The Next Challenge

It is amazing how technology can be used so effectively in today's world. As anyone can note, I tend to be a bit slow in updating posts however I try to keep the content on point. So, as I sit here at the LAX airport at 7:41 AM waiting for my flight back home, typing on a laptop using a wireless Sprint card the main thought on my mind is the upcoming tournament that I get to play in. Part of this interest is sparked by the e-mail requesting early entries into a tournament with a unique format.

The upcoming event is going to be a sectional event where players are placed into a four man section based upon ratings. The overall impact is that I should be paired against players with similar ratings. When we play in a swiss event, I am pretty much ensured only one game with a player rated close to me so this will be a welcome change. The other interesting component is that this will be a double round robin so I will be able to face all my opponents twice. Once with the white pieces and once with black.

This event is going to be a great opportunity to put into play my old idea of starting the year with an opening and then sticking with it. (At this point, if you are someone who I'm going to play, please look away from the screen.) In each of my games as white, I'm going to begin with 1. d4. Yes, I'm back to the queen pawns opening. So, what will I play following that move? I'm not sure. I'm unsure, not because I am waiting to make the decision at the board but because I'm not studied up on any d4 opening. My goal will be to develop slowly and well. I'm going to follow some basic principles of the opening to just get pieces on solid squares. Can this backfire? Of course. Without some detailed knowledge of openings it is easy to walk into traps, to overlook the basic strenghts of the positions and to move strong pieces into weak positions due to unknown future developments. So, why not pull out some books and memorize some lines? Why not purchase some theory texts and review key elements of different positions. Well, time. I just don't have enough to do a full study.

Well, here it is. The two key elements. Players of my similar strength and a new opening to test it out. My goal, to see what similarly equipped players do against solid developing features. My commitment will be to get each game posted with some comments on this blog. I will strive to do so by the next week, (we play each game on Wednesday night). Well, those are my thoughts at this point, lets see how well they hold up. Have fun all, and keep pushing those pieces.