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.

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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.

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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...
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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.

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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.

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.

Small Achievements

It has been a while since I have posted.  It seems like I have more time during the holiday season then the rest of the year.  I guess this is why so few players become Masters after they reach the age of 30, life just gets in the way. 

Well, even though life gets in the way, I have been able to play few games and work my way up to a Class B player.  Given, a low Class B player but a Class B none the less.  I have had a few very good tournaments that have allowed me to reach this step on my way to becoming an expert including two wins to a 2100 but I still find it very very hard to defeat or draw a 1950 - 2050 player.  My weakness seems to have been shifting from my poor opening selection (which is still weak but decent for now) to tactics and miscalculations in the middle game.

Give those flaws I was able to find a few really good move combinations in a game this past week.  Here I am playing Kevin Geiss.  He is a newer player who has come a long way in the past few months of playing.  In the three games that we have played (each with me having the black pieces) we have fought to the end game and in two cases, I was able to control the final piece trade only when my pawns were in a much stronger position. 

Here is the game that I would like to show.  Now I have not hit this game with a computer so this is just some personal review so feel free to comment on what you think.

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The First Game of the Year

Hey Everyone,

I hope all had a good holiday season.  But not that all the presents are opened, family time had and everyone has returned back to their normal lives it is time to get back to chess.  Last week saw the first round of the 2011 Winter Swiss and as the first tournament of the year, I played the first ever Bird's Opening as White.  If you have read any of my other posts you will know that I have once again altered my openning selection including the Bird Opening.  I will only play this as White this year so hopefully I will be able to quickly learn the ins and outs of it.

I have my game listed below with my thoughts included.  I did not go through it with a computer yet becuase I find it important to look at the game and try to remember what I was thinking so that is what I did here.  I'm sure there is a lot that I missed but then this is how one learns.

If you have any feedback on my game, please let me know.  I hope you enjoy it.

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