Thursday's game at the local chess club paired me against a quickly improving player who had won the club's Player of the Year award with his recent winning record. Unfortunately for me, he had recently lost a game to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and had spent time looking at the opening.
I had recently added the BDG to my repertoire to replace the Veresov Attack, which I thought was too passive. I knew some of the lines, but obviously not enough of them. However, when Black responded with 1...d5, I decided to try out the BDG.
I resigned early when I could not find a plan that held any promise, whereas I could see a good plan for Black. I thought that I was behind approximately 2.5 pawns. A subsequent computer analysis of the final position is interesting:
-1.12 Rybka 2.3.2
-1.55 Toga II
-2.08 Fritz 12
-2.27 Phalanx XXII
-2.38 Shredder 11
Lesson learned: Study ALL the main lines of an opening before playing it in rated competition.
P.S. A while back, I posted that my practice games against the computer were going to be played on a real board and the moves then transferred to the computer. Since then, I have been able to increase the computer engine's strength by 200 rating points and I am doing better against the silicon monster. It slows down my playing and makes for better analysis of each move.
Hi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteWhat was the time control for this game?
How much time was on your clock when you resigned?
Personally speaking, I would not have resigned. I would have fought on. At my level, Class B/C, everyone is prone to blunders, even then they are up a few pawns.
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. That was my first thought after I got home and entered the game in my database.
I had already made two mistakes: (1) not getting the positional advantage from the pawn sacrifice and (2) castling into a skewer from the black Bishop.
I need to learn/practice not being discouraged and giving up too early. I had seen a clear plan for my opponent but should have looked much harder at ways to complicate the position and give my opponent a opportunity to make a mistake.
Thanks for the feedback,
Ralph
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteAlso thank you for the compliment for the 'Bigfoot Note' at the bottom of my blog. I got quite a few additional pageviews that were referred from your http://rockyrook.blogspot.com/2012/01/ralphs-bigfoot-note.html.
Ralph,
ReplyDeleteNo problem - I like to point out great stuff! And that foot note is certainly great stuff.
Take care,