Annotated chess game

the only right conclusion   c4 is a well protected target now .... you retreated your only eye on it...

White especially dominates white square territory.

The idea of Nf3-d2-c4 is well known play for both the Benoni & many King's Indian Defenses... the deployment will end up being like a vice around Black's center

Good move. One of White's threats was to play g4, imprisoning the h3-bishop.

Interesting what other people say it's a good move. I would expect moving the knight to the queenside.

suprisingly (for a dummy like me  ), it's also the engines choice. I thought it better to defend the Q side.Apparently the best defense can be some attacking plans. I think jkarp is right. It will be important who gives the first punch, who takes the inititative. @archduke_piccolo, thx for the lesson. I overlooked this (white) move here ... though it seems so obvious   And though trading a piece when behind in space, i think it woudn't be wise here, as exactly black's (good) LSB enjoys some space ....

well, it's not only d6. It's just a marvelous field to occupy for a N, controlling e5,d6,b6,a5 and eying at its own defense ! And for the time being, it can't be chased away so easily ! a4 was a preparing move ! Wonderfully seen (again  ). Well i guess, a lot of experience also helps. That's always what i am hoping for :lol

i thought more of time to connect your R's with Qd7, assisting your lonely forward post   And when a pawn move, then a6 , after which b5 is a threat for Nc4. b6 doesn't help much in that way. and there is not much danger for c5. You can always react when he advances his b pawn, which is not actual at the moment. So i think b6 is a kindof losing time (well, this is all easily said in an afterwards annotation. It's more difficult to take the right decisions than to judge afterwards ....; although at the moment i don't know what will be the next move) If you had attacking plans to keep him busy, h5 would maybe be an option to give more support to g4 ... maybe ... an interesting line to analyze. I agree, good play until now, although you're a pawn behind now without one piece (or pawn) being captured in the game ! That's already a good thing .... you've learned to be patient and are trying to get some plans into your play in stead of slaughtering your opponent (don't think that would be a realistic option in this game   which is more about not being slaughtered !)

If Black wanted to force forward this pawn, this move is the way to go. Had he played 15...a6, then 16.a5 would have shut down Black's counterplay. This way, Black can follow up with ...a6 and then ...b5. Mind you, it is not clear which side would benefit most from the opening up of the Q side.

again .... also a N move is not per se about "taking"; look again which fields it controls now. It already controlled 8 fields, but only two in your territory .... now that becomes 4. Besides that this move blocks your B (and it cramps black's position) and makes it a real lonely fighter, which just is there to be exchanged . It's also hard to attack this N, except for the B, but then you give him a dangerous pawn. Otherwise you only have g6, but that takes a few steps to make this possible (unless you enjoy your N in the h8 corner !)

This move is very well timed! Ordinarily one would suggest 16...Bxf5 in reply, but after 17.exf5, the knight would have to retreat to the horrible square h8 if Black is not to lose a pawn.

besides the next moves ..... i wonder ..... what where you thinking when playing this move? I see no advantage and with f3 you just have lost time (again! Next time when playing him you should ask some time being ahead, which he will get back during the play ! Only when he plays well, of course  )

Blak is not fully developped. The queen has to move first. The counterattack should come later on (I have done so many times such a mistake !)

Qc7 is perhaps a safer response and on par with a6 but White is already in position to parry any Black attack

he advances .... and losing (winning) time is an important aspect of the play !

White gains time, if he chooses, to lock away the h3-bishop.

It'so good because the black DSB is blocked and black can hardly set a piece on the a7-d1 diagonal.

Bf1, followed by Bf1 & after Kxf1 (the h-pawn check would cost Black a piece and also give White an open h-file to conclude the attack) h5 and then Kg2; Black would need to retreat Nf6 - so the idea would prove wasteful... the problem for Black is that f3 highlights all that is wrong Ng4

well, that's the interesting thing in this game. It's a nice looking for positions and chances without taking the first opportunities which arise. You move into the play, called chess ! I am quite certain this game was very instructive for you !

A little bit of a surprise, this move, as the bishop seemed pretty well employed on the c1-h6 diagonal. But I'm surmisuing the the move not only frees the a1-rook (a consideration), but it acts in conjunction with an f3-f4 break. I would have found 18.g4 fairly tempting, myself, but, having hooked the bishop at h3, it's not so easy to reel it in.

White could also try Kh1 with the idea of Rg1 and there are potential sacs on h6 or even g7

maybe Qc7 is better; this diagonal has gone so is less important and now you block (direct) protection of the d pawn by your R. Good thing is that the R's are connected now. But everywhere your Q has little place to go, so maybe the difference isn't that big.

The fact is that White has established a bind across the whole board. It is very hard indeed to find a worthwhile plan for Black. Maybe I'd try something like ...Rd8 and ...Bxf5, bringing the knight back to f8 and then relocating via d7 or h7.

perhaps Ne8 looking to get the Bishop to g5 might help alleviate the congestion but feel the position is about to collapse

but getting freed soon of a N on f5 is a real illusion now ! Again, maybe that pawn wasn't that important, but the scope of control is ..... and that's (also)excellent here and here it's more near to the K !

Another time the question .... what did you think when doing this move; it is said that every move should give an advantage (more space, more control, a capture, a threat, a defense ...) , but here it doesn't add much to the game as was earlier the case with your other N ! You wanted to make a sacrifice to gain some space ??? You fall about a pawn here .... although there still are no captures in this game. So yes, a mistake.

The mistke was ... Qd7

To avoid immediate disaster then Nh7 needed to be tried... to me the difference between Ne8 & Qd7 was not much, as noted 3... e5 allowed White two great plans - one tactical and the other positional. The positional lines were several and I think most players would struggle as Black - especially when they are looking at significant rating difference... based on comments many players thought that Black was OK but as a Benoni player - the positions I was looking at are not the positions you want to defend... perhaps you get lucky but usually you run out of useful moves and are overwhelmed.

again .... you can see white prepared this move .... the N has moved away to a good spot and asks his LSB to do a good job. It becomes closer and closer for you ... @jkarp, you say white ???

the immediate f4 is probably better

Probably because Qc7 protects the bishop and doesn't give the opportunity for the knight fork later on.

No, tobymonger is correct. And jkarp you shouldn't tie down a piece to defend another piece if possible.

@jkarp, even when a threat can be answered .... you're still occupied to react on your opponent and that's already a reason to try to prevent this. Ok, difficult in this situation but you should always try to get your own play and to take the initiative. Being forced to react is not a strong point and doesn't deliver the points to your side !

Another drawback of this move is that, after the forthcoming 21. Bc6, the black rook has only b8 to move to. With the queen on c7, the rook could have come to c8 or d8 - and so be slightly more active. A minor difference, but maybe important later on.

Qd8 was slightly better now f4 is even stronger for White

Nice to see the engines play f4. And i can imagine .... this move can't be prevented anylonger and after a while it still can be effective. There is no hurry to play it now; of course it's not wrong either.

well, again it's not about capturing of pieces ..... but your room to make moves becomes smaller and smaller ..... THAT's the real capture here. The CAPTURE of SPACE ! so in the end you will be forced to make openings for him, or to make mistakes , of which he will take advantage .... greedily !

The bishop can be fired only by a knight and there are far away. Even in this case, it would be a trade.

you have hardly any move left to play ....

What I have noted from experience playing - whoever plays the f-pawn forward, usually has the more comfortable game. White has a lock down on the white squares, and with f4, moves in to further cramp out blacks position.

which shows that Nh5 was a waste of time .....Btw the engines give you right here. Second move being mentioned (but with even more advantage for white) is Bxf5 .... exf4, i don't see ! And when i play it , it gives a loss of three pawns (in points), so it's not seen as a good one. exf4 .. Qh5 ! Well, that's clear :lol

White's pawn break exposed a whole bunch of issues in Black's game. 22...exf4 looks simply to lose material.

Look at the poor knight's moves! Nd7 -> b6 -> d7 -> f6 -> g4 -> f6 -> h5 -> f6. All around the world - and to achieve what?

the first capture at move 22 ! So that makes clear that now you're officially no beginner anymore   Of course it's a sign that now he thinks he is prepared well enough to crumple your position .... Look how nice his DSB is positioned ! And how easy all his pieces can move around

well, at least you draw the right conclusion here. As i have read more often .... (and i send you that link  ) .... you only learn when you loose from better playing opponents. Well, that's certainly the case here. You can learn a lot from this game ! And we do too !(thx for giving us that opportunity again). Yes, leaving your B without defense wasn't wise (and it shows tobymonger was right !)

Even after 23...dxe4 Black loses at least the exchange, according to the GK engine. 23...Bxf5 was no good either.

Yes, the g6 Knight was unfortunately crucial as a defending piece.

after a long defense Black overlooks a fatal weakness behind the move Qc8 - by leaving the Bishop defended by just one piece , e5 is really defenseless; after dxe, Bxe5, (White could also play 24 Qf3, defending e4 & just increasing the pressure) Nxe5 and White still has Nxe7+ picking off the Queen; so 24... Nxe4 allows Bxb8 and there are tactics that just favor White after Qxb8, such as : 26. Ng4 Bf6 27. Re4 Bxg4 28 Qxg4 (Rxg4 is also good, as White ends up an exchange better) 28... Bxa1 29 d6 Bf6 30 Re7! and White should win at least a piece.

well you gave yourself a good excuse why you lost this game :lol Without joking ..... the game was already lost in another way. You didn't get the chance to come into some play. Until now only your B has entered your opponent's territory and only a few pieces have some sort of control there. But what's more: they all are locked up in their own defense ...your opponent didn't take your peices, but he did take all your space. Maybe i already said this in another game. I read "chess is about space (and mobilizing) and not about capturing pieces". A better instructive lesson as here you couldn't get !

Very sneaky. I didn't see this. I would have missed this opportunity if i was playing white

Unfortunately, the Queen was on d7, but black's invasion of the white squares is what pushed the Queen to a passive c8, allowing her to become an innocent bystander...

As noted earlier, having the on Qd8 was better but White after 20.Bb5 Qd8, had 21. f4 and if Nf6 then 22 fe5 now to avoid losing a piece Black would need to play Nh7 and with the Bishop on b2 White can try to blow up the position with Nxg7, leading to another lost position. Instead of 21.. Nf6 Black could try Ngxf4, giving up the piece by choice but once again White would have a won game.