Here's a game I recently completed at http://net-chess.com. I
documented my thinking process throughout the game both to force
myself to actually ponder each position and in the hopes that the
stronger players here could point out how I could be thinking better.
Any time you can spend on analysis is appreciated. This is also my
first attempt at PGN; please let me know if the formatting doesn't
work for some reason.

My opponent was rated 1757 on net-chess; I don't know what that
translates to in the official rankings. The time control was seven
days plus one day per move.

Sincerely,

M. Patzer

[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "name withheld"]
[Black "Major Patzer"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5
2.Bc4 e6
{Protecting f7 and shutting down the white squares. Intending a6 and
b5 when possible.}
3.Nf3 a6
{Would Nc6 be better here?}
4.d4 d5
{If Bg5 then Qa5+.}
5.exd5 exd5
{b5 is tempting, but 6. dxe6 bxc4 7. exf7+ really smashes up the
center.}
6.Qe2+ Be7
{Ne7 blocks the check and defends d5, but hampers the bishop. Should
the bishop nonetheless go to g7?}
7.Bxd5
{That was unexpected. Qxd5 is the obvious response, so why the sac?
Presumably white is planning something like Bg5 but I seem to have a
number of options after that, including f6, Nc6, Be6, and even Kd8.
I'll take the offering.}
7. ... Qxd5
8.Nc3
{Qd8 seems safest, but gives white a big lead in development. Qh5
allows Bg5 with more pressure on e7, but that pressure doesn't appear
to be overwhelming. I'm happy to trade queens, if possible, or I can
play Nc6 to further defend e7.}
8. ... Qh5
9.d5
{Well, I missed that tactic. Now, how to make the best of it. I may
well have to give back the bishop.}
9. ... Qg6
10.O-O
{Preparing to involve the rook as well. Qd6 looks like my only sane
move. I'd love to move the knight and castle, but there's going to be
a lot of pressure on e7 in short order.}
10. ... Qd6
11.Re1
{It looks like white is aiming for Bg5, applying more pressure to e7.
Ne4 threatening the queen is also possible, but Qxd5 addresses that.
The best I can see is to be offensive (not that my move 8 wasn't
offensive enough).}
11. ... Bg4
12.h3
{I want to get my knight on b8 to e5, so white's knight has got to go.
That will also temporarily take some pressure off e7 if white retakes
with the queen and may allow Nf6 and castling.}
12. ... Bxf3
13. Qxf3 Nd7
14. Bf4
{Moving the queen is the only response.}
14. ... Qf6
15. d6
{Threatening the pawn at b7 and the rook as well. Rb8 protects the
pawn but leaves the rook susceptible to white's bishop. Rc8 loses the
pawn in addition to returning the bishop. Ra7 still allows white to
play Nd5 and apply more pressure on e7. It seems that the only
alternative is to castle long, unpin the bishop, and see what
happens.}
15. ... O-O-O
16. dxe7
{Nxe7 or Re1 first? I'll go with Nxe7 to prevent Nd5 from white.}
16. ... Nxe7
17. Rxe7
{That was unexpected. Qxe7 is the obvious response, so what is white
planning after that? 18. Nd5 forces me to move my queen to e6, e8,
f8, or h4. 19. Bc7 doesn't win the rook unless I'm really sloppy.
I'll take the rook and see what white has planned.}
17. ... Qxe7
18. Nd5
{What a non-surprise. Qh4 puts my queen out of the action. Qe8 is
susceptible to Nc7 and keeps the rooks from working together, as does
Qf8. Qe6 gets my queen off the dark squares and keeps control of the
e-file, so it seems like my best bet.}
18. ... Qe6
19. c4
{I've got to swap some pieces if at all possible. Putting my queen at
e4 looks like a good start. I need to support e4 with either f5 or
Rd8e8 (Rh1e8 gives the rook at d8 nowhere to run in case of Bc7).
White's natural follow up is Nc7, forking my queen and rook.
19. ... Rd8e8 20. Nc7 Qe4 looks supportable.}
19. ... Rd8e8
20. Kf1
{Curious. Does white see something I don't? I'm up an exchange but
white has a lot of pressure on me so I still want to exchange some
pieces. Qe4 seems the only way to do that at the moment. If white
chooses not to exchange, only Qh5 protects the knight and I have more
options such as Qc4+, g3, or Nf6.}
20. ... Qe4
21. Qg3
{Am I missing something or did White just drop a knight? After Qxc4+,
White can only play Kg1. Qxd5 doesn't leave White with a lot of
options.}
21. ... Qxc4+
{White resigns.}
0-1

In article ,
(Major Patzer) wrote:

Here's a game I recently completed at http://net-chess.com. I
documented my thinking process throughout the game both to force
myself to actually ponder each position and in the hopes that the
stronger players here could point out how I could be thinking better.
Any time you can spend on analysis is appreciated. This is also my
first attempt at PGN; please let me know if the formatting doesn't
work for some reason.

My opponent was rated 1757 on net-chess; I don't know what that
translates to in the official rankings. The time control was seven
days plus one day per move.

Sincerely,

M. Patzer

[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "name withheld"]
[Black "Major Patzer"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5
2.Bc4 e6
{Protecting f7 and shutting down the white squares. Intending a6 and
b5 when possible.}
3.Nf3 a6
{Would Nc6 be better here?}

Possible. It all depends on why you're playing a6. In this position, it
looks like a wasted tempo to me, since you're not worried about Bb7(+).

Without a strong, specific reason, I would always opt for a developing
move over something like -a6.

4.d4 d5
{If Bg5 then Qa5+.}
5.exd5 exd5
{b5 is tempting, but 6. dxe6 bxc4 7. exf7+ really smashes up the
center.}

You can't play chess scared. You're so undeveloped here that it's easy
to understand why this would scare you. But if, for example, you have
played Nc6 instead of a6 I would consider this a risk worth playing.

6.Qe2+ Be7
{Ne7 blocks the check and defends d5, but hampers the bishop. Should
the bishop nonetheless go to g7?}

No. I think this is the right move. You're setting up for a IQP
position, in which case the bishop is well-placed on e7. Also, it's
protecting (not right now, but eventually) the c-pawn.

7.Bxd5
{That was unexpected. Qxd5 is the obvious response, so why the sac?
Presumably white is planning something like Bg5 but I seem to have a
number of options after that, including f6, Nc6, Be6, and even Kd8.
I'll take the offering.}
7. ... Qxd5
8.Nc3
{Qd8 seems safest, but gives white a big lead in development. Qh5
allows Bg5 with more pressure on e7, but that pressure doesn't appear
to be overwhelming. I'm happy to trade queens, if possible, or I can
play Nc6 to further defend e7.}


There's development and there's good development. I understand your
desire not to undevelop yourself, but you have to look at your
opponent's threats.

You're up a piece, but he's got strong pressure down the e-file. So yes,
you have to move your queen. The question is, where can you move it to
help support your weakest piece?

If you think like that you'll see Qd8 is a very logical move. The queen
does something on that square. On h5 it does squat.


8. ... Qh5
9.d5
{Well, I missed that tactic. Now, how to make the best of it. I may
well have to give back the bishop.}
9. ... Qg6
10.O-O
{Preparing to involve the rook as well. Qd6 looks like my only sane
move. I'd love to move the knight and castle, but there's going to be
a lot of pressure on e7 in short order.}

I'm betting you really wished you hadn't spend that tempo on a6 about
now.

10. ... Qd6
11.Re1
{It looks like white is aiming for Bg5, applying more pressure to e7.
Ne4 threatening the queen is also possible, but Qxd5 addresses that.
The best I can see is to be offensive (not that my move 8 wasn't
offensive enough).}
11. ... Bg4
12.h3
{I want to get my knight on b8 to e5, so white's knight has got to go.
That will also temporarily take some pressure off e7 if white retakes
with the queen and may allow Nf6 and castling.}
12. ... Bxf3
13. Qxf3 Nd7
14. Bf4
{Moving the queen is the only response.}
14. ... Qf6
15. d6
{Threatening the pawn at b7 and the rook as well. Rb8 protects the
pawn but leaves the rook susceptible to white's bishop. Rc8 loses the
pawn in addition to returning the bishop. Ra7 still allows white to
play Nd5 and apply more pressure on e7. It seems that the only
alternative is to castle long, unpin the bishop, and see what
happens.}

You don't have much choice. Luckily, you've basically caught up in
development.


15. ... O-O-O
16. dxe7
{Nxe7 or Re1 first? I'll go with Nxe7 to prevent Nd5 from white.}
16. ... Nxe7
17. Rxe7
{That was unexpected. Qxe7 is the obvious response, so what is white
planning after that? 18. Nd5 forces me to move my queen to e6, e8,
f8, or h4. 19. Bc7 doesn't win the rook unless I'm really sloppy.
I'll take the rook and see what white has planned.}

Makes sense. You have to recapture here unless you see a clear loss from
recapturing (because not recapturing is also a clear loss.)

I don't think--looking cursorily at the position--that white has a
justification for this sacrifice any longer. He may phychologically feel
like he's still attacking, and have not made the switch to a more even
position. He should've started playing more positionally, given the
weakened nature of your queenside castled position.

17. ... Qxe7
18. Nd5
{What a non-surprise. Qh4 puts my queen out of the action. Qe8 is
susceptible to Nc7 and keeps the rooks from working together, as does
Qf8. Qe6 gets my queen off the dark squares and keeps control of the
e-file, so it seems like my best bet.}

I concur.

18. ... Qe6
19. c4
{I've got to swap some pieces if at all possible. Putting my queen at
e4 looks like a good start. I need to support e4 with either f5 or
Rd8e8 (Rh1e8 gives the rook at d8 nowhere to run in case of Bc7).
White's natural follow up is Nc7, forking my queen and rook.
19. ... Rd8e8 20. Nc7 Qe4 looks supportable.}

Okay, I understand the idea, and swapping pieces when ahead is usually a
good idea. But I don't think a queen swap is the most pressing issue.

Did you at least consider trying to swap off the knight with Nf6 or Nb6?
Both of these moves have tactical flaws (Bg5 and Bc7, respectively) but
that knight is the best non-queen piece on the board, so you were
hopefully at least thinking of ways to get rid of it.

19. ... Rd8e8
20. Kf1
{Curious. Does white see something I don't? I'm up an exchange but
white has a lot of pressure on me so I still want to exchange some
pieces. Qe4 seems the only way to do that at the moment. If white
chooses not to exchange, only Qh5 protects the knight and I have more
options such as Qc4+, g3, or Nf6.}

Kf1 was played with the idea of being able to contest the e-file.

20. ... Qe4
21. Qg3
{Am I missing something or did White just drop a knight? After Qxc4+,
White can only play Kg1. Qxd5 doesn't leave White with a lot of
options.}
21. ... Qxc4+
{White resigns.}
0-1

Ron wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Major Patzer) wrote:
1.e4 c5
2.Bc4 e6
{Protecting f7 and shutting down the white squares. Intending a6 and
b5 when possible.}
3.Nf3 a6
{Would Nc6 be better here?}

Possible. It all depends on why you're playing a6. In this position, it
looks like a wasted tempo to me, since you're not worried about Bb7(+).

Without a strong, specific reason, I would always opt for a developing
move over something like -a6.

My purpose in a6 was to prepare to corner White's bishop after
d5. The one book on the Sicilian I have doesn't say much about 2. Bc4
other than that it is premature and risks the loss of the piece. Is
that inaccurate advice?

Thanks, by the way, for the rest of your analysis. It was very
helpful.

Sincerely,

M. Patzer

Recently (Major Patzer) honored
rec.games.chess.analysis with:
Here's a game I recently completed at http://net-chess.com. I
documented my thinking process throughout the game both to force
myself to actually ponder each position and in the hopes that the
stronger players here could point out how I could be thinking better.
Any time you can spend on analysis is appreciated. This is also my
first attempt at PGN; please let me know if the formatting doesn't
work for some reason.

The PGN formatting worked just fine, good job.

My opponent was rated 1757 on net-chess; I don't know what that
translates to in the official rankings. The time control was seven
days plus one day per move.

I agree with the poster who estimated white's playing strength at
about 1200, Elo 1750 otb is a very good player.

Sincerely,

M. Patzer

[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "name withheld"]
[Black "Major Patzer"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5
2.Bc4 e6
{Protecting f7 and shutting down the white squares. Intending a6 and
b5 when possible.}
3.Nf3 a6
{Would Nc6 be better here?}

I think so. I believe the point of a6 in the Sicilian is to prevent
occupation of b5 by white, which is an unlikely aim with white's B on
c4. I thought e6 was a very good response to Bc4, btw.

4.d4 d5
{If Bg5 then Qa5+.}
5.exd5 exd5
{b5 is tempting, but 6. dxe6 bxc4 7. exf7+ really smashes up the
center.}
6.Qe2+ Be7
{Ne7 blocks the check and defends d5, but hampers the bishop. Should
the bishop nonetheless go to g7?}

With the center open, I don't see the point of going through the
effort to put the B on g7.

7.Bxd5
{That was unexpected. Qxd5 is the obvious response, so why the sac?
Presumably white is planning something like Bg5 but I seem to have a
number of options after that, including f6, Nc6, Be6, and even Kd8.
I'll take the offering.}
7. ... Qxd5
8.Nc3
{Qd8 seems safest, but gives white a big lead in development. Qh5
allows Bg5 with more pressure on e7, but that pressure doesn't appear
to be overwhelming. I'm happy to trade queens, if possible, or I can
play Nc6 to further defend e7.}

I think Qe6 is stronger, it lets the Q show her strength and prevents
white from dominating the e file as in the game. After Qh5, you end
up making two more Q moves to try to prevent the advance d6, and tie
yourself up in knots in the meantime.

8. ... Qh5
9.d5
{Well, I missed that tactic. Now, how to make the best of it. I may
well have to give back the bishop.}
9. ... Qg6
10.O-O
{Preparing to involve the rook as well. Qd6 looks like my only sane
move. I'd love to move the knight and castle, but there's going to be
a lot of pressure on e7 in short order.}
10. ... Qd6
11.Re1
{It looks like white is aiming for Bg5, applying more pressure to e7.
Ne4 threatening the queen is also possible, but Qxd5 addresses that.
The best I can see is to be offensive (not that my move 8 wasn't
offensive enough).}
11. ... Bg4
12.h3
{I want to get my knight on b8 to e5, so white's knight has got to go.
That will also temporarily take some pressure off e7 if white retakes
with the queen and may allow Nf6 and castling.}

I think your plan is flawed. I think it is more to the point to
strive for Nf6 and get castled so you can ease the pressure on the e
file. Your pursuit of this plan puts white's Q on the f file in
support of Bf4, a move which really puts you under some heat.

12. ... Bxf3
13. Qxf3 Nd7
14. Bf4
{Moving the queen is the only response.}
14. ... Qf6
15. d6
{Threatening the pawn at b7 and the rook as well. Rb8 protects the
pawn but leaves the rook susceptible to white's bishop. Rc8 loses the
pawn in addition to returning the bishop. Ra7 still allows white to
play Nd5 and apply more pressure on e7. It seems that the only
alternative is to castle long, unpin the bishop, and see what
happens.}
15. ... O-O-O

Boy, castling long really puts your king under fire by white's pieces,
but you're right, there's not much else.

16. dxe7
{Nxe7 or Re1 first? I'll go with Nxe7 to prevent Nd5 from white.}
16. ... Nxe7
17. Rxe7
{That was unexpected. Qxe7 is the obvious response, so what is white
planning after that? 18. Nd5 forces me to move my queen to e6, e8,
f8, or h4. 19. Bc7 doesn't win the rook unless I'm really sloppy.
I'll take the rook and see what white has planned.}

Many times a sac of the exchange is a good prelude to attack. In this
case, white has insufficient support, and is hoping for you to make a
mistake. No offense, but you've given him reason to believe that you
might make a mistake. :-)

17. ... Qxe7
18. Nd5
{What a non-surprise. Qh4 puts my queen out of the action. Qe8 is
susceptible to Nc7 and keeps the rooks from working together, as does
Qf8. Qe6 gets my queen off the dark squares and keeps control of the
e-file, so it seems like my best bet.}

vbg Finally, your Q finds the best square!

18. ... Qe6
19. c4
{I've got to swap some pieces if at all possible. Putting my queen at
e4 looks like a good start. I need to support e4 with either f5 or
Rd8e8 (Rh1e8 gives the rook at d8 nowhere to run in case of Bc7).
White's natural follow up is Nc7, forking my queen and rook.
19. ... Rd8e8 20. Nc7 Qe4 looks supportable.}
19. ... Rd8e8
20. Kf1
{Curious. Does white see something I don't? I'm up an exchange but
white has a lot of pressure on me so I still want to exchange some
pieces. Qe4 seems the only way to do that at the moment. If white
chooses not to exchange, only Qh5 protects the knight and I have more
options such as Qc4+, g3, or Nf6.}

I think Kf1 was played with the idea of supporting Re1, but it's
insufficient for that anyway. It's just a bad move, give it a ?

20. ... Qe4
21. Qg3
{Am I missing something or did White just drop a knight? After Qxc4+,
White can only play Kg1. Qxd5 doesn't leave White with a lot of
options.}
21. ... Qxc4+
{White resigns.}
0-1

That was a really bizarre ending. Your thought process in regaining
control of the e file was good.

The main weakness I see in both players is this: a reluctance to part
with the queen, and subsequent positional weakness because of it.
Your failure to play Qe6 early got you tied up pretty badly, and
white's fleeing to Qg3 lost the game. You did well in not fretting
about the queen when playing her to e4.

In article ,
(Major Patzer) wrote:


My purpose in a6 was to prepare to corner White's bishop after
d5. The one book on the Sicilian I have doesn't say much about 2. Bc4
other than that it is premature and risks the loss of the piece. Is
that inaccurate advice?

YOu mean you were hoping that you could play b5 he'd be dumb enough to
play Bb3 so you could play c4?

Don't play chess based on hopes that your opponent will do something
trivially stupid. Especially when you have much more logical things to
do, like develop your pieces.

Ron wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Major Patzer) wrote:
My purpose in a6 was to prepare to corner White's bishop after
d5. The one book on the Sicilian I have doesn't say much about 2. Bc4
other than that it is premature and risks the loss of the piece. Is
that inaccurate advice?

YOu mean you were hoping that you could play b5 he'd be dumb enough to
play Bb3 so you could play c4?

No, sadly enough I thought that I would be able to bring enough
pressure to bear in the center that an eventual b5 would force White's
bishop into such a restricted position that I'd be able to win it with
other tactics. This glorious vision was based on the notion that a
"premature" move might endanger the piece. What should "premature"
suggest to me in this context?

Sincerely,

M. Patzer

Brennan wrote in message . ..
Recently (Major Patzer) honored
rec.games.chess.analysis with:
17. Rxe7
{That was unexpected. Qxe7 is the obvious response, so what is white
planning after that? 18. Nd5 forces me to move my queen to e6, e8,
f8, or h4. 19. Bc7 doesn't win the rook unless I'm really sloppy.
I'll take the rook and see what white has planned.}

Many times a sac of the exchange is a good prelude to attack. In this
case, white has insufficient support, and is hoping for you to make a
mistake. No offense, but you've given him reason to believe that you
might make a mistake. :-)

None taken! If I didn't make mistakes, I wouldn't be hear
soliciting help. Thank you for your detailed response, by the way.

I did recently play a game where I don't believe I made a mistake
and where I took advantage of an error on the part of my opponent.
Now that I've had a couple of days to enjoy the win, I'll present it
here to get my ego deflated. Again, any comments on how to improve my
thought process would be greatly appreciated.

[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[white "Major Patzer"]
[Black "name withheld (1545)"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qe5+
{One book recommends Qa5.}
4.Be2 Nc6
{Seems like a natural way to remove the check, but would offering to
swap queens be better?}
5.Nf3 Qd6
{Chase the queen around a bit while developing.}
6.Nb5
{Moving the same piece twice in the opening is not recommended, but
the threat of the fork on c7 combined with forcing black to move the
queen four times in seven moves is too tempting. Would d4 or O-O be
better?}
6. ... Qd8
7.d4
{I've got my eye on c7 via Bf4. Nf6 followed by Nd5 will prevent
doing that easily, but grabbing the center with d4 seems to make
general sense. 7. ... a6 8. Nc3 and 9. d5 is another possibility.}
7. ... Bc8g4
8. Bf4
{Now I'm expecting Rc8 to protect c7. Trading the bishop and knight
for a pawn and rook and a pawn majority on the queen-side seems
reasonable.}
8. ... Bg4xf3
9.Nxc7+
{Kd7 is the only way to avoid losing the queen. Bxf3 followed by d5
then looks pretty good -- Bg4+ isn't as exciting.}
9. ... Kd7
{Grabbing the rook leads to 10. Nxa8 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Qxa8 which isn't
great even though material is roughly even. I'll stick with the Bxf3
plan, keeping both bishops and preparing for d5, after castling,
perhaps.}
10.Bxf3 Rc8
{Bg4+ is met with e6, freeing up black's bishop and queen. d5
threatens the knight immediately and sets up for a discovered check.
If the knight moves, 12. Bg4+ e6 13. dxe6+ looks good.}
11.d5 Nb4
{That discovered check plan is still looking good. I believe that
there is a forced mate here, but I don't trust my tactics six or seven
moves deep.}
12.Bg4+ e6
13.dxe6+ Ke7
{Nxc2+ or Nd3+ is the immediate threat. Castling is one option, but
loses a pawn (14. O-O Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Nxc2). Qe2 looks good, preparing
for another discovered check and defending both c2 and d3.}
14.Qe2 Rxc7
{Mate in two. exf7+ leaves black no choice but Kxf7 or Kf6. In
either case, Qe6 mates.}
15. exf7+ Kxf7
16. Qe6#
1-0

In article ,
(Major Patzer) wrote:


[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[white "Major Patzer"]
[Black "name withheld (1545)"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qe5+
{One book recommends Qa5.}
4.Be2 Nc6
{Seems like a natural way to remove the check, but would offering to
swap queens be better?}
5.Nf3 Qd6
{Chase the queen around a bit while developing.}
6.Nb5
{Moving the same piece twice in the opening is not recommended, but
the threat of the fork on c7 combined with forcing black to move the
queen four times in seven moves is too tempting. Would d4 or O-O be
better?}

Yes, they would be. The problem here is that your threat doesn't
accompish anything. It's completely idle. What, you think he's not going
ot move his queen?

You need to think more than one more ahead. If you weren't thinking
about ganging up on c7 already, this move was a mistake.


And even if you were, well, we'll talk abotu that plan in a moment.

6. ... Qd8
7.d4
{I've got my eye on c7 via Bf4. Nf6 followed by Nd5 will prevent
doing that easily, but grabbing the center with d4 seems to make
general sense. 7. ... a6 8. Nc3 and 9. d5 is another possibility.}
7. ... Bc8g4
8. Bf4
{Now I'm expecting Rc8 to protect c7. Trading the bishop and knight
for a pawn and rook and a pawn majority on the queen-side seems
reasonable.}

It's a mistake. Generally, trading a rook and bishop for knight and
pawn, in absence of other concrete compensation (and you queen side pawn
majority isn't enough) is a mistake.

Black defends like a moron, though, so you get away with it.

Recently (Major Patzer) honored
rec.games.chess.analysis with:

snip
I did recently play a game where I don't believe I made a mistake
and where I took advantage of an error on the part of my opponent.
Now that I've had a couple of days to enjoy the win, I'll present it
here to get my ego deflated. Again, any comments on how to improve my
thought process would be greatly appreciated.

[Event "Web-based correspondence game"]
[Site "http://net-chess.com"]
[Date "2003.07.06"]
[Round "-"]
[white "Major Patzer"]
[Black "name withheld (1545)"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qe5+
{One book recommends Qa5.}
4.Be2 Nc6
{Seems like a natural way to remove the check, but would offering to
swap queens be better?}
5.Nf3 Qd6
{Chase the queen around a bit while developing.}
6.Nb5
{Moving the same piece twice in the opening is not recommended, but
the threat of the fork on c7 combined with forcing black to move the
queen four times in seven moves is too tempting. Would d4 or O-O be
better?}

Moving this piece twice is wrong, but maybe not at the level you are
playing. An attack by N and B on c7 is pretty common in low level
amateur games, because it can work there, as in this game. The
problem is, it's easy to defend against, and white will be worse off
positionally if properly defended.

6. ... Qd8
7.d4
{I've got my eye on c7 via Bf4. Nf6 followed by Nd5 will prevent
doing that easily, but grabbing the center with d4 seems to make
general sense. 7. ... a6 8. Nc3 and 9. d5 is another possibility.}
7. ... Bc8g4
8. Bf4
{Now I'm expecting Rc8 to protect c7. Trading the bishop and knight
for a pawn and rook and a pawn majority on the queen-side seems
reasonable.}

7...Bg4? is a bad move, because it ignores the blatantly obvious
attack on c7. Either a6 or Nf6 would be better. 8...Bxf3?? loses,
and you are right, Rc8 is forced, but black is still in trouble
because of Bg4? Ron put it best, black defends like a moron.

Ron is also right that trading N and B for R and P after 8...Rc8 is a
mistake for white, you have better. Play it out ;-) For analysis of
your games, I recommend you get Arena and its bundled engines. You'll
be glad you did.

http://www.playwitharena.com