Umlaut v. Clasko

[Clasko]

Glhf!

Thanks! You too!

I've never played chess on a forum like this before. Hopefully this is right?

1. e4 d6

[Clasko]

Okay that seems to have worked...

[Clasko]

I was tempted to mirror your first move. That was always my go-to move, as white, when I played as a kid.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6

[Clasko]

That works for about two moves before you get in trouble with it; 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4? 4. Qe2 and White is just winning. But those first two moves would be quite solid!

Hm, you're right. In that scenario I'd probably d6 instead of Nf6 and save the Nf6 for later? Eh. I very rarely play chess online. I'm not used to seeing the pieces like this, haha.
That said, I was gutted when I saw the round robin sign-up period was over; fairly sure I signed up to MS around a month later after deadline, but I still enjoyed spectating some of those games.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6

[Clasko]

Yes, you're right. That leaves white's pawn defenceless upon horse's retreat, although I can envisage 5. Qe2 which pins black's knight in a slightly similar way to:

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4? 4. Qe2 and White is just winning.

Then again, white has to spend an extra move in order to castle on king's side if Qe2, I suppose, since the king's bishop can't move immediately. *shrug*

I'm sorry you missed out on the tournament! I may run another next year (or try and sweet-talk someone else into doing so) so if you stick around you'll likely have another chance.

I

may

be around. I've decided I'm not very good at mafia games on this site, but I definitely enjoy spectating them and playing Chess so I'll log in periodically. I'll keep my eyes peeled, though!

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7

[Clasko]

The difference between the two scenarios is that, after 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2, Black can just respond symmetrically with 5... Qe7 to unpin (this generally leads to an early queen trade and a rather drawish position).

To which I would (as black) do 6... Nf6 to absolutely encourage that trade, since: 7 Qxe7 Bxe7 (sorry if that's the wrong annotation) allows me to develop the king-side bishop and castle next turn quite comfortably, although I'm a big advocator of Bg7 in a lot of games including the one we're currently playing (it's a childhood thing).

Actually 4... Qe7 is also black's best try after 4. Qe2 but it doesn't quite work, with Black still down a pawn after 5. Qxe4 d6 6. d5 dxe5 7. dxe5.

In my experience people who make the mistake of playing 3... Nxe4? generally don't follow up with the best continuation, and instead the game goes something like 4. Qe2 d5 5. d3 Nf6?? 6. Nc6+ 1−0

I completely agree that black is worse off for this, even something as minor as the white queen being on the same coloured square as black's king whereas black's queen remains stationary.
I also like how we're playing this game but simultaneously carrying out two other games in word form. I blame you for this, of course.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O

[Clasko]

That annotation looks right to me! I would say the position at that point is quite equal; you could argue Black has a one-tempo advantage but given that you're headed for an early endgame it's unlikely to really matter. That said, as white I prefer to play 5. d4 rather than 5. Qe2 so this doesn't often come up for me.

Mm. As mentioned earlier I would have responded with 2... d6 to prevent the immediate capture of my pawn to begin with. I can't say I've run into that scenario in many of my games either (as far as I can remember at least), but I have a feeling you've played

many

more games of chess than I have. I'm guessing you have off-site experience of some kind?

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6

[Clasko]

Hah, figured as much. I'm impressed with your 150; it may be my undoing in the end.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5

[Clasko]

I'll make your bishop work for it, at least. xD

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5

[Clasko]

He's the 'outstayed his welcome' type, huh?
Look, I've readied a horse for him to escape!

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5

[Clasko]

^ I was looking at the board for a good while before making that move...
Also, I won't be available to post tomorrow so expect my next move tonight/Saturday afternoon!

[Clasko]

Sorry 'bout that!
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6

[Clasko]

Yup, no worries! ^^

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7

[Clasko]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7 12. h4 f5

[Clasko]

^ Whoops sorry, forgot to remove the quote tag. :S

[Clasko]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7 12. h4 f5 13. h5 Qe8

[Clasko]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7 12. h4 f5 13. h5 Qe8 14. Bd3 h5

[Clasko]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7 12. h4 f5 13. h5 Qe8 14. Bd3 gxh5 15. gxh5 Nd7

[Clasko]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 O-O 6. f3 c6 7. O-O-O b5 8. Bh6 d5 9. e5 Nh5 10. g4 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Ng7 12. h4 f5 13. h5 Qe8 14. Bd3 gxh5 15. gxh5 Nd7 16. Nge2 Nf6