status same as last time although he has improved his position with the castle. king is no longer exposed and now he’s got a rook out and about as well.
i’d like to get my knight out but all he has to do is go to c6 and the sucker is basically frozen. so let’s go a3 in order to start freeing up some space as well as letting the little folks join in the fray. my other choice was f3 to keep his knight from heading down board but i don’t see that being particularily fruitful either.
ok, that was probably a mistake now that i look at it a little longer. he will probably go c5 which forces me to get the queen out of the way. i’ll probably just move her to h4 and force him to move something over there to prevent mate. followed by b4 and get a pawn exchange out of the wreckage. plus it kind of frees up the other rook. but he will most likely move his knight threatening the durn queen again. i think i am cooked.
It’s good that you’re recognizing the imbalances, but you’re not using them. It’s like, if we’re golfing, and you say to factor in the wind, I tell you “It’s 6 mph left” but just go ahead and whack the ball anyway.
You were winning in development. That means you should have gotten more and more ahead in development. But playing a2-a3 does nothing to push that agenda. It doesn’t grab important space in any way, and it doesn’t develop another piece. It allows …0-0 without fear of reprise, and now Black is caught up in development. Any move that advanced your development (like Nc3, Bg5, Bf4, Q somewhere useful) would have been better than a2-a3.
Also, you’re not using the right imbalances. I see that you’ve got the acronym, but you forgot what they stand for. It’s “Lines and Squares”, not “Leaders”. And you’re missing “Officers”.
So now where are you winning? Go back over the imbalances, find one that’s at least += and try to find a move that enhances that positive trait. If you find more than one, pick the one that hinders any =- imbalances or the one that increases another +=. If you can get any one of those imbalances up to plain ol’ +, you can make your opponent sweat.
ok, the only place that i have an advantage at this point is on the e column. plus i still have a lot of folks poised to go heading over to the black king’s side. so let’s double up on that durn e column and when he eventually moves a bishop then i at least gain control of those two squares again.
and chessic i don’t know that this is an appropriate analogy. but if i need to five pars to close out a golf tourney i am most likely going to flub it. but if i need a birdie and four pars then you can probably bet the mortgage that i am going to make two birdies because i like attacking. because after the first one the second is just going to happen.
and so probably the best word that you have given me is patience. for that i thank you greatly.
once again into the breach. i feel like i am am member of the 600 riding into the valley of death.
initiative is =-
material is =-
position is =1
lines and squares is = at best, =- at worst
development is =-
pawn development still feels about equal. maybe and edge to black just because he is hogging the center of the board.
next move in a bit.
ok, i am going to move the knight which at least gets another piece involved as well as freeing up the rook on a1.
i assume he will attack my bishop with c4. in which case i have to retreat (once again).
the other move that i would dearly like to make is qf4. i’d like the trade but i bet he would just cover with his bishop instead. forcing another retreat and opening up more room for said bishop.
shoot i can’t do that because then he just moves his pawn to d4 forking my queen and knight. back to the durn drawing board.
I just found this thread and my question is going to be somewhat irrelevant. Why are you anxious to get your queen out? IME, that just gives your opponent an opportunity to develop his pieces while playing a lovely game of chase the queen.
well nars i am not worth a crud so maybe mal, chessic or glee could weigh in. i guess because i am used to playing a lot of blitz chess (10 minutes a side) you need that puppy out there creating carnage.
so you are probably right.
if you want to weigh in on options i am certainly amenable.
current game state.
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bc4 Nf6
4.O-O Nxe4
5.d3 Nf6
6.d4 exd4
7.Nxd4 Nxd4
8.Qxd4 d5
9.Re1+ Be6
10.Bd3 Be7
11.Bd2 O-O
12.a3 c5
13.Qe3 Qc7 *
ok this may be absurd but is what i am thinking none the less.
time for you to earn your keep chessic 
i offer the queen trade at h3. if he takes i take back and i open up an escape hatch for my king.
i don’t think he takes and moves his bishop instead. i then move the queen to h4. i think he counters by moving ph6. he might move his knight instead but i’ll take the durn trade again.
if he does i take that sucker with my bishop he takes back with his pawn. which i then take with my queen. he either moves the knight or loses it or moves the bishop back to protect. either way we get into an endless check battle and i get a draw.
being down in position and material and against someone like mal i would at least take that as kind of a semi victory.
ah hell, the knight is also guarding the checkmate square.
back to the drawing board.
I think you mean g3. I’m pretty sure he’d go for the “trade” at h3. My guess (FWIW, I haven’t played competitively in 30 years) is that he’ll trade queens. As you’ve noted, he’s up materially and in position. I was always taught that when you’re up, trade.
I’d consider c4 and see if you can break up his control of the center. I’d also consider taking advice from a better player than me. 
whoops you are right g3.
I can’t really tell you what moves to play or what plan to have. All I can do is guide your thoughts. One problem with your thought is that you’re saying things like “he’ll move the bishop” but you’re not saying where he’ll move it to. That matters tremendously.
Also, you’re not taking the time to say “What’s my opponent’s plan?” He just moved Qc7. Why? What’s he doing that for? The queen used to be on d8 but it’s not there anymore. So what did he leave behind? Is it useful to you to capitalize on it, or is it garbage that you don’t want anyway?
For the next few moves, I want you to focus on “Lines and Squares” and “Officers” for both sides. Give me detailed plans for the pieces for both sides. Identify where the open lines/diagonals are and where the weak squares are. Determine if you should capitalize on them or fry some bigger fish elsewhere.
If there’s ever a time in your game where you’re like “The b file is open. Would I like to make use of that fact? Yes. Now for him, let’s see…the b file is open. Would he like to make use of that fact? Yes!” then you’ll come to understand how high-level chess is played. You’ll realize that there’s no “I move here to attack that and he retreats” but instead you’ll say “they’re fighting over the b file” and things will make more sense.
So take a lot of time now- like, 20 minutes- and break out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. Come up with a strategic goal. THEN start looking at moves.
Lastly, go back and look at the elements of strategy that I presented to you. You’re still getting them wrong and skipping some. You need ALL those factors listed out before you come up with candidate moves.
ok, i think he is going to move his bishop to d6. that way he doesn’t have to trade queens if i move my queen to g3.
i’m pretty sure that he moved his queen to its current position because he wants to attack with those durn pawns and add some back up firepower on the c file where i am extradorinarily weak and he has all of the diagonals covered.
my bishop on d2 and queen are basically covering the same squares so that seems a little off and duplicative.
his bishops are pretty much hindered by the fact that the pawns are in the middle of the board. i think he wants to get them engaged and will move one of the pawns to not only attack but also open up those pieces.
and i am sure he would love to move his bishop to d6 because then he picks up a pawn for nothing at h2.
either that or he moves a rook to c8 and puts a lot of firepower on that file.
and please don’t get too frustrated with me.
so i believe i will go pawn to b4. depending on what he does i get to open up a lot of space for my officers. additionally it breaks up that strength that he has having them together.
ok, here’s the thought process i am going to make him either trade or move the bishop to c6. if he does that i go to h4 with the queen. if he does the pawn to h7 then i proceed accordingly. if not i move my bishop to g5 threatening the knight. and if he moves the knight to e4 then i just take it.
if he just moves his bishop to f5 then i take the sucker.
ok, let’s go through the drill because it does help clear my head.
initiative is now about =
i think i have a couple of moves that can make his life uncomfortable.
material is still =-
pawns - he is kicking my rear and keeps moving the durn pair down the c and d files which is problematic a real big -
lines and diagonals - i actually think i have gotten back to = after getting the queen out and about.
officers is still =
i think i have something funky but want to sleep on it.
thank god i slept on it.
ok the implode thing is the same as the previous post.
here are my thoughts chessic (and please feel free to comment honestly). it feels like i need to save the bishop on the white squares. i need to keep the queen where she is to not only continue to threaten mate but also protect the h pawn.
so i think bishop to e4 is the play.
ok, this seems to be a no brainer.
pawn to c3 forcing an exchange. it breaks up the couple and lets me get me knight out.
so definitely that is probably not the move to make.