darth_ender

Warbler said:

darth_ender said:

Therefore you had two options: develop your pieces while simultaneously forcing me to move her

this is what I would have liked to do, but I am not sure how I could have done that in our game.   One thing I think I should have done after you captured my bishop on d5 with your queen was move my f pawn to f3, thus preventing your queen from capturing my g pawn.

darth_ender said:

But really, the biggest error you made was your queenside castle.  

yeah, that was quite a blunder, considering what happened in one of our previous games, where you caught both of my rooks on the same diagonal.

darth_ender said:

  You did well moving your queen to f8 to prevent the loss of your rook.

I think you meant f3.

Yes I do.  I added this sentence after I'd realized I had the game saved.  And when I'm not paying attention (since 8 is obviously the last rank), and looking at the tiny letters and number scrunched on my software squares, it looks like f8.  I should have known better, but as always, I was typing in a flurry and not paying attention.

darth_ender said:

And look at that!  I did save the game after all!  Sorry.  Well, I guess I got it all right.  But one thing I notice also is wasted moves.  You moved your queen from f3 to g3, then back to f3.  When you first moved to g3, I thought you were going to force an exchange, which I didn't want but was ready to accept.  But then you didn't, and moved back.  You probably didn't need to move it in the first place, and I'm really not clear why you moved it to g3 in the first place.

the reason I moved my queen back to f3(and I am not saying it was a good reason) was so that if you moved you e5 pawn to e4, I would capture it with my pawn on d3, you would then capture it with your bishop on f5, which I would capture with my queen.   It was probably bad reasoning.  I probably should have exchanged queens when your moved your queen to g6.

I see your reasoning.  You did have your knight on c3 to ensure a fair trade.  Yeah, if I had been in your shoes, I probably would have gone ahead and traded queens.

darth_ender said:

Every move should be maximized when possible, especially in the early game.  You gave me two more moves to place my pieces where I wanted them, so that even though I hadn't yet castled, I was pretty secure in my little fortress.

what two moves are your referring to?  the first two moves?

Moving your queen to g3 then back to f3.  If to g3, then force the trade.  If not, then keep her on f3 would have been my suggestion.  The back and forth ended up costing you two moves, and you could have kept her where she was while moving other pieces in that same time.

darth_ender said:

Hope this helps.  Let me know your thoughts, or if you have any questions or critiques of my analysis.

 yes it does help.   I appreciate you giving me this analysis.  Hopefully, it will help me learn from my mistakes.

 I'm glad.  I hope I don't ever come off as condescending or anything.  I try to be forthright, and I honestly don't consider myself to be anything great--merely decent.  But if I'm able to sharpen your game, then it's definitely worth it :)

We could try a harder handicap, such as Pawn and Two Moves (with me playing black) or Knight Odds (which I believe has me play white).  Truthfully the more I give you, the more scared I feel.  But it's worth it to try to even out our game. :)

If Google does well, that is good news indeed.  I speak Spanish pretty well, and since French and Spanish both descended from Latin, I was going to try to perform a translation, using Google and the basic rules translation that the author already provided as a reference.  I tried working through it, but though Google was helpful, it was still pretty messy and I got fed up with it and gave up.  But this was back in '07, so perhaps Google has improved their translation software quite a bit since then.  Thanks again for the help, and I'm glad a few more folks are interested than when I first posted this.  Thanks especially to Bewy once again.

I will add, since you prefer to keep games going as long as possible to resigning, that you have only one move to save your king at the present, and you are going to hate it: Ln-8k.  All other options result in a dead king.  And you may hate me for this, but I'd rather you not take your last move back, since I believe my trapping your lion is the result of a clever combination and not you accidentally forgetting something.  Even if you do this, the game is not over and my lion will be forced to retreat per your last move.  Ultimately it's up to you.

RicOlie_2 said:

Are you making fun of me? Just because I made a dumb thread...

Anyway, my family is bigger than yours.

 There is nothing wrong with the original title of your thread, and I honestly suggest you change it back.  If you are embarrassed, let it sink to the depths of pages 15-99 as many of my threads have.  As I enjoy archiving stuff, I'd rather see this preserved as originally intended than handed over to others.  They can start their own threads if they want to.

B-10i+ check.  FYI, in Chu one must actually capture the king, who may move into check or be left in check legally (though unwisely).

Neglify said:

I had twelve hundred and seventy four brothers and sisters.

 Yep, I knew it.  Government moochers...that has "Food Stamp Family" written all over it.

Probably can squeeze in a few moves tonight.  Lnx10j igui

Lnx10h-9i

Don't worry.  I've made more than enough errors to compensate. Ln-9h

You'd probably regret more the placement of your Lion in an open diagonal across the board from my bishop ;)  I don't think I'll be forgiving of every error you make, but when it comes to your lion placed right in harm's way, I'd rather give you a second chance.

I guess since I was finishing up my post to Warbler and therefore am still here, I'll make one more move, but that's it!  I promise! 9fx8g igui (in other words, I moved back to my starting square on 9f).

RicOlie_2 said:

I'll give a short analysis too, if you don't mind, just because it helps me understand the game better myself.

I think you made a mistake by allowing darth_ender's queen a huge amount of coverage on the board. At turn 3, he set himself up to move into the centre of the board. The fact that he risked his knight to take a pawn makes that apparent. He was baiting you so he could get out in the open. Once he was on d5 on turn 5 he was covering more than half the board with his queen and was in a position to move just about wherever he wanted. You forced him out of that position with your knight, but he moved into you territory. You did a good job getting him out of there, but then he started moving bishops around, taking over the centre of the board. Around turn 9, it might have been wise to move your knight out to defend against his oncoming pieces, but you ended up making a line of defense on row 3 instead. I think this was probably a bad idea since it allowed ender to trap you. After that there wasn't much you could do to effectively come back.

Hopefully that's accurate and I didn't sound too critical.

 I think this is good as well.  Yes, I don't do as well at tactics as good players, but I can be pretty strategic, and I know the advantages of holding the center of the board.  I got a pretty good hold on the center there in the beginning.

Again I didn't save my game, so I'll have to go by memory.  The queen is a wonderful piece, but her power is ultimately her downfall.  What you could have done was harass her, since I'd sort of been forced to bring her out too early once again.  When the board is full, her abilities are not as notable.  That is when she is weakest.  As pieces are removed from the board, she grows in strength.  Therefore you had two options: develop your pieces while simultaneously forcing me to move her (thus not developing my own pieces); exchange queens while we were even or you were in the lead.  Now you obviously didn't have the chance to exchange while in the lead because I evened things out when I took your g2 pawn, but as our queens were facing each other for a while, it might have been wise to trade, especially since you still had that vulnerable rook hemmed in by your knight in the same corner and you couldn't move your queen without exposing that g2 square, and thus your rook, to my queen once again.  But really, the biggest error you made was your queenside castle.  It's easy to overlook, but a common tactic is the skewer, wherein I attack a valuable piece, and when it moves, it exposes another less valuable piece behind it to attack.  You lined your rook right up with your queen while I had a bishop available to attack that diagonal whilst defended by my queen.  Pay attention to paths in the ranks, files, and diagonals, as skewers and pins are my stronger tactics (in that I see the potential for them more readily than other tactics).  If you line your pieces up, make sure I can't exploit it.

And for what it's worth, the pawns on b2, b7, g2, and g7 are a weak spot along the diagonal.  Once the bishop is moved, the pawn is undefended, and if the knight remains in place, the rook is stuck.  You did well moving your queen to f8 to prevent the loss of your rook.

And look at that!  I did save the game after all!  Sorry.  Well, I guess I got it all right.  But one thing I notice also is wasted moves.  You moved your queen from f3 to g3, then back to f3.  When you first moved to g3, I thought you were going to force an exchange, which I didn't want but was ready to accept.  But then you didn't, and moved back.  You probably didn't need to move it in the first place, and I'm really not clear why you moved it to g3 in the first place.  Every move should be maximized when possible, especially in the early game.  You gave me two more moves to place my pieces where I wanted them, so that even though I hadn't yet castled, I was pretty secure in my little fortress.

Hope this helps.  Let me know your thoughts, or if you have any questions or critiques of my analysis.

Ln-9f

Much as I'm enjoying myself, I need to take a break for a while.  Our game probably won't progress as fast for a few days.  Sorry.

VMx9j

Pretty triangle.  DHx10h

I don't get it.  Dan Rather never says "three cast".  He does say something about 40% humility in Florida, but I don't get that either.

DH-7e

Ln-8d

R-9c

doubleofive said:

I listen to...Wil Wheaton's Radio Free Burrito while I'm cleaning house or mowing the lawn.

 Doesn't it just make you want to shout, "Shut up, Wesley!"?

Ln-9f

Good reasoning.  DHx7i+

Catholics don't believe in physical bodies in heaven?  What's the point of the resurrection then?

8j?  That surprises me.  Not that it's a bad move, but I thought you'd perhaps try to interfere with my pawn if anything.  P-9h