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Why not? Give you a feel for the ideas if you ever come across it as white. And maybe you'll like the opening; it can be a decent surprise weapon as black against weaker players who wouldn't be too familiar with it. Gameknot is there for experimenting.

I learnt the Alekhine by experimenting on gameknot and now its one of my favorite defences . Of course if you want to take up an opening its good to put a bit of research into it.

4...d6 is fine. It gets the ls Bishop into the game. If you intended to respond to Bg5 with ...Be7 than you should have played 3...Be7 to start with.

I agree with blake.

That said, 2. e5 is the normal continuation of the Alekhine's; now we're into plain Giuco Piano. I don't like ... d6; it stops the bishop from coming back to break the pin on the knight after Bg5. Better is maybe castling, and then play for a c6 and d5 push (after ensuring the e5 pawn doesn't hang). ***Edit*** - well, yeah - logical on the bishop positioning alright. So yeah, I'd put it on e7 to start with. What's the best way of dealing with the pin then - Nbd7 maybe? I've seen it cause enough of our club's (weaker) players problems over the last while!

Yeah, it's grand. This is one of the most basic openings going. King-side castling is routine in it.

In open game, Kingside castling is usually preferred because it is faster. After castling queenside you usually need to play your king to b8 (b1) to get it in a secure position. Open games are all about rapid deployment and time is of the essence.

It is a fine idea, but 5...Bg4 will give white a few problems to deal with. White should not have castled yet, and should play d3: It is more accurate. Even d4 is fine.

The bishop was developed on c8, you should get your b1 knight into the game before moving the bishop.

The bishop move is more active than the knight move, which can happen anytime. If white plays h3 after black moves the knight, then Bg4 is impossible. The 2 base principles of maximum acitivty and flexibility help here.@blake-You know a lot of opening liines and theory;do you have any games or knowledge on this one? The computer likes your Nc6 better by 2 tenths of pawn; quite a lot/ But I know that my move is much superior versus a human and theoretically equal at least. I give the variation 6.d3 Nc6(fritz does not like this) 7.h3(a must) Bh5 8.g4 Nxg4 9.hxg4 Bxg4 10.Bb5 0-0 11.Bxc6 bxc6 and black has a good position with a clear attack. Black is threatening ideas like Qf6, and f5 which is stronger. *Even though white's moves have been 'the best', and black has made an innaccurate move in my variation, Friz does not like this so much for white anymore, and claims black is at least equal.

This is a loss of time by White. White used two moves to get the bishop to a square it could have gotten in one move. Black has more than equalized.

Similar to last time - what's the main line in dealing with the threat of Nc6-d4?

However, other alternatives leave black with chances for an edge. This move is still nevertheless quite backwards, but white has castled before playing h3, and if h3 now, black can still get an at least equal game with all the attacking chances.

This move weakens White's kingside. ...BxN came into serious consideration, since it would force the White Bishop on e2 to move a third time and it would be awkwardly placed on f3.

This sac usually isn't sound unless there's a decent amount to back it up with. Here, queen and knight won't be enough, and white can consolidate by the time black draws up reinforcements. Bh5 was better.

According to maximum activity, ... Bh5 was better, but Bxf3 is the best move clearly. @cdeburca did you calcualte 7...Bh5?! 8.Nxe5 Bxe2 10.Nxd7 Bxd1 11.Nxc5 Bxc2? OK, to be honest, white has a clear advantage in that line  , but Bxf3 is best since it leaves the rest of the white pieces unable to coordinate and black has more activity. However, this is actually interesting, because black can force the win of a thrid pawn at the end of the variation; I think it is better than Bh5.

Personally I wouldn't have played gxh3. You win a bishop but your king is overexposed.

According to the principle of material and common sense   white absolutely MUST take the bishop. The bishop took a pawn that was supposedly guarded. If you don't take, black is up a free pawn. If you don't take, he will have a clear advantage; If you take, the position is tactical, but you can have the chance to maintain equality or even take the advantage. If you make a tactical slip of course, it is much worse.

9...Qg3+ 10.Kh1 Bxf2 would win a pawn for black.

icampop is correct!!

Good spot actually. That probably justifies the sac alright. Three kingside pawns gone, and the king one square further over to the kingside, is a lot.

Never say must when attacking. Is there anything in 10. ... NxP? If 11. NxP+ Kd7 12. NxR NxP looks threatening. 13. Qe1 seems forced, but then ... Nd3+ wins the queen anyway. At the other side of the board, white has really only won the exchange rather than a whole rook. So it looks as if, after 10. ... NxP, white doesn't have time to take on c7.

@cdeburca I think White's threat on c7 is valid; after the line you gave, White may continue with 13.d4 Bxd4 14.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Qxh2+ 16.Ke1 Qg1+ 17.Bf1 Qg3+ 18.Kd2 Qf4+ 19.Kc3 Rc8+ 20.Kb3 and Black has nothing left to throw at the King, though the resulting game would certainly be interesting. Note that 13.Rxf2 right away doesn't work, because Black can force a draw with perpetual check.

Clearly the best move is Na6.

this a strong move!!

It is a poor move, but a tricky one.

Certainly this was your best move. Good job, you are now winning. 15.Qf3 Qxf1+

15Qf3 you should take the rook with check.

19 ... Rg8! looks devastating, but is not possible because of Qxf7+. I don't know if doing the preparation move Ke8 will do it, but there are so many checks white can probably get some material out of it. I can understand why black played d5 here, because he wanted Bd6, which also looks devastating. But black doesnt have enough time and doesnt see the attack on his queen.

good game 5 star!!

I thought you had some imaginative ideas this game.

water is super-effective against rock... according to pokemon.

Thank you both! I should have another annotation tomorrow (technically today, since it's 12:56 A.M.), since I lost another game. @schakertje: Heheh, it's been a while since I have played pokemon! But yeah, I was referring to my attack epicly failing and falling apart (now that I can see it was a result of my oversight).