I played against a person for yet another time who seems to have a malleable clock. Unfair when your opponent has as much time as they need, and you don't, but I won anyway.
[WhiteElo "1760"]
[BlackElo "1865"]
[PlyCount "84"]
1. Nf3 {[%emt 0:0:4]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:0:7]} 2. e3 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:0:7]} 3. c4 {[%emt 0:0:3]} e5 {[%emt 0:0:4]} 4. d4 {[%emt 0:0:5]} d6 {[%emt 0:0:3]} 5. d5 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Nb4 {[%emt 0:0:12]} 6. Nc3 {[%emt 0:0:23]} Bd7 {[%emt 0:0:14]} 7. e4 {[%emt 0:0:8]} Na6 {[%emt 0:0:12]} 8. a4 {[%emt 0:0:10]} Be7 {[%emt 0:0:27]} 9. h3 {[%emt 0:0:2]} Nh5 {[%emt 0:0:15]} 10. g4 {[%emt 0:0:8]} Nf4 {[%emt 0:0:3]} 11. Bxf4 {[%emt 0:0:6]} exf4 {[%emt 0:0:2]} 12. e5 {[%emt 0:0:4]} dxe5 {[%emt 0:0:6]} 13. Nxe5 {[%emt 0:0:4]} Bb4 {[%emt 0:0:13]} 14. Qd4 {[%emt 0:0:14]} f3 {[%emt 0:0:24]} 15. Nxf3 {[%emt 0:0:13]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:0:25]} 16. Qxg7 {[%emt 0:0:18]} Qe7+ {[%emt 0:0:3]} 17. Be2 {[%emt 0:0:12]} 0-0-0 {[%emt 0:0:3]} 18. 0-0 {[%emt 0:0:20]} h5 {[%emt 0:0:20]} 19. g5 {[%emt 0:0:21]} Bxh3 {[%emt 0:0:4]} 20. Nb5 {[%emt 0:0:29]} Bxf1 {[%emt 0:0:37]} 21. Bxf1 {[%emt 0:0:11]} h4 {[%emt 0:0:2]} 22. d6 {[%emt 0:0:17]} cxd6 {[%emt 0:0:23]} 23. Bh3+ {[%emt 0:0:12]} Kb8 {[%emt 0:0:11]} 24. Qc3 {[%emt 0:0:23]} Rdg8 {[%emt 0:0:20]} 25. Re1 {[%emt 0:0:33]} Qd8 {[%emt 0:0:30]} 26. Rd1 {[%emt 0:0:44]} Bb4 {[%emt 0:0:33]} 27. Qd4 {[%emt 0:0:17]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:0:7]} 28. Qd5 {[%emt 0:0:13]} Nb4 {[%emt 0:0:26]} 29. Qd2 {[%emt 0:0:32]} Qf6 {[%emt 0:0:18]} 30. Kf1 {[%emt 0:0:22]} Qxf3 {[%emt 0:0:4]} 31. Bg2 {[%emt 0:0:18]} Qg4 {[%emt 0:1:25]} 32. Nxd6 {[%emt 0:0:17]} h3 {[%emt 0:0:3]} 33. Bh1 {[%emt 0:0:35]} Rxg5 {[%emt 0:0:17]} 34. Nxf7 {[%emt 0:0:31]} Qxc4+ {[%emt 0:0:5]} 35. Qe2 {[%emt 0:0:13]} Qxf7 {[%emt 0:0:9]} 36. a5 {[%emt 0:0:28]} h2 {[%emt 0:0:4]} 37. Ke1 {[%emt 0:0:7]} Rg1+ {[%emt 0:0:3]} 38. Kd2 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Rxd1+ {[%emt 0:0:4]} 39. Kxd1 {[%emt 0:0:4]} Rd8+ {[%emt 0:0:5]} 40. Kc1 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Qf4+ {[%emt 0:0:6]} 41. Kb1 {[%emt 0:0:3]} Bxf2 {[%emt 0:0:7]} 42. Ka1 {[%emt 0:0:8].} Qc1# {[%emt 0:0:6]Mate} 0-1
I went unpunished for it, but made a significant blunder early on in this game.
Note if my opponent brings the White Queen to a5 during the middle of the following sequence, simultaneously attacking my king and my knight, the knight is forfeit, either directly via queen capture on the next move, or via pawn capture if he tries to move to c6 in a vain attempt to block the check:
-- unusual knight opening
-- blunder detection
-- determination to stop 5th rank knight outposts
I warned against the last twice earlier this week. My opponent seems to be heeding my advice. First, moving his pawn to h3, so I won't even THINK about putting my knight on g4 at any point, then taking it out at f4, once it dared to move there, though it cost him his slightly more valuable bishop to do so.
You can risk fancier tricks when you have a safety net.
Here the threat of the White queen taking my king's rook for free and then depriving me of my queen as well, is mitigated by my having the options to attack his king, out-prioritizing anything he's got planned, and then castling immediately afterward, which not only moves my king to safety, but leaves both rooks now partnered to defend or avenge one another:
The more you learn about the game, the more, in general, you can begin seeing opponent's plans and making your own. For instance, most people that have learned enough chess to play chess online know about castling.
In fact, they not only know about, they DO it as a regular practice.
When that happens, it means their king is going to move either from the e-column to the g-column (Kingside castling, by far the most common choice),
or from the e-column to the c-column (Queenside castling, which is far rarer).
What does that mean?
Well, if I'm playing against them, unless I'm really good about speedily attacking, it means I should probably quietly concentrate on what I'm going to do against that king at g1, not at e1. Because he's not going to stay at e1 if he can help it, he's going, through sheer force of habit in some cases, to castle and get to safety, like he's been taught.
So, insight here, it's not SUCH a bad thing to have, say, the opponent's queen, take out your pawn on the g-column, is it?
At least, not if your own King first went the opposite way, and is safe and sound on the other half of the board?
What if you could then do something to make your opponent move his OWN pawn off the g-file (vertical columns are called "files" in chess)?
Especially if you had 2 rooks and a queen roving that half of the board?
Well, then you'd have that King exposed to intense attack and anything else that tried to defend it on the g-column pinned or forfeit.
Unfortunately, at higher-levels, other players know stuff like this and actively defend against it. That's why in response to my offering up my pawn on the "h" file to his pawn on the "g" -column, my opponent wisely leaves it alone and marches forward. For my next move would be to move one of those rooks to the g-file, pinning the white queen in place to defend her king, or sacrifice herself by taking that rook and being taken in turn. You DON'T want to have a "take everything offered" mindset in Chess:
I failed to honor that advice in my next move, but, this is blitz chess;
time pressure forces moves that are sometimes instinctive, conditioned, and/or less than ideal. In retrospect, I probably should have avoided taking the rook and left my bishop where it was, trapping his King for a much faster checkmate than I eventually scored on him:
But, that's hindsight. Which I'm told is generally sharper than most other versions. The trick is to develop its opposite ...
IMPLIED ODDS
Taking future calls from your fellow players into consideration when you are drawing to something. If you draw successfully, you expect they'll call with their hands. These funds are speculative and not concrete, as they aren't in the middle yet and won't be unless you hit your card and they call your bets - hence, "implied."
KICKER
If you have the same hand as another player at showdown, the one with the highest kicker wins the pot. If the board is 7-7-5-5-2, and you have ace-king and your opponent has king-queen, you win because your ace beats his king. Your ace is the "kicker." The highest card completing a five-card hand is the only determination between winning and losing in this example.
NUTS
The best possible hand one can have at a given moment. For example, if you have pocket 7's, and the flop is 7-6-2, you have the "nuts" at this point, as trip 7's would be the best possible hand. If the turn card is a 5, you would no longer have the nuts, as that honor now goes to anyone holding 8-9, making a straight. If the river is the last 7, you'd again have the nuts, as your hand is once again the best possible hand.
