My 4 OTB games. Can you estimate my FIDE rating strength?

Hello there..... I played in our final Chess national qualification stage. I linked two games that I lost and two that I won. Overall, I played 9 games and lost two. That put me in position 8 nationwide U13 Girls. My best performance so far in the nationals. Can someone please analyze my games and tell me what I need to improve or give comments on my general play? Can you also estimate what FIDFE strength am playing at? I really appreciate this kind of forum.

Games lost:

Games won:

Alright, let's see. Keep in mind I'm eyeballing these, not checking the computer.

First game, 7. h3 might be a wasted move; they've just played Bf5, they won't want to move to g4 now.

9. Be2 feels wrong; it's aiming down a diagonal that doesn't target anything, and serves mainly to allow castling; but Black is building up a kingside attack, so castling kingside is dangerous. Something like 11. ...Bd6 could have started a lot of trouble for you, eventually letting pawns get rolling against your castled king. Bd3 is probably best, just getting rid of some of their offense. I'd probably play g4 instead, giving up on castling in favor of a pawn march on black's castled king, but I lose a lot of games by rushing pawns too early so Bd3 is probably better.

15 had the option of Nxd5, followed by b5 pinning the b6 knight for an even exchange that moves pawns around. I feel like it's a better option, just because your knight has nowhere to go so trading it for theirs is a good outcome.

20. Nfd2 was a mistake, blocking in yoru queen to force the exchange sac. Ne5 feels better; Black can push pawns to chase it away to h2, but f3 is still cleared for the pawn. Or Nh4 clears it with an attack on the bishop, though then pushing the f pawn traps your knight and you'll need to untrap it immdeiately after the bishop exchange. And, third option is Ba6, aiming at the c8 rook and gaining control of that file. This might be the best option; your bishop is stronger than theirs currently, so you might want to avoid the exchange.

21. ...Nxd5 was an unforced error by Black, if they'd taken with the pawn or queen you wouldn't have been able to fork that rook and get the material back.

Re5 is a move I'd probably play, but it's out of position now, blocked by the knight and the pawn wall. Qe4 and Ne3 are blocking it in even harder, which leads to the lost pawn on f2. Ne3 also shows you don't have a solid plan for the endgame; that knight's annoying but not absurdly dangerous, you want to be maneuvering around it to get to the weakest pawns.

53. Ng8 is the wrong direction; their strongest pawn is on the opposite side, and it's already threatened by their knight, you have to keep yoru knight queenside to slow them down as much as possible. One of your only potentially winning options is to harass the queenside pawn, drawing their king to queenside while your king takes out their kingside pawns and starts pushing; but jumping behind their kingside pawns means Black's king gets to stay right next to them, making that impossible. You wre probalby already losing from there, but that's the last nail in the coffin.

...second game. Well this got crazy real fast.

12. Qd2. I think Bd2 is better here, it opens up the c file for your rook. Probably shouldn't play it anyway because of Qxa2, but it's good to create the option. And hey, maybe you can play it, this has the structure of a game that's not going to make it to endgame.

13. Bxe4. I think this exchange is better for Black; capturing their rook weakens your h pawn, while capturing your rook opens up their other rook to come alive. So Rd2 was probably better.
    I think, but am not sure, that you can play Rxf7 here; they play Rxe2, you play Rg7+ and then Bf6, and it's down to the question of whether you can stop their rook from killing your dark bishop. Might just be a repetition draw as you jump between f6 and b2.

14. bxc4 is a mistake, b4 is winning. Your king can catch that c pawn, it can't go anywhere, but the knight can; after b4, the knight is trapped, and after f5 and Bf4, your dark bishop pinning the knight becomes invincible.

15. c5 is a mistake. You had connected pawns, but you voluntarily gave them up. Bb8 can force both their pawns forward, and once the b pawn is on b5, then you can play c5 and turn both your connected pawns into passed pawns, which can eventually force their way past that light bishop.

16. d4 is a mistake, Ke7 is better, just exchanging the pawns. It might be too late at this point, though, I think they've got enough control to shut everything you do down.

So, lesson from the first two games is work on your endgames.

Game three. Looks like you're black here. Not much to say about this one; your opponent went in for a pretty crazy attack, goofed it up and ended up down a knight, then just kept losing pieces. Nothing to learn apart from "don't play that attack as White."

Game four. Nothing to say, looks like a very well-played game. 17. Ne4 18. Nd2 looks like it might have been a waste of time, a3 b4 might be better, or an immediate h3. But every other alternative move I was looking at ended up not working. Well played.

Thank you Dnowmects.... I really appreciate this deep analysis. I'll set it up on a board and re-evaluate my moves against what you suggest. Last question for you: what FIDE ratings would you estimate that I play at?

No idea whatsoever, I've never looked at FIDE ratings.

good job in the tournament!

In game 1, I believe h3 was unnecessary. On move 15, you played Na4?? Instead, you could play b5, followed by Nxd5, winning a pawn with a winning position. Later, I feel like playing Na4-c5-b3 was a waste of moves. Nfd2 was a blunder, as after Nc3 you were forced to lose material. However, you did a nice job fighting and winning the exchange back. After that, you seemed to just slide the queen around with no clear plan. After you traded queens, Nb3-d2-f1-e3 would only work if your opponent captured on e3. Your plan took too many moves, and your opponent grabbed the advantage.

In game 2, Ne4 was a mistake, and instead you should have played e3. Later, Qd2 looked wrong. Instead, I think Bd2 was better. Rxd7 was a nice tactic, but after Rxe4 you should play Rd2, not Bxe4. After, Kh2 was also dubious as the king should be brought towards the center in the endgame; thus Kf2 was a better move. Later, Rxd8?? was a blunder as you could play Rxc6! to get two pieces for a rook, with a decisive advantage. Losing that opposite colored bishop endgame without rooks shows you can really improve your endgames.

In game 3, you should have played for b5 in the opening with a6 and b5. Qb6 was too passive, instead Qe4! would result in a better position. I am not sure why you played Rb8, but it was not a good move. Later, Qc7 was also bad because of what your opponent played, but then he/she messed up. Instead Qb7 was better. Later you played well.

In game 4, you had a great game!