Missed opportunities

I had resolved to not include correspondence chess games in this blog, but no rule without exceptions. This is a casual correspondence game played under OTB rules, so no books, databases or chess engines were allowed. The plan was to play a game resembling OTB, but without the errors coming from fatigue, impatience, or real-life interferences.

My opponent's style is a somewhat different from mine - aggressive like me, a bit more attacking, less positional, more calculating, and less intuitive. So, slow manoeuvring was not to be expected here!

Me - N.N (Casual correspondence game, 2024)
English Opening

1. c4 b6 2. g3 Bb7 3. Nf3 g6 Black goes for an immediate double fianchetto. Other alternatives are:

3... Bxf3 4. exf3 c5, giving up the Bishop pair for a doubled pawn, or
3... Nf6, heading for a standard English Opening position.

4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nc3 e6 6. d4 Ne7 7. e4

 7 ... c5 Probably not the best,  as White now can claim the centre and cut off the Bishop on b7. O-O would have been better.

8. d5 exd5 This leads to trouble. A better plan was O-O followed by e5 and d6, and possibly a kingside attack in the King's Indian style.

9. exd5 O-O 10. O-O Nf5 11. Ne4 d6 12. Bf4 Bxb2 13. Rb1 

 Black has gained a pawn,but at a price. There are three sleeping pieces on the queenside, and the d6 pawn is vulnerable and under attack. White must now play resolutely not to give Black time to develop.

13 ... Bg7 14. g4 Re8 15. Nfg5? This is the first missed opportunity. The right move is 15. Re1, when Black must give up the exchange with 15 ... Rxe5 to save the pawn on d6.

15 ...h6? Overlooking some tactics.

16. Nxf7 Kxf7 17. gxf5 

 White has an overwhelming position, but it's very sharp, so things can still go wrong. And they will.

17 ... Be5?? Black had to play 17 ... Rxe4. This was a mistake that would cost the game, if only I've seen the crushing 18 ... Qg4!, but...

18. Bxh6?? Apart from missing the winning Qg4, this move puts the Bishop on a vulnerable square. Just look at Rh8 and Qh4, with a lot of firepower bearing down on h2. The plan was to prepare for Ng5+, but that turns out to bad too.

Rh8 19. Ng5+? Inviting Black back into the game. fxg6+ was the move to play.   19 ... Kg8 

20. Ne6? Gives away the last shred of advantage. 20 ... Qe7?? 

Evades the immediate threat, but nothing more. But, there's a multi-purpose move here - 20 ... Qh4, threatening both mate and the Bishop on h6. After 21. f4 Rxh6 22. fxe5 Qxh2+ 23. Kf2 Qh4+, Black has time to develop the queenside starting with Nd7.

21. Bf4 Keeps the pressure up, but f4 was even better.  Bxf4 22. Nxf4 Qh4 

 23. Nh3?? Black threatens to mate on h2, and also to capture on f4, but this is not the right way to solve those problems. Instead, 23. Re1 avoids the mate, and also threatens Re8+. It's very complicated, but White should win.

23 ... gxf5?? Another missed opportunity. Bc8 followed by Bxf5 would solve all Black's problems.

24. Qd3 Qe2 is better, allowing Rb3. 

24 ... f4?? This is the decisive mistake. I don't know what Black was planning, but I do know it wouldn't work. After 24 ... Nd7, White is better, but there are at least some survival chances.  25. Qg6+ 

Now the mate is on the horizon, all White needs to do is bringing out a Rook or two. The finish is not perfect, but at least the job gets done. Can you find any improvements from this point? There are several!

25. Kf8 26. Qxd6+ Kg7 27. Rbe1 Rf8 28. Re7+ Rf7 29. Rfe1 Bc8 30. Rxf7+ Kxf7 31. Nxf4 Na6 32. Qg6+ 1-0

Takeaway

There were some technical mistakes in the opening, but starting from move 15, the mistakes were all psychological. Most of the missed chances were caused by blinded by your own plan. This means that when you find a move that fits your plan, you look no further. A useful tool for looking for a better move is the multi-purpose move.

The methods I use to study my mistakes are found in how to analyse your games.

Multi-purpose moves

We have all seen them - those power moves awarded with double exclamation marks in game annotations. Those moves lurk around in our own games too, but we rarely find them until in the post game analysis. How can we find them during the game? Fortunately, there are tools for that. One such tool is the multi-purpose move. 

 Every move is made with purpose - we want to attack something, defend something, or relocate to better square. Sometimes, however, a move serves more than just one such purpose, and that's the kind we're looking for. A multi-purpose move is almost like making two moves at once, so it's no wonder that they often give you the initiative. Here's an example:

 Can you spot the multi-purpose move?

White has a better pawn structure thanks to the backward pawn on d6, but right now that pawn is a road block that effectively prevents White's doubled Rooks to infiltrate. Also there's a sad Bishop on e2 with nothing to do and nowhere to go. So, White has two problems that need to solved. Can we do that in one move? Yes we can - 1.c5!

All of a sudden, White has a winning position. 1...dxc5 2.Rd7 wins quickly, and 1...Rad8 2.cxd6 isn't much better.

How to find the multi-purpose moves

In most cases, we tend to look for moves that align with our long term goals, but this approach can make us miss the power moves. So, put on your multi-purpose glasses! A good starting point is to take an inventory of the problems with your position (every position has it's problems). Next, think about how to solve these problems, and finally, see if there is a move that solves more than one problem.