Pawned

While my father hasn’t met a chess computer that could beat him in at least four decades, I’ve struggled to ever win a game against a computer or program.

Today on the flight home from Vermont, I fired up Handmark Pocket Chess Deluxe for a game. I was groggy from sleep but beat PCD with surprising ease.

I’m looking back over the game to try and determine what I did this game that I normally don’t. Maybe some of these things will serve me in the future:

1. I’ve never tried the single-square King’s-side opening before. It was actually an accidental slip of the stylus, but I went with it. It allowed me to essentially develop a Queen’s-side opening with protection I don’t normally enjoy.
2. I moved my Bishops out to the fourth rank, which helped me control more of the board even though I didn’t have a specific plan for them.
3. I waited until the computer moved its Queen before I brought mine out.

Still, I’m surprised at the simplicity of the trap that forced mate.

Here’s the game:

1. e3 Nc6 
2. d4 Nf6 
3. Nc3 d6 
4. Bc4 Bf5 
5. f3 e6 
6. e4 Bg6 
7. Be3 d5 
8. Bd3 dxe4 
9. fxe4 Nxd4 
10. Bxd4 Be7 
11. Nf3 O-O 
12. O-O Qd7 
13. a4 Ng4 
14. Qe2 Bf6
15. e5 Bxd3 
16. Qxd3 Be7 
17. a5 Qc6 
18. Ne4 Rad8 
19. Neg5 h6 
20. Qh7# 1-0

Anyone see anything I did right?