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.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)