Hello all,
Below is an annotated version of Che vs Stockfish level 3.
It's not comprehensive but it highlights some of the errors. Regardless it's
another dreadful game by an engine so the level needs upping a bit.
Generally Che's mistakes are ones of technique and it's always worth asking
yourself exactly what your next move is intended to do. Che should be commended
for going after the Black King with everything he had, and the only real
surprise is that the game lasted as long as it did. Perhaps the prime lesson
here is to be careful about taking all the opponents pieces and Pawns. You may
be making it easier for him (her) to create stalemating chances.
Just for clarity's sake the simplest way to mate on a wide open board with
major pieces is to control the rank immediately in front of the enemy with a
Rook or Queen, then check the King along the rank from distance so it can only
go backwards. Then bring the first unit forward two ranks to give another
horizontal check and carry on until mate. In some scenarios substitute files
for ranks. Be careful not to leave units en prise.
Basic example. White Rooks on b3 and a4, Black King on h5. White mates with 1
Rb5+ Kg6 2 Ra6+ Kf7 3 Rb7+ Ke8 4 Ra8 mate. A Queen can be substituted for
either Rook.
The reason I mention this is that the previous two games that I've looked at
have been overwhelming White wins, but in each the checkmate has been a little
random. If you're checking the enemy King you won't be stalemating it, but
frequently there are more efficient ways to mate than chasing it halfway across
the board.
Regards,
Tyson
Text begins:
[Date "2021.03.17"]
[White "che"]
[Black "stockfish 3"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"]
[PlyCount "87"]
1. d4 e6
2. Bf4 c6
3. e3 d5
4. Nf3 h6
5. h3 b5
6. c3 Nd7
7. Bd3 Ngf6
8. Nbd2 Nb6
9. Ne5
{9 b3 preventing Black's next is worth a thought. The weakness of c5 guarantees
White a small plus.}
9...Nc4
{The counterattack on b2 is worth more than the attack on c6 because Black will
fork d1 and d3 to his advantage. Best
is 10 Nd2xc4 bxc4 11 Bc2.}
10. Nxc6 Qd7 ?
{A clear error because White gets the tempo back next move. Black should play
10...Qb6 11 Ne5 Nxb2 12 Qc2 Nxd3+
and he's gained the Bishop pair.}
11. Ne5 Qe7
12. Ndf3 Qb7
13. O-O ?
{Continuing with a luxury item beyond its expiry date. Now 12...Nxb2 was
answered by 13 Bxb5 with check and then 14 Qb3 and White has a good extra Pawn.
However, last move Black defended the b5 Pawn so White should now defend the b2
Pawn. Yet Black fails to take it!}
13...a5 ?
14. Rb1 Ne4
{Now that Black has two Knights in White's half of the board White should think
about exchanging them off. After all he is a Pawn up. What does Bc2 actually
do?}
15. Bc2 g5
16. Bh2 a4
17. Bxe4 Nxe3??
{Inexplicable is the only word for this when an engine plays it. Unfortunately
it gets worse.}
18. fxe3 dxe4
19. Nd2
{Now White is a whole piece up. The engine evaluation by Deep Rybka is actually
+7 here. So why is it so high?
Black has spent a lot of time playing weakening Pawn moves so is well behind in
development. Only his Queen has moved and it isn't on a good square. For White,
in particular the e5 Knight and f1 Rook are great pieces. The h2 Bishop is only
blocked by said Knight but has a lot of potential. White's only unmoved piece
is his Queen which can come to the nice square h5 with ease to increase the
pressure on f7. The f-file is a prime avenue of attack for White and 19...f5 is
met strongly by 20 Qh5+.
The only sensible move for Black is 19...Rh7, defending f7 laterally. Instead
we get a series of weak moves by the engine during which it gives up Queen and
Pawn for Rook and Knight, and then fails to take the Rook!}
19...b4??
20. Nxf7
{20 Rxf7 is stronger as it increases the Rook's scope and leaves the Knight on
the strong square e5. Now again Black should play 20...Rh7.}
20...Qxf7??
21. Rxf7 Ra5 ??
{Now White should withdraw the f7 Rook or even better play 22 Qh5 when Deep
Rybka claims it's mate in nine.}
22. Rc1?? Bd7??
23. Rf2
{Why here? There's more scope on f1 and it would stop a certain trick later.}
23...bxc3
24. Rxc3 a3
25. Rc8+ ??
{This Rook is en prise backwards to the d7 Bishop. Simplest is to just take the
a3 Pawn with 25 bxa3.}
25...Ke7??
26. Rc7
{According to Deep Rybka 26 Nxe4 is mate in 11 and 26 Bd6+ mate in 10. Me, I'd
have played 26 Rc2 just to save en
prise units!}
26...Rb5
{Why not play 26...axb2? The text just encourages White's next.}
27. Qa4 Ke8
{Defending against the threat of 28 Qxb5 when the d7 Bishop is pinned, but now
White can just 28 Rxd7 removing the Rook's defence.}
28.bxa3?? Be7??
{Dreadful. It's an opportunity spurned as 28...Rb1+ wins the White Queen. It's
now en prise to the unpinned d7 Bishop. Note that if White had played 23 Rf1
instead then ...Rb1 isn't check.}
29. Qa8+
{29 Rxd7 is good also. Regardless the game should be over quickly as the
exposed Black King is being attacked by five White pieces.
White's Knight can join in via c4 or e4 and the Bishop can go to f6 via e5.}
29...Bd8
30. Ra7 Rh7
31. Bc7
{Good enough but 31 Rf8+ wins a whole pile of material after 31...Kxf8 32 Qxd8+
Kf7 33 Qxd7+ and 34 Qxb5. Humans would be resigning here but the engine will
play on to the end, so it's your job to mate it as fast as possible.}
31...Bc8
32. Qxc8 Rd7
33. Ra8?
{Virtually anything wins but simplest is 33 Bxd8 because 33...Rxd8 is answered
by 34 Qxe6 mate.}
33...Rf5
34. Nxe4 g4
{This is the engine trying for stalemates by giving everything away.}
35. hxg4 Rxf2
36. Kxf2 e5
37. Nf6+ Ke7
38. Nxd7 Bxc7
39. Qxc7 Kf7
40. Qxe5 Kg6
41. Rg8+ Kf7
42. Nf6
{42 Rg7 is mate.}
42...h5
{Now 42 gxh5?? is stalemate.}
43. g5 h4
44. Qe8#
{44 g6 is also mate.}
1-0
Text ends.
On 15 March 2021 at 14:11 blindadrenaline@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
So based on recommendations from Tyson and others , I’m checking out the
London system.
I’ve been playing a few games against liChess, just to get a feel for the
first 15 moves or so, then starting over.
I decided this morning to set a game clock for myself at 1:45 and play a
full game. Time got a little tight at the end, but not too bad. I was blowing
too much time during the middle game on each move I think.
It went better than expected, with fewer awful mistakes than I tend to
make.
I was dangerously close to turning a win into a stalemate at the end,
something I hadn’t properly considered until it was almost too late.
The game is below if anyone wants to check it out. I exported an
annotated version from liChess, but from what I can tell, it didn’t add
anything to the usual raw pgn.
Also, I can attach the pgn if anyone wants it.
I like bringing the files that folks post here and elsewhere into
winboard myself, so I can step through each move easily and mirror the game
on my physical board. I’ve done that with several games, and it is an awesome
way to analyze games, whether you are blind or not.
Anyhow, here is the game, thanks for any advice.
Che
White: che
Black: stockfish level 3
1. d4 e6 { A40 Horwitz Defense } 2. Bf4 c6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 h6 5. h3 b5 6.
c3 Nd7 7. Bd3 Ngf6 8. Nbd2 Nb6 9. Ne5 Nc4 10. Nxc6 Qd7 11. Ne5 Qe7 12. Ndf3
Qb7 13. O-O a5 14. Rb1 Ne4 15. Bc2 g5 16. Bh2 a4 17. Bxe4 Nxe3 18. fxe3 dxe4
19. Nd2 b4 20. Nxf7 Qxf7 21. Rxf7 Ra5 22. Rc1 Bd7 23. Rf2 bxc3 24. Rxc3 a3
25. Rc8+ Ke7 26. Rc7 Rb5 27. Qa4 Ke8 28. bxa3 Be7 29. Qa8+ Bd8 30. Ra7 Rh7
31. Bc7 Bc8 32. Qxc8 Rd7 33. Ra8 Rf5 34. Nxe4 g4 35. hxg4 Rxf2 36. Kxf2 e5
37. Nf6+ Ke7 38. Nxd7 Bxc7 39. Qxc7 Kf7 40. Qxe5 Kg6 41. Rg8+ Kf7 42. Nf6 h5
43. g5 h4 44. Qe8# { White wins by checkmate. } 1-0
From: usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <usbca_chess-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Nene (Redacted sender "este05" for DMARC)
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2021 5:20 AM
To: usbca_chess@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [usbca_chess] Re: lichess clock query
Hello Tyson, thank you very much to your analysis of my game, it's very
informative, I like it, I learned my mistakes!
I think, the reason why my engine produced weak moves, because it's in
low level, which is ideal for my practice.
After this, I am going to increase the strength level, and I'll see how
it goes.
Regarding the move 18, yes, I admit that I missed to examine my position.
Regards,
Nene
