Hi guys and girls, I just played a decent game in which I was outplaying my opponent (my opinion). But after a while I just couldn't find a plan. I took up all my time, because I couldn't come up with anything, so I lost on time. This happens more often to me. I'm quite a slow player, because I try and be flexible and find the best move in every position. I often lose because of time pressure. Can someone give me some advice on how to deal with difficult position in which you cannot seem to find a plan? Can you come up with a good plan in the end of this game that I've played? http://en.lichess.org/qKGVi7eW/black#47
Just play with machine to find out the good/best move.
http://en.lichess.org/mazHzswOlzlV
f5 looks good.
http://en.lichess.org/mazHzswOlzlV
f5 looks good.
If you are under time pressure I would try to make the most straight forward move. I think I would have blitzed out f6. Normally you shouldn't open the position if your opponent has the 2 bishops but you need to get into his position.
After f6 he can't take because of Lxf6 winning a piece so he probably advance his king or wait. Then I would exchange on e5 and maneuver my queen to the kingside (maybe to h5). Afterwards I would try to get my rook on a6 active and then I would try to get a winnning plan.
After f6 he can't take because of Lxf6 winning a piece so he probably advance his king or wait. Then I would exchange on e5 and maneuver my queen to the kingside (maybe to h5). Afterwards I would try to get my rook on a6 active and then I would try to get a winnning plan.
I would have played 20...Ra4 instead of 20...Ra6.
That's a routine move, but with the advantage of controlling square b4 as well, making tactics possible in some variations.
And taking on e4 with 21...dxe4 has the drawback that the LSB of white becomes quite strong and make doubling or tripling on the a file for black much more difficult.
You could have played rook to d8 instead of taking on e4.
However, in general I would say that you did outplay your opponent, and you won the exchange, but the position after that was not easily won. Therefore I would not blame myself for losing this game.
Winning the exchange does not guarantee the win.
In fact you could have ignored it and simply build pressure on pawn a3 instead of Bxf1. That makes a possible win much easier. Your opponent would have to defend a more difficult position than in the game imho.
Regarding your time usage :
Your blitz and bullet rating are pretty okay.
Maybe your time usage problems are a combination between :
* a bit of lack of experience and skills (I've studied chess intensively years ago. In some positions I find the right move right away)
* perfection issues and therefore troubles with deciding on the "best" move. (You can learn that in some positions there's not just 1 good move but more. Be practical, and use your time efficiently).
Some GMs also have time trouble issues.
For example the chess legend GM Walther Brown was "notorious" for getting into time trouble.
That is not very a big problem if you're a skilled player.
Good luck & enjoy your chess !
That's a routine move, but with the advantage of controlling square b4 as well, making tactics possible in some variations.
And taking on e4 with 21...dxe4 has the drawback that the LSB of white becomes quite strong and make doubling or tripling on the a file for black much more difficult.
You could have played rook to d8 instead of taking on e4.
However, in general I would say that you did outplay your opponent, and you won the exchange, but the position after that was not easily won. Therefore I would not blame myself for losing this game.
Winning the exchange does not guarantee the win.
In fact you could have ignored it and simply build pressure on pawn a3 instead of Bxf1. That makes a possible win much easier. Your opponent would have to defend a more difficult position than in the game imho.
Regarding your time usage :
Your blitz and bullet rating are pretty okay.
Maybe your time usage problems are a combination between :
* a bit of lack of experience and skills (I've studied chess intensively years ago. In some positions I find the right move right away)
* perfection issues and therefore troubles with deciding on the "best" move. (You can learn that in some positions there's not just 1 good move but more. Be practical, and use your time efficiently).
Some GMs also have time trouble issues.
For example the chess legend GM Walther Brown was "notorious" for getting into time trouble.
That is not very a big problem if you're a skilled player.
Good luck & enjoy your chess !
Thx guys, I know I was contemplating a move like f5 or f6, but wasn't sure about it. I wasn't too sure about winning the exchange as my bishop was pretty good, but I thought that was the more practical way of playing. I've been playing for 2 years now. I try to play objective moves, instead of psychological moves, so I'm not looking to give my opponents difficult problems, which I noticed a lot of 2000+ players do. I've noticed that they don't always play the best move but rather the most challenging moves. Maybe I should try and do that as well? I've noticed that if I can stop my opponent from castling, even if the position is pretty much equal they have a lot of trouble and they usually start making bad moves.
Good idea to start looking for the most challenging move.
This is how GM Magnus Carlsen plays. Even in equal positions he tries to make things as difficult as possible for the opponent.
I play attacking and positional games myself, and sometimes in the positional games I really like to give my opponent no counter play whatsoever.
Making quiet moves and "do nothing" is also an "art" in chess.
Several times I have let me king walk from the kingside to the queenside, just like the great Tigran Petrosian did in at least on of his games.
Today I saw this game, where white wins with a brilliant double minor promotion. Fantactic idea :
http://chess-db.com/public/game.jsp?id=11600454.4657101.9625856.28885
Have a look at my chess blog for more ideas :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja
And feel free to join my study group :
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/achja-chess
This is how GM Magnus Carlsen plays. Even in equal positions he tries to make things as difficult as possible for the opponent.
I play attacking and positional games myself, and sometimes in the positional games I really like to give my opponent no counter play whatsoever.
Making quiet moves and "do nothing" is also an "art" in chess.
Several times I have let me king walk from the kingside to the queenside, just like the great Tigran Petrosian did in at least on of his games.
Today I saw this game, where white wins with a brilliant double minor promotion. Fantactic idea :
http://chess-db.com/public/game.jsp?id=11600454.4657101.9625856.28885
Have a look at my chess blog for more ideas :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja
And feel free to join my study group :
http://www.chess.com/groups/home/achja-chess
You are claiming you were outplaying your opponent but says you couldn't find a plan. Seems a bit contradictory to me. :)
Just looked at the game and think f5 looks a bit interesting. White can't cap because B will be pinned after Bxf6! Then reorganizing and try push c3 at some instance looks interesting. Also g5 to open up for bishop might be interesting somewhere.
It looks like your original plan was to set up an attack on the bishop on d4. However the position was such that your bishop and second rook weren't really able to get into the play. A simple idea would have been to try to rearrange your pieces so that more of them would become active. Also, keep open the possibility to change your plan and go after other weaknesses you might notice in the opponent's position (e.g. the a3 pawn in this case).
achja: This is how GM Magnus Carlsen plays. Even in equal positions he tries to make things as difficult as possible for the opponent.
No, GM Carlsen is a god damn coward. In interesting positions he always goes for exchanges and simplifies things to endgames, which he is very good at and often wins even if they are drawish. At least in the match against Anand this was his style.
No, GM Carlsen is a god damn coward. In interesting positions he always goes for exchanges and simplifies things to endgames, which he is very good at and often wins even if they are drawish. At least in the match against Anand this was his style.
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