You mean aside from the obvious don't blunder away your winning position because you neglect to see a pin? I think Stockfish has all the tips you need right there...
My tip would be to not give up too many pawns at any stage of the game. You gave up too many.
Yeah youre right with that, I didnt have enough counterattack on the queenside to warrant opening up files and my protection on my kingside.
Sorry before about the cynical response. I assume you were looking for how you got into that position to begin with, and I shouldn't have bothered responding at all without time to actually dig into your game. But I figured that by responding, maybe someone else would see the post and add something more constructive.
Since I have time, I am going to look into the game now. Obviously, I'm not the strongest player, but sometimes I do alright with deep analysis. Maybe I can at least make you question some choices, whether or not they were "wrong" is not to be said, but it may help with further analysis of how you got into that position.
First, looking at the opening, after move 5 the game has transposed from the initial Caro-Kann advance variation into a very Slav-like position. The key difference here from main Slav lines is that Black doesn't suffer the trapped light-squared bishop. In the Slav pawn structure, there are some dark squared weaknesses that could be exploited. I think after 5. ... Bb4+ you should have considered Bd2, offering an exchange of the dark-squared bishops. If Black accepts, it would make Black's dark square weaknesses more exploitable. It also prevents the exchange that gave you the bishop pair for a bad pawn structure...however, in this game, the position will be rather closed for awhile, so I'm not sure how great having the bishop pair really was for you as it forced you to throw pawns away to open the lines.
Next, at move 17, Black gives you an entry point for attack on his king. Your response of g3 served no purpose other than make your own king more vulnerable. Your pawn on f4 was already doubly guarded, so there was no need to put a third protector on it as it was not really threatened. Save a move like g3 for response to something like Rh4. The engine suggests Bh5+ and it would be correct. Take the opportunity to get your pieces into an attack. The king is forced to give up castling rights, and so will be stuck in the center, which is ideal, because you are poised for a strong central invasion with your queen ad rooks ready to back up a pawn breakthrough!
After move 21, we can see the result of your mistake of pushing g3 too early. Your king is opened up, Black's king is secure, and while you have the bishop pair, there isn't much other compensation.
Being 21 moves in and never finding a way to bring out an attack might be a clear indication to someone playing White that something went bad in the opening. Definitely your play of the White pieces here seems like you're pushing for a draw the entire game. This is what happens when we miss a good opening like 17. Bh5+, though I think the problem lies deeper in that I'm not sure you started with a solid plan. Moves like 6. Nc3, followed by 7. Be3 seems to demonstrate my suspicion about lacking a plan, as it encourages moves like 7. ...Qa5 and leads to a bad pawn structure with bishops in a closed game.
Again, I could be full of baloney here, I am not a very strong player, but this is at least what I see in this game as to how things ended up with you in a bad position for the endgame. Cheers!
Since I have time, I am going to look into the game now. Obviously, I'm not the strongest player, but sometimes I do alright with deep analysis. Maybe I can at least make you question some choices, whether or not they were "wrong" is not to be said, but it may help with further analysis of how you got into that position.
First, looking at the opening, after move 5 the game has transposed from the initial Caro-Kann advance variation into a very Slav-like position. The key difference here from main Slav lines is that Black doesn't suffer the trapped light-squared bishop. In the Slav pawn structure, there are some dark squared weaknesses that could be exploited. I think after 5. ... Bb4+ you should have considered Bd2, offering an exchange of the dark-squared bishops. If Black accepts, it would make Black's dark square weaknesses more exploitable. It also prevents the exchange that gave you the bishop pair for a bad pawn structure...however, in this game, the position will be rather closed for awhile, so I'm not sure how great having the bishop pair really was for you as it forced you to throw pawns away to open the lines.
Next, at move 17, Black gives you an entry point for attack on his king. Your response of g3 served no purpose other than make your own king more vulnerable. Your pawn on f4 was already doubly guarded, so there was no need to put a third protector on it as it was not really threatened. Save a move like g3 for response to something like Rh4. The engine suggests Bh5+ and it would be correct. Take the opportunity to get your pieces into an attack. The king is forced to give up castling rights, and so will be stuck in the center, which is ideal, because you are poised for a strong central invasion with your queen ad rooks ready to back up a pawn breakthrough!
After move 21, we can see the result of your mistake of pushing g3 too early. Your king is opened up, Black's king is secure, and while you have the bishop pair, there isn't much other compensation.
Being 21 moves in and never finding a way to bring out an attack might be a clear indication to someone playing White that something went bad in the opening. Definitely your play of the White pieces here seems like you're pushing for a draw the entire game. This is what happens when we miss a good opening like 17. Bh5+, though I think the problem lies deeper in that I'm not sure you started with a solid plan. Moves like 6. Nc3, followed by 7. Be3 seems to demonstrate my suspicion about lacking a plan, as it encourages moves like 7. ...Qa5 and leads to a bad pawn structure with bishops in a closed game.
Again, I could be full of baloney here, I am not a very strong player, but this is at least what I see in this game as to how things ended up with you in a bad position for the endgame. Cheers!
i could advise sacrifising your bishop(s) in order to spare a knight or two or you rook that you lost when black did the fork with your queen and the rook. since throughout the middlegame and towards the endgame, pawns were still lurking in the center, knights would have done you better than bishops. bishops usually dominate in open squares and on long diagonals whilst knights work in close quarters, a knight could have easily prevented black from playing the double rooks down G and H files near the end.
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