My chess adventures at Singapore Chess Meetup (18 July 2018)

Lost this game as the underdog (his rating is higher than mine), but am thankful for my young opponent for sharing his views on where I started slipping in the game. On the bright side, at least I was actually playing the game (and not playing against his rating points -- i.e. I was not too scared to play him before the game even actually started.)

I did manage to play decently with 2 of my peers whom I regard as stronger opponents. (unfortunately, those are blitz games which I can't make record of, but I'm quite satisfied with my opening play in those games). 

A "Good Loss" Against a Local Rising Champ!

Learning Points

• The bad initial plan of ...d5 and ...c6 is typical of "newbie" players like myself who only think of 1 feature in the position but ignores other details. Here, Black can probably go safely with ...d5 and ...c5 followed by ...Nc6. Or if Black really doesn't like this, just go 4...b6 followed by ...Bb7 mirroring White.
• The opening phase is important --I played it so badly, there was nothing much I can do to improve the situation after the damage has already been done. Even though my opponent did not play "perfectly", I have completely missed the few opportunities I could have gotten back into the game.
• This shows that I don't really understand the demands of the opening position. Can't blame it on the opening surprise, my general understanding is just not there =( 

Anyway, am looking forward to see some improvement in my future games already! Please feel free to share any tips of advice you may have for me. Thanks in advance, as always ^o^

Yours sincerely

Yujing
(aka. newbie_learner)