Birthday Chess Game Review

They say that Birthday is a chess player's curse, so instead of risk playing a game of my own, I decided to take some time to review a game played between 2 of my chess friends ^O^

The game was composed at Singapore Chess Meetup yesterday, between William, part of the Siglap South CC Chess Quartet (other members being Seng Chin, Eric and yours truly), and Weng Chew, a long-time local chess enthusiast and facilitator of Cashew Chess Club and the Senja-Cashew Chess Club.

To give some context, Weng Chew has won all past encounters until recently, when both William and Weng Chew each won once with the White pieces. To be honest, Seng Chin and I have been giving lots of ideas and motivational talks on how William should play the game and match-up. (This is team effort in a solo-played chess at work!) In fact, I feel like I learned a lot from the discussions. In particular, because I see myself as quite a "booked-up" player (with no offence intended, I see myself quite similar to Weng Chew in this aspect), I am really curious to see how the matchup would go. William is complete opposite -- he enjoys playing sidelines, and quite honestly, I have not encountered a single player who plays like that in the local standard tournaments I played for the past 3 years. It should not come as a surprise that William has not played a maiden tourney yet ^o^

And I do have quite a bit to say about this game while reflecting on my own current play. Without further ado, here goes. In addition, I need to qualify that I am a learning player myself, so take my views with a pinch of salt, and I would be most grateful if fellow chess enthusiasts and friends can correct me where I'm wrong.

The Game Itself


Personal Views and Learning Points

• It is really important to stay flexible where possible. What I mean in particular is that if a non-development move is designed to counter a particular setup, it may be preferable to play other development moves at your disposal first. 

newbie_learner's opinion: 3...a6 is not in line with the General Opening Principles (Develop, Centre Control, King Safety). My guess why Black played this, is that he wants to fight the Queen's Gambit type of position with ...dxc4, and after White recaptures with Bxc4, play ...b5 to kick the White Bishop on c4 to gain time for ...Bb7 to develop Black's light square Bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal). But if White does not play c4, what does this move actually achieve? It's probably safer to consider something like 3...Nf6, "mirroring" White while retaining some options. 

• I actually like this Colle-Zukertort system quite a bit (consistent with my first impressions)! It does seem rather flexible. And I already foresee some opportunities to stay flexible while adjusting the move order a little. I guess it will do me good to have more side-line options in my arsenal. Also, I do look forward to more training games trying to play this opening on both sides -- I honestly have not encountered this in the tournaments I played, and I want to farm more experience on both sides!

• I would be lying if I fully understood the game positions arising throughout (my annotations are heavily assisted by the engine). What is important, which I failed to understand on my own, is that after 13...Nh5 (which the Knight doesn't seem to be threatening anything by itself - but it could be to allow for ...f6 or ...f5), the engine deemed 14.Rd1! to be the best. I can understand the desire to bring a "sleeping" piece into action, but I did not expect d-file to be the one that is going to be opened up.

How much study do I need to come to understand that the best move in this position is 14.Rd1 ?

• I missed a lot of tactical factors which White could've adopted to win earlier. Another problem I have, is identifying the pawn breaks. I need to come to terms that sometimes, it is more than okay to damage my own pawn structure for a much greater good. Otherwise, I will keep missing out chances to press/win positions. 

Overall, I enjoyed myself reviewing this game. Also, I was surprised to come across this interesting collection of games. I don't know that many chess masters, but I am surprised to identify a couple of familiar names! In case anyone else is also interested in this opening, check this out:

https://www.expert-chess-strategies.com/colle-zukertort-system.html

Your feedback would be my best birthday gift! Thank you!

Yours sincerely

Ong Yujing (Eugene)

a.k.a. newbie_learner

Siglap South CC Chess Quartet