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Developing fast is apparently not everything

I was really happy, as black, to be able to connect my rooks before white had the chance to do so,
thinking I was doing very well.

I was shocked after the game to see that the evaluation says +3 (+2.5 after some depth) for white! :)

Here is the position, where I remember feeling good about myself, in my correspondence game -


So, I guess this tells me that I need to consider something more than just how fast I develop...

Funny how it can be!
Developing fast is good but don't forgot black threats
white exchange pieces at winning position bad
@tors42, I play this exact set up quite often, and occasionally struggle to find attacking opportunities with it.

Correct me if im wrong, as im a weak player, but I think the computer favors Whites position because White has a space advantage as well as center control, enjoys a more active Queen. I'm sure there are more advanced advantages that I dont quite understand yet as well. Pretty game, congrats on the win.
Black's pieces are developed, but don't do anything. The knights aren't meaningfully attacking White's centre, because they can never make any real threats against it. The bishop on g7 is dead, etc. while White has an easy plan of a Queenside pawn storm - b4 a4 a5 b5 and an attack on the king.
Vague positional advantages like space or center control with no real compensation will typically be priced by a +1.0 to +1.5 evaluation by the engine, as seen before Black's ninth move.

9...0-0-0 is more than that, the evaluation changes from +1 to +3. That's a full piece.
There's no concrete tactic yet, so my guess is that somewhere down the line, Black will get slaughtered by a White attack on the queenside (with not enough time to set up counterplay on the kingside) and eventually has to give up that piece to survive.

Thing to note: Your move 9...0-0-0- from a certain point of view develops your opponent's rook on a1. It's very well placed there to assist in an attack on the castled king (a4, a5 etc. are incoming) and doesn't have to be moved anymore to be active - if the king had castled short, White would have needed to spend one of his own moves to bring that rook into play.
Thanks for all the feedback!

@Turkeyeng, selam (hello in turkish, in case you're username isn't about the bird)!

@DthNcnt, nice to hear I'm not alone in this position :)
I hope also you can benefit from the awesome feedback in this forum! Thanks!

@Rrhyddhad and @ProfDrHack, ahh yes indeed - It seems I haven't developed my pieces with any more purpose than development itself.
Thank you very much for translating that evaluation number into words I can read! :)
Aha, the opponent rook on a1 is indeed delighted when I castled to that side of the board - I see!

I'm very thankful and happy for this feedback. I believe it will help go through this "moment of despair" :)

Perhaps I should take some time to find information about an opening,
to learn which squares/areas pieces are good to develop to in that opening...
I think your f6 knight isn't doing anything (piece-dead??). c6 knight can move leaving the a-pawn hanging. White can easily bring his Nb1-d2/a3-c4 and relax. He also has a bishop pair.
Your 6...Bg4 and 8...Bxf3 gives up the bishop's pair and leaves you weak on the light squares. Your 8...O-O-O does not bring your king to safety.
Better 6...O-O.
From the position after black castles white is clearly in a much better position. Although +3 does indeed surprise me as well. I would have guessed +1.5 to +2 range. Upon further analysis, the +3 seems less surprising.

Here is why white is better:

1) The bishop pair. Not only does white have the bishop pair, but they are in a good solid central position for now and can be maneuvered around easily.

2) Very powerful central pawns, and central control.

3) Development is nearly complete, just a move away and easy to complete. Not behind much in development. After Nd2 development is equal, and white has all the other advantages.

4) The white king is safe. Few black pieces are ready to be launched at the king side.

5) What is stopping or slowing down the a,b and c pawns from pawn storming in the near future?

6) Space... White has a permanent space advantage. Generally speaking when your opponent has a space advantage it is a good idea to try to trade off some pieces so that it feels less cramped. It doesn't look so easy for black to be trading pieces either.

These are all small advantages, but they add up to a big advantage. White has everything going for him. The fact that it is a correspondence game as well makes all of these advantages that much more advantageous. White has so many reasonable moves... So many moves that are playable and keeping the advantage... Black, on the other hand, is on a narrow reactive corridor. Defense must be impeccable Even after white hung the exchange apparently on accident white retains a strong position. White squandered away his victory though... So good job in surviving what could have been much much worse.

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