadvantage

The rule of thumb is simple: If your opponent has the space advantage, you want to trade minor pieces to relieve the pressure. If you have the space advantage, then keep as many minor pieces on the board as possible. This rule is relatively easy to follow, and many people know it, but in this rating range (and even higher) it's common to get tunnel vision, and forget to follow this advice.
In this game, White had just played 14.c5, claiming extra space:

and Black should have just responded by trading two minor pieces with 14...Nxd2 and 15...Bxd3. Instead, they played 14...Bh7 and eventually the opponent avoided the trades, leaving them in a worse position due to cramping.

Error #3: Ignoring the Pawn Structure When Creating a Plan

After White managed to claim space on the queenside with c4-c5, there was a clear pawn chain (d4-c5 vs. d5-c6), and playing on the queenside (for example, by attacking the base of the chain with b4-b5) would have made the most sense.

Instead, White played 18.h4?! which was the beginning of a wrong plan. It was wrong because White already had a space advantage of the queenside (and they weren't using it), so it didn't make sense to also expand on the kingside and risk being overextended.

Error #4: Not Switching Gears. Failing To Realize You Have The Advantage

For the past several moves, Black has been mostly on a defensive role. Since White has been pushing on the kingside, it's natural to feel as if they are the ones squeezing. However, we just traded a key minor piece and that changes things. White went from space advantage to overextension, so Black should be thinking about counterattacking:

Instead, Black just played 22...Qc7 and continued to miss the idea ...f7-f5 in the following moves (it was still good), until eventually the powerful break was no longer effective. This was the biggest missed opportunity in the game.

Error #5: Failing To Consider Your Opponent's Pawn Break

We had pawn tension for several moves. I believe Black spent that time assuming their opponent was looking for the best opportunity to play gxf5 in order to invade down the g-file. However, they failed to consider how powerful g4-g5! (with a similar goal) was going to be.

They should have played something like ...fxg4, or later ...Bd8, just about anything that could prevent g4-g5 followed by Rxg5 with a wide-open g-file to attack. The resulting attack was far too powerful as you can see on my notes to the full game. My recommendation to avoid this kind of mistake is to spend at least a few minutes considering the various approaches. Even if you expect gxf5 to happen, spend a bit of time calculating how serious a g4-g5 break might be.
Hope you enjoyed this article, stay tuned for part 3!