I just played a game on FICS, where I was logged in as a guest due to forgetting my password, and got CRUSHED within the first 10-15 moves playing some guy called grandmasterqq with a rating of 1600+. I didn't keep the annotations because it was so ugly, but I'm pretty sure it went like this: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O Nc6 8.Bf4 f6 9.Re1 fxe5 10.Nxe5?? Rxf4 (at which point I fall apart completely) 11.Bh5 g6 12.Ne2 Rf8 13.Qd3 Ndxe5 14.Nf4?? Nxd3 0-1
After 8...f6 (and 13...Ndxe5), I should have stopped and had a good think about all the different tactics involved in this position, and the consequences to each of my possible moves. Instead, I impulsively made my next move without a thoughtful evaluation...and reaped the reward of my carelessness.
I wish I could say that it was lack of sleep, but no, I had just slept for 12 hours because I was up for the past two days with only 2 hours sleep. I do feel a little out of it still, but there is simply no excuse for missing such obvious threats. It was just laziness. Even as I was recalling the moves just now to write down on this post I could see right away the error of 10.Nxe5, hanging my Bishop. And even after that blunder I might have been able to find a tactic to win back a piece. After 12...Rf8 I could have tried 13.Bg4 moving my Bishop to safety and threatening to win a pawn with 14.Bxg4+. At some point I could have tried Qd2, then Nf4 followed by Nxe6 forking his Queen and Rook.
But, after going a piece down in the first ten moves, a mental shift took place and I was no longer playing to win, but rather trying to "get it over with quickly".
I think, besides not being stupid, it would help me to put together a small opening repertoire to better my chances of reaching a playable middlegame or, at least, an opening without dropping pieces.
This was a necessary ass-kicking, though. I have decided that, in addition to daily puzzle solving, I will play at least one chess game per day. I have been lazy about that, even since starting this blog. This is only the 2nd game I've played since my first blog a little over a week ago. I intend to change that. If anyone would like to play an email game with me, let me know. :-)
A note on accountability: As embarrassing as posting this game is, I will go ahead and lay it bare before the world, to keep me motivated to improve, resolved to persevere.
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1 comments:
It is at least some consolation that, after reviewing the game with Fritz, I discovered that I stayed in one of the Classical French openings for my first 5 moves without knowing it. Maybe I have at least a tiny bit of chess instinct for "right moves".
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