It did not take me long to mess up in this game. Already my 5th move was a horrible move that gave my opponent a clear advantage. In similar positions I usually take on f2, but I guess it is not a good idea when my opponent has already castled. The only move that Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT seems to like against 5.Nxe5 is Nxe5 and then the game should continue with the moves 6.d4 c6 7.Ba4 Bd6 8.dxe5 Bxe5. 5...Bxf2 was the move I played in the game, which was bad because it opened the f-file for the rook and when I took on e5, mrobit32 could play d4, kick my knight from e5, get the center under his or her control and have a rapid development.
A sloppy move by my opponent on move ten allowed me to get back into the game again. Mrobit32 played 10.Qd3, which places the queen on a square where it seems to be very passive. I replied by taking on e4, which I think was a good decision. It opens up a square for my knight and avoid the center from closing up. That being said, I am not sure if playing e5 later on would have been a good idea for my opponent. The center pawns might actually become too weak and fall.
Only a few moves later I made a mistake once again and one of my journeys towards a loss started again with the move 13...Qc7. Exchanging the bishop to the knight on e4 was a better idea because at the time the knight was a better piece than the bishop. Mrobit32 did not continue the game in the most accurate way possible and because of that it gave me a chance to get back into the game when my opponent played 18.Re1.
The move 18.Re1 does not look like a bad move and in fact it is not a horrible one, but it is a bit sloppy. I played 18...Qd7 in reply, which still kept me in the game, but already with my next move I threw the game away.
Mrobit32 continued with 19.Bf1 and then I made the game deciding blunder 19...Nf5?? A much better move for me would have been 19...Nc8. My opponent noticed the problem with the move I made and played 20.d5. It is actually the second strongest move in the position, even stronger is 20.Rxe6, but it was clearly good enough to get the winning advantage. I made three more moves, but in a position where my queen was pinned to the king by mrobit32's bishop, I finally accepted my loss.
Game number two. This was played in the Roy Lopez Classical Tournament and it was my second game against NormanTaga. I lost both of my games against him. I actually thought that this tournament would go well for me as I thought I knew a good way to play this line but as many times before, I was wrong. The first position in which one of the players made a clear mistake was seen on the board when NormanTaga played 25.Rcd1.
In the game I played 25...Nd5 in response, which was a good enough move to get a winning advantage. After my knight move it should be clear that the queen on e6 has no safe squares to go to and it is close to being trapped. There are no good moves to suggest for my opponent in reply to my 25th move, in the game NormanTaga chose to play 26.Nxe5, which is at least an interesting try. It might not be the best try, 26.b3 might be the most accurate move. If then 26...Rfe8 27.Rxd5 and now I would need to take back on d5 with my queen because of the back rank issues. The game continued with 26...fxe5, which is the only move that I can play without losing the game. NormanTaga then made a horrible move 27.Rxe5 that actually worked out okay for my opponent since I made the worst move of three moves that kept me in the better side of the board. The move I played was 27...Nf6. Both 27...Nf4 and 27...Ne3 were stronger than the move I chose. The former clearly better than the latter. After my 27th move the position is only slightly in my favor. I got another chance to take the winning advantage when my opponent played 28.Rde1. NormanTaga moved the right rook, but to the wrong square. It was better to play 28.Rxd8. Everything seemed to go my way for quite some time, until I played 39...Nf6??
I am not sure why I did not like the looks of that fork. I probably had a too defensive mindset once again. Unfortunately this allowed NormanTaga to get back into the game. The game continued with the moves 40.Rf8+ Ke7 41.g5 and then I made a horrible move, after which I was going towards a loss. I played 41...Ne4+?? What I should have done instead was to play either 41...Rd3+ or 41...hxg5 and the game would have continued evenly. NormanTaga then played 42.Kf3 and my opponent had the keys to victory in his or her hands. Up to the move 44...Rxd8 I was losing despite of being up in material. NormanTaga played 45.Rxa6, which could have been the mistake that would have enabled me to get back into the game, but unfortunately I was too materially conscious and played 45...hxg5 instead of the best defense that would have started with the move 45...Kf8.
My opponent then went for the move 46.fxg5, which was the right way to go. After that both players made a few really bad moves in a row. The last mistake in that sequence was played by me, on move 48 I moved my king to f8.
I was not able to get back into the game during the last part of the game and had to resign after 57.Kxf2 in a position where I am two pawns down without any counterplay.
Game number three. This game is from the first round of a Ruy Lopez tournament where the thinking time is 14 days/move. 96 players were divided in to 12 player groups and everyone plays two games against each other in the group. I have so far had a good start in the tournament, I won the first round group with a score of 21,5 out of 22. On the second round I have gathered 13,5 points in 15 games and I have still avoided losing a game. I am the current leader of group 1, but only due to tie-break being in my favor. This game only featured only blunder that decided the game, it was my opponent's 11th move h3.
The move 11.h3 weakens the kingside too much and loses at least a pawn. The game ended with the moves 11...Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 Bxh3 and then FianchettoGambit played 13.Bxc5, which loses by force in two moves. I only needed to play the move 13...Qg5+ and the game ended in my opponent's resignation.
Game number four. This was played in a team match called Royal > 1799. This was a small match played on 3 boards between The Not Wanteds and ☼ The Farm ☼. The match ended with a score of 1,5 - 4,5 in favor of ☼ The Farm ☼. There were two times during this game when one of the players made a mistake that could have been the starting point for a loss for that player. The first mistake appeared on the board when I played 25...f6.
The game continued with the moves 26.h5 Rf7 and then T48 made a bad move 27.Kf2, after which the game was fought evenly once again. In order to keep the clear advantage on side of my opponent, T48 should have played, for instance, 27.Re1 or 27.Re2. I think it was me who offered the draw in the final position and I assume I was really lucky that my opponent accepted the draw. The position was pretty much drawn until my last move in the game 51...Kd6?? because it seems it would have been a losing move, at least according to the engine and now that I look at it, it does make some sense. That is because my rook is really badly placed after my move 51...Kd6 and losing the rook is a real possibility.
Game number five. This was played on the first round of a tournament that was held at Vammala in 2005. If I recall correctly that rating of 1779 was my peak rating at the time before this tournament. In my previous tournament at Hanko I had been able to increase my rating by 101 points, so the idea was then to continue that good progress I was making and winning the first round game was a good start in the right direction. The first clear mistake of the game was played by my opponent, when he played 9.e5. The mistake is so severe that Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT considers it to be close to a losing move.
I was quite familiar with similar positions already at this time and playing the move 9...Bg4 seemed like an obvious move. It is, of course, the best move in the position, but already with my next move I took a wrong path. My opponent played 10.Be3 and I should have played Bxf3 in reply, but instead I moved my knight to f5, which I preferred at the time. It did, however, allow my opponent to get back into the game. My opponent found the correct move 11.Bxc6 and the position was roughly even again. After the natural reply 11...bxc6 my opponent made the losing move 12.h3.
While my opponent's 12th move led into a losing position, the game was far from over as far as the number of moves is concerned that is. Only after my 33rd move Qf5 did my opponent resign.
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