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Recently over the holiday period, I’ve played some games on chess.com with friends and colleagues in real life. The following video shows an analysis of three games I played against a friend who’s really into chess at the moment, and at an earlier stage of their journey. He hasn’t any specific knowledge of opening theory, but rather, plays intuitively from a sense of what moves feel right. I thought that these three consecutive games are interesting as they are quite varied, and also show some concepts and principles that might be helpful for beginner-intermediate players.

So, some tips and insights from these three games! Firstly, it is helpful to know a little opening theory, especially the first few moves of the common openings, or at least, the openings you play. In the first game, the Scandinavian Defense is a good response to e4, but undeveloping the queen to d8 on move three is bad as white is now straight up a full tempo up on development. Similarly in the third game, Bd6 to decline the Vienna Gambit is a straight up blunder. The best response is d5, which enters the Vienna Game main line.

Secondly, it’s important to look at the pieces that can capture along the diagonals – the queen and bishops. It’s common to potentially miss threats along the diagonals, especially from afar.

Thirdly, before you commit to a move, consider how the opponent is likely to respond. Do you end up hanging a piece? Do you need to trade pieces or is it better to keep the tension?

And lastly, keep an eye out for potentially forcing moves – both those you have against your opponent, and those your opponent has against you. These include checks and checkmates, and forks and pins, especially those against your valuable pieces. And valuable pieces aren’t just the queen and rooks. If you’re down on material, keeping to remain a minor piece or your pawns might be vital. A pawn that’s approaching promotion might indeed be your most valuable piece other than the king.

I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/374053927

[Event "Let\\'s Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "aadhilaziz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "896"]
[BlackElo "560"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[EndDate "2021.12.21"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Bf5 5. g4 Bg6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Ne5 a6 8. Qf3 Nd7 9. Qxb7 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Bxc2 11. Qc6+ Ke7 12. Bg5+ f6 13. Bc4 Qd7 14. Qxa8 fxg5 15. Qxa6 g6 16. Bb5 Qd8 17. Rc1 Be4 18. Nxe4 Qd5 19. Rxc7+ Kd8 20. Qc8# 1-0

Game 2: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/374375603

[Event "Let\\'s Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "aadhilaziz"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "543"]
[BlackElo "989"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[EndDate "2021.12.23"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 a5 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Ng5 O-O 7. Nd5 Nxe4 8. Nxe4 Qh4 9. Nxc5 Qxc4 10. Ne7+ Nxe7 11. Nd3 Qe4+ 12. Qe2 Qxg2 13. Qf1 Qxf1+ 14. Rxf1 d6 15. f4 f6 16. fxe5 fxe5 17. Rxf8+ Kxf8 18. Nf2 Bf5 19. d3 Nc6 20. Be3 d5 21. O-O-O e4 22. h4 Re8 23. Bf4 e3 24. Nh1 e2 25. Re1 Nd4 26. Bxc7 Nf3 27. Ng3 Nxe1 28. Nxf5 Nf3 0-1

Game 3: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/374639921

[Event "Let\\'s Play!"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "aadhilaziz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C28"]
[WhiteElo "1007"]
[BlackElo "530"]
[TimeControl "1/604800"]
[EndDate "2021.12.24"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 Bd6 4. fxe5 Bxe5 5. d4 Bxd4 6. Qxd4 d6 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Nd5 Ne5 9. O-O-O c5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Qa4 O-O 13. Rf1 Bxb5 14. Qxb5 Nd7 15. Qxb7 Re8 16. Nc7 Rb8 17. Qxa7 Rxe4 18. Nf3 Reb4 19. Na6 Ra8 20. Qxa8 Qxa8 21. Nxb4 cxb4 22. Kb1 Nc5 23. Rd1 d5 24. Rd4 Qb7 25. Rhd1 b3 26. cxb3 Nxb3 27. axb3 Qxb3 28. Rxd5 f5 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. R1d5 Qb6 31. Nd4 f4 32. Nf5+ Kg6 33. R5d6+ Qxd6 34. Nxd6 1-0