Letting lower rated players defeat themselves

With this is mind, please feel free to let me know what you liked or didn't like about this post, so I can improve the quality moving forward.

My aim with these posts will be to learn alongside other amateur players who are looking to improve at the game. Therefore, my goal is to have at least one major takeaway from the game, and I think it would also be interesting to have some kind of exercise (think of those pause the video moments on youtube videos!) where it makes sense. Otherwise, the posts will feature an abbreviated analysis of an OTB game that I've played. I recognize my analysis may not be perfect, but that's all a part of the learning process! Please analyze along with me. Challenge my thinking. Let's talk about chess!

---

Mike vs. A. A. (May 2026)

A bit of backstory before we get into the game. I'm an adult improver, and as you may or may not have noticed, there is a fairly large difference between my Lichess rating here and my OTB rating. There are many reasons for this, but one of the biggest ones I've been able to diagnose is that I'm not great at thinking about and evaluating positions. I have a decent intuition, so I do well in fast chess formats like Rapid and Blitz, but I struggle in classical formats. Additionally, I have a tendency to be overly optimistic about my position which leads my to over-press in situations where it's not called for. I have many games I should share like this, but the point is, I've lost many games from winning positions or made bad, rushed choices against lower rated players. For this tournament, I decided that this is something I wanted to work on by 1) taking more time to develop a solid evaluation of positions when it makes sense and 2) by taking my time, especially against lower rated opponents.

Other than this, the only thing you need to know is that I was extremely sick the weekend prior to this game, and my brain was incredibly fuzzy. I thought about requesting a bye for the round, but decided I would try to play anyway.

Let's get into the game!

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Qe2 dxe4 4. dxe4 Nc6 5. c3 e5 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Bg4 8. Qc2

Not my best start to a game. I've lost a good amount of time, and black gets some pretty easy development in the process as well. I went for a Kings Indian Attack for a few reasons. 1) I wanted to get my opponent out of their comfort zone in the French. I figured avoiding main lines against a 1000-1100 rated player might make some sense. 2) I had a few rapid games the night before in the KIA that went really well, so why not?

8... Bc5 9. Ne2 Qd7 10. h3 Be6

It's at this point that I am absolutely feeling the pressure in the opening. I know that I'm worse, and it's going to be extremely hard to get my king to safety without making some concessions. So in this moment, I'm thinking that I need to make sure that I don't hang anything, but otherwise, my plan here is to make my opponent prove their advantage. It's very unlikely that someone at this rating level won't find the correct plans in the position, so this is what I'm banking on.

11. Bg5 Be7?!

A good sign. My opponent is moving in the wrong direction. A better approach would have been 11... O-O-O keeping pressure on f2 and bringing another piece into the game.

12. Nd2 h6 13. Be3

I'm starting to feel a bit better here. My dark squared bishop has taken over the diagonal and theirs is now passive. My plan is to continue trying to slowly develop my pieces and wait for my opponent to do something.

13... Rd8 14. Rd1 O-O 15. b3 b5 16. Nf3 Qc8 17. Nh4 Qb7? 18. O-O

There it is. A huge step in the wrong direction that seemingly loses all of black's advantage and allows me to get my king to safety. Now that I'm out of danger, it's time for me to actually start figuring out how I can win this game. While my opponent was thinking I started to think about my long-term plans for the game.

I encourage you to take a bit of time to look at this position after 18. O-O. What's your evaluation? What are the plans for both colors?

Here's what I was thinking during the game:

My evaluation of the position was that it was likely equal now or that I was better by a hair (like +0.1 at best).

In terms of minor pieces my dark squared bishop is better than theirs, but my light squared bishop is worse - however, it has a lot of potential and is aligned with his queen, so I needed to be mindful of tactics on the diagonal. The knights are tricky - at first glance it seems like their knights are better, but my pawn formation restricts them and I felt as though my knights would have more long-term potential, especially on the kingside. Rooks are about equal, and I felt that my queen was slightly better placed.

Plans for me: f4 should always be in consideration moving forward to open up the f-file for my rook and to clear up the e5 square for opening up my bishop on g2. It also occurred to be that I should probably be angling for an attack on the kingside. With black's queen offsides and their pieces all being cramped together, it's hard for him to maneuver for a defense should I choose to go for an attack. g4-g5 is also a potential plan down the road given the hook on h6. I should also be eyeing f5 for my knight.
I thought black should be trying to create counterplay on the queenside. Their bishops are better lined up to handle that side of the board and they have a piece advantage over there. They could also try to disrupt my f4 plan by looking to stack on the d-file. Potential moves are a5, b4, Rd7, or Rxd1 followed by Rd8 or Ra8.

18... Nd7 19. Nf5 Bf6 20. g4 Nb6 21. Neg3 Ne7 22. Qc1

Black hasn't done much to improve their position. They've shuffled some pieces around, but it's not so clear what the knight is doing on b6. Furthermore, I've slowly built up attacking potential on the kingside.

22... Nxf5 23. gxf5!
Important to take with the g-pawn. At first it looks awkward, but it locks the light squared bishop and the knight on b6 out of the defense. I'm liking my chances of attacking.

23... Bd7 24. Nh5 Qc6 25. Kh2?
I missed a chance. I could have went for the sacrifice immediately, but due to some hallucinations, I didn't think I was in time to bring my rook into the attack.

25... Bc8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Rg1 a6??
The final nail in the coffin. I'm now comfortable with my chances to sacrifice and black has missed several opportunities to play the necessary Kh7. I should mention that I knew Kh7 would thwart my attack, but I assumed that I was still better even if I didn't have a big attack incoming.

28. Bxh6

My opponent looked visibly surprised by the move which was interesting. I wonder if they assumed that I would not go for the sacrifice since I rejected it several times earlier. They ultimately decided not to take, so I went for another sacrifice.

28... Kh7 29. Bxg7 Bxg7 30. Nxg7 Qh6
A little frustrating for me admittedly! Just take my pieces!!! But I had considered this in my calculation, so I knew it was still winning. I was happy to have taken a look at this though. I think it showed a bit of maturity in my thinking as I'm not sure that even a year ago I would have considered more of my opponent's options.

31. Qxh6+ Kxh6 32. Bf3 Rg8 33. f6 Nd7?
This loses a piece tactically.

34. Nf5+ Kh7 35. Rxg8 Kxg8 36. Ne7+ Kh7 37. Nxc8

And the game is essentially over. I just need to make sure the pawns don't all come off the board because I would not be able to mate with bishop and knight (whoops!). That being said, with my extra pawns, I should have no problem getting a pawn to promote in an endgame.

37... Nxf6 38. Ne7 Nd7 39. b4 c5 40. a3 cxb4 41. axb4 Nb6 42. Be2 Na4 43. c4 Nc3 44. cxb5 axb5 45. Bd3 Kg7 46. Nf5+ Kg6 47. Nd6 f6 48. Bxb5 Kg5 49. Bd7 Kf4 50. b5 Nxe4 51. Nxe4 Kxe4 52. b6 Kf3 53. b7 Kxf2 54. b8=Q e4 55. Qf4+ Ke2 56. Qxe4+ Kd1 57. Qd3+ Kc1 58. Qe2 Kb1 59. Qd2 f5 60. Bxf5+ Ka1 61. Be6 Kb1 62. Bf7 Ka1 63. Qa2# 1-0
He made my play all the way to checkmate.

Takeaways!

Overall, I think this game was a fairly good example of how to play against lower rated opponents. The strategy of keeping many pieces on the board to increase the number of options and decisions my opponent needed to consider worked out well, and eventually their poor choices accumulated into a good position and attack for me.

It also reinforces the importance of considering your opponents options. They don't always have to accept your sacrifice!