1300 defeats 2200 (My best win of all time)

Hello everyone, I wanted to share a very nice game I played in the weekly Rapid arena, in which I defeated a 2200 rated player (they did berserk, to be fair). I analyzed and annotated the game myself in the study below (mostly to explain my moves and prove I didn’t cheat). Both of us definitely made some mistakes, especially in the opening, but i’m very proud of the way I played the middlegame and endgame.

Here’s the game:

Well done! To be honest, I expected a game with the 2200 losing to a blunder when I read the title, but you actually played very well. Your analysis is good, and it shows that you had a cohesive plan throughout the game and a high level understanding of the position. Missing ...d5 in the opening was unfortunate, but I'm sure you'll be on the lookout next time in similar positions. And don't forget, your opponent missed it too (as many times as you did), and they're much higher rated!

By the way, your comment on 6... e6 is good, but I would also add that it blunts White's light-squared bishop, which really just becomes a target for a later ...d5 push (as you mentioned). For that reason, it is usually not a good idea for White to play Bc4 in closed Sicilian positions when Black hasn't committed to ...e5. When you see that move in such positions, you can usually respond to it with ...e6 (as you did).

And for 12... Nxb3, I think the reason Stockfish doesn't like it is because the bishop isn't actually that good, and could even potentially get trapped in the future. For example, in the game after 12... Nxb3 13. axb3 Bb7 14. Qf2, Stockfish likes 14... Nf5 and then 15. Ne4. But if 12... Bb7 13. Qf2 Nf5 14. Ne4, there is 14... Bxe4 15. dxe4 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 c4 and the bishop is trapped. Also, the bishop can't move, so there's no urgent need to trade it right away. That being said, there is some merit to trading the bishop right away, since it avoids any potential tactics on your knight. For that reason, if you don't plan to trade the bishop immediately, 11... Nd4 was slightly more accurate than 11... Na5, since they can't take with the knight due to the fork, so if they want to trade the knight (which is one of the best moves according to Stockfish), they would have to give up their dark-squared bishop, which was probably a better piece for them than the light-squared bishop in the long run. That ...Nd4 idea is another common idea in these types of positions, along with the earlier ...d5 idea.

Thank you, AsDaGo for your comment! I did intend to mention that e6 blunts the light-squared bishop, but I somehow completely forgot to mention it. As for 12... Nxb3, I actually think I’ve figured out the reason for why it was inaccurate: White’s 12.e5 actually made my knight more valuable, as it could’ve potentially returned to c6 at some point to put pressure on white’s e5 pawn! Trading it off for the bishop forever precluded that possibility, thereby giving white an opportunity to freely stockpile pressure on my dark squares with Ne4, without having to worry about any counterplay against the white e5-pawn. Thankfully, my opponent missed Ne4.

Mm looks Cute, Nice idea with promoting, that allowed a win, Your opp was in a hurry, that's why didn't noticed and haven't defended from that

@Mississippi_Morphy said ^

Hello everyone, I wanted to share a very nice game I played in the weekly Rapid arena, in which I defeated a 2200 rated player (they did berserk, to be fair). I analyzed and annotated the game myself in the study below (mostly to explain my moves and prove I didn’t cheat). Both of us definitely made some mistakes, especially in the opening, but i’m very proud of the way I played the middlegame and endgame.

Here’s the game:

https://lichess.org/study/GiiT3yvv/YfhtCuv0

That's a fat prey for your mouth