Inaccuracies

Lichess provides a computer analysis of ones moves and, where appropriated, labels moves as inaccuracies or blunders. Fortunately in my latest game on the platfrom I managed to avoid any blunders but I did commit three inaccuracies. Figure 1 shows the first of them.

Figure 1

It's interesting to analyse why the computer regards the move I made as an inaccuracy. Black has advanced his pawn from e7 to e5 attacking my d pawn twice but the computer regards this as an inaccuracy, hence the ?!. The move caught me by surprise and so I played the questionable d x e5?! The computer recommends c4 which now attacks Black's d pawn twice. If White's d pawn is captured then c x d5 dislodges the Knight after which the pawn on d4 can be captured. Figure 2 shows my next inaccuracy.

Figure 2

I played b3?! to liberate my Bishop and attack the Black Knight. However, e4 is recommended and it does indeed look better. The Bishop will be liberated after the Knight blocking it is moved and the move challenges the centre and forces Black to either take the pawn on e4 or advance his own pawn to d5 where it will be vulnerable. Let's look at the third inaccuracy. This is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

I played Qe2?! whereas e4 is again recommended. I was clearly avoiding the advance of my e pawn even though it's a logical move to make and the most assertive. To my own disadvantage I'm choosing to not strike in the center but instead play rather passive, non-confrontational moves. In this game, I was playing with the White pieces and didn't get to try out the French Defence. My overall accuracy was 91% which is a statistic that I should keep on eye on. Here is a link to the game.

Handling Time Pressure

Here is a crazy game for which I made the following comments on Lichess:

Another comedy of errors in which I made four blunders compared to White's five. I should have lost but managed a draw by three-fold repetition in severe time pressure. My mistake was advancing my e-pawn instead of my d-pawn. The opening was a Sicilian after all and Black needs to advance his d-pawn if he hopes for equality. After White's advance of his d-pawn to d5, my position became hopelessly cramped. It was a miracle that I was able to salvage a draw but once again it reminds me to never give up no matter how hopeless my position looks. A draw by repetition is what saved me in this game. I was happy with how I handled the time pressure. By the way, both of us received zero points for the draw.

I haven't played the Sicilian for a while, preferring the Caro-Kann or Pirc Defence, both of which lead to fairly cramped positions for Black. However, before I start a game I should have a definite idea as to the defence I'm going to adopt if White plays d4. I'll experiment with the French Defence. Remote Chess Academny has this video and another video that discuss the opening. Let's see how I go with this. I'd like to play a game that is free from blunders on my part. There'll be inaccuracies of course.