Ask Coach Jessica: What Can We Learn From PerfectPink?

What can we learn from analyzing someone else's game? A lot! Many people make the same mistakes as they learn new chess skills. Follow along as we review a game played by PerfectPink (White) who would like to play better. SmartRose won the game with Black. By, Mrs Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl).

Here are my three top tips for this game:

1. CDC (that means: center, develop, castle. And that means: get out your pieces toward the middle of the board so you can castle your king.)

2. Ask, "Is it hanging or protected?"

3. Get your pieces to work together. (Don't leave stuff hanging out on the side.)

The first two are pretty clear, while the last is a bit nebulous. Let me uncloud it with examples from the game.

But first, CDC. Do you see knights and bishops developing toward the center?

I think both sides were trying for a Scholar's Mate, but that doesn't always work! A sure strategy is getting both knights to their happy squares (c3, f3, c6, f6) and bringing out the bishops toward the middle. When the pawn captured the queen back, it prevented the knight from going to f3!Frown Plus, if White wants to castle kingside it's kind of open now (no blankie to protect him)...

This is an easy fix! Instead of bringing out the queens so early, play 2. Nf3 and 3. Bc4. Then you can castle immediately!

Let's see what happened next.

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Do you see how already Black is dominating this game, based on where her minor pieces are developed? (Together, in the center.) From positional mistakes come tactical ones. What happens next after Ke1?
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And after this knight fork Black is better both positionally and materially. It is a difficult position for White, to be sure! But hanging pieces will always make it easier for your opponent.
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Sometimes after one piece hangs, another hangs right after. That's usually because psychologically (in our head) we feel unsettled by just getting captured for free. For some reason, one mistake usually leads to another. A good way of avoiding this is to take a deep breath and be doubly careful about hanging or protected pieces on your next turn.
Now let's look at how Black gets her pieces to work together.
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Do you see how powerful the bishops are when they work together? They can attack all the squares, both dark and light! Castling allows the rook to get involved in the game.
It's mate in one; do you see it?
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OK! PerfectPink, I'm glad you showed me this game where you lost. You can definitely learn a lot from it and play better next time! Some of your problems will be so easy to fix, and you will start crushing very soon, I'm sure of it!
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Here is your (and everyone's) review:
1. Develop your knights and bishops toward the center and get castled fast. (CDC)
2. Before you drop a piece, ask yourself if it'll be safe there, or get captured. (Hanging or protected)
3. Try to harmonize your pieces. Always get them to better squares where they have lots of freedom and can help each other.
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And great job seeing that fork on c2! Bummer that you lost, but remember, you can learn more from a loss than a win!Laughing
Send me more games and more questions here, and you might be our next topic for Ask Coach Jessica!

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