Sunday, December 02, 2007

My blunders

Here are some recent blunders to keep anybody from thinking I'm good at chess.

This is a position from the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon.











I think black was doing quite well until playing f6? Black was threatening a fork with d4, prevented only by the fact the pawn is pinned to the rook. I considered Rb8 breaking the pin and threatening the b2 pawn, but didn't see how to proceed after Na4, which brings a second attacker to the c5 pawn. I don't like responding with d4 because this opens the diagonal his light squared bishop is on and puts a pawn on the diagonal of my dark squared bishop. Maybe that's over thinking it since the Knight on a4 is not well placed in this line.

f6 is a thematic move in this line as it tries to break down the diagonal of the g7 bishop. I thought if I got a little more play on that diagonal before Rb8, then Rb8 would be an even more powerful move. Unfortunately f6 is a blunder. Bxd5! and white picks up plenty of material.

Here is an example where I am overzealous about attacking and forget my defensive responsibilities.



I was so focused on the lonely d5 pawn and the slightly exposed king that I figured it was good to pressure black with Bc3. Oops, the knight on d3 is hanging.

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