Chess diary day 1

The first deviation from the normal openings came at move 4. White played 4.a3 which surprised me and I think for about a minute or two before playing c5. To counterattack the center and claim that a3 is irrelevant in the fight for center domination.

In the next development, 6...Bd7 is a bit passive and lacks chess understanding. The reason was that it played directly into white's hand with 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.b4. White then had a lot of space on the queenside with initiation on my black bishop and forced it into a bad spot after 8...Bd7. In the span of three moves, my bishop had to waste 3 moves and my position is no different from before with the exception of more suffocation from the white's pawns.

The engine suggestion in this position is 6...Ne4. It immediately challenges the c3 knight and asks White if they want to play Qc2 and spends a move to take back the knight or ignore and play Bd3. It is worth noting that 7.Nxe4 dxe4 8.Ne5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qc7 and Black have the initiatives with a better chance to put pressure on white's position.

Anyway, that didn't happen and I had another chance to equalize the game at move 10 with 10...dxc5 trading White's queen.

In order to neutralize white's space advantage, I have to trade pieces and get to an endgame where white's pawns are overextended and are more of a liability than an asset. Failing to do that, I get into a worse and worse position after 10...Qc7 which solves none of my problems. Understanding the demand of the position and acting accordingly is what I have to learn to be more aware.

To put the nail into the coffin, I played 12... a5 and tried to break out of the bind after 13.b4 with 13...Ne5 but it is simply an inaccuracy. It put all of my pieces into a passive block that has no future prospect whatsoever. With white's full control of the center and space advantage, my position is dead lost and it is only a matter of time before I was forced to give up material and lose.

The best engine choice is 12...b6, its purpose is to develop the black bishop to b7, rook F to D8, and rook A to C8. The engine claim that even though white is better, there is still work to be done because black is solid and looks tough to break through.

The last chance I had at an equal game was at move 19 with 19... e5 and developed the black bishop to Bf5. White is still better but I had some chance to create chaos and lure white into making inferior moves. Instead, I chose 19...Ne4?? and blundered a piece after 20.Qg4 Ng6 21.Rxd7.

I played another variation which is 20...f5 but it loses even more spectacular with 21.Rxd7 and if Qxd7 then white has Bxe6+! deflection which wins on the spot. White didn't find it though and opted for Qf4.

The rest of the game is a breeze for white because of the space advantage and my pieces in worse squares, there was nothing I can do. White picked up all the pawns and won convincingly.

The lesson that I learn after this game is not to play too passively and let white dictates the flow of the game. Or maybe to accept that the position is passive and play to the demand, not lashing out with no concrete calculation to equalize the game.

That's it for now and make sure to follow my blog. See you tomorrow.