It has been a long while since I have posted. I guess life just got busy but it is slowing again so I have some more time to spend on chess. I have managed to play in one Saturday tournament a few weeks ago and went undefeated in my section. However, the real test will come this weekend.
This Saturday and Sunday will see the four round G/120 Greater Charlotte Championship. I hope to do well and hope to have lots to report on my games and how well I have played.
So, stayed tuned for some good reading to come.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Queen's Gambit Lecture
Beginning last Tuesday night, the Queen City Chess Association began it's Fall Lecture Series. This is a five week event where we have some of the higher rated members teach an hour long chess lesson. This series even includes a few National Masters and a bunch of Experts so the quality of the lessons are pretty good.
The first lesson was about the Queen's Gambit. (I guess that I should add that this lesson was geared towards 1200 - 1500 players.) As an e4 player, the Queen's Gambit isn't something that I tend to play. However, I did ask a question about the basic structures and opening sequences of d4 over e4 and one thing that was agreed upon by the higher rated players at this lesson is that e4 openings tend to require more memorizaion while d4 openings are easier to reason at the board. With this information, I'm strongly thinking of moving to d4 as my opening move.
So, as we worked through the lesson a number of key elements and chess theories were brought to light. The concept of "the space left behind" which is one of the biggest thing's that I miss. In my game that followed this lecture, I hung a rook and allowed my bishop to be trapped. I know, not very good play. In fact, I think that this is still one of those major things that I will struggle with as I try to move up to the next class. I need to make sure to double check all of my pieces right before I move. I have also noticed that when I tend to drop these pieces are at the end of a long analysis. Meaning that I see the hung piece in the begining, but then I think so deeply that I forgot that the piece is hanging and then I move something else.
I don't think there is a single silver bullet to keep from hanging piece, or every coach would teach all their students, however I still think that I'm making way to many game ending simple mistakes that shouldn't happen.
Well, I plan to take better notes on Tuesday night and will share even more detailed information on the Lessons that I did here. Although one thing that I do know, is that one hour isn't a lot of tie to cover the Queen's Gambit.
The first lesson was about the Queen's Gambit. (I guess that I should add that this lesson was geared towards 1200 - 1500 players.) As an e4 player, the Queen's Gambit isn't something that I tend to play. However, I did ask a question about the basic structures and opening sequences of d4 over e4 and one thing that was agreed upon by the higher rated players at this lesson is that e4 openings tend to require more memorizaion while d4 openings are easier to reason at the board. With this information, I'm strongly thinking of moving to d4 as my opening move.
So, as we worked through the lesson a number of key elements and chess theories were brought to light. The concept of "the space left behind" which is one of the biggest thing's that I miss. In my game that followed this lecture, I hung a rook and allowed my bishop to be trapped. I know, not very good play. In fact, I think that this is still one of those major things that I will struggle with as I try to move up to the next class. I need to make sure to double check all of my pieces right before I move. I have also noticed that when I tend to drop these pieces are at the end of a long analysis. Meaning that I see the hung piece in the begining, but then I think so deeply that I forgot that the piece is hanging and then I move something else.
I don't think there is a single silver bullet to keep from hanging piece, or every coach would teach all their students, however I still think that I'm making way to many game ending simple mistakes that shouldn't happen.
Well, I plan to take better notes on Tuesday night and will share even more detailed information on the Lessons that I did here. Although one thing that I do know, is that one hour isn't a lot of tie to cover the Queen's Gambit.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
NC Class Championship
This past weekend I played in the NC Class Championship. It was my first 'real' tournament that I have played in since competing in the Wisconsin Scholastic Championship back in 1997. I know, I'm getting old. This tournament also had the longest time control that I recall having ever played with a 30/90, SD 1. Yes, I had one game that went from 7:30 PM until 12:15AM and only to draw.
Over all, I think I did pretty well, at the end of the tournament I scored three points with two wins, two draws and a loss. But, I was way ahead in both draws before I decided to give it back. Over all, my favorite and best played game was in the fifth and last round. I entered this round with 2 points playing the second place player with three points. To finish in second place I needed a win while a draw would have put my opponent in a clear second place slot.
Half way through the game, things looked like they could have been a draw so my opponent offered one. Because I needed a win I had to decline and then to make counter play and to create some chances, I took his knight with my rook giving up the exchange but obtaining a strong attack. In the end he lost the game because he missed a complicated mating situation but even if he didn't miss that mate, I think he would still have been hard pressed to win.
Overall, I think I preformed well because of a few simple rules.
1) In the opening, just develop pieces to good squares and don't attack to early.
2) Play slowly and gain as much space as you can.
3) Once you get the initiative, attack attack attack.
Here is my fifth game. I still need to annotate it and I'm actually thinking of sending it into Chess Life.
Oh, so I took second place in the Class C division. I'm very happy with that.
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. d3 Bg4 6. Nf3 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Ne5 Bb4 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. f4 Nb6 13. Bb3 Nfd7 14. Qf3 Qh4+ 15. Ke2 O-O 16. Be1 Qe7 17. h4 Nf6 18. h5 e5 19. f5 g5 20. h6 gxh6 21. Rxh6 Kg7 22. Rxf6 Qxf6 23. Ne4 Qh6 24. f6+ Kg8 25. Bxb4 Qh2+ 26. Ke3 Qf4+ 27. Qxf4 gxf4+ 28. Kf3 Rfd8 29. Rh1 a5 30. Be7 a4 31. Ng5 axb3 32. Rh7 bxa2 33. Rg7+ Kh8 34. Nxf7# 1-0
Over all, I think I did pretty well, at the end of the tournament I scored three points with two wins, two draws and a loss. But, I was way ahead in both draws before I decided to give it back. Over all, my favorite and best played game was in the fifth and last round. I entered this round with 2 points playing the second place player with three points. To finish in second place I needed a win while a draw would have put my opponent in a clear second place slot.
Half way through the game, things looked like they could have been a draw so my opponent offered one. Because I needed a win I had to decline and then to make counter play and to create some chances, I took his knight with my rook giving up the exchange but obtaining a strong attack. In the end he lost the game because he missed a complicated mating situation but even if he didn't miss that mate, I think he would still have been hard pressed to win.
Overall, I think I preformed well because of a few simple rules.
1) In the opening, just develop pieces to good squares and don't attack to early.
2) Play slowly and gain as much space as you can.
3) Once you get the initiative, attack attack attack.
Here is my fifth game. I still need to annotate it and I'm actually thinking of sending it into Chess Life.
Oh, so I took second place in the Class C division. I'm very happy with that.
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. d3 Bg4 6. Nf3 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Ne5 Bb4 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. f4 Nb6 13. Bb3 Nfd7 14. Qf3 Qh4+ 15. Ke2 O-O 16. Be1 Qe7 17. h4 Nf6 18. h5 e5 19. f5 g5 20. h6 gxh6 21. Rxh6 Kg7 22. Rxf6 Qxf6 23. Ne4 Qh6 24. f6+ Kg8 25. Bxb4 Qh2+ 26. Ke3 Qf4+ 27. Qxf4 gxf4+ 28. Kf3 Rfd8 29. Rh1 a5 30. Be7 a4 31. Ng5 axb3 32. Rh7 bxa2 33. Rg7+ Kh8 34. Nxf7# 1-0
Friday, September 11, 2009
A Tough Win
Last Tuesday night was the last round of my club's weekend tournament (10 Rating Points Tonight!!! #10). I was tied for first place in my section and was really looking forward to playing the Class C player who I was tied with (Windy Gatlin). But, he didn't show up until after the round was paired and the first few moves were made. So, I was instead paired against the person in third place and half a point behind me (Copeland Blackwell).
Now, I should note that guy rated Copeland is ratted about 1194, was the person who I played in the last round of the prevouse club tournament. I was again half a point ahead of him and he managed to beat me taking the tournament and a bunch of my rating points. Here was that game and I had the black pieces:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. Nxe5 Bxf2+ 7. Rxf2 Nxe5 8. d4 Nc4 9. Bb3 b5 10. e5 Nd5 11. Qf3 O-O 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Qxd5 Rb8 14. Qxc4 Qe7 15. Qxc7 Qh4 16. Qxb8 Qxd4 17. Qd6 Qe4 18. Nc3 1-0
In the current tournament, I won the first round against Michael Hopkins (976) and the second round against Lee More (1218). I then had, what I believe was a strong draw against Derek Zhang (1627) and then lost my favorite game of the year against Mike Eberhardinger (1796). So, overall I have been doing well mainly due the draw and just playing well against the other players.
So, then I find round five. Having lost our last game, my history against Copeland prior to this match was 2 - 2 so this was to be our tie breaker. I started out very strong and Copeland made a mistake. I had, what might have been an amazing attack but I wasn't able to find a mating sequence so I decided to just play my four pawn advantage along with a more developed position. And then I started falling apart. I gave back my advantage and position and he had a winning position. And then, blunders began to strike him. He dropped a bishop for a pawn which resulting in a position that I thought was completely drawn. Then he made a bad King move, and I think I was in a winning position but then he dropped a rook which gave me an easy position to finish up in.
So, I moved from a clearly winning possiiotn, to a drawn position to a win. And won the tournament. So, what does one learn from this type of game? Well, I read a book a while ago, in fact I might have even made a blog post on it. It is called the "Art Of Learning" and it covers the concept of battling back from a losing possition. The idea of trying to reset your mind os you don't just let the emmotion of moving from a winning position to losing one and then just giving up. By staying in it and battling back, I was able to put Copeland into a possition where he could make a mistake. Where he could give me an opportunity. And in the end that is what happened.
I played well initially, then gave up everything but was lucky to have Copeland make a blunder or two. I guess that is the ture difference between 1200 and 1500, the number of blunders one makes in a game.
So, here is the game. I had the White pieces.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. dxe5 Bc5 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Ke8 8. Qxe4 Qe7 9. Nc3 d6 10. Nd5 Qd7 11. exd6+ Kf8 12. dxc7 Ne7 13. Nxe7 Bxe7 14. Bf4 Qb5 15. O-O-O Bf5 16. Rd5 Qxb2+ 17. Kxb2 Bxe4 18. Rd2 h6 19. Re1 Bf5 20. Nh4 Bxh4 21. Bd6+ Kf7 22. Rd5 Bf6+ 23. c3 Be6 24. Rb5 b6 25. a4 Bd7 26. Rb4 Rhe8 27. Rbe4 Bxa4 28. Rxe8 Bxe8 29. Kb3 b5 30. c4 a5 31. cxb5 Bxb5 32. Bc5 Bd7 33. Rd1 Be6+ 34. Ka4 Bf5 35. Re1 Bd7+ 36. Ka3 a4 37. Rd1 Be6 38. g4 Bxg4 39. Rb1 Be5 40. Re1 Bxc7 41. Re7+ Kf6 42. Rxc7 Ra6 43. Bd4+ Kg6 44. Rxg7+ Kf5 45. Be3 Bd1 46. Rd7 Bf3 47. Rf7+ Kg4 48. h3+ Kh4 49. Rxf3 Rf6 50. Rxf6 Kxh3 51. Rg6 Kh4 52. f4 Kh3 53. f5 1-0
Tonight begins the North Carolina Class Championship. I'm going to be luckly enough to play in this event so hopefully I can do well against other people who are in my class. I don't often get to play in my class as there aren't that many people that I know of who are in my group so I think this will be good for me.
Have fun all....
Now, I should note that guy rated Copeland is ratted about 1194, was the person who I played in the last round of the prevouse club tournament. I was again half a point ahead of him and he managed to beat me taking the tournament and a bunch of my rating points. Here was that game and I had the black pieces:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. Nxe5 Bxf2+ 7. Rxf2 Nxe5 8. d4 Nc4 9. Bb3 b5 10. e5 Nd5 11. Qf3 O-O 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Qxd5 Rb8 14. Qxc4 Qe7 15. Qxc7 Qh4 16. Qxb8 Qxd4 17. Qd6 Qe4 18. Nc3 1-0
In the current tournament, I won the first round against Michael Hopkins (976) and the second round against Lee More (1218). I then had, what I believe was a strong draw against Derek Zhang (1627) and then lost my favorite game of the year against Mike Eberhardinger (1796). So, overall I have been doing well mainly due the draw and just playing well against the other players.
So, then I find round five. Having lost our last game, my history against Copeland prior to this match was 2 - 2 so this was to be our tie breaker. I started out very strong and Copeland made a mistake. I had, what might have been an amazing attack but I wasn't able to find a mating sequence so I decided to just play my four pawn advantage along with a more developed position. And then I started falling apart. I gave back my advantage and position and he had a winning position. And then, blunders began to strike him. He dropped a bishop for a pawn which resulting in a position that I thought was completely drawn. Then he made a bad King move, and I think I was in a winning position but then he dropped a rook which gave me an easy position to finish up in.
So, I moved from a clearly winning possiiotn, to a drawn position to a win. And won the tournament. So, what does one learn from this type of game? Well, I read a book a while ago, in fact I might have even made a blog post on it. It is called the "Art Of Learning" and it covers the concept of battling back from a losing possition. The idea of trying to reset your mind os you don't just let the emmotion of moving from a winning position to losing one and then just giving up. By staying in it and battling back, I was able to put Copeland into a possition where he could make a mistake. Where he could give me an opportunity. And in the end that is what happened.
I played well initially, then gave up everything but was lucky to have Copeland make a blunder or two. I guess that is the ture difference between 1200 and 1500, the number of blunders one makes in a game.
So, here is the game. I had the White pieces.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. dxe5 Bc5 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Ke8 8. Qxe4 Qe7 9. Nc3 d6 10. Nd5 Qd7 11. exd6+ Kf8 12. dxc7 Ne7 13. Nxe7 Bxe7 14. Bf4 Qb5 15. O-O-O Bf5 16. Rd5 Qxb2+ 17. Kxb2 Bxe4 18. Rd2 h6 19. Re1 Bf5 20. Nh4 Bxh4 21. Bd6+ Kf7 22. Rd5 Bf6+ 23. c3 Be6 24. Rb5 b6 25. a4 Bd7 26. Rb4 Rhe8 27. Rbe4 Bxa4 28. Rxe8 Bxe8 29. Kb3 b5 30. c4 a5 31. cxb5 Bxb5 32. Bc5 Bd7 33. Rd1 Be6+ 34. Ka4 Bf5 35. Re1 Bd7+ 36. Ka3 a4 37. Rd1 Be6 38. g4 Bxg4 39. Rb1 Be5 40. Re1 Bxc7 41. Re7+ Kf6 42. Rxc7 Ra6 43. Bd4+ Kg6 44. Rxg7+ Kf5 45. Be3 Bd1 46. Rd7 Bf3 47. Rf7+ Kg4 48. h3+ Kh4 49. Rxf3 Rf6 50. Rxf6 Kxh3 51. Rg6 Kh4 52. f4 Kh3 53. f5 1-0
Tonight begins the North Carolina Class Championship. I'm going to be luckly enough to play in this event so hopefully I can do well against other people who are in my class. I don't often get to play in my class as there aren't that many people that I know of who are in my group so I think this will be good for me.
Have fun all....
Friday, September 4, 2009
My Exciting Game
Hey all,
Well Tuesday night saw another tough game for me. There was an odd man in the upper and lower section so I played up against an opponent almost three hundred rating points above me. That said, this is the same guy who blundered a queen to me a few weeks ago at a weekend tournament so as you might guess, he was watching very closely.
Over all, I think I played a decent game althougth I put myself in a bad situtation eairly where ended up sacing a knight for two pawns infront of his king. I then had a great initial attack where I thought I might have had a matting attack. It turns out that I should have just grabbed a rook and then tried to play from there. But I didn't. And that is my learning point that I'm working on, knowing when sac a piece.
Here is the game:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 h6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bc2 d6 9. d4 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Nxg4 13. hxg4 Bxg4 14. Qe1 Qd7 15. Qe3 Bh3 16. Nh2 Bg5 17. Qe2 h5 18. Re1 Rh6 19. Kh1 Bf4 20. Rg1 Qe6 21. Ndf3 Rg6 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Rxg6 Qxg6 24. Rg1 Qh6 25. a4 Rb8 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bd3 Nc4 28. b3 Na3 29. Qa2 f6 30. Qxa3 g5 31. Qa7 Rc8 32. Bxb5+ Kd8 33. Ba6 g4 34. Bxc8 Kxc8 35. Qa8+ Kd7 36. Nd2 f3 37. Ndxf3 gxf3 38. Nxf3 Bg4 39. e5 Qf4 40. e6+ Ke7 41. Nh4 Qxf2 42. Ng6+ Kxe6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Ne7+ Kg5 45. Qg6+ Kf4 46. Qxf6+ Ke3 47. Nd5+ Ke2 48. Qxf2+ Kxf2 49. Rxg4 hxg4 50. Nf4 1-0
I once again tried to review the game using Chess Master but that doesn't work for me. I don't understand why it plays certain moves and when it gets to the end of each variation I don't understand why those positions are better or worse. I guess I need to keep working on that. However, as you look through this game you will see how I was able to bring a lot of pieces to bear in the attack. Later in the game, I then dropped a knight and a few pawns but I still had an attack. Time go low and then I blundered the end where I should have been able to manage a draw. This game did go about 10 or 15 more moves but my opponent and I were under 2 minutes each so we didn't get them written down.
I guess I just need to keep working but next weekend is the North Carolina Class Championship, and I get to play in that. I'm really looking forward to a full weekend of chess. I hope I do well.
Well Tuesday night saw another tough game for me. There was an odd man in the upper and lower section so I played up against an opponent almost three hundred rating points above me. That said, this is the same guy who blundered a queen to me a few weeks ago at a weekend tournament so as you might guess, he was watching very closely.
Over all, I think I played a decent game althougth I put myself in a bad situtation eairly where ended up sacing a knight for two pawns infront of his king. I then had a great initial attack where I thought I might have had a matting attack. It turns out that I should have just grabbed a rook and then tried to play from there. But I didn't. And that is my learning point that I'm working on, knowing when sac a piece.
Here is the game:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 h6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bc2 d6 9. d4 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Nxg4 13. hxg4 Bxg4 14. Qe1 Qd7 15. Qe3 Bh3 16. Nh2 Bg5 17. Qe2 h5 18. Re1 Rh6 19. Kh1 Bf4 20. Rg1 Qe6 21. Ndf3 Rg6 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Rxg6 Qxg6 24. Rg1 Qh6 25. a4 Rb8 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bd3 Nc4 28. b3 Na3 29. Qa2 f6 30. Qxa3 g5 31. Qa7 Rc8 32. Bxb5+ Kd8 33. Ba6 g4 34. Bxc8 Kxc8 35. Qa8+ Kd7 36. Nd2 f3 37. Ndxf3 gxf3 38. Nxf3 Bg4 39. e5 Qf4 40. e6+ Ke7 41. Nh4 Qxf2 42. Ng6+ Kxe6 43. Qe8+ Kf5 44. Ne7+ Kg5 45. Qg6+ Kf4 46. Qxf6+ Ke3 47. Nd5+ Ke2 48. Qxf2+ Kxf2 49. Rxg4 hxg4 50. Nf4 1-0
I once again tried to review the game using Chess Master but that doesn't work for me. I don't understand why it plays certain moves and when it gets to the end of each variation I don't understand why those positions are better or worse. I guess I need to keep working on that. However, as you look through this game you will see how I was able to bring a lot of pieces to bear in the attack. Later in the game, I then dropped a knight and a few pawns but I still had an attack. Time go low and then I blundered the end where I should have been able to manage a draw. This game did go about 10 or 15 more moves but my opponent and I were under 2 minutes each so we didn't get them written down.
I guess I just need to keep working but next weekend is the North Carolina Class Championship, and I get to play in that. I'm really looking forward to a full weekend of chess. I hope I do well.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Good Draw
Every player with White looks for a win. You start out with the advantage of the first move which gives you a chance to shape the game. On my Tuesday night tournament game, I was finally able to be paired against someone with a higher rating than me. And he was higher by 150 points. He is a solid Class B player.
I had the White pieces and played 1.e4 as anyone who is reading my blog would know but he decided to play c5, the Sicilian. I hate playing the Sicilian. I'm not really sure why I don't like it, it is just one of those things that get under my skin. However, as a few Master's have told me, you don't really have to know a lot about the Sicilian to play it. You just make natural developing moves until you are in the middle game. So, I followed this idea.
In the end, this game was now awe inspiring of a match, however it was one where I made no major mistakes. No major mistakes in a game that went 66 moves. In reviewing parts of the game, I did get into a position where Black was slightly better but I was able to hold out and play the last few moves of the endgame well enough to pull out a draw. It's amazing how someone can be excited about a draw but I am. Mainly because it was against a Class B player and I didn't make any major mistakes throughout a long game.
I think this is a great step in the right direction. Here are the moves of the entire game:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 Ng4 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Nc6 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. h3 Nge5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. f4 Bxb5 15. fxe5 Bc6 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. O-O-O Bxc3 18. Qxd6 Bxb2+ 19. Kxb2 exd6 20. Rxd6 Bxe4 21. Rd2 Rac8 22. Re1 Bf5 23. Re7 Rfd8 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Rxb7 Rd2 26. Rc7 Rxg2 27. Bf6 g5 28. h4 g4 29. h5 g3 30. Rc5 Rf2 31. Bh4 Rf3 32. Bxg3 Bxc2 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Be5+ f6 35. Bxf6+ Rxf6 36. Rxc2 Rb6+ 37. Kc1 Ra6 38. Rg2+ Kf7 39. Kb2 Ra5 40. Rh2 Kf6 41. Kb3 Kg5 42. Kb4 Rf5 43. Rg2+ Kxh5 44. Rg7 a5+ 45. Ka4 Rg5 46. Rh7 Kg6 47. Ra7 h5 48. Ra6+ Kf7 49. Ra7+ Ke6 50. Ra6+ Kd7 51. Rh6 Ke8 52. a3 Kf7 53. Ra6 Kg7 54. Ra7+ Kh6 55. Ra6+ Rg6 56. Rxa5 h4 57. Rc5 Rg5 58. Rc1 Rh5 59. Kb4 Kg5 60. a4 h3 61. a5 h2 62. Rh1 Kg4 63. a6 Kg3 64. a7 Rh8 65. Kb5 Kg2 66. Rxh2+
I should add, that I am willing to share all of my games with anyone who would like to see them. Just let me know and I can get them to you in a PGN format.
Well, have fun everyone.....
I had the White pieces and played 1.e4 as anyone who is reading my blog would know but he decided to play c5, the Sicilian. I hate playing the Sicilian. I'm not really sure why I don't like it, it is just one of those things that get under my skin. However, as a few Master's have told me, you don't really have to know a lot about the Sicilian to play it. You just make natural developing moves until you are in the middle game. So, I followed this idea.
In the end, this game was now awe inspiring of a match, however it was one where I made no major mistakes. No major mistakes in a game that went 66 moves. In reviewing parts of the game, I did get into a position where Black was slightly better but I was able to hold out and play the last few moves of the endgame well enough to pull out a draw. It's amazing how someone can be excited about a draw but I am. Mainly because it was against a Class B player and I didn't make any major mistakes throughout a long game.
I think this is a great step in the right direction. Here are the moves of the entire game:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 Ng4 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Nc6 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. h3 Nge5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. f4 Bxb5 15. fxe5 Bc6 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. O-O-O Bxc3 18. Qxd6 Bxb2+ 19. Kxb2 exd6 20. Rxd6 Bxe4 21. Rd2 Rac8 22. Re1 Bf5 23. Re7 Rfd8 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Rxb7 Rd2 26. Rc7 Rxg2 27. Bf6 g5 28. h4 g4 29. h5 g3 30. Rc5 Rf2 31. Bh4 Rf3 32. Bxg3 Bxc2 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Be5+ f6 35. Bxf6+ Rxf6 36. Rxc2 Rb6+ 37. Kc1 Ra6 38. Rg2+ Kf7 39. Kb2 Ra5 40. Rh2 Kf6 41. Kb3 Kg5 42. Kb4 Rf5 43. Rg2+ Kxh5 44. Rg7 a5+ 45. Ka4 Rg5 46. Rh7 Kg6 47. Ra7 h5 48. Ra6+ Kf7 49. Ra7+ Ke6 50. Ra6+ Kd7 51. Rh6 Ke8 52. a3 Kf7 53. Ra6 Kg7 54. Ra7+ Kh6 55. Ra6+ Rg6 56. Rxa5 h4 57. Rc5 Rg5 58. Rc1 Rh5 59. Kb4 Kg5 60. a4 h3 61. a5 h2 62. Rh1 Kg4 63. a6 Kg3 64. a7 Rh8 65. Kb5 Kg2 66. Rxh2+
I should add, that I am willing to share all of my games with anyone who would like to see them. Just let me know and I can get them to you in a PGN format.
Well, have fun everyone.....
Monday, August 24, 2009
Personal Game Database
In my last post, I listed a few goals for my game.
1) As White. I need to stick with 1. e4 and will try the Giuoco Paino.
2) As Black, KID and the Pirc will be were I'm looking. It is hard to fully blunder these games away in 10 moves because Black develops very slowly.
3) I'm going to look over all the games that I can find that were played by GM Sokolsky.
Since then, I have made progress on steps one and two. I played 1.e4 each time as White and as Black, each of my games began 1. e4 e5, so I haven't had a chance to play the KID. However, I haven't started on my third goal. I should also add that I have not lost a game since this however, I have only played two OTB games and both against weaker players. In one of these games I even dropped a rook but did so late enough in the game that I was up and had a winning end-game position.
So, this post is going to be about my third goal. I initially thought to download and look at games that have been played by a strong Grand Master and I selected GM Sokolsky because my favorite opening as White is 1. b4 (which you will notice is one that I'm not playing because it doesn't help with a chess players overall understanding of basic openings.) So, instead of looking at this, I have spent the time of putting of my games that I have played in a PGN file. These would be all of the games that I have played since the middle of 2008 when got back into chess. So, I entered this into a PGN file and downloaded a viewer that also allows me to annotate these games in one place.
It took me a while to get this database up and running, and I had to contact a few of my opinions for their copy of the game because my annotation was a bit weak, but I have it now complete. So, right now, instead of going over GM games, I think it is more vital for me to go over the games that I actually do. Then, I think I will look for some games. But again, I'm not sure if just picking a GM and going over their games is the best solution. So, right now I'm going to think of what I can do to find the right games to review in the time that I have.
Well, that is what I have for now. I should add, that I'm going to try and find a way to post my entire PGN database of my games so anyone who wants to see them can review the them.
Have fun all, and good luck in your games.
1) As White. I need to stick with 1. e4 and will try the Giuoco Paino.
2) As Black, KID and the Pirc will be were I'm looking. It is hard to fully blunder these games away in 10 moves because Black develops very slowly.
3) I'm going to look over all the games that I can find that were played by GM Sokolsky.
Since then, I have made progress on steps one and two. I played 1.e4 each time as White and as Black, each of my games began 1. e4 e5, so I haven't had a chance to play the KID. However, I haven't started on my third goal. I should also add that I have not lost a game since this however, I have only played two OTB games and both against weaker players. In one of these games I even dropped a rook but did so late enough in the game that I was up and had a winning end-game position.
So, this post is going to be about my third goal. I initially thought to download and look at games that have been played by a strong Grand Master and I selected GM Sokolsky because my favorite opening as White is 1. b4 (which you will notice is one that I'm not playing because it doesn't help with a chess players overall understanding of basic openings.) So, instead of looking at this, I have spent the time of putting of my games that I have played in a PGN file. These would be all of the games that I have played since the middle of 2008 when got back into chess. So, I entered this into a PGN file and downloaded a viewer that also allows me to annotate these games in one place.
It took me a while to get this database up and running, and I had to contact a few of my opinions for their copy of the game because my annotation was a bit weak, but I have it now complete. So, right now, instead of going over GM games, I think it is more vital for me to go over the games that I actually do. Then, I think I will look for some games. But again, I'm not sure if just picking a GM and going over their games is the best solution. So, right now I'm going to think of what I can do to find the right games to review in the time that I have.
Well, that is what I have for now. I should add, that I'm going to try and find a way to post my entire PGN database of my games so anyone who wants to see them can review the them.
Have fun all, and good luck in your games.
Friday, August 7, 2009
A Tough Spot
Okay, I think I have reached that tough spot in my game that many C players reach and then get depressed.
I feel like I'm stronger than I play and I get frustrated that I don't do well. So, what do I mean? Well out of the last four games that I played, three of them were effectively over in the first 10 moves while the fourth I only won because my opponent made a huge blunder.
I have read those books and even commented on how spending time working on the middle and end game had a great impact on my game. But now, I don't know about that. I'm thinking about picking a the Pirc and the KID and trying to play those two against White. They are pretty similar systems for what I can tell so I should be able to leverage the ideas from both openings why playing each other. And for White, I might go back to 1. b4. It is hard to really lose that game in the first few moves because the nature of the opening but then it isn't the most stable opening out there.
After thinking that I started looking around again and find that everyone still says stick it out with 1. e4 and see what happens. But it is 1.e4 that I keep blundering. Maybe that is just what needs to happen. I need to play it more so I learn how to do well with it. I shouldn't just give up because I lose a few games.
I think that is it. I'm just freaking out because I play in a tournament and win three of the four games that I play and my rating still goes down. Maybe my stress point is my rating and I need to just forget about that.
Okay, so what is my goal. Here is its:
As White. I need to stick with 1. e4 and will try the Giuoco Paino.
As Black, KID and the Pirc will be were I'm looking. It is hard to fully blunder these games away in 10 moves because Black develops very slowly.
And I'm going to look over all the games that I can find that were played by GM Sokolsky.
This is a tough time for my chess playing. I just need to get through it and I will be good.
I feel like I'm stronger than I play and I get frustrated that I don't do well. So, what do I mean? Well out of the last four games that I played, three of them were effectively over in the first 10 moves while the fourth I only won because my opponent made a huge blunder.
I have read those books and even commented on how spending time working on the middle and end game had a great impact on my game. But now, I don't know about that. I'm thinking about picking a the Pirc and the KID and trying to play those two against White. They are pretty similar systems for what I can tell so I should be able to leverage the ideas from both openings why playing each other. And for White, I might go back to 1. b4. It is hard to really lose that game in the first few moves because the nature of the opening but then it isn't the most stable opening out there.
After thinking that I started looking around again and find that everyone still says stick it out with 1. e4 and see what happens. But it is 1.e4 that I keep blundering. Maybe that is just what needs to happen. I need to play it more so I learn how to do well with it. I shouldn't just give up because I lose a few games.
I think that is it. I'm just freaking out because I play in a tournament and win three of the four games that I play and my rating still goes down. Maybe my stress point is my rating and I need to just forget about that.
Okay, so what is my goal. Here is its:
As White. I need to stick with 1. e4 and will try the Giuoco Paino.
As Black, KID and the Pirc will be were I'm looking. It is hard to fully blunder these games away in 10 moves because Black develops very slowly.
And I'm going to look over all the games that I can find that were played by GM Sokolsky.
This is a tough time for my chess playing. I just need to get through it and I will be good.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Weekend Tournament
I played in the Reverse Angle 15 tournament this past Saturday. This is a one day chess event that draws between 40 and 60 players for a three round swiss tournament with a game 90 format. As far as I know, it is one of the strongest one day events in North Carolina.
In my first round my opponent had the white pieces and lead us into a King's Gambit. This was the first time that I have played the King's Gambit OTB in a rated event. It was a strong start to a game with Mike making a blunder on his tenth move (1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Nb6 5. h4 g4 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Ng5+ Ke8 8. Qxg4 Nf6 9. Qxf4 Nd4 10. 0-0 Ne2+ and White resigns as he loses his queen.)
White could have made a few strong moves either the queen check, what I think is strongest or Rf1. What is really interesting here is that I ended up playing a King's Gambit online a little while before and even reviewed that game with some people that morning. The King's Gambit is an interesting game to play as it leads to some crazy attacks. Here is a link to the online game that I played earlier: http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=12151132
I played very poorly in the next game and put myself in a losing position after about five moves. I know, how can someone get that close to losing in a just five moves. Well, here they are (and I was black) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 f6 4. Bc4 Na5. Okay, it was four moves. The next two moves were 5. Bxg8 Rxg8 6. dxe5 fxe5 7. Qd5. Here I not only lose a piece, but I have no development and White is quickly bringing in attacking pieces. Moral of the story, on move 3, take the pawn. I knew that this was the correct move but wanted to try something flashy. Well, in a tournament, play solid. On one's spare time, try the something different to see what happens.
My last game was pretty interesting. It was a Grand Prix attack where I attacked before really getting my pieces together and my opponent just traded down all the material. It was a very tough end game where he made the last blunder and gave me a passed pawn. But, he didn't make this blunder until I made a few of my own. If anyone is interested in seeing this complex endgame, let me know and I will post the entire game.
In my first round my opponent had the white pieces and lead us into a King's Gambit. This was the first time that I have played the King's Gambit OTB in a rated event. It was a strong start to a game with Mike making a blunder on his tenth move (1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 Nb6 5. h4 g4 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Ng5+ Ke8 8. Qxg4 Nf6 9. Qxf4 Nd4 10. 0-0 Ne2+ and White resigns as he loses his queen.)
White could have made a few strong moves either the queen check, what I think is strongest or Rf1. What is really interesting here is that I ended up playing a King's Gambit online a little while before and even reviewed that game with some people that morning. The King's Gambit is an interesting game to play as it leads to some crazy attacks. Here is a link to the online game that I played earlier: http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=12151132
I played very poorly in the next game and put myself in a losing position after about five moves. I know, how can someone get that close to losing in a just five moves. Well, here they are (and I was black) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 f6 4. Bc4 Na5. Okay, it was four moves. The next two moves were 5. Bxg8 Rxg8 6. dxe5 fxe5 7. Qd5. Here I not only lose a piece, but I have no development and White is quickly bringing in attacking pieces. Moral of the story, on move 3, take the pawn. I knew that this was the correct move but wanted to try something flashy. Well, in a tournament, play solid. On one's spare time, try the something different to see what happens.
My last game was pretty interesting. It was a Grand Prix attack where I attacked before really getting my pieces together and my opponent just traded down all the material. It was a very tough end game where he made the last blunder and gave me a passed pawn. But, he didn't make this blunder until I made a few of my own. If anyone is interested in seeing this complex endgame, let me know and I will post the entire game.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Another Setback
Okay, it has been a long while since I have posted but some of that has to due with my new child. So, not only am I trying to improve my play, as a new father, well my time is even more spread out and my sleep reduced. However, those are just challenges to this process and challenges that others have to face as well.
Since my last post, I lost over 80 rating points due to some very bad play against some 1100 players. But, I'm still class C and this last tournament has served the purpose as to open my eyes as to what I'm doing.
Current, I'm trying to study my endgame play and to leverage this in my overall game. So far, my knowledge is steadily increasing in this but I think I still have a ways to go before I see the impact in my OTB game.
Secondly, I spent time going over the openings of the games I have played this year to try and understand what my opponents are playing against me. I have found that may people who I play (in my weekly club game) are starting with d4 and my best response has been the KID. So, I have decided to spend some time reviewing that in more detail. In this review, I am using YouTube and the MCO. So, I'm still basic in this understanding but I think I am making progress.
In addition to this, I have decided to move away from playing the Caro-Kann in response to 1. e4. My rational behind this is two fold. First, I haven't been playing it very well. I have a few wins and a few draws but none of the games were extremely good. And I had some very bad loses against players who really used their knights with deadly impact. Simply put, my lack of understanding the key concepts behind this opening as a Black player, put me at a huge disadvantage. And secondly, I'm playing either the Ruy Lopez or the Giuoco Piano as White so I have decided to play the Black side of this as well. This will help me to learn OTB how to both play the white and black side and thus save me some time in my studying as I can center my study time on just two openings.
As a side note, I have been the assistant TD at a few tournaments including one scheduled for this Saturday. As an assistant mainly charged with the doing the pairings, I also play in these events. So, this weekend I have a three game event cumming on and hopefully I will be able to preform well.
Good games to all
Since my last post, I lost over 80 rating points due to some very bad play against some 1100 players. But, I'm still class C and this last tournament has served the purpose as to open my eyes as to what I'm doing.
Current, I'm trying to study my endgame play and to leverage this in my overall game. So far, my knowledge is steadily increasing in this but I think I still have a ways to go before I see the impact in my OTB game.
Secondly, I spent time going over the openings of the games I have played this year to try and understand what my opponents are playing against me. I have found that may people who I play (in my weekly club game) are starting with d4 and my best response has been the KID. So, I have decided to spend some time reviewing that in more detail. In this review, I am using YouTube and the MCO. So, I'm still basic in this understanding but I think I am making progress.
In addition to this, I have decided to move away from playing the Caro-Kann in response to 1. e4. My rational behind this is two fold. First, I haven't been playing it very well. I have a few wins and a few draws but none of the games were extremely good. And I had some very bad loses against players who really used their knights with deadly impact. Simply put, my lack of understanding the key concepts behind this opening as a Black player, put me at a huge disadvantage. And secondly, I'm playing either the Ruy Lopez or the Giuoco Piano as White so I have decided to play the Black side of this as well. This will help me to learn OTB how to both play the white and black side and thus save me some time in my studying as I can center my study time on just two openings.
As a side note, I have been the assistant TD at a few tournaments including one scheduled for this Saturday. As an assistant mainly charged with the doing the pairings, I also play in these events. So, this weekend I have a three game event cumming on and hopefully I will be able to preform well.
Good games to all
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A Good Weekend
I played in a one day, three round tournament yesterday and had a good day.
This tournament is very healthy and had 50 players attend in four sections. I played in the under 1800 section since my rating is 1526. In the first round I was paired with 1770, second 1616 and last 1630. (I'm estimating the rating on the last two games.)
The first game I played was great. I made good solid moves. Put my pieces on good squares and when the time came, made a very strong queen move that ensured my win. Or at least put me into a very strong and aggressive position. I'm going to sit down and annotate this game and possibly post it here later. (It takes me two to three hours to review one of my games so it might take me a few days.)
After this however, my level of play dropped. My second game, I don't know what I was thinking. In the opening I made a questionable decision to trade my bishop for a knight and then I decided to chase my opponents knight with all my pawns thinking I could win the piece. Well, i was wrong about winning the piece and then when the dust settled all my pawns were on bad squares and I just lost.
The thrid game went quickly to an end game that was hard fought for about 50 moves. I believe that my position was more sound but then, I made a bad pawn push which allowed my opponent to attack with his queen putting me on the defense. He went up a pawn but again I made some great moves and retook the advantage. Only to draw the simple pawn-rook endgame. Oh well, everyone has their days I guess.
In the end, a win against a very strong Class B player and a draw and lose against average Class B players. Overall, great progress for me. But we will have to see how things end up.
This tournament is very healthy and had 50 players attend in four sections. I played in the under 1800 section since my rating is 1526. In the first round I was paired with 1770, second 1616 and last 1630. (I'm estimating the rating on the last two games.)
The first game I played was great. I made good solid moves. Put my pieces on good squares and when the time came, made a very strong queen move that ensured my win. Or at least put me into a very strong and aggressive position. I'm going to sit down and annotate this game and possibly post it here later. (It takes me two to three hours to review one of my games so it might take me a few days.)
After this however, my level of play dropped. My second game, I don't know what I was thinking. In the opening I made a questionable decision to trade my bishop for a knight and then I decided to chase my opponents knight with all my pawns thinking I could win the piece. Well, i was wrong about winning the piece and then when the dust settled all my pawns were on bad squares and I just lost.
The thrid game went quickly to an end game that was hard fought for about 50 moves. I believe that my position was more sound but then, I made a bad pawn push which allowed my opponent to attack with his queen putting me on the defense. He went up a pawn but again I made some great moves and retook the advantage. Only to draw the simple pawn-rook endgame. Oh well, everyone has their days I guess.
In the end, a win against a very strong Class B player and a draw and lose against average Class B players. Overall, great progress for me. But we will have to see how things end up.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Too Much At A Time
Call it bad luck. Call it bad concentration. Say it is due to too much on my mind. What ever excuse I want to come up with is fine. But I have been losing a lot of games to people who have ratings way lower than I do.
So, I sat down and looked at them to try and find out what I was doing wrong. What can cause someone to lose to a player that is almost 400 rating points lower, consistently. And what did I find beyond uninspired moves, lack of a battle plan or leveraging good positions and tactics was that my endgame was terrible. In the past few that I have played I believe that my endgame position was at least event to better but I wasn't able to take advantage of them.
Lately I have been trying to study the Queen's Gambit and the Queen's Gambit Declined. The QGD was suggested as a good defense that I should learn as Black against d4. So, I have been investing time here but overall I think I need to really get down the basics and look at where I need to spend my limited time. Like I told someone yesterday, very few times do people win a game in the opening or even in the middle game. One might come out with a small advantage but not typically the win. The win is sealed in the end game.
So, I'm going to spend the next few weeks just studying the end game. This will hopefully give me the tools I need to play these end games strongly and add a few wins (hopefully) to my record.
So, I sat down and looked at them to try and find out what I was doing wrong. What can cause someone to lose to a player that is almost 400 rating points lower, consistently. And what did I find beyond uninspired moves, lack of a battle plan or leveraging good positions and tactics was that my endgame was terrible. In the past few that I have played I believe that my endgame position was at least event to better but I wasn't able to take advantage of them.
Lately I have been trying to study the Queen's Gambit and the Queen's Gambit Declined. The QGD was suggested as a good defense that I should learn as Black against d4. So, I have been investing time here but overall I think I need to really get down the basics and look at where I need to spend my limited time. Like I told someone yesterday, very few times do people win a game in the opening or even in the middle game. One might come out with a small advantage but not typically the win. The win is sealed in the end game.
So, I'm going to spend the next few weeks just studying the end game. This will hopefully give me the tools I need to play these end games strongly and add a few wins (hopefully) to my record.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Lessons Not Learned
In an online game I was playing over the course of about a week, I achieved a position that I thought was completely lost.
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. Nxe5 Qe7
4. d4 Nc6
5. Nxc6 Qxe4+
6. Qe2 Qxe2+
7. Bxe2 dxc6
8. O-O Bd6
9. Bg5 Bf5
10. Bxf6 gxf6
11. c3 O-O-O
12. Nd2 h5
13. Rae1 Rdg8
14. Kh1 Be6
15. Bc4 Bd5
16. Bxd5 cxd5
17. Nb3 Rg5
18. g3 h4
19. Kg2 f5
20. f4 Rg4
21. Re3 Rhg8
22. Rff3 Bxf4
23. Re7 hxg3
24. h3 Rh4
25. Rxf7 Rxh3
I had the White pieces and at this point, I resigned the game. Following that resignation, my opponent ask me why I resigned because he didn't think I was lost. This makes for a few really good lessons that I have an issue learning.
1) Never resign unless it is obvouse that I'm lost. In this game, it wasn't evident to my opponent that he had won.
2) Use all of your time. In this game I had a few days left to make a move so I should have studied longer and harder.
3) Always look for a better move. I looked at three or four options than resigned. I need to look deeper at other things.
Options:
a) 26. Rxf4 Rh2+ (27. Kf1 g2+ 29. Kg1 Rh1+ 30. Kf2 g1=Q+) (27. Kg1 g2 28. Rf2 Rh1#) So, the rook cannot take the Bishop.
b) 26. Rg7 just loses the rook after Rxg7 and then Black is up a rook and should still obtain his queen.
c) 26. Rxg3 and White trades his rook for the pawn and is in a lossing position.
d) 26. Kxh3 g2 Here 27. Rg3 loses to 27. ... Rxg3+, 28. Kh2 g1=Q#. 27. Rxf4 loses to g1=Q and a mate threat at Qh1#.
e) 26. Nc5 (or anywhere for that matter) and Rh2+ will allow Black to push the g pawn using checks to the end of the board.
f) 26. Rf8+ is the only last option, I believe. 26. ... Rxf8 27. Rxf4 Rh8. (Now if White plays Rf3 here, he will be losing after Black will be able to play f4 then Rh2+ with solid play and chances for that g pawn. However, if he plays Rxf5 then after 28. ... Rh2+, 29. Kxg3 Rxb2. Black will be ahead but White will still have some life left in him if he can mount a good defense.
So, I should have looked harder to find this last option. I still think that it will be a loss for White in the end but I should have looked harder before resigning. Of course, I still might be missing something so I sent this same information to him so he can tell me if there was another defense that I might have missed.
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. Nxe5 Qe7
4. d4 Nc6
5. Nxc6 Qxe4+
6. Qe2 Qxe2+
7. Bxe2 dxc6
8. O-O Bd6
9. Bg5 Bf5
10. Bxf6 gxf6
11. c3 O-O-O
12. Nd2 h5
13. Rae1 Rdg8
14. Kh1 Be6
15. Bc4 Bd5
16. Bxd5 cxd5
17. Nb3 Rg5
18. g3 h4
19. Kg2 f5
20. f4 Rg4
21. Re3 Rhg8
22. Rff3 Bxf4
23. Re7 hxg3
24. h3 Rh4
25. Rxf7 Rxh3
I had the White pieces and at this point, I resigned the game. Following that resignation, my opponent ask me why I resigned because he didn't think I was lost. This makes for a few really good lessons that I have an issue learning.
1) Never resign unless it is obvouse that I'm lost. In this game, it wasn't evident to my opponent that he had won.
2) Use all of your time. In this game I had a few days left to make a move so I should have studied longer and harder.
3) Always look for a better move. I looked at three or four options than resigned. I need to look deeper at other things.
Options:
a) 26. Rxf4 Rh2+ (27. Kf1 g2+ 29. Kg1 Rh1+ 30. Kf2 g1=Q+) (27. Kg1 g2 28. Rf2 Rh1#) So, the rook cannot take the Bishop.
b) 26. Rg7 just loses the rook after Rxg7 and then Black is up a rook and should still obtain his queen.
c) 26. Rxg3 and White trades his rook for the pawn and is in a lossing position.
d) 26. Kxh3 g2 Here 27. Rg3 loses to 27. ... Rxg3+, 28. Kh2 g1=Q#. 27. Rxf4 loses to g1=Q and a mate threat at Qh1#.
e) 26. Nc5 (or anywhere for that matter) and Rh2+ will allow Black to push the g pawn using checks to the end of the board.
f) 26. Rf8+ is the only last option, I believe. 26. ... Rxf8 27. Rxf4 Rh8. (Now if White plays Rf3 here, he will be losing after Black will be able to play f4 then Rh2+ with solid play and chances for that g pawn. However, if he plays Rxf5 then after 28. ... Rh2+, 29. Kxg3 Rxb2. Black will be ahead but White will still have some life left in him if he can mount a good defense.
So, I should have looked harder to find this last option. I still think that it will be a loss for White in the end but I should have looked harder before resigning. Of course, I still might be missing something so I sent this same information to him so he can tell me if there was another defense that I might have missed.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Play the Queen's Gambit
It has been a week since I posted, but that is probably due to the fact that I missed my tournament game last week. (I have a child on the way so I had to attend some baby classes to keep my wife happy).
Okay, but I did just finish playing a good game against a good opponent that I will annotate and then post online. It takes me a few days to do that because, well, I have to review the entire game and look up the openings to see what works best. So stay tuned for that.
But, I have a new book from the library called "play the queen's gambit" It is an Everyman Chess book (a series that I like a lot) and this one was written by Chris Ward. I have only gotten about 20 pages into this book but I wanted to point out my goal for this one. I'm a big fan of having an idea of what I want from a book before I read it so that I can gain something. I just find that if I pull a book and just read it to see what happens I don't really get as much from it. So, my goal with this book so to learn the Queen's Gambit Declined. As I mentioned in a prevous blog post, this defense was suggested to me as an option against 1. d4. I was told that this might fit my play style.
Now, I want look look at the QGD, however the first part of the book is the Queens Gambit Accepted. I have worked through the theory part of the opening for about 15 different lines and I'm starting to like it a lot. I have traditionally been an 1. e4 player, but this book is starting to suggest to me the idea of changing. Now, I should add that this is just the Queen's Gambit and there is more than two different ways to play against 1. d4 but it will keep me from having to play the Sicilian that I hate so much.
So, this book has already been a good thing for me and I have yet to get to the part that I really hoped to learn the most. Hopefully, in a week or so I will be able to add this book to my list of really good chess books.
Okay, but I did just finish playing a good game against a good opponent that I will annotate and then post online. It takes me a few days to do that because, well, I have to review the entire game and look up the openings to see what works best. So stay tuned for that.
But, I have a new book from the library called "play the queen's gambit" It is an Everyman Chess book (a series that I like a lot) and this one was written by Chris Ward. I have only gotten about 20 pages into this book but I wanted to point out my goal for this one. I'm a big fan of having an idea of what I want from a book before I read it so that I can gain something. I just find that if I pull a book and just read it to see what happens I don't really get as much from it. So, my goal with this book so to learn the Queen's Gambit Declined. As I mentioned in a prevous blog post, this defense was suggested to me as an option against 1. d4. I was told that this might fit my play style.
Now, I want look look at the QGD, however the first part of the book is the Queens Gambit Accepted. I have worked through the theory part of the opening for about 15 different lines and I'm starting to like it a lot. I have traditionally been an 1. e4 player, but this book is starting to suggest to me the idea of changing. Now, I should add that this is just the Queen's Gambit and there is more than two different ways to play against 1. d4 but it will keep me from having to play the Sicilian that I hate so much.
So, this book has already been a good thing for me and I have yet to get to the part that I really hoped to learn the most. Hopefully, in a week or so I will be able to add this book to my list of really good chess books.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Databases and Online Chess
Today marks another first for me in my chess development, the use of online chess and game databases and opening books.
I am a regular player on two different chess websites (chess.com and gameknot.com). On both of these sites I tend to play only the correspondence type games where one is granted a few days for each move. Up until now I have used these sites more like a regular game play with me moving after just a few minutes of consideration. Today marks the day where I have changed this view, well, to some extent that is.
A new game was started today with me having the White pieces and I began with 1. e4. My opponent played 1. .. d5, the Center Counter or Scandinavian. I don't play this opening very well even though I know the first few opening moves, however under the suggestion of an expert who I is helping me out a bit, I decided to research this game as I'm making the moves. Look at game databases and open theory is not against the rules of correspondence chess as long as you are the one doing the analysis not a computer or some other person.
So, I pulled out my copy of MCO v15 (Modern Chess Openings, version 15) to review the opening lines it has. There are very few for this opening, with all starting with 2. exd5. So, I made that move. The next move, however was not one that is listed in this book. 2. ... c6. Now, in a game I played two weeks ago, I got into a bad situation after grabbing up some offered pawns so I wanted to really find out what taking this pawn would do because it looked okay for me. So, I pulled up my Chess Master program and went to the game database that it has. It found 16 games with these moves.
So, I glanced through them. I didn't do the in depth analysis I probably should have of these games and how they traversed, but after looking at them, I decided that taking this pawn wasn't bad for me.
So, at this point, I'm up a pawn and we will see how things go, but the important thing is that I'm branching out. Using my chess resources to help advance my knowledge of the game and how to play things. I sometimes wonder if the people whose games I look at ever thought that they would be used as a stepping stone for my learning process.
All that said, I should say that Chess Master, or the version I have, doesn't have the largest game database but for me it will work for now.
I am a regular player on two different chess websites (chess.com and gameknot.com). On both of these sites I tend to play only the correspondence type games where one is granted a few days for each move. Up until now I have used these sites more like a regular game play with me moving after just a few minutes of consideration. Today marks the day where I have changed this view, well, to some extent that is.
A new game was started today with me having the White pieces and I began with 1. e4. My opponent played 1. .. d5, the Center Counter or Scandinavian. I don't play this opening very well even though I know the first few opening moves, however under the suggestion of an expert who I is helping me out a bit, I decided to research this game as I'm making the moves. Look at game databases and open theory is not against the rules of correspondence chess as long as you are the one doing the analysis not a computer or some other person.
So, I pulled out my copy of MCO v15 (Modern Chess Openings, version 15) to review the opening lines it has. There are very few for this opening, with all starting with 2. exd5. So, I made that move. The next move, however was not one that is listed in this book. 2. ... c6. Now, in a game I played two weeks ago, I got into a bad situation after grabbing up some offered pawns so I wanted to really find out what taking this pawn would do because it looked okay for me. So, I pulled up my Chess Master program and went to the game database that it has. It found 16 games with these moves.
So, I glanced through them. I didn't do the in depth analysis I probably should have of these games and how they traversed, but after looking at them, I decided that taking this pawn wasn't bad for me.
So, at this point, I'm up a pawn and we will see how things go, but the important thing is that I'm branching out. Using my chess resources to help advance my knowledge of the game and how to play things. I sometimes wonder if the people whose games I look at ever thought that they would be used as a stepping stone for my learning process.
All that said, I should say that Chess Master, or the version I have, doesn't have the largest game database but for me it will work for now.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Gary Kasparov, Unlimited Challenge
So, I finished reading about Karpov then picked up the book on Kasparov.
Just reading their autobiographies you can feel the difference between these two individuals. How they operate, how they see their own chess and how they interact, even with each other. And of course, it is always interesting to see the different point of views on the same subject. Between these we see the world champion matches from each of their own perspectives and wow are they different.
in readings these though, I was looking for a deeper understanding in chess and I think I came back to something that I saw in the the movie "Searching for Bobby Fisher". I never believed that chess excellence was every something that could be made from a cookie cutter. There isn't some recipe that will teach someone to be a great player. I think you have to be born with something. Maybe the way people think and their mental affiliation to the game is what is required. In each of their own words, these two great players tell us how they always loved chess even before they knew the rules.
But like was said in the movie, you have to be who you are. Everyone has their own style and trying to copy some else isn't going to get it done. Trying to be Bobby Fisher by playing his games and understanding his moves will not make you better or equal to Bobby Fisher. Understand Karpov's and Kasparov's games will not make you a world champion either. There are so many different components to the game so may different ideas and though process. There is a personality to the game. Everyone who touches a piece has their own personality. The key to unlocking chess is understanding your own personality, well and playing hard.
I wish I knew my personality. But I guess this process that I'm on is, in part, to discover my own personality. Chess is life, well, maybe not is life but it is something.
Just reading their autobiographies you can feel the difference between these two individuals. How they operate, how they see their own chess and how they interact, even with each other. And of course, it is always interesting to see the different point of views on the same subject. Between these we see the world champion matches from each of their own perspectives and wow are they different.
in readings these though, I was looking for a deeper understanding in chess and I think I came back to something that I saw in the the movie "Searching for Bobby Fisher". I never believed that chess excellence was every something that could be made from a cookie cutter. There isn't some recipe that will teach someone to be a great player. I think you have to be born with something. Maybe the way people think and their mental affiliation to the game is what is required. In each of their own words, these two great players tell us how they always loved chess even before they knew the rules.
But like was said in the movie, you have to be who you are. Everyone has their own style and trying to copy some else isn't going to get it done. Trying to be Bobby Fisher by playing his games and understanding his moves will not make you better or equal to Bobby Fisher. Understand Karpov's and Kasparov's games will not make you a world champion either. There are so many different components to the game so may different ideas and though process. There is a personality to the game. Everyone who touches a piece has their own personality. The key to unlocking chess is understanding your own personality, well and playing hard.
I wish I knew my personality. But I guess this process that I'm on is, in part, to discover my own personality. Chess is life, well, maybe not is life but it is something.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Karpov on Karpov
I am a believer that great chess players are not made by memorizing opening books, memorizing endgame theory and practicing tactical situations. I believe that these skills help improve a good player but I think there is more.
I have recently found "Karpov on Karpov, Memoirs of a Chess World Champion" by Anatoly Karpov. In this book, Karpov breaks down his life and his chess and does it on a level that anyone can easily read. He hits on a number of topics that made him a great player and identifies problems associated with other top players that he identified and was able to use against them over the board.
I won't say that everyone should learn to be like a great player. I don't think what worked for Karpov, or Fisher or Spaasky will work for anyone else. But I do think there is something to chess that goes beyond the basic movements of the game. There is something associated with the human element that makes this game really exciting.
I will admit that there are a fixed number of moves that can be made. (Given that number is so huge it might as well be unlimited except that in the future I'm sure we will have computers that can list them all and decided which is best.) I believe that even with a fixed number of moves there is still an art form to it. There is something beyond the standard placements of the pieces that really make chess special. Perhaps I say this only because this is game I love but who knows, maybe there is something to it.
I just believe that in his self reflection, Karpov not only tells us about his life, but he also teaches us about chess. I recommend this book to everyone, even non-chess players as it still has lessons that can be adapted to most situations.
I have recently found "Karpov on Karpov, Memoirs of a Chess World Champion" by Anatoly Karpov. In this book, Karpov breaks down his life and his chess and does it on a level that anyone can easily read. He hits on a number of topics that made him a great player and identifies problems associated with other top players that he identified and was able to use against them over the board.
I won't say that everyone should learn to be like a great player. I don't think what worked for Karpov, or Fisher or Spaasky will work for anyone else. But I do think there is something to chess that goes beyond the basic movements of the game. There is something associated with the human element that makes this game really exciting.
I will admit that there are a fixed number of moves that can be made. (Given that number is so huge it might as well be unlimited except that in the future I'm sure we will have computers that can list them all and decided which is best.) I believe that even with a fixed number of moves there is still an art form to it. There is something beyond the standard placements of the pieces that really make chess special. Perhaps I say this only because this is game I love but who knows, maybe there is something to it.
I just believe that in his self reflection, Karpov not only tells us about his life, but he also teaches us about chess. I recommend this book to everyone, even non-chess players as it still has lessons that can be adapted to most situations.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Another Bad Loss
Tuesday night I played another tournament game at my local chess club. I was paired against a 1100 player in the second round of this tournament so I was feeling good. Especially coming off my Sunday games against a stronger player.
Well, I fell apart. I wasn't able to put together any type of attack or even come up with a solid play of action. I ended up moving pieces back and forth and finally went down a piece in a series of exchanges. Finally I dropped my rook (which I completely missed) and quickly resigned.
So what happened. I have been playing solid chess for my level. I have been missing tactics and good moves but this game was just terrible. What did I do? Where did I go wrong? Why couldn't I come up with a good solid plan?
Well, I have spent the days since agonizing about this loss and realized the answer is pretty simple. Although I have been playing Nf6 against d4, I don't really understand the goals and thoughts behind this type of hyper-modern opening. I know the first five or six moves in the opening but I don't know where to go from there. So, I get out of the opening sequence and I'm loss. I don't know where to look or where to go. All said, I don't know the opening.
Knowing an opening isn't just memorizing the moves but understanding why the moves are made and what they are preparing for. I realized that I loss because my opponent picked the opening that I'm weakest at. I know, now, what I should look at as an opening. Now, I need to seek help and trying to find out what type of opening that I need.
I think I'm going to send some of my games to an Expert or Master level person and ask them to review my style of play and ask for suggestions of openings for me to play against d4. I hope I get a good suggestion.
Well, I fell apart. I wasn't able to put together any type of attack or even come up with a solid play of action. I ended up moving pieces back and forth and finally went down a piece in a series of exchanges. Finally I dropped my rook (which I completely missed) and quickly resigned.
So what happened. I have been playing solid chess for my level. I have been missing tactics and good moves but this game was just terrible. What did I do? Where did I go wrong? Why couldn't I come up with a good solid plan?
Well, I have spent the days since agonizing about this loss and realized the answer is pretty simple. Although I have been playing Nf6 against d4, I don't really understand the goals and thoughts behind this type of hyper-modern opening. I know the first five or six moves in the opening but I don't know where to go from there. So, I get out of the opening sequence and I'm loss. I don't know where to look or where to go. All said, I don't know the opening.
Knowing an opening isn't just memorizing the moves but understanding why the moves are made and what they are preparing for. I realized that I loss because my opponent picked the opening that I'm weakest at. I know, now, what I should look at as an opening. Now, I need to seek help and trying to find out what type of opening that I need.
I think I'm going to send some of my games to an Expert or Master level person and ask them to review my style of play and ask for suggestions of openings for me to play against d4. I hope I get a good suggestion.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Why's Of Chess
As I look through a chess book, the main thing that I want to see is an understanding of why moves were made. Or, more accurately, of why a move is considered bad. For this reason, I was disappointed with "Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player".
I had some high hopes for this book and considering that it is one of the few educational chess books carried by my local library, was extremely hopeful. The book does outline some very important key elements of basic strategy but the examples left me frustrated. For the one examples that were full games, the notations would be full of "?" (typically meaning a questionable or bad move) but there were very few if any explanations as to why these moves were questionable.
As I move forward and try to learn about chess and truly understand it, I think it is vital for questionable moves to be pointed out and the reasons behind them identified. So, I would suggest that anyone save their time and skip over this book. There are many other books out there that have to be better.
I had some high hopes for this book and considering that it is one of the few educational chess books carried by my local library, was extremely hopeful. The book does outline some very important key elements of basic strategy but the examples left me frustrated. For the one examples that were full games, the notations would be full of "?" (typically meaning a questionable or bad move) but there were very few if any explanations as to why these moves were questionable.
As I move forward and try to learn about chess and truly understand it, I think it is vital for questionable moves to be pointed out and the reasons behind them identified. So, I would suggest that anyone save their time and skip over this book. There are many other books out there that have to be better.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Learning From Easy Games
Well, after a long weekend of tough games, Tuesday night's tournament game was pretty easy for me. My opponent dropped a Bishop early and I used that advantage by trading down material as quickly as I could. One or two more bad moves by my opponent and he lost another bishop. Finally I was able to find a forced mate in 5 to win the game.
I have always been told that one learns more from games where they lose than when they win. Maybe that is because when you win, you probably made fewer mistakes to look at and review. Without mistakes, how do you know what to study and to work on? Well, I do believe that you learn a lot from games where you lose but I think that there is a lot that you can learn from games that you win.
In this particular game I was able to discover a few more things about myself. First off, my knowledge of the Ruy Lopez still isn't' where it should be. After we completed the game we went back to quickly look at what should have been played to save his Bishop. For the life of me, I couldn't tell him what the best move was even though we were still in the book at that point in time. So, one lesson I learned is that I'm still weak in my openings, even the ones that I play with as white.
The other thing that I was able to see is how I played my endgame. I was up a lot of material and I was given the option of grabbing more pawns or looking for a way to mate. I took, what I thought to be the safe path, and just grabbed his pawns. In the end this worked, this time, but in the future should I just grab more material when I'm up? I'm not sure this is always the right answer. And I do know that a few of my recently losses have been based on the fact that I grabbed some pawns instead of looking for the best move. I guess that is my second lesson or more to the point, learning point that I need to look at.
The third thing is more of an observation. Wining a won game. It's interesting how often I lose what I call a winning game. A game where it feels like I'm way ahead and should have an easy win. I guess I get to complacent and just drop the game somehow. In this case, I was able to pull it out but in game I played last Tuesday night, I almost didn't. I got ahead, grabbed some pawns and then almost lost. It was just a blunder by my opponent that let me win that one.
So, I played a winning game but I still have things that I learned and need to work on. Well, I'm playing in a team match this weekend. Two games against one opponent. Our team is lower rated on the top boards so the pressure is on for the lower boards to win.
I have always been told that one learns more from games where they lose than when they win. Maybe that is because when you win, you probably made fewer mistakes to look at and review. Without mistakes, how do you know what to study and to work on? Well, I do believe that you learn a lot from games where you lose but I think that there is a lot that you can learn from games that you win.
In this particular game I was able to discover a few more things about myself. First off, my knowledge of the Ruy Lopez still isn't' where it should be. After we completed the game we went back to quickly look at what should have been played to save his Bishop. For the life of me, I couldn't tell him what the best move was even though we were still in the book at that point in time. So, one lesson I learned is that I'm still weak in my openings, even the ones that I play with as white.
The other thing that I was able to see is how I played my endgame. I was up a lot of material and I was given the option of grabbing more pawns or looking for a way to mate. I took, what I thought to be the safe path, and just grabbed his pawns. In the end this worked, this time, but in the future should I just grab more material when I'm up? I'm not sure this is always the right answer. And I do know that a few of my recently losses have been based on the fact that I grabbed some pawns instead of looking for the best move. I guess that is my second lesson or more to the point, learning point that I need to look at.
The third thing is more of an observation. Wining a won game. It's interesting how often I lose what I call a winning game. A game where it feels like I'm way ahead and should have an easy win. I guess I get to complacent and just drop the game somehow. In this case, I was able to pull it out but in game I played last Tuesday night, I almost didn't. I got ahead, grabbed some pawns and then almost lost. It was just a blunder by my opponent that let me win that one.
So, I played a winning game but I still have things that I learned and need to work on. Well, I'm playing in a team match this weekend. Two games against one opponent. Our team is lower rated on the top boards so the pressure is on for the lower boards to win.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Border Battle 2009
Well, it was a long weekend at the Border Battle 2009 consisting of tough games from top to bottom. In the end the SC State Champion defeated by the NC State Champion by a score of 2.5 to 1.5 but the NC Scholastic champion was able to finally break the streak of three draws against his able opponent and pull out a win in the final round to finish 2.5 to 1.5. In the team match, where I played, we scored 29.5 to 18.5 claiming victory and bragging rights over SC until next years tournament.
Although NC did very well, less could be said about my personal results. I played in the Class C section against two SC players. On the first day of the tournament, I drew black against each of them but only managed one draw. The second day I played the white pieces and again was only able to squeak out one draw finishing my tournament with a score of 1 - 3. Not all that promissing.
However, the I did have the luck of rooming with a strong Expert from the NC group who went over my Saturday games. It is one thing to review every game that you play but I don't believe that really makes up for having a stronger player look at what you have done. After we were done, I believe that he provided me some very strong feedback that I will take to heart. That was that my tactics are very lacking and that I need to study them, alot. He also said that he new of a server where I could practice them. I did a quick google search and believe he was referencing the following site "http://chess.emrald.net". The strong advantage that he sees with this site is that it isn't just a solve for mate site so you can really learn what will be better for you as you play games and not just search for that final killing blow.
I'm working on annotating all of my games and will hopefully find a few more lessions that I can learn from these tough played games.
Although NC did very well, less could be said about my personal results. I played in the Class C section against two SC players. On the first day of the tournament, I drew black against each of them but only managed one draw. The second day I played the white pieces and again was only able to squeak out one draw finishing my tournament with a score of 1 - 3. Not all that promissing.
However, the I did have the luck of rooming with a strong Expert from the NC group who went over my Saturday games. It is one thing to review every game that you play but I don't believe that really makes up for having a stronger player look at what you have done. After we were done, I believe that he provided me some very strong feedback that I will take to heart. That was that my tactics are very lacking and that I need to study them, alot. He also said that he new of a server where I could practice them. I did a quick google search and believe he was referencing the following site "http://chess.emrald.net". The strong advantage that he sees with this site is that it isn't just a solve for mate site so you can really learn what will be better for you as you play games and not just search for that final killing blow.
I'm working on annotating all of my games and will hopefully find a few more lessions that I can learn from these tough played games.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
My first posted game. A Caro-Kann
This will be the first game that I'm going to post here. I played this one two nights ago in the week night tournament hosted by the Queen City Chess Association. I played against a solid player whose rating is 1214. Since I have almost 300 rating points on him I was a strong favorite. However, as one might guess there is no strong favorite when your rating is around the 1500s. I still make many mistakes so good moves are still required.
1.e4 c6
This is the basic Caro-Kann Defense.
2.d4 d5 3.f3
Here White goes for the Fantasy variation.
3...e6
Here I am out of my personal book. I have not yet reviewed this variation so I just happened to find the same move that Chess Master 11 suggests. Here is its feedback: The new approach by Black is 3...e6 4.Nc3 (4.Be3 may be White's next try for advantage) 4...Bb4! where White is only 5% better.
4.Be3
This is the move that Chess Master suggestions however when I saw this during the game, my mind instantly began to look
for ways to win a pawn through the Qd4+ move. With this thought in mind, I didn't even consider the option that Chess Master
suggested at this point (Qb6)
4...dxe4 5.Nc3
At this point, I think that White has to give up a pawn, however in doing so he can obtain some a great developmental advantage. If he would have moved 5. Nd2 and after exf3, Qxf3 then White will be down a pawn but will have developed his queen, a bishop and a pawn to the center of the board and can quickly castle queen side and continue to develop while Black has only two pawns off their starting square.
5...Bb4
Creating the pin and following the plan to win a pawn.
6.fxe4 Qh4+ 7.Ke2
Kd2 would have been better as it doesn't lock in the White Square Bishop (WSB). However, moving the king was better than blocking with the g2 pawn which could open the rook to attack after Qxe4 and Bf2 also allows White to capture the e pawn with check.
7...Bxc3
Creates a weakness by the doubled pawns and allows white to capture the e4 pawn.
8.bxc3 Qxe4 9.Qd2
I'm not sure what White is trying to achive with this move with the exception of adding a protector to the c3 pawn but that isn't being attacked yet. White should have taken this move to develop his g1 knight.
9...Ne7
Black again makes a plan to win the c2 pawn by using his knight to capture the Bishop on e3. Not necessarily a good plan. Black should start looking to develop his pieces and start a solid attack instead of going for a pawn at the expense of his second developed piece.
10.Nf3 Nd5
Black took a while to decide on this move. White has the option of Ng5 which might allow for the chasing of Black's queen.
11.c4
Ng5 would have been better as this allows Black to win the c2 pawn.
11...Nxe3 12.Qxe3 Qxc2+ 13.Nd2 Qb2
Black is still being greedy and goes for another of White's pawn and creates an outside passed pawn which could prove decisive in an endgame.
14.Rb1 Qxa2 15.g3
White is working to develop his bishop and connect his rooks. The connected rooks could cause serious issues for Black's lone queen.
15...Qa5
Moves the queen to a square that allows retreat away from White's rooks to c7 or across the 5th rank if necessary.
16.Bg2 Nd7
Black tried to develop a piece here but he might have been better served by castling. this would allow him to leverage the half open d file and put his king in a pretty safe position.
17.Ra1 Qc7 18.Qa3
The queen now prevents Black from castling and there is very little that Black can do about it. It also creates some very strong squares for White along the a3 - f8.
18...c5
Black needs to make some space here. The d and c pawns are pretty strong as they can be backed by the rooks and supported by the queen.
19.Ne4 O-O
This was a critical move. Without a castle here Black will start to get cramped and can eaisly fall apart.
20.Nxc5 Nxc5
Black trades down material and hopes to ride his two pawn advantage and the newly created "weakness" of the doubled c pawns. Although, I'm not sure if the c pawns are a big weakenss because they reach to the fifth rank and restrict the movement of Blacks queen and b pawn while White's bishop pins down Black's bishop and a rook.
21.dxc5 Rd8 22.Rhd1 Qe5+
Black was looking to develop the queen a bit before capturing on D1.
23.Kf2 Rd4
Black was hoping that White would capture the rook, which would have been a blundering by also dropping the c4 pawn after Qxd4+.
24.Qc3
This was a strong move, however it would have been slightly stronger to have done Qb2, which still partially pins the rook and provides a secondary attack on b7.
24...Qf5+
Black has to free the rook from the pin.
25.Bf3
White moves the bishop into a pin. He would have been better served by moving the King to e1, away from danger but still centralized.
25...Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qxc5+
Grabs that advanced c pawn with check.
27.Kg2 Kf8
Black makes this move to centralize his king and to bring it to bear against Rd8+. However CM indicated that this was really bad but I'm not sure if I fully agree with the system. I think I'm going to have to have someone else look at this for another view of the position. Here is what CM indicates: "Leads to 28.Rd8+ Ke7 29.Qd2 Kf6 30.Rg8 e5 31.Qd8+ Qe7 32.Qxe7+ Kxe7 33.Rxg7 h6 34.Bd5 Kd6 35.Rxf7, which wins a queen for a queen and two pawns. Better is h6, leading to 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.Qd3+ f5 30.Re8 Qc7 31.g4 Qb6 32.gxf5 exf5 33.Kf1 Qb2 34.Qd5 Qc3, which wins a pawn for a pawn. This was black's only significant error, but the game remained within reach of either player. White eventually resigned."
28.Qd3
As I'm not sure about CM's review of Rd8+, I thought White made a good attacking move here. He is threatening mate and the h7 pawn. If White takes h7 with the queen then Black will lose major material. It took a while for me to find this move as well and it is what I consider one of my best moves of the game.
28... f5
Protects against Qxh7 and creates room for the king to run with Qd8+. !!
29.Qd8+ Kf7 30.Bxb7
This is a major blunder and White resigned after Black recaptures with his bishop and calls check. (White has lost a bishop for a pawn and will lose his queen for a rook.)
30...Bxb7+
White resigns after this move.
Overall, it can be said that when you are up in material it is easy to lose the game. I almost did that here. I need to be more concerned with position and solid moves that I am with grabbing pawns hoping for a winning endgame. After all, not all chess games get to the end game.
The other thing that this points out is my poor understanding of the major Caro-Kann Defenses out there. I'm trying to play this opening as one of my primary responses to 1.e4 but I have never seen this opening before. So, I pulled out my MCO and there it is. So, I need to hit the books harder I guess, even the books that I already own.
Have fun all.
1.e4 c6
This is the basic Caro-Kann Defense.
2.d4 d5 3.f3
Here White goes for the Fantasy variation.
3...e6
Here I am out of my personal book. I have not yet reviewed this variation so I just happened to find the same move that Chess Master 11 suggests. Here is its feedback: The new approach by Black is 3...e6 4.Nc3 (4.Be3 may be White's next try for advantage) 4...Bb4! where White is only 5% better.
4.Be3
This is the move that Chess Master suggestions however when I saw this during the game, my mind instantly began to look
for ways to win a pawn through the Qd4+ move. With this thought in mind, I didn't even consider the option that Chess Master
suggested at this point (Qb6)
4...dxe4 5.Nc3
At this point, I think that White has to give up a pawn, however in doing so he can obtain some a great developmental advantage. If he would have moved 5. Nd2 and after exf3, Qxf3 then White will be down a pawn but will have developed his queen, a bishop and a pawn to the center of the board and can quickly castle queen side and continue to develop while Black has only two pawns off their starting square.
5...Bb4
Creating the pin and following the plan to win a pawn.
6.fxe4 Qh4+ 7.Ke2
Kd2 would have been better as it doesn't lock in the White Square Bishop (WSB). However, moving the king was better than blocking with the g2 pawn which could open the rook to attack after Qxe4 and Bf2 also allows White to capture the e pawn with check.
7...Bxc3
Creates a weakness by the doubled pawns and allows white to capture the e4 pawn.
8.bxc3 Qxe4 9.Qd2
I'm not sure what White is trying to achive with this move with the exception of adding a protector to the c3 pawn but that isn't being attacked yet. White should have taken this move to develop his g1 knight.
9...Ne7
Black again makes a plan to win the c2 pawn by using his knight to capture the Bishop on e3. Not necessarily a good plan. Black should start looking to develop his pieces and start a solid attack instead of going for a pawn at the expense of his second developed piece.
10.Nf3 Nd5
Black took a while to decide on this move. White has the option of Ng5 which might allow for the chasing of Black's queen.
11.c4
Ng5 would have been better as this allows Black to win the c2 pawn.
11...Nxe3 12.Qxe3 Qxc2+ 13.Nd2 Qb2
Black is still being greedy and goes for another of White's pawn and creates an outside passed pawn which could prove decisive in an endgame.
14.Rb1 Qxa2 15.g3
White is working to develop his bishop and connect his rooks. The connected rooks could cause serious issues for Black's lone queen.
15...Qa5
Moves the queen to a square that allows retreat away from White's rooks to c7 or across the 5th rank if necessary.
16.Bg2 Nd7
Black tried to develop a piece here but he might have been better served by castling. this would allow him to leverage the half open d file and put his king in a pretty safe position.
17.Ra1 Qc7 18.Qa3
The queen now prevents Black from castling and there is very little that Black can do about it. It also creates some very strong squares for White along the a3 - f8.
18...c5
Black needs to make some space here. The d and c pawns are pretty strong as they can be backed by the rooks and supported by the queen.
19.Ne4 O-O
This was a critical move. Without a castle here Black will start to get cramped and can eaisly fall apart.
20.Nxc5 Nxc5
Black trades down material and hopes to ride his two pawn advantage and the newly created "weakness" of the doubled c pawns. Although, I'm not sure if the c pawns are a big weakenss because they reach to the fifth rank and restrict the movement of Blacks queen and b pawn while White's bishop pins down Black's bishop and a rook.
21.dxc5 Rd8 22.Rhd1 Qe5+
Black was looking to develop the queen a bit before capturing on D1.
23.Kf2 Rd4
Black was hoping that White would capture the rook, which would have been a blundering by also dropping the c4 pawn after Qxd4+.
24.Qc3
This was a strong move, however it would have been slightly stronger to have done Qb2, which still partially pins the rook and provides a secondary attack on b7.
24...Qf5+
Black has to free the rook from the pin.
25.Bf3
White moves the bishop into a pin. He would have been better served by moving the King to e1, away from danger but still centralized.
25...Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Qxc5+
Grabs that advanced c pawn with check.
27.Kg2 Kf8
Black makes this move to centralize his king and to bring it to bear against Rd8+. However CM indicated that this was really bad but I'm not sure if I fully agree with the system. I think I'm going to have to have someone else look at this for another view of the position. Here is what CM indicates: "Leads to 28.Rd8+ Ke7 29.Qd2 Kf6 30.Rg8 e5 31.Qd8+ Qe7 32.Qxe7+ Kxe7 33.Rxg7 h6 34.Bd5 Kd6 35.Rxf7, which wins a queen for a queen and two pawns. Better is h6, leading to 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.Qd3+ f5 30.Re8 Qc7 31.g4 Qb6 32.gxf5 exf5 33.Kf1 Qb2 34.Qd5 Qc3, which wins a pawn for a pawn. This was black's only significant error, but the game remained within reach of either player. White eventually resigned."
28.Qd3
As I'm not sure about CM's review of Rd8+, I thought White made a good attacking move here. He is threatening mate and the h7 pawn. If White takes h7 with the queen then Black will lose major material. It took a while for me to find this move as well and it is what I consider one of my best moves of the game.
28... f5
Protects against Qxh7 and creates room for the king to run with Qd8+. !!
29.Qd8+ Kf7 30.Bxb7
This is a major blunder and White resigned after Black recaptures with his bishop and calls check. (White has lost a bishop for a pawn and will lose his queen for a rook.)
30...Bxb7+
White resigns after this move.
Overall, it can be said that when you are up in material it is easy to lose the game. I almost did that here. I need to be more concerned with position and solid moves that I am with grabbing pawns hoping for a winning endgame. After all, not all chess games get to the end game.
The other thing that this points out is my poor understanding of the major Caro-Kann Defenses out there. I'm trying to play this opening as one of my primary responses to 1.e4 but I have never seen this opening before. So, I pulled out my MCO and there it is. So, I need to hit the books harder I guess, even the books that I already own.
Have fun all.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach
It has been a stable week in my progress towards advancing my chess knowledge. Saturday I met at a coffee shop and played with a good opponent and we discussed some of my weaknesses that I display throughout the four games that we played (2-2).
We entered into an endgame position with him having a rook, knight and three pawns against my rook and five pawns. He allowed me the rook trade and then I was able to march one of my pawns in. This began a good conversation on how power the pawn and pawn placement can be in the end game. In addition to this, I have have just about completed a book called "Best Lessons of a Chess Coach" by Sunil Weeramanty and Ed Eusebi (ISBN: 0-8129-2265-4).
Although I wouldn't count this book in the top of chess books that I have read, it is still very strong for players of my rating. The thing that I liked best of this book is the way that it runs through its lessons. It provides you a game and then walks you through each move asking you to come up with possible solutions and best next moves. I then walks you through the thinking of each of those moves. It provides alternate solutions and all the while, compairing the moves to solid chess theory.
The biggest takeaway I have from this book is that I still move way to fast. Many times I would come up with the move I thought best to have the authors agree that it is good, but then to show me an even better option. I need to slow down and look deeper. Somewhere the is a saying, "When you find a good move, keep looking until you find the best move." It is something that I need to take to heart a bit more closely.
But if you are starting out, this is a good book to grab. I found it at my local library so it was zero cost to my budget.
Well, off to finish it up...
We entered into an endgame position with him having a rook, knight and three pawns against my rook and five pawns. He allowed me the rook trade and then I was able to march one of my pawns in. This began a good conversation on how power the pawn and pawn placement can be in the end game. In addition to this, I have have just about completed a book called "Best Lessons of a Chess Coach" by Sunil Weeramanty and Ed Eusebi (ISBN: 0-8129-2265-4).
Although I wouldn't count this book in the top of chess books that I have read, it is still very strong for players of my rating. The thing that I liked best of this book is the way that it runs through its lessons. It provides you a game and then walks you through each move asking you to come up with possible solutions and best next moves. I then walks you through the thinking of each of those moves. It provides alternate solutions and all the while, compairing the moves to solid chess theory.
The biggest takeaway I have from this book is that I still move way to fast. Many times I would come up with the move I thought best to have the authors agree that it is good, but then to show me an even better option. I need to slow down and look deeper. Somewhere the is a saying, "When you find a good move, keep looking until you find the best move." It is something that I need to take to heart a bit more closely.
But if you are starting out, this is a good book to grab. I found it at my local library so it was zero cost to my budget.
Well, off to finish it up...
Friday, April 10, 2009
Where to Begin
Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to figure where you start. How to develop the plan of action. I think this is important in the learning process but also in general. I'm sure "evaluating the plan" will become a reoccurring theme as I get better and grow.
But right now, I think that I need to evaluate where I am and then determine how to move forward. This has to be the most difficult thing to do mainly because I'm not the best player so it is hard for me to figure out what I'm doing wrong. But with any situation we can only try our best.
I have looked over a number of games that I have played and I have mental reviewed my thoughts that I had while playing these games and I have come up with a number of weakness that I need to focus on:
1. Opening theory
2. Endgame abilities
3. Tactics
4. Review of fundementals (I think I have a solid understand but I need to always practice these).
5. Understand how to develop a plan of action in a game.
The first two items are easy to understand. My opening theory is weak with my deepest understand being that of the Sokolsky (1. b4). And two weeks ago I drew a tournment game becuase of my poor endgame knowledge. I had the win but didn't see the standard concepts to make it happen.
Tactics is probaby going to be the most difficult part for me to learn on myself. I'm going to have to review some books on the topic and try to find the best way to challenge myself. I have a lot fo work to do here.
The last two items, I'm going to have to hold off on. I believe that I need to have a good understand of the first three items before I can really work on these last two. After all, how is one to develop a long ranged plan if they don't understand the goals of their opening or the structures that win endgames or how to leverage the tactics to make the pieces flow the way they need them to.
To address the the opening theory, I'm going to look at my opening as white. I'm currently playing 1.e4 and I think this is a good place for me to begin my study. I'm going to have to find a solid responce to 1. e4 e5 (probaby the Ruy Lopez), 1. e4 d5 (not sure what to select as yet) and 1e4 c4 (I have a terrible time playing the Scilion and I will need some work here.
For the endgame theory, I have a library book that does an amazing job of this. "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman (ISBN: 1-890085-10-3). I have to return this book soon, so I'm going to have to make it a point to purchase it.
In addition to this, I'm still going to be playing my tournment games so I'm going to make it a point to review every game in detail with-in a week of playing it. I think this is a timeline that I should be able to handle.
Well, now that I have an idea on attacking my goal, its time to get to work.
But right now, I think that I need to evaluate where I am and then determine how to move forward. This has to be the most difficult thing to do mainly because I'm not the best player so it is hard for me to figure out what I'm doing wrong. But with any situation we can only try our best.
I have looked over a number of games that I have played and I have mental reviewed my thoughts that I had while playing these games and I have come up with a number of weakness that I need to focus on:
1. Opening theory
2. Endgame abilities
3. Tactics
4. Review of fundementals (I think I have a solid understand but I need to always practice these).
5. Understand how to develop a plan of action in a game.
The first two items are easy to understand. My opening theory is weak with my deepest understand being that of the Sokolsky (1. b4). And two weeks ago I drew a tournment game becuase of my poor endgame knowledge. I had the win but didn't see the standard concepts to make it happen.
Tactics is probaby going to be the most difficult part for me to learn on myself. I'm going to have to review some books on the topic and try to find the best way to challenge myself. I have a lot fo work to do here.
The last two items, I'm going to have to hold off on. I believe that I need to have a good understand of the first three items before I can really work on these last two. After all, how is one to develop a long ranged plan if they don't understand the goals of their opening or the structures that win endgames or how to leverage the tactics to make the pieces flow the way they need them to.
To address the the opening theory, I'm going to look at my opening as white. I'm currently playing 1.e4 and I think this is a good place for me to begin my study. I'm going to have to find a solid responce to 1. e4 e5 (probaby the Ruy Lopez), 1. e4 d5 (not sure what to select as yet) and 1e4 c4 (I have a terrible time playing the Scilion and I will need some work here.
For the endgame theory, I have a library book that does an amazing job of this. "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman (ISBN: 1-890085-10-3). I have to return this book soon, so I'm going to have to make it a point to purchase it.
In addition to this, I'm still going to be playing my tournment games so I'm going to make it a point to review every game in detail with-in a week of playing it. I think this is a timeline that I should be able to handle.
Well, now that I have an idea on attacking my goal, its time to get to work.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
My Thoughts
So here I sit as a class player. An adult, married with a child on the way and a club chess game that he plays every Tuesday night. I think I am an example of the average chess player in America. We are Class C players who play for fun with the hope of always improving but with very limited time and resources to truly enhance our skills.
I have pulled books from the library, watched better players at tournaments, joined websites to play more and worked through the academy in Chess Master. Yet, I'm still just a class player. However, I have not lost hope. I do have the personal goal of someday becoming an Expert (USCF rating of over 2000, I'm currently just around 1500). And I think I can do it.
I'm going to use this space to review the lessons that I learn, to post games that I have played and express areas that I need to get better with or just move on from. I will post the books that I read, the lessons that I discover and questions that I don't know the answers from.
I'm leaving this open for comments becuase I know that I don't know everything and I know that I cannot afford a personal chess coach so hopefully this will help me keep my thoughts together.
I have pulled books from the library, watched better players at tournaments, joined websites to play more and worked through the academy in Chess Master. Yet, I'm still just a class player. However, I have not lost hope. I do have the personal goal of someday becoming an Expert (USCF rating of over 2000, I'm currently just around 1500). And I think I can do it.
I'm going to use this space to review the lessons that I learn, to post games that I have played and express areas that I need to get better with or just move on from. I will post the books that I read, the lessons that I discover and questions that I don't know the answers from.
I'm leaving this open for comments becuase I know that I don't know everything and I know that I cannot afford a personal chess coach so hopefully this will help me keep my thoughts together.
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