The one thing I know about chess improvement is that you have to study your games. It’s how a mediocre player like me was able to reach GM. But it’s a hard road. And I confess that I’ve often been a hypocrite, telling people to follow a path that I have meandered from.

It’s an ancient Soviet path. And I doubt that I will actually convince the players who grew up deep in computerland to go down it. But they should probably at least see what it looks like. That’s why I made this post.

The following game was not particularly well-played by either side, it’s not a brilliancy. But it’s from those average games that I have learned the most about my game, about all my hidden prejudices and bad habits.

Many players who have tried to follow my process only produce about a page of notes, at least at first. It takes time to see the many questions that a game raises. 15 handwritten pages is about my average for a 40 move game.

So here it is. I’ve first given a standard pgn file, just so you can follow along. Putting it all into a chessbase file is my final step, only then do I turn on the computer. And so some of the variations in the game replayer below are made with the computer. You can get a replay board by clicking any of the moves below.

Below that are pictures of the handwritten notes I made.

[Event "DC INTL"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.10.??"] [Round "4"] [White "Mulyar"] [Black "Kraai"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2500"] [BlackElo "2400"] [PlyCount "117"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 d5 6. cxd5 $2 (6. Bg2) 6... exd5 7. Bg2 Bb4+ 8. Bd2 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Re1 Bb7 12. Qc2 c5 $2 (12... Na6) 13. Bg5 (13. e4 $1 {didn’t appreciate this in my analysis} dxe4 14. Ng5 cxd4 (14... Nbd7 15. Ngxe4 $16) 15. Ncxe4) 13... Nbd7 14. dxc5 $2 Bxc5 15. Na4 $2 Ba3 16. Nd4 Rc8 17. Qd2 Qe7 (17... h6 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. Nb5 Qe7 20. Nxa3 Qxa3 21. Nb2 $11) 18. Nc2 Bd6 19. Rac1 {comp agrees with me: it’s not that special for black!} Be5 20. Nd4 Rxc1 $2 (20... h6 $15 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Bf4 Ne4 23. Bxe4 dxe4 24. Rd1 Nf8 $15) 21. Rxc1 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 Qxe2 23. Nc3 Qb2 24. Qd2 $2 (24. Nb5 $14) 24... Qxd2 25. Bxd2 Rc8 26. Rd1 (26. Nb5) 26... Nc5 $2 (26... h6) 27. Nb5 $2 (27. Bg5) 27... Ba6 28. Nd4 Rd8 $2 (28... Ne6 29. Bh3 (29. Be3 Rc7 $15)) 29. Nf5 $2 (29. Nc6) 29... Nfe4 30. Be3 (30. Be1 $1) 30... Nc3 31. Rd2 Kf8 32. Bf3 Bc8 {comp is fine with this move where I thought it a mistake} (32... Ne6) 33. Nxg7 $2 (33. Nd4 Bd7 34. Rc2 N3e4 35. b4 Ne6 36. Nxe6+ Bxe6 37. Rc7 d4 38. Bxe4 dxe3 39. fxe3 Rd1+ 40. Kf2 Rd2+ 41. Kf3 Rxa2 $17 {haha, very computer to allow Rc7!}) 33... N3e4 $2 {I’m actually not sure which knight I put on e4!} (33... N5e4 34. Rc2 d4 35. Bh6 Kg8 $17) 34. Bxe4 (34. Bxc5+ $1) ( 34. Bh6 $2 Ke7 $2 (34... Rd6)) 34... Nxe4 35. Bh6 Ke7 $2 (35... Rd6 $19) 36. Rd4 $2 (36. Rc2 $11) 36... Kf6 37. f3 Kg6 $2 (37... Nc3 $17) 38. fxe4 Kxh6 39. Nf5+ Bxf5 40. exf5 Kg5 41. g4 $2 (41. Rh4) (41. Kf2) 41... h5 42. h3 $2 (42. gxh5 $1) 42... hxg4 43. hxg4 Kf6 44. Kf2 Ke5 45. Ke3 Rh8 $2 (45... Rc8 $19) 46. Ra4 d4+ 47. Kd3 Rh3+ 48. Kd2 a5 49. b4 axb4 (49... Ke4 50. bxa5 b5 {computer} 51. Rb4 Rh2+ 52. Kc1 Ke3 53. Rxb5 Rh1+ 54. Kb2 d3 55. Rb3 Ke2 56. Kc3 Rc1+ 57. Kb4 d2 58. Rb2 $11) 50. Rxb4 Ra3 51. Rxb6 Rxa2+ 52. Ke1 Kf4 (52... Rg2 53. Rb7 f6) 53. Rb7 f6 54. Rb6 Kg5 55. Rd6 Rg2 56. Rxd4 Rxg4 57. Rxg4+ Kxg4 58. Ke2 Kxf5 59. Kf3 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.