I completely disagree with you, ketchuplover. While there are some losses which were the end result of poor games (losing a piece, like in this game, qualifies as one).
But if I lose an essentially equal game by amazing endgame play, or a combination comparable to the greats, I don't believe that's a poor game for the one on the losing end. It just means the opponent played extra-ordinarily.
What went wrong here?
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This was not one of the worst games I've seen but it is down towards the bottom. Move thirteen white should've taken the pawn as opposed to putting more pressure on it.Nevermind (duh) you are playing as black. Youmade a handful of mistakes.
First of all, let's focus on the positive things you did in this game...
- You did a better job at developing your pieces than last game you showed us
- You took control of the open b-file with your rook
Now, let's look on where you could have improved...
- 5...Na5. There is two things wrong here. First is that you put a knight on the edge of the board, which is not usually a good idea. Putting a knight on the edge reduces the number of squares it controls from 8 down to 4. For your knight (or any piece for that matter) to be effective, it needs to control as many squares as possible (that, BTW, is why control of the centre is soooo important in chess). On top of that, putting the knight on a5 takes it away from the center of the board, which maintaining your stake in is critical. I suppose you were afraid of your opponent playing d5 and attacking that knight and/or you were eyeing the pawn on c3.
Better, in my opinion, would have been to play 5...e5. If your opponent takes dxe5, then you can respond 6....dxe5. It wouldn't be too smart for your opponent to trade queens, because you could take the open d-file with your rook when you respond Rxd8. If your opponent moves his queen over to b3, then protect your b-pawn with your rook. If he moves Qa4, then develop your bishop and castle next move and that releases the pin on your knight.
Does that make sense? Run it through on a board and see for yourself. You wind up better developed than white and you control more of the centre this way. Making a plan of attack will be easier when you're better developed than your opponent and you have more centre control. Don't be afraid to be aggressive in the centre as long as you at least come out even.
Because you didn't move your e-pawn until late in the game, several things happened which you should keep an eye on.
- Didn't develop the king's bishop. Disasterous for two reasons. First, that's a bishop you're not using (remember the powerplay analogy?) and second, it didn't allow you to castle, which made the rook pretty much useless as well. Even when you moved 18...g6, you had a chance to put the bishop on g7 and castle, letting the h8 rook guard the back rank against promotion. Instead, you were looking to win the pawn at f2, which would have gotten you little in the long run.
- Hanging your pieces. In other words, putting your pieces in danger of being captured without any compensation. Look at the move 11...b5. Not only do you give up that pawn for nothing, but the enemy queen can exert a lot more influence in that square. Everybody makes mistakes, and this, I'm sure, will come with experience. I still do it myself.
Believe it or not, you played this game better than the previous game you won. You applied the principles of opening better, and hopefully you saw how development helps your game. Having said that, I further hope you understand how giving up control of the centre and not castling hurt your game.
Finally, as a word of advice: if you would like your games to be critiqued, please add your own comments on your game first before posting. It's hard to help when we don't know why you made the moves that you made. For every move, just jot down your idea behind that move. You don't need to write paragraphs, but a simple 5.Na5... attacking the pawn at c3 or preventing an attack via d5 or 24...hxg4 taking back material. If you don't know which move to make, just say I didn't know what else to do. This is also a good exercise when your playing a game here, because it forces you to check yourself and ask is that move a good one? There's a good piece of advice when playing chess, one which I'd do well to follow myself: When you see a good move, look for a better one! When you go over your games, you'll be able to spot more of your own mistakes.
Oh, and one more thing. At this stage in your game, don't offer to draw. You need the playing experience. Don't worry about your wins/losses or your rating. Just worry about learning. The more you learn, the better class of opponents you can match up.
Alright, thanks for the help and comments. I'll keep everything in mind for my next game I play, hopefully it will show some sign of improvement 
Dec 22, 2007
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#6
porterism is correct that 5...Na5 is bad. It misplaces the knight without threatening anything. The suggested 5...e5 is good because it gains space and challenges the center. Later, 12...Rb8 is better with the idea of 13.Qxc6+ Bd7 followed by Rxb2. Instead, White could play 13.Qa4 Rxb2 14.dxc6 Qc8 and stand much better.
My first response. I am just a begginer myself, but I didn't see why at move 5 did you knight to a5? I am learning that moves that don't accomplish an offensive position or center control, just gives the opposing side a "free" move. I believe bg4 would have been one of many moves considered. A couple others would have been knighte4 to exchange knights and force white to take a defensive tactic with knight to f3 giving you the chance to move pawns to open kings bishop and control more of the board- or pa7 to pa6 to defend against white knight to b5, which would have let you move pb7 to pb5 if white queen posed the same issues later in game. I also seen no reason on move 6 to move pe5 either. doesn't gain position thus giving white yet more options and another "free" move with no return. Let me know what you think. I didn't see your previous games but liked your open. Also liked the offesive tactics with rook on moves14-15, but would have had king better protection (castled) or (bishop file) or knight covering that side of board. I've been burnt to many times not leaving my king an out and one side open, such as this game played out. On move 16 in this game I would moved pawn in front of king out for an out if needed, I believe this wouldn't have given away position given the current situation and put pressure on whites kf5.
Thank you for the chance to look at your game. Your feed back is appreciated.
Where did I go wrong in this game? Lost in 34 moves by checkmate. Offered a draw but got rejected at around the 22nd turn. Was this a poor game? Please comment & criticize! Thanks.