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 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

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 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 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...