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A Beginner's Opening MistakeThe Janitor Jim Series: Game 6Annotated by David Surratt [The notation system used here is called Algebraic Notation.] Jim has a bad habit in the opening phase of the game - he likes to move his f-pawn up one square in order to support the center. This is often a dangerous tact to take though, as I showed him in the game below. Janitor Jim v. licenser 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5
Black is playing the French Defense, my personal favorite, but probably not the best opening system for beginners. You can see some better recommendations here and here. In the French Defense, Black allows White to set up shop in the center, then hopes to counterattack with pawn breaks at ...c5 & possibly ...f6. 3.f3?
This is almost never a good move. At the beginning of the game, the weakest square for White is f2 (and f7 for Black) since it is only defended by the king, not a strong defensive piece! Consequently, it is not often a good idea to move that pawn in the opening. Also, it deprives the king-knight of it's best square, f3. In this position it loses at least a pawn. 3.Nc3 is a much better response for White, protecting the pawn on e4. There are plenty of other options for White too, check them out in this Introduction to the French Defense. 3...dxe4 4.fxe4 Qh4+
Double attack: White is in check, and so can't take the time to protect the pawn at e4, which is also attacked by the queen. 5.g3?? Qxe4+
Oops! When White played 5.g3 it opened up the h1-e4 diagonal and now Black has another double attack: White is once again in check, and can't take the time to protect his rook at h8 (not that there's any way to protect it in this position anyway.) White resigns. 0-1 Here's another way of making the same mistake: licenser - Janitor Jim 1.e4 e5 2.d4
I used to play this line as a way of reaching my favorite gambit line. Black has to decide whether to protect his e5-pawn or exchange it. Exchanging is probably best here, so Black should play 2...exd4. 2...f6
Black makes the same mistake White made in the previous game, weakening the f7 square. White reacts with the same set of double attacks: 3.dxe5 fxe5 4.Qh5+
Here again we see the double attack: Black is in check, and can't protect the pawn on e5. 4...g6 Black's other option here is even worse: 4...Ke7 is met by 5.Qxe5+ Kf7 (only move) 6.Bc4+ d5 7.Bxd5+ Kg6 8.Qg3+ and mate in a few more moves is inevitable. 5.Qxe5+
...and once again the lonely rook on h8 becomes a tasty meal for the vigilant White queen. Don't let this happen to you! Here's another example of this mistake which shows that even if you don't lose a lot of material right away, it still messes up your opening position: licenser - guest 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 f6 3.Bh4 g5 4.Bg3 e5 5.e3 e4 6.Qh5+
Now the Black king has to move, which means he is going to be stuck in the center of the board for a while. Remember that in the opening one of the three major things you want to accomplish (generally speaking) is to get your king out of the center by castling. White's also ahead two moves in development. Fritz thinks White is already ahead the equivalent of a pawn and a half, and no material has yet been removed from the board! 6...Ke7 7.c4 Now that Black's king is stuck in the center, White needs to open things up a bit so his pieces have routes into the vicinity of the Black king. The rest of the game went like this: 7...Nc6 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qa5 10.Bc4 Be6 11.Bxe6 Kxe6 12.d5+ Ke7 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Nge2 Qb4 15.0-0 Nh6 16.Nd4 Qxb2 17.Nxc6+ Kd7 18.Nxe4 Kxc6 19.Rac1+ Kd5 20.Nc3+ Ke6 21.Qf3 Bb4 22.Qd5+ Ke7 23.Nb5 Rad8 24.Rxc7+ Ke8 25.Qe6+ Kf8 26.Nd6 Bxd6 27.Bxd6+ Rxd6 28.Qxd6+ Ke8 29.Qd7+ Kf8 30.Rc8# Black checkmated 1-0 Sometimes the f-pawn push is delayed a few moves, but still to disastrous effect: licenser - guest 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bh4 g5 4.Bg3 f5
Black is hoping to execute a Noah's Ark trap, winning the bishop by playing ...f4 and leaving the bishop "No Retreat". White though has other ideas. 5.e3 Nf6 6.Nf3 Ne4
On f6 the Black knight kept an eye on the h5 square, keeping the White queen off. Black's last move left that square free for White, hence his next move, opening a path for the White queen to invade... 7.Ne5 Rg8
Black avoids the possible knight move Ng6, but allows a mate-in-two instead. If 7...h5 then 8.Ng6 Rh6 9.Nxf8 Kxf8 and Black's kingside shelter is blasted apart. White should have fun taking potshots at him! 8.Qh5+ 1-0 Black resigns, as he should. Note that the White knight on e5 covers Black's only other escape square, d7. Time for a review:
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