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first move by white: best by test - e4 .... fights for the centre, getting ready to develop the knight and light squared bishop and clearing the way for castle to safety king side.

Classic opening, my go to move when playing white.

2 gold on olly

"We will try to move forward at a minimum pace of one move every 12 hours."

I just logged in to find out this article was published 16 hours ago. I will have to be more diligent checking in to eRepublik in the days ahead. Sorry for the delay.

f6
(for the pawn, not knight....I'm not into that hypermodern techno-agressive stuffs)

This is a strange opening for black. This could be a mistake/weak move OR it could be setting up an aggressive middle game strategy that I don't want to share at this point. This strategy I speak of is what I typically use when playing black but this is not the opening move I use.

Wooof

hmmmm... so black defends with f6... a bit of a surprise!
In so doing, black weakens the king side, hobbles the knight and seems to slow down his development. I think my best plan is simple development and trying to close up the position in order to further hobble black's activity... so... d4

oh, I got black and white kings turned around. Now I am oriented.

I am surprised you did not take advantage of my oversight and place your queen in check position on the king. Or use the bishop to go after my hobbled knight. Then again, there is probably still time for all of that.

Not the best idea to add exposure to my king, but no point leaving you with the middle of the board unchallenged.

e5

My next move is described in post below.

First off, checking with the Queen would not have led to mate, likely resulting in black countering with g6 and Queen having to retreat. White's speed would have been compromised and the Queen would be developed out of position at a cost of two moves.

I would have played the same moves as Olly.

hmmm... so to take the pawn off or not.

If I take it off, black trades one of my centre pawns for one of his flanks.... he will build a strong sweet centre at the cost of king side weaknesses .... if he can castle king side his rook will have the f file open ... my white square biship will be strong.. and I have some initiative.

If i delay the exchange I can develop a knight,but I will probably lose a tempo and its a less forcing line...

Okay... take off the pawn ....dxe

I agree olly, playing white you have the benefit of speed. If you use your speed to develop your pieces quicker than your opponent AND obtain superior position and space, which you are doing, then trading material with black straight up only puts white in a better position, putting more pressure on black to stabilize the game/board.

It would look like I have given myself few options but to follow your lead on this one.

fxe5

I like this move. You have created space for the king's bishop and queen and you have pushed back into the centre square. You are vulnerable king-side, which isn't a show-stopper, but needs to be considered as you progress through development and transition to middle game. I assume you are setting up for aggressive tactics.

I anticipate white to develop a minor piece, a knight would be the typical choice at this point in the game but the open center affords development opportunities for both bishops. This is white's first move where they may reveal a genuine intention as to their middle game.

Great play by play from Addy - he just needs a colour guy - too bad Rylde is prob too busy to do Coach's Corner during the first intermission

PS - Hi Wilfie!

Hi Johnny C
Good to see you are still around.

I came home exhausted from work and opened this article ready for a hard think at a bad time. I got lucky ! The game is now over, really. The queen will give check and will then take black's centre pawn without compensation. The advantage of a single pawn is more than enough to eventually win. Could be overstating things but glad the decision is easy:

Queen h5 check!
Notice that, unlike the situation only two moves prior, the Queen does not lose tempo.

Ah, the dreaded fork. Queen gives check but also threatens the pawn at e5. That snuck up on me too Wilfie.

Recall the opening move of f6 which created this vulnerability and hamstrung the knight.

Black has two moves; intercept with pawn to g6 or escape with king to e7. The likely reply to both moves is queen takes pawn at e5, check.

If pawn intercepts, another opportunity to fork is created with Queen to e5 checking king at e8 and threatening rook at h8. King can escape to f7 or intercept with knight to e7, but rook is lost in either scenario.

If king escapes to e7, Queen can force check with e5 and black's only move is king to f7. White then moves bishop to c4 and forces black to respond with its only option, intercepting with pawn at d5. White takes pawn with bishop at d5 and checks, black's queen must take bishop at d5 and sacrifice when white counters with queen taking queen at d5, check. Black is significantly down in material, position and development at this point.

Black must decide which move is the lesser of two evils, or outsmart this pundit with an option not covered here.

My oh my, things are looking dire after only a couple moves. Oliver appears to be a quick learner at chess : /

Of all the scenarios described by Addy, the first move sounds less ominous (possibly because the paragraph is shorter...who knows was is to follow).

g6

Queen takes the centre pawn with check: Qxe5 check.

hmm, as Addy said. Thankfully less of a nasty surprise that time!

If interested, you can follow the eCanadian news version, here
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-ch-address-on-opening-move-and-bold-advance-2371133/1/20

Thinking now...

okay, looking for reason to move a major piece and unsure that the king can find any real escape by moving away, so move Knight up for block

Ne7

This was the anticipated move by White and the rook is now lost. The key question is which piece to intercept with, or escape with the king himself. Let's see how Black responds under pressure.

Knight to e7 is a successful intercept however it completely cuts off the Queen and takes away the centre diagonal of the biship, Black has sacrifice a lot of position with this move. Intercepting with the Queen would have put pressure on the middle square, particularly after white queen takes rook and gives up position and space. The Black Queen would also be available to support the minor pieces in the anticipated struggle with the white Queen. Best case scenario would have white queen retreating to safety after the score of material and then black could go on the offensive. Intercepting with the bishop would also have hemmed in the black queen. I am afraid that the descent down the slippery slope is gaining steam.

Wise move Wilfie, definitely the lesser of two evils. All is not lost, but it is bleak.

Take solace in the fact that White has brought out its Queen very early and before the development of the minor pieces. If you can escape, you have a hail mary available.

queen captures the hanging rook: Qxh8

This was anticipated.

Given black's choice to intercept with the knight has now left the bishop as the only piece between the queen and the king. Black's bishop is now pinned and cannot move. Black's night has choked off Black's Queen, things look bleak. Black needs space desperately.

Out of ideas except to save that exposed pawn.
Move: h5

I was thinking about trying to trap the queen by moving the king to f7 and then blocking your queen with my knight at f7, but then you would bring your bishops in and...?

The exposed pawn is subordinate to the lack of space. The Queen and minor pieces need to develop. Ideally, Knight has to make room, but it's moves to d5, f5 and g1 all result in sacrifice. Black pawn to d5 would attack the centre and create space for Queen and Bishop. This creates a gambit, forcing White to choose between defending the centre and taking the exposed pawn at g7. Knight protects pawn at d5 so a nice counter is available.

Black's move does not create space nor advance development.

very tough position for you, no doubt. my dark squared bishop will now put more pressure on a king that is out of air.

Bh6

Oh boy. Black's bishop is pinned, and Q to f8 is mate.

Pawn to d6 creates an out for the king to keep the game alive, it also attacks centre and creates foom for bishop and queen.

so you are saying he needs to take a stroll?
At least this way if you go after the Bishop, then the Black Queen can be brought into play. However, I am sure more of your pieces will move ahead to complicate that arrangement.

King to f7

Regretably, I do like to have all my hockey players on the ice instead of on the bench drinking coffee: Nf3

That looked like a good move, so I will respond with the same by putting my inactive knight to use:
Nbc6

that move of yours, activating a Knight, has me all nervous. I therefore reviewed the rules about offering a draw. I can only offer a draw after I move. When I offer a draw, you can accept it BEFORE you move. So I'm going to figure out a move and then offer a draw, 'cause I'm a scaredy cat and besides, you had that difficulty at the start when you wanted to play a Caro-Kann but just got confused about which side was which.

Alright, well.... Knight to g5 is forced mate in two:

Ng5 +; Ke8 (forced)
Qxf8 #

So my move is : Ng5 - draw offered;

A true gentleman, ollie offers mate.

White's next move, knight to g5 will induce a retreat by king to e8 with Q mating with f8.

Black cannot take the knight.

Black could take the bishop, but it would lose it's queen. Black could start scrambling away with king to e6 but that will only prolong the inevitable.

Pawn to d5 remains an option, this time, it creates an out for the king.

Take the draw, thank the man, and shake hands.

Good game.

Thank you for the enlightening feedback from the both of you. It has helped me see where things could have gone better.

"when you wanted to play a Caro-Kann"
Not sure what that is but I will look it up and not perform it in reverse next time. : )

King to f7 kills the opportunity to castle. Castling queenside with black is my go-to strategy, and this was the hail mary that I referred to earlier. There have been opportunities, even while on the ropes, to develop pieces in such a manner as to whisk the king to safety with a queen side castle and then threaten with the rook, both in the corner where the queen is and up the middle, where few pawns exists. Alas, this path to the end-game has been closed.

Ironically, this move does not free up Black's bishop. It remains pinned because Black's Queen is vulnerable to Qd8.

Black stepping into the 7th rank also creates opportunities for white's bishop check on c4.

Black's bishops, Queen and knight remain undeveloped. The king truly is going for a stroll with no bodyguards.

While I do not fully see what is requiring a draw, I do see that it is the best outcome I can now expect from this match. White could have probably continued its advance and remove more Black pieces, expecting another oversight from Black that would lead to an eventual check-mate. However, it is nice that oliver is doing the humane thing of letting me off the leash early so I gladly accept the draw.

The only disappointment here is that I could not give oliver a better challenge. Perhaps after some practice with an online game, I'd be better prepared for a rematch. Tell you what, had there been any small wagers on this match, I still would have still paid oliver the winnings for beating me soundly with his swift attack. Perhaps another time then.

Wait, maybe I should state that like a chess move

draw accepted

You are a great sport. Play again anytime.

The concluding moves have been updated in the other article, too:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-ch-address-on-opening-move-and-bold-advance-2371133/1/20

Let me shake off some more rust before I give it another to ; )

another *go

~hyuu~

This was awesome.