Chess Game - Pondering before Moving
One of the lessons we learn in Chess is to be constantly thinking and always “Ponder before any Move.” Yet, as in real life, we do not have the luxury of pondering too long in any given situation.
This game, played by the ten-minutes-a-side rules of chess.com, provides a good example, at move # 19, where one silly and un-pondered move got White killed by move # 26.
At chess.com the ten minutes-a-side game trains me to think fast.
I played White here and White lost just because of one silly mistake at move # 19 where White failed to see the opposite Q at a2. White was killed at move # 26, just 7 more moves away. We can see a panic White making more silly mistakes after move # 19.
Let us analyse the moves.
Strength White Black
Excellent 10 16
Good 5 6
Inaccuracy 3 2
Mistake 4 0
Blunder 1 2
Forced 3 0
Best Move 19.0% 52.0%
White had 10 Excellent moves compared to Black’s 16.
Black had two Blunders compared to just one but White failed to consolidate when the Black blunders were made.
Move-by-Move analysis
1. e4 e5 2. d3
C20: King’s Pawn Opening: Leonardis Variation
2… d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Be3 b6 5. fxe5 Nxe5
INACCURACY (+0.63) A better move was 5… dxe5
(5… dxe5 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. c3 Bd6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Be2 Ng4 10. Bg1)
At this point, Black’s move # 5 Nxe5 was a mistake.
6. d4 Ng4 7. Qd3
INACCURACY (+0.16) A better move was 7. Bf4
(7. Bf4 Ne7 8. h3 Ng6 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 11. Qf3 Nxf4)
7… N8f6 8. h3 Nxe3 9. Qxe3 Bb7 10. Nc3 Be7 11. O-O-O O-O 12. Bc4
INACCURACY (-1.00) A better move was 12. Kb1
(12. Kb1 c5 13. Bc4 cxd4 14. Qxd4 Rc8 15. Nf3 a6 16. Bd5 Nxd5)
12… d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 MISTAKE (-2.66) The best move was 14. Nxd5
(14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Qe2 Re8 16. Qf1 c6 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 18. Kb1 Rad8)
White’s Move # 14 was a mistake but Black’s response was a Blunder that White failed to capitalise. Instead White committed a Blunder at move # 15, playing Qg3. And again, when Black made a Blunder at the next move, White failed to capitalise on this too. What a pity!
(14… Bg5 15. Bxb7 Bxe3+ 16. Kb1 Rb8 17. Bc6 Bxg1 18. Rhxg1 Qd6 19. d5)
15. Qg3
BLUNDER (-2.42) The best move was 15. Nxd5
(15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Qxe7 Qxg2 17. Ne2 Rae8 18. Nf4 Qxc2+ 19. Kxc2 Rxe7)
15… Bf6
BLUNDER (-0.41) The best move was 15… Bd6
(15… Bd6 16. Qg4 f5 17. Qe2 Qg5+ 18. Rd2 Rae8 19. Nf3 Bxf3 20. Qxf3)
16. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. Nf3
MISTAKE (-2.53) The best move was 17. Kb1
(17. Kb1 c5 18. Nf3 Rad8 19. Rhe1 Rfe8 20. Qf2 Bxd4 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8)
17… Qxa2 18. Qxc7
INACCURACY (-4.61) A better move was 18. c3
(18. c3 c5 19. d5 b5 20. Nd2 Rae8 21. Rhf1 b4 22. Rxf6 bxc3)
18… Rac8 19. Qxa7
MISTAKE (-14.24) The best move was 19. Qf4
(19. Qf4 Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Qxb2 21. Rc1 Rfd8 22. Ke3 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Qxc2)
White’s biggest Blunder here. It was a blind mistake and resulted in White lost.
19… Qxa7 20. Kb1 Qa4 21. b3 Qa5
MISSED MATE (-22.21) Checkmate after 21… Qa3
(21… Qa3 22. Rd2 Ra8 23. c3 Qa1+ 24. Kc2 Qxh1 25. Ne5 Ra2+ 26. Kd3 Qf1+ 27. Ke4 Qe1+ 28. Kd5 Rxd2 29. Kc6 Qe4+ 30. Kc7 Bxe5+ 31. Kxb6 Rb8+ 32. Kc5 Rc8+ 33. Kb6 Qc6+ 34. Ka5 Ra2+ 35. Kb4 Qb6#)
22. d5
MISTAKE (♚ MATE IN 1) The best move was 22. Rd3
(22. Rd3 Ra8 23. Kb2 Qa2+ 24. Kc1 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qxh1 26. Re3 Qxg2+)
22… Rfd8
FASTER MATE (♚ MATE IN 6) A better move was 22… Qa1#
(22… Qa1#)
23. c4 Qa1+ 24. Kc2 Qc3+ 25. Kb1 Qxb3+
FASTER MATE (♚ MATE IN 1) A better move was 25… Qb2#
(25… Qb2#)
26. Kc1 Qb2#