So, Im typically around a 1200 range player, but after a several month hiatus away from chess (other than the puzzles here on Lichess) I played this game with a coworker. I'd love some feedback about how we did or what either player could improve on.
I do realize I played very aggressively, more so than my normal play style, which probably threw my opponent off and let me get into more tactical play that I'm better at.
Hello. I'm not very familiar with this opening, but here is my thoughts. Since it's a tactical game I suppose most of them are just tactical remarks:
-Move7: you probably should have taken the bishop. You would have been up a piece. Your knight could have escaped to a4, then c3. It would have been a very different game.
-Move 9: The pawn on e5 is poison. This is a very well known trap in this system, I would try and familiarise myself with it so that I don't fall for it again.
Edit: Looking at it with the engine, it seems you could have gotten away with taking the pawn on e5 by playing knight g4, defending f2. If black were to chase the pawn away, you play c3 first so that the queen goes back home and is no longer attacking f2, and then you move your knight. Hope that makes sense. Feel free to check your game with an engine!
By this point I think there isn't much you could have done. The position seemed somewhat lost. Good game regardless. I'm sure you have learned a lot from it!
1) The pseudo-sacrifice Nxe4 works on move 4 but it shouldn't work on move after you put a bishop on c5 :
5...Nxe4?? 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Nxc5! (instead of 7.Bb5??) dxc4 8.0-0 and White wins.
2) After White's 7.Bb5 and 8.Bxc6, Black's Qd4 gives him a winning advantage. That move (Qd4) is a usual response to White's Bxc6 and Nxe5 in the Spanish (Ruy Lopez). White could limit the damage done to his position with 8.Nxe5 instead of Bxc6, hoping the Black doesn't find another pseudo-sacrifice : 8...Bxf2 9.Kxf2 Qd4+ with a big advantage. Anyway there is nothing better for White.
3) 10.Qh5 stakes everything on a counter-attack that doesn't work (by far). Qxf2+ wins a tempo and Black castles. That's all, folks !
Tell your partner that 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3? already gives a small advantage to Black because of 4...Nxe4. There are three options on move 4 for White : 4.d3, 4.d4 and 4.Ng5. The first one is probably best if you don't want to learn too much theory and get a playable game. The plan for White is 0-0, c3, Nbd2 (Bb3 and a4 are often played to safeguard the bishop pair and some space on the queenside) and eventually White plays d4 when Black is not ready to meet it.
If White plays 4.d3, Black can adopt a flexible plan as well : Be7, 0-0, Kh8, Ng8 and f5. He can try Na5 to exchange White's light square bishop, but it's unlikely that White will let him do that. Both players get an interesting middlegame.
Four or five moves of theory is a small price to pay for an instructive middlegame that can be played in many ways, testing various plans and move orders.
Thoughtless: to clarify, Im playing Black lol, but I will definitely let my coworker know your remarks on his play
A-cielbleu, thanks for the in depth response, I'll be sure to let my coworker know what you said as well and look at the lines you mentioned