This game is a good example of what happens when you forget the “four principles”:http://shamuswrites.com/2008/08/20/lessons-in-playing-better-chess/ I laid out the other day. In this case, I became so focused on cornering his Queen and removing it from the board with minimal loss to myself that I neglected to notice just how much a threat that piece was. I _did_ start to get nervous about the encounter the longer it dragged on, but apparently I wasn’t nervous enough to check the board thoroughly for vulnerabilities, and it cost me the game.
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[Event “Online Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2008.08.20”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Jim Stitzel”]
[Black “Richard F.”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “1342”]
[BlackElo “1377”]
[TimeControl “1 in 3 days”]
1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bd7 4. O-O e6 5. b3 Bc5 6. Bb2 Nf6 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. Be5 O-O 9. Nc3 a6 10. d4 Bd6 11. Qd3 Bb4 12. Ng5 g6 13. Ne2 Ng4 14. h3 Qxg5 15. hxg4 Qxg4 16. Bxc7 Rac8 17. Bf4 Rce8 18. f3 Qh4 19. c3 Be7 20. g3 Qh5 21. g4 Qh4 22. Rf2 Bb5 23. c4 dxc4 24. bxc4 Bc6 25. Rh2 Qf6 26. Be5 Qxf3 27. g5 Qg4+ 28. Rg2 Qxg2# 0-1
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