A Change of Mind

Last night I played the fourth and final round in one in one of my toughest tournaments.  I was paired against two masters, on 2100 rated player and this final game against a very strong 1800 player.  Having scored 1.5 points so far, even a loss would still provide me the strongest performance rating in an event and earn me the final 2nd Category Norm (for whatever that means).

As the game progressed I really enjoyed my position.  It had a number of inblances, many to my liking.  I had some good attacking lines and had activated most of my pieces.  I had used that advantge to gain a really good attack on Black's king but then I failed at one thing, not "having a change of mind."

There reached a point in the game where I needed to convert the position to winning endgame but for some reason I looked at the move and then decided against it choosing a move that pretty much lost instantly.  Maybe it just takes a few of these close games to remember that when it looks like your main ideas are no longer working that you need to step back and take a clean look at the board.  Review what is infront of you now without taking considerations for the prevouse moves.

If I could have done that reset, if you will, I'm sure I would have found the correct move to make.

But my hat off to Aaron, he did well in teaching me a lesson that I hope not to forget.

2013 Fall Swiss, Waukesha, WI
Carerros, Charles vs. Krause, Aaron

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h 0

(black to move) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. e3 Bd6 6. c5 Be7 7. Ne5 O-O 8. Qc2 c6 9. Bd3 g6 10. Bd2 Qc7 11. h4 Bxc5 12. Nxg6 fxg6 13. dxc5 e5 14. h5 gxh5 15. e4 Be6 16. Bh6 Rf7 17. exd5 cxd5 18. Bxh7+ Nxh7 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxe6 Nc6 21. Rxh5 Nd4 22. Qg6 Rg8 23. Qd3 Rxg2

[ Flip the board | Reset | Options… ] Play online chess

 

Options:
	- allow legal moves only;
	- use short algebraic notation;
movement/animation speed: (slow) (fast)
	- show legal moves;

 

Pawn promotion:
	- Queen
	- Rook
	- Bishop
	- Knight

First Win Over a Master

Last week at the club I was paired against a Master.  This isn't uncommon for me as my rating falls into the middle of the pack so under Swiss pairing rules that gives me good odds of being paired against a Master in the first round.  I guess I could add that this was the third round of the event and the second Master I was faced.

Well here is the game with my notes.  Please feel free to add in any thoughts.  I didn't use a computer to evaluate the positions so these are just my thoughts.

2013 Fall Swiss, Waukesha, WI
Cooper, Jeff (2200) vs. Carerros, Charles (1590)

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h 0

(black to move) 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 Nf6 3. c3 Nc6 4. d4 d5 5. e5 Nd7 6. Nh3 h6 7. Nf4 Ne7 8. Qf3 Ng6 9. Nxg6 fxg6 10. Bd3 Qe7 11. Bxg6+ Kd8 12. g3 c5 13. b3 cxd4 14. Ba3 Qg5 15. Qf7 Qxe5+ 16. Kd1 dxc3 17. Qe8+ Kc7 18. Bc1 c2+ 19. Kxc2 Qxa1 20. Nc3 e5 21. Nxd5+ Kb8 22. Qd8 Bd6 23. Qxh8 Qxa2+ 24. Bb2 Nc5 25. Bf5 Qxb3+ 26. Kb1 a6 27. Qxc8+ Ka7 28. Qxa8+ Kxa8 29. Nc3 e4 30. Rd1 Be5 31. Rd8+ Ka7

[ Flip the board | Reset | Options… ] Play chess online

 

Options:
	- allow legal moves only;
	- use short algebraic notation;
movement/animation speed: (slow) (fast)
	- show legal moves;

 

Pawn promotion:
	- Queen
	- Rook
	- Bishop
	- Knight

A Changing Point

It has been a long time since I have posted, but then there hasn't been a whole lot to post about.  Overall my play has been pretty weak and over the past six months my rating has done one thing, go down.

I have lost some games where I was up pieces and others where I just couldn't figure my way out of the opening and pretty much lost by the 10th move of the game.  Of all things, that bugs me the most.   All that said however, I am currently preparing for one of the most pivotal games that I have played all year long.  In a few days I will face off against Aaron Krause who is a very strong 1800 player.  If I manage to pull a draw I will conclude this four round event with 2.5 points but even more importantly, with the strongest performance I have ever had in a tournament.

I do believe that all three games that I have played in this tournament are more than worthy of being posted here and I will see to that upon the conclusion of the event, but I think it is worthwhile for me to consider my preperation at this point.  After all preperation is key to any successful endever.

So, to start I have done a few things:
1)  I pulled all the games that I have played against Aaron using 1. d4 (my chosen opening move).  This amounted to only one game.
2)  I contacted two other club players that I thought might be able to provide me similar games against Aaron.  This added one more game to my list.
3)  In both of these games Aaron played similar openings which leads me to the sequence that I will start to study.
4)  I pulled my copy of the MCO and "The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White" off the shelf to look at.
5)  I ran the first ten moves of each game through Stockfish to see what moves and ideas come from that.
6)  Reviewed my past game with Aaron in detail.

The best I know of now is that I will be seeking a game that looks something like Kernes Defense: 1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7.

So, if any viewers here use this opening and know of any major pitfalls or traps, I would love to hear them.

Have fun...

Tough Game

Hey all,

So this week the club started a new event.  In the first round I was paired against the highest rated player so I had limited hope but with but it has been my experience that this match up always ends with a good lesson. Bill is one of those players that after winning is more than happy to look at the game and provide some pointers on where I went wrong.  As I learn this is always a great chance for me to get in a game and get a learning conversation out of it afterwards.

Well, this game didn't get me the conversation, mainly because we were the last game to finish up and I lost in the end by dropping a rook.  Without that move I had some good chances to win.  That said, there were still many ways I could have improved my play and for once I played game against Bill that I was proud of, even given the massive blunder in the end.

If you have comments, please make them.

2013 February Swiss, Waukesha, WI
Carerros, Charles vs. Williams, William

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h 0

(black to move) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Qd5 Qe7 7. Nc3 Ngxe5 8. Be2 d6 9. a3 Be6 10. Qe4 a5 11. O-O O-O 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Qxb7 Nxc4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Ne5 16. Bd2 c6 17. Qe4 f5 18. Qc2 a4 19. b4 axb3 e.p. 20. Qxb3+ d5 21. Bb4 Rfb8 22. Bxc5 Qxc5 23. Qa2 Ra4 24. Rfc1 Qd6 25. Rc3 Kf8 26. Qc2 Re4 27. f3 Rh4 28. Qxf5+ Kg8 29. g3 Rh6 30. f4 Nd7 31. Rac1 Rf6 32. Qh3 c5 33. Bg4 d4 34. Rd3 Rh6 35. Qg2 Nf6 36. Bf3 c4 37. Rxd4 Qxa3 38. Qe2 Qxc1+ 39. Rd1 Qc3 40. g4 Rb2

[ Flip the board | Reset | Options… ] Play chess online

 

Options:
	- allow legal moves only;
	- use short algebraic notation;
movement/animation speed: (slow) (fast)
	- show legal moves;

 

Pawn promotion:
	- Queen
	- Rook
	- Bishop
	- Knight

Tough Game

Two weeks ago I had a chance to play a very tough opponent.  The start of the game went pretty well overall and then I started to fall apart.  It wasn't that I made massive blunders but I just didn't find the best moves and after going over the game I realized that my real issue was.

I never had a good plan.  I think this is one of the key elements I need to work on.  As I sit around and talk to other plays I always comment about my lack of Opening knowledge.  I often mention that I lose a game in the opening and then just play until I am completely lost.  My plans for work around this has been to purchase books in openings that I think I like and to work through them a bit. 

I have books on the French, King's Indian, general openings and standard theory.  But I think I realized that I'm working this from the wrong angle.  I think I need to determine where I want to get in the middle game.  What things are important to me?  I know that I prefer the Bishop pair.  I play best when fighting for the flanks then centering all my pieces on the center.  I have become more of a positional player than tactics meaning that endgames with a simple pawn advantage are where I end up most of the time. 

I need to start from the middle.  I'm not sure how to do that.   I think, I need a new plan for studying.  So I'm going to add something new to my training.  I have decided to use my Chess Master software and start a tournament and try to play an additional game there a week.  Try something new and learn something else.  I guess I will see.

Now, to get back to the beginning.  Here is my game I wanted to show this week:

Have fun.

2013 Winter Swiss, Waukesha, WI
Carerros, Charles (1662) vs. McCutchin, Clark (2024)

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h 0

(white to move) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Bd3 exd5 9. cxd5 Re8 10. O-O a6 11. f5 b5 12. fxg6 fxg6 13. Qc2 c4 14. Be2 Nbd7 15. Nd4 Nc5 16. Bg5 Rf8 17. Bf3 Qb6 18. Nce2 Bd7 19. Kh1 Rae8 20. Nf4 Nfxe4 21. Nde6 Nxg5 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 23. Ne6 Ncxe6 24. dxe6 Bxe6

[ Flip the board | Reset | Options… ] Play online chess

 

Options:
	- allow legal moves only;
	- use short algebraic notation;
movement/animation speed: (slow) (fast)
	- show legal moves;

 

Pawn promotion:
	- Queen
	- Rook
	- Bishop
	- Knight

A Bad Game

This past week, I had the opportunity to play a good player who is close to my rating.  Given my current rating this isn't something that occurs that often in the club so I was pretty excited about it.  With the two hours per side, I was hoping for nice long game with a lot of complications, something I could really dig into and have fun with.  But, that was not the case.  Instead I resigned after 15 moves because I couldn't stand to look at the position any longer.

After it was over, Jim sat down and showed me that my second move was bad (1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bg4??)  And from there it went down hill.  So, other than being complete annoyed at myself for two full days, I have decided on two main items.

The first will be to learn to play something against Nf3 so I don't lose so quickly and the second is to play ever game for the rest of the year out until either I get checkmated, it is a draw or I win.  This second item will be most difficult I fear as I tend to resign positions that I believe are completely lost but I think this is something that I need to do to become a better player.

I guess I will have to see about that.  But until then, time to hit the book and see what Larry Kaufman has recommended against Nf3 in "The Kaufman Repertoire for Black and White". This is my opening logic book as of now.

Have fun...
.

A new year once again

So it is a new year which means that I will start again with my blog.  I'm not sure if anyone really looks at this but the best way to improve your game is to review the games that you play.

The game that I'm showing here was played last week.  It was the start of a new year and a new tournament.  This tournament is of the Swiss format and being the person right in the middle it meant that I was paired against the lowest rated player in the section.  Typically that means for an easy game however one of the main things that I need to work on this year is winning games that I'm supposed to win.

When I play a lower rated player, I tend to be a bit sloppy in my games.  Perhaps in the back of my mind I just think that they are going to blunder something to me so I can just move quickly until that happens.  From experience, this is almost never the case and I have been known to drop games against lower rated players just for this reason. 

So here is my game with some notes.

2013 Winter Swiss, Waukesha, WI
Carerros, Charles (1662) vs. Gerus, Scott (1128), G\120 td5

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 a b c d e f g h 0

(white to move) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd8 5. Bf4 g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. e3 O-O 8. Bc4 Ne8 9. h4 Nd6 10. Bd3 Bg4 11. Qb3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 a6 13. h5 Kh8 14. hxg6 h6 15. Bxh6 Bxh6 16. Rxh6+ Kg7 17. Rh7+ Kf6 18. Nd5+ Kg5 19. f4+ Kg4 20. Qd1#

[ Flip the board | Reset | Options… ] Play online chess

 

Options:
	- allow legal moves only;
	- use short algebraic notation;
movement/animation speed: (slow) (fast)
	- show legal moves;

 

Pawn promotion:
	- Queen
	- Rook
	- Bishop
	- Knight

As you can see I was able to pull this one out but this game is still a great instructional tool as it outlines a very key point that many lower rated players see, the key of developing your pieces.

Have fun all.