Week 67: the Zukertort opening, my queen on a4 and eight abandoned losses

Week 67 was the bill for week 66. From April 21 to 27, 2025, I played 11 rapid games and dropped from 1292 to 1260 (−32), with 3 wins and 8 losses. The opening at the center of it was the Zukertort opening, the label Chess.com gives my Queen's Pawn games with an early Nf3. I played its Chigorin Variation three times with White and lost all three. Two of those losses followed the same script: my queen went to a4, and then a bishop of mine grabbed a pawn that wasn't really free.

The week in numbers

With White I won only once in six games, a Zukertort Variation against yudhaarjuna1 (1262) that I finished by checkmate with 59 seconds left. My other two wins came with Black.

What the Zukertort opening looks like in my games

Strictly speaking, my "Zukertort" games are London System games: pawn to d4, bishop to f4, knight to f3, pawn to e3, pawn to c3. Chess.com names the opening after the move order, so when Black plays ...Nc6 early it becomes the Zukertort Chigorin. In game 1484 it went 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 a6 5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.c3 e6 7.Qb3 Rb8 8.Qa4. In game 1487, the next day, it went 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nc6 3.Nf3 h6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nbd2 e6 6.c3 a6 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.Qa4. Same idea both times: queen to b3 looking at b7, then queen to a4 pinning the knight on c6 against the king. It's a real plan. The problem is what I did next.

Moment 1: the pawn on a6

Game 1484 against ooo274 (1288), White (game). Move 11, evaluation −0.34, about equal. My light-squared bishop on f1 saw a pawn on a6 with a clear diagonal in front of it.

. r . q . r k .
. p p . . p p p
p . n b p . . .
. . . p . b . .
Q P . P n . . .
. . P . P N B .
P . . N . P P P
R . . . K B . R

The bishop took the pawn and could immediately be captured by the b7 pawn. The engine's favourite reply is even nastier: a rook to a8, attacking my bishop with my queen standing right behind it on the same file. Evaluation: −0.34 to −5.46. In the game ooo274 took on c3 with the knight instead, and one move later I put my queen on c2, where Black's bishop on f5 simply took it. Qb3, just bringing the queen back, kept everything equal.

Moment 2: the pawn on b5

Game 1487 against varkeypd (1292), White, one day later (game). Black had just pushed ...b5 to kick my queen.

r . q . k b n r
. . p . . p p .
p . n . p . . p
. p . p . b . .
Q . . P . B . .
. . P . P N . .
P P . N . P P P
R . . . K B . R

This one at least looked tactical: Bxb5 pins the knight on c6 to the king. But the a6 pawn takes the bishop, and that capture attacks my queen and opens the a-file for Black's rook. I got two pawns for the bishop and an evaluation of −3.33, clearly worse. Two moves later I blundered again with Ne5 (−8.80), and the game ended on move 23. Qd1, the humble retreat, was about equal.

Eight losses, eight abandoned games

There's a pattern in this week I don't love. Chess.com records all eight losses as "game abandoned": I left instead of resigning or playing on. Five of them were over within 13 moves, and in those five I still had more than seven and a half minutes on my clock. In game 1483 against L3tsGooo (1285), a Modern Defense, I made four blunders in 12 moves and walked away.

That matters for two reasons. First, the rating cost is the same as a resignation, so leaving doesn't save anything. Second, the previous week I won game 1452 a full knight down, because at this level the opponent often blunders back. Leaving early takes that chance away. And it explains a strange number: 82.8% average accuracy, my highest in three weeks, in a week where I lost 8 of 11. Short games with one huge blunder still average out high.

The lesson of the week

A pawn is only free if nothing can take back. Before capturing, look at the piece you're capturing with and ask two questions: who can attack it on its new square, and what does it stop guarding? In both Zukertort games the answer was a pawn next door, and in both the quiet queen retreat was the right move. When the opponent kicks your queen, the most boring square is often the best one.

The second lesson is shorter: play the game out. A lost position at 1250 is not a lost game.

All games this week

Before this: week 66. After this: week 68. All weeks: the journey from 631 to 1385. To find the "free pawn" moments in your own games, review them with Chess Coach.