Chess960 SP93

After I had updated three of my old posts, I realised that I did not have the chess960 game ready for this main post. Then I thought that I will play some quick games in the chess960 pool at ICC, so that I have enough time to analyse the game before this day ends. I spent a few minutes on that pool queing up for a game, but was not able to get a game fast enough, so I thought that I would give the live chess section at Chess.com a try and see if I can get a 10 minute game of chess960 played there. The game you see below was my first rapid chess960 game at Chess.com. Most likely more will come later on, but the chess960 game that I am sharing tomorrow was played at lichess.org. I think this was a good game from me, there were only a couple of moves of mine I did not like after I made them.

I started the game with e4 and I did consider that move almost too long as I noticed that there is a timer on these games that if a player does not make the first move quick enough, then the game is aborted. That timer is for both players and actually my opponent moved basically on the second that the game would have been aborted. Luckily nVaynard moved just in time so that the game did not end on move 1. The move e4 opens up a diagonal for my bishop and takes a precence in the center. My opponent replied with 1...d6, which to me looks a bit wierd and I do not really understand the reason behind this move. I continued with a normal developing move 2.Nc3, which it seems I thought about almost 17 seconds. Nowadays they show much time players use for their moves in the live chess section of the site. Well, on the newer version of the site, you can still play on the old version too if you like, but I have switched mainly to the new version. Anyway, back to the game, nVaynard played 2...f5, which may be a small mistake even though I did like it during the game. I continued with f4, though I also thought about just taking on f5 as well. I thought that it is better to open a diagonal for my other bishop than take on f5 and lose a bit of the precence in the center. My opponent took the pawn on e4 next, which was probably a good idea. After I took back with my knight, I thought that the move 4...g5 would be good for my opponent as it threatens two pawns at the same time, the one on f4 and the one on b2. I thought that I would lose a pawn here because I can't play fxg5 due to Qxb2 is too strong and annoying. I was very happy to see 4...Bd5 because there I could just play Nc3 and there were no immediate problems anymore.

Sometimes the after game analysis reveals some really silly mistakes and this game is one example of those, because it seems I just merrily played 6.Bd4 without realising that I could have just taken on a7... I guess the fact that I mostly play chess has a negative impact on my chess960 games. In chess that a7 pawn is protected this early on by a rook, so the idea that there are starting positions where that is not the case, sometimes eludes me. I have played a few chess960 games where I have been playing with the black pieces and allowed my opponent to take a free pawn on a7. I think some things are just so rooted in my mind that I can't seem to shake them off in these chess variants. For that reason I should increase the amount of chess960 games I play and train my brain to look beyond the old patterns. Okay, after seeing the mistakes I made in this game, I am not at all happy with the way I played this game. Not taking on a7 I might still accept, but not the fact that I did not see that 7.Bh5+ just wins the game... I did move the bishop on my 7th move, but passively instead of aggressively. I think I saw the Bh5+, but dismissed the idea because of g6 as a reply... I forgot that my other bishop makes that move very undesirable. I really should start to pay more attention to the board and think my options more thoroughly. I did have a few times after that where I was able to gain an advantage and lose it again until nVaynard blundered with 20...Qe8. With that move nVaynard went from an equal position to being clearly worse. I was able to handle the rest of the game with enough accuracy to take the full point. I have added one analysed game to the following posts: C44 Scotch Game: Scotch Gambit. London Defense, C45 Scotch Game: Classical Variation, D00 Queen Pawn Game: General and A36 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation. Symmetrical Variation. I have also added one mate in one, two mate in two, one mate in three and one mate in four puzzle today.