Blitz Chess #7: My First Casual Blitz Game on Lichess

Let me share my very first casual blitz game (meaning unrated)  on Lichess and it was a pretty relaxed game as well given that the time control was 3 mins. with 3-sec. increments. Despite the lengthy amount of time that we each had, it was quite a short game with only 17 moves. The illustration above is the final position and it is difficult for white as he will lose a piece and he doesn't really have enough compensation for it. This could have been avoided but one would need a subtle understanding of the particular opening we played which was the Benoni Defense.

The computer has already given its analysis of the opening with the annotation above. I wasn't particularly good with the Benoni either but the reason why I was able to win this game with the Benoni is because of my opponent's last move which was exd4. Although I already had a comfortable position before that, my move d4 was actually an inaccuracy according to the computer. And when I looked at it, there was a way for White to bring the game close to equality and the computer gives that recommendation, which is Ne4. In that case, I would somewhat regret pushing my d-pawn forward because things will open up and White will gain the initiative. Furthermore, he has the space advantage on the queenside and he can clamp my pieces on that side to make them immobile. Things didn't go that way to my relief.

It was suggested that for move 16, I should have done e4 instead of d4. It maintains a closed position and locks most of White's pieces except the knights. He can try to push his queenside pawns but it might risk overextending them, though I have yet to develop my other bishop and rook. It would still be a tenable position despite his supposed threat of barreling through the queenside, if it were a threat at all. In any case, White resigned after realizing his blunder.

I like to play the Benoni defense even though many consider it unsound because I like the Sicilian defense. Granted, the moves d4 c5 is technically called the Old Benoni, it can transpose to the typical Benoni with d5, Nf6, Nc3 and so on. It was also one of the few responses against the Queen's pawn which I slightly studied just because I found the resulting positions from the opening quite interesting to play. It's double-edged and I don't think I have a positive score playing the Benoni but I have fun playing it so I don't really care whether I win or lose games with it. Definitely, against someone who knows the nuances of the opening would find it easier to parry but for unsuspecting victims, it can be a trainwreck. Anyway, that's how my first casual game went. Even though I won the game, I didn't really gain any rating points. Perhaps, that was another reason why I felt more at ease with this game and just felt like experimenting.