So as I mentioned elsewhere, I've been sick this week. I'm feeling a little better now, but still not 100%. I skipped going to the local chess club today, but I still played my first online league game of the new OCL tournament.

I played over-cautiously because I was have a hard time calculating with a fuzzy head, and I ended up drawing. In the end, I was down to like 5 minutes (time control was 60 minutes with a 15 second increment), which is why I traded the knights to get a drawish looking rook and pawn endgame. With the knights on the board, I think one of us may still have been make something of the position, but I didn't have the time or energy to figure out if it was me. The final position looks pretty well drawn to me, but I'd be curious if anyone has other opinions.

I know I usually analyze my own games before posting, but I'm too tired, so I figured I'd just throw it on here and see what the rest of you have to say. Any analysis would be appreciated.

--Fromper

[Event "FICS rated standard game"]
[Site "FICS, San Jose, California USA"]
[Date "2008.06.21"]
[Time "11:04:59"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Opponent"]
[Black "Fromper"]
[WhiteElo "1709"]
[BlackElo "1617"]
[TimeControl "3600+15"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 d6 4. d3 Be7 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. d4 exd4
8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Bb5 Ne5 10. Bxd7 Qxd7 11. Nf3 Rad8 12. O-O Rfe8 13. Nxe5
dxe5 14. a3 Qc6 15. Qf3 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Rfd1 Rd4 18. Rd3 Red8 19. Qe2
Rxd3 20. cxd3 h6 21. Kf1 c6 22. Rd1 a5 23. f3 Qd4 24. Qf2 Nh5 25. Qxd4 Rxd4
26. Ne2 Rd6 27. g4 Nf6 28. d4 c5 29. d5 Kf8 30. Rc1 b6 31. Nc3 Ke7 32. Nb5
Rd7 33. b3 Ne8 34. a4 Nd6 35. Nc3 Rc7 36. Nb5 Nxb5 37. axb5 Ra7 38. Rc4
Kd6 39. h4 g5 40. hxg5 hxg5
{Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

The final position looks drawn to me and Arasan agrees (ends with repetition when forced to play).

11. ... Rad8 wasn't the best move for you, better was 11. ... Nc4 (Rad8 isn't bad but it's not necessary at this stage, doesn't apply pressure to white and really is a wasted move. Nc4 is +0.5 while Rad8 is -0.05 after white castles)

At no other point did I see a move significantly better than what you played. Overall I think white played an extremely dull game and made almost no effort to try and win, and considering you were ill I would be happier with this draw if I were black than white.

Now I remember why I hate e4 Nc3 Nf3 (or any transposition of that) for white...it's sooooo boring.

You're right about Nc4. I feel stupid for not seeing it now that you pointed it out. I could have traded my knight for his bishop and left him with doubled e pawns.

Actually, 1. e4 with Nc3 and Nf3 can be very exciting if white plays the Halloween Gambit, but that's only possible if black plays along with the Four Knights Game, which I avoided. It's fear of that gambit that led me to play d6 instead of Nc6 on my third move. I've actually been thinking of taking up that gambit as white, though I think I'd have to spend some time on opening study to prepare to play it.

--Fromper

Lol, really? The Halloween Gambit is trash. I don't really like the Philador all that much (which is what you played), as it's fairly passive. Still, it's not unsound or anything, and you seemed to get a decent game from it, although if I were him I would've played more aggressively with 4. d4 instead of playing 4. d3 followed by 7. d4

I play some gambits that are theoretically unsound, but still offer practical chances if your opponent doesn't defend perfectly. But in the case of the Halloween Gambit, I'm not entirely convinced that it's unsound.

I saw an article online about some guy who programmed a computer program to use that gambit at every opportunity while playing thousands of games on ICC. It almost never lost a game, even against masters who intentionally played against it repeatedly, knowing that it would use that gambit, so they were prepared for it.

It's probably not the world's best opening, but I suspect it's probably more sound than most of the other gambits I play.

As I said, I'm curious about it, and I might try playing it in the not too distant future. I'll probably wait until after my next big tournament (July 11-13), though, since I know it'll require some study time, and I have more important things to work on right now.

--Fromper

What is white's compensation after:

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nxe5 Nxe5 5 d4 Ng6 6 e5 Ng8 ??

As I said, I haven't put in any study time on how to play this gambit, so I don't know how it goes from there. Check out this article for more details.

--Fromper

White has the center sort of. He just has to channel former world champion Tigran Petrosian and he/she have at least a draw.

Fromp, you shouldn't avoid that system because you're afraid of one very rare line. That'd be like me avoiding the Sicilian because I don't like to play against the Rossolimo (3 Bb5).

Besides, one of the biggest roadblocks to improvement is fear. Don't be afraid to enter complicated lines because it'll help you learn.

Normally, I don't avoid openings out of fear. In fact, I tend to start playing the openings that I fear. I used to have problems facing the French as white, so I started playing it, and now I love playing against it as white.

But as I said, I was still feeling sick, so I was trying to avoid complications.

--Fromper