The Prodigal Pawn

What I found in my closet and other thoughts........

2012-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:00

School is back in session so it is back to my 40 minute tactics/endgame work with my morning coffee! I decided not to play a G/60 this weekend just to take a break from competitive chess, be it OTB or ICC!

I have been studying some master games in the Open Sicilian (my nemesis). I have found myself drawn to the games of Judit Polgar, Vishy Anand, and Tal! Right now I am annotating one of Polgar's games in the Open Sicilian (as White).

I also went digging in my book closet and found three books! One I had read a few years ago, one I come back to every once in awhile and one I kind of forgot about:

1) "How To Play Good Opening Moves" by Edmar Mednis: Great book on opening principles AND he has two entire chapters on the basic principles of the Sicilian! Great stuff. Nothing too deep but just enough to help look at aforementioned master games with a little more clarity! Mednis was the man!!

2) "Strategic Chess" by Edmar Mednis: Basically a book about closed openings. I decided I am going to dig into the chapters on the Queen's Indian now that I have played quite a few games in that opening. Mednis really does explain this type of topics (openings) better than ANYONE! If Mednis wrote a book any opening I ever wanted play I would buy it sight unseen.

3) "The Art of The Middlegame" by Kotov, Keres and Golombek: I forgot I had this book BUT I decided to peruse the chapter on attack by Kotov! What a great chapter! He outlines basic principles for attack on the castled and uncastled king as well as for kings castled on opposite sides. And the examples are awesome and highlight the principles really well. Obviously he can only go so deep in 50 pages or so but it is just enough for me as I have never really studied "attacking" other than reading over games and/or attacking tactical problems. So this is perfect for me! I think it will help me analyze my games better and even analyze some master games!

I hope everyone is doing well! I will post the annotated Polgar game in a few days.

OTB tournament--The Games

2012-01-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

So here are the games from yesterday's OTB tournament.

Game One: A really good game until I crack under time pressure. Neither one of us make any glaring mistakes. This was one of my funnest games ever. I gotta learn to control the clock a little better AND even if in time trouble I need to look for the best move. In my blunder I knew it wasn't right but I played hope chess. Here is the game:

Game Two: Another good game. My opponent slowly gained an edge and I made a few mistakes that compounded upon each other. However it was tense over the board. A fun and instructive game for me! (and I really gotta learn when to make pawn pushes!!)

Here is the game:

Game Three: The win! A couple of you mentioned that I should not feel that this win was tainted because my opponent was late and was down 30 minutes on the clock. It was his fault. However I think the quality of chess was a little less than the first two games. BUT I am happy with the win. Oddly enough I am okay with my speculative piece sacrifice in this game which caused my opponent to resign! I DID NOT see the better move (unlike in the first game where I saw the better move but did not play it) ALSO I played this sacrifice more out of psychological factors as I could tell my opponent was not wanting to fight for the game. So this was an unsound sacrifice of my knight but it worked!

Here is the game:

I HOPE I can get to a few more OTB tournaments this year. This was the first OTB tourney where I felt I could actually play and hang and be a part of good games. I want that to continue! Have a great week.

OTB tournament results!

2012-01-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today's OTB tourney (my first tourney since June and only my third since 2009!) was a 3 round Swiss system, G/90.

Full disclosure part 1: Even though my ICC rating has crept up to 1502 my OTB rating has remained (for lack of play AND lack of skill!!) at 740!.

For the first game I had the Black pieces against someone rated about 1660 or so. It was a GREAT game! One of my best until I was running short on time and did not play the safe move but instead played a piece sacrifice that was VERY UNSOUND! I knew it was but I also felt time pressure as my opponent still had 50 minutes and I had ten! I should have played the safe move. This was a REALLY fun game!

For the second game I had the White pieces against someone rated 1706. It was again a good solid game. He got a pawn advantage and played a great moving choosing to exchange rooks on HIS terms and went on to win as he had two pawns threatening to promote and I could in no way stop both. Another well played and very fun game!

For the third game I WON against someone rated 1633!! I had the Black pieces for this game.

Full disclosure part 2; This game had a touch of controversy (sort of). My opponent was late for the game and we even waited a few minutes but then we started his clock. The TD stated that by rules the person had an hour to show up. My opponent EVENTUALLY showed up with 30 minutes already gone on his clock!
He seemed not happy about it but those are the rules.

The game was an interesting one and took awhile before there were any exchanges! Eventually my opponent caught up to me as I was taking a long time to think (I am happy to say I sat on my hands for MOST of the day). But my position started to slip so I played one of my favorite moves in a chess game I have ever played! It was speculative and not all that sound BUT I could tell my opponent was not happy and feeling rattled from the lateness issue. And I also felt he was slowly gaining and advantage and I was tired so I GAMBLED! And it worked. My opponent didn't feel like figuring things out and resigned. (more on that position when I post the games)

So it was a good victory, not a great one with the late start etc. But it was a win. And the two losses were really fun and I feel that they will be very instructive.

I will be posting the games tomorrow after I run through them.

So my record for the tourney was 1 win, 2 losses.

I GOTTA play more OTB!! :)

Some fun but most likely meaningless statistics from my chess games!

2012-01-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

SO just for the heck of it I went database diving in the great FREE software, Scid vs. PC.

Ever since I began playing at least one G/60-G/65 a week I have been keeping a fairly tidy database of my games. (this dates back to September 20th or so when I rejoined the ICC)

Since September 20th, 2011 I have played 66 games of chess. All but 21 of them were of the G/60 or G/65 variety. 20 were a smattering of G/20 or G/30 at Chess.com and then there was one correspondence game at Chess.com.

Because I got nothing else to do here are my current chess statistics:

After a few games my rating at ICC was 1198. That was in early October. About four months later my current rating at ICC is 1502

My Stats with the White pieces:

33 Games: 17 wins and 16 losses.

23 games were G/60 or G/65. 10 were at G/20 or G/30

My opponent's average rating has been 1393 when I play with the White pieces.

My best win as White: Black was rated 1453
My worst loss as White: Black was rated 1198

(and I SUCK against the Sicilian with the White pieces--not ONE win
playing against a Sicilian opening as White!)

Opening statistics for the White pieces are hard to decipher as I have been playing a lot of different openings as White lately. I DO KNOW I SUCK against the Sicilian! :)

My Stats with the Black Pieces:

33 Games: 17 wins, 13 losses, 3 draws

23 games were G/60 or G/65. 9 were at G/20 or G/30
and 1 was a correspondence game at Chess.com (which I won)

My opponent's average rating has been 1374 when I have the Black pieces.

My Best Win as Black: White was rated 1509
My Worst loss as Black: White was rated 1287

Best opening as Black: I am scoring at 75% against 1. e4 with the 2...e6 Sicilian.

Worst opening as Black: The ENGLISH! I losing 75% of my games against the English.

So OF COURSE all of this does not mean much at all!! But it is interesting that I seem to score a bit better with the Black pieces?? But with so few games it is still a statistical anomaly!

The OTB tournament is this weekend! But for the first time ever going to an OTB tournament I feel that I can at least hang at the chessboard. (within a certain level player of course) And that is a good feeling!! I just need to think, play the position, and have fun!!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will post Saturday or Sunday with a tournament report. (it is a one day 3 round, G90 swiss!)

The last two games of my chess flurry! A loss and a win!

2012-01-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

The following G/65 LOSS was very instructive for me. I at first thought I miscalculated around move 15 and that was how I got in trouble. WRONG! I was calculating the wrong things! I did not look at the position to see what needed to be done! (I played the entire game that way!) My opponent understand that everything was focused on the c file during the beginning and middle and made me pay for my misunderstanding of the position.

Here is the game. I was playing the White pieces:

So with that in my mind I spent a lot more time looking at the position and trying to calculate correct things in today's G/65. I OF COURSE did not get everything right BUT I did get a win in a hard fought game that went down to only a little bit of time left on the clock.

Here is the game. I was playing the Black pieces:

So school is starting up and my chess flurry will end. Next Saturday I go to my OTB tournament! YAY!

Later this week I will give some thoughts on my chess before the OTB tourney and then of course post those games when I get them worked up.

This week will just be normal tactics and endgame work and reading through some Keres' games!

TWO reviews! One is a book and the other is a free Chess GUI

2012-01-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

The semester is slowly approaching so my weekly G/65 will again be weekly. (although there is my OTB tourney NEXT weekend!)

So today I present two reviews. I am going to present some reviews of books that I KNOW have actually helped me along the way. Of course Your Mileage May Vary. In a recent post I lamented the fact that the chess publishing world doesn't always know how to publish a text book or even when they should make a book a text move. Not every book needs to be a text book but more of the chess tomes out there would better serve the readers if they were set up to be text books!

The Book Review

The Art of the Checkmate by Georges Renaud and Viktor Kahn

Overview

Most of you are aware of this book. It is a course in checkmating! Simple as that. The authors show the basic patterns using games and game fragments. (usually very entertaining games!) After each chapter is a section of problems where one can test themselves on the very patterns they have been reading about! (TEXTBOOK!)

Pros:

Great examples of the mating patterns within the chosen games. Good annotations.
The test puzzles are all great and not necessarily easy.
An easy book to read AND to get involved with.
If a person actually spends some time with the test puzzles after reading through the examples he or she should have a fairly clear understanding and usable knowledge of the basic mating patterns in chess.

Cons:

The only one I can think of is that is in descriptive notation which has never bothered me at all.

The Verdict:

A great book that it is probably on of the 4 or 5 most important books I have read and WORKED through in my brief Chessic career.

The GUI Review

The Tarrasch GUI-a Free and wonderful piece of software

Overview:

This software is SIMPLY wonderful. I have been a big fan of the Shredder Classic GUI since I started pursuing Chess. The Tarrasch GUI has not replaced the Shredder GUI YET, but it is so easy to use that I am going to be keeping an eye on it! And it is free. You can play games against the computer, analyze, annotate with PROSE and variations. (annotating is SUPER easy in the Tarrasch GUI...I mean SUPER easy! I am not often a fan of bells and whistles which is why I like the Shredder Classic GUI. And it is why I am quickly growing fond of the Tarrasch GUI. I like to be able to get to work and play quickly!

Pros:

FREE!
Reads and saves PGNS with ease and actually is user friendly.
Playing a game with time handicaps is really easy to do.
As stated above, annotating is SUPER easy.
Any pgn can be your opening book so it is really easy to check out your repertoire. (no need for Chessbase repertoire editors here)
Pasting FENs in etc. etc. also seems easy.

Cons:

I have as yet not found out how to change the UCI parameters in the engine in use. (this might be on me)
The color scheme does not seem customizable but that does bother me AT ALL. I do know that this is important to some people so I listed it.
Does not seem capable of searching databases for position, material etc. etc. But that doesn't seem to be it's intent.

The Verdict:

This is without a doubt the best FREE GUI I have seen that allows one to quickly get to work playing a game against a computer opponent, annotating one's own games or others, and/or analyzing with an engine. It truly is simple, straightforward and excellent. Between this and Scid vs. PC (also free) the big boys are going to have a tough time when asking for my money. I am already done with Chessbase forever!

Have a great weekend!

OTB vs online play, engines vs. not engines and the realities of life

2012-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

Good day everyone!

My tournament prep continues! My first OTB tournament since June fast approaches and I am excited. I am continuing to win and lose online but have raised my rating (for whatever that is worth) at ICC to 1501. I of course have no delusion how that will actually translate to my USCF rating in real games. BUT it does mean I am a better player than I was just last September when my start rating (after a few initial losses ) was hovering at 1200 at ICC. And of course a few years ago during my first run at ICC my rating was never able to climb past 900 or so.

When I set a seek I always set it for about 30-50 points less than my current rating and about 100-150 points higher than my current rating. I am definitely trying to get games with better and better players.

But on to today's topic. I am choosing not to inundate you with my games for this post but instead want to tackle two topic that have come up in recent comments:

1) Are internet games a waste of time?

2) How to use chess engines for post game analysis OR should one use them at all?

These are valid questions!! VERY valid questions.

Before I provide my answers I want it to be known that this post is in no way meant to be a retort to LinuxGuy, ChessTiger or Laurent S. (the three posters who inspired me to meditate on these topics!!) All three of these bloggers have made GREAT and insightful comments throughout the history of my blog. I welcome their comments. I am glad they made me think about this stuff. :) Now on with it:

Question 1: Are internet chess games a waste of time?

I will go on record as saying that given the choice, I would ALWAYS prefer OTB play at G/90 or longer over any internet play. Period! In fact I believe this SO MUCH that it actually held back my progress as I avoided internet chess for a few years. My mistake!! The truth of the matter is that I live, at best, two hours away from a club that has tournaments on a regular basis on weekends. So even when I do have a Saturday off, it is hard to give up that day off to drive fours hours round trip! A man has to rest a bit!!

The closer clubs have tournaments with one game a week BUT my schedule during the school year precludes me from taking part in these types of tournaments. My weekly schedule deviates SO MUCH with concerts, gigs, last minute rehearsals etc. etc. that I can not commit to a tournament that last 4-5 weeks during the school year.

Now during the summer this should be a little better, and it would have been this past summer until my leg and back problem took me out of commission for the bulk of the summer. But hey that is life!

During the school year is another issue entirely! I could just not play at all or play my weekly G/65 at ICC (playing a bit more right now to gear up for the tournament). It is these weekly G/65 games that I THINK have been a big help in my recent improvement! It has to be better to play than to not play. I don't play less then G/60 (unless I am totally bored and whip off a G/30 at Chess.com-but those are RARE and I never play blitz...hate blitz!)

So LinuxGuy is correct when he states OTB is better for us, but reality won't let that happen too much at the moment. It is better for me to play some games, even if on the internet, than to not play at all!!

So the answer to question 1 is NO, internet chess games are not a waste of time as long I try to find serious competition (within a certain rating range correlated with my rating) and play G/65 or longer 95% of the time.

Question 2: How to use chess engines for post game analysis OR should one use them at all?

Both LinuxGuy and Chesstiger (and Laurent S) advocated using the engines sparingly, if at all, when going over my games. And again in a perfect world they are correct. One should aim to use engines less and less as we grow as players. I agree with ALL three of them.

Laurent S advocated going over my games with strong players. But this is tough for the reasons stated above in my answer to question #1. But the thing is, is that since I can not really get to a strong player for help, the engine(s) is my strong player or players. They are there to offer me suggestions when I can not figure out the answer myself. They also make great training partners when a serious internet game can not be found.

Although I have posted on this already (here) I want to reiterate that I DO NOT just let the engine annotate the game for me while I drink coffee and watch a movie. I go over the game on my own at least once (usually twice) looking for mistakes and improvements. THEN I go over the game again with an engine, BUT I have the engine's move choice hidden. I do not know what the engine is picking! I can only see the engine's evaluation. This helps me to see critical moments in the game that I may have missed on my own. At this point I STOP the engine and try to figure out the better move or plan on my own! IE: A styoko type exercise or two or three every time I go over one of my games. After I give that a go, THEN and ONLY THEN do I look at what the engine's choice would be. And then for fun I see if another engine or two or three may have another trick up their sleeve! This part is fun and can often be very very educational!! This type of analysis has been very instructive and again my recent improvements in play have coincided with taking up this EXACT method of post game analysis.

So the answer to question 2 is YES I should use engines BUT I should strive to gain more and more independence from them. AND NEVER just let the engine annotate the game while watching a Rugby match!! Engine use must be interactive for it to be of any benefit.

So there ya go! Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Today's long games..A Loss and then a win!

2012-01-06T17:57:00.000-08:00

I played a morning G/60 at FICS and got MANHANDLED by my opponent. I guess I played OK for a bit and then I just bungled all over myself and my opponent tossed me aside like a dishrag. It was a complete defeat! I chased a few non-threats in this game and THEN got way too excited harassing his queen and forgot to watch over my own position!

I fared better in my afternoon G/65 at ICC! I won 2..e6 Sicilian with the Black pieces against a slightly higher rated opponent. He went for exchanges early and then I won in the endgame. I missed a few things in the ending but overall I was happy with my play in this endgame. I had a plan and was able to implement it.

First we have the loss:

Now here is the win:

Seeya Tomorrow!!

A win, a loss and thoughts on post game analysis!

2012-01-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

I played a G/60 on FICS today and then a G/65 on ICC. I won the first and lost the second!

Both were instructive. The loss more so (as per usual).

I am going to play a lot in the next week or so as I get ready for my first OTB tournament in well over six months and probably my last OTB tournament until the summer.

Before I post the games I would like to discuss post game analysis. In the comment section to my last post, reader Laurent S. wrote:

"Hello ! Congratulations on your win ! Though I'm a bit surprised you use so many chess engines to analyze your game :-)

May I suggest you try and post your own analysis first ? In my experience, it helps identify the biggest mistakes better."

Laurent brings up the CORRECT point that one should analyze on their own first before throwing some engines at the game. I told him that I agreed. In my annotations it may be hard to tell when I am analyzing and when the engine analyzes. If I did not see the correct move in post game analysis and only found it with the engine I will state "engine so and so likes this move" or something to that effect. If I just give the variation with comments, I found the move and then corroborated it with an engine after the fact.

But where we can really use engines is not in finding moves BUT helping us see where we should have looked for other moves!! Check it out:

In the Shredder Classic GUI (and I am sure in other GUIs as well) you can set it so that while you are analyzing, you only see the engine's evaluation..NOT the move choice....!! This is key! So then, when you find a dip or rise in evaluation that you weren't expecting you STOP the engine and spend some minutes really picking the position apart ON YOUR OWN! Then turn the engine on again and see if your new answer was what it was looking for. See what happens with this method?? Whether it be a win or a loss, you have created Mini-Styoko exercises out of YOUR OWN GAMES!! BOO-YA!!!!!!!

I can't tell you how much this has helped me really learn from my mistakes! So here is my post game analysis method in a nutshell:

Go over the game ON MY OWN, looking for better moves and jotting down thoughts on the various important positions.
Go over it again with a theoretical database and look at the opening.
Go over it one more time and recheck my thoughts and make more notes.
NOW I go over the game again with Houdini 2. But I do this with the aforementioned setting where I CANNOT see Houdini's move choice! So every time the evaluation makes a decent jump up or down (2 to 3 centipawns or whatever they call them) then I stop the engine and do a mini-styoko. Then I check my answer with Houdini!
I repeat the previous step over and over until I have gone through the entire game.
Finally I take the important positions where I did the mini-styokos and I let another engine or three check them out for alternative moves. This sometimes proves pointless BUT it often can be very ILLUMINATING!! It is VERY important to spend time with the alternate variation(s) on your own so you understand it AND can make a somewhat informed opinion over which variation you like best!

So with that in mind I give you my two games from today.

First the win:

And now the loss:

Until next time...Be Well!!

First ICC G/65 of the new year..a win!

2012-01-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

Today's G/65 (I am slowly bumping up the amount of time for these serious long games!) was a win for me. I was playing with the Black pieces. I played a 2...e6 Sicilian and almost bungled it early after a few VERY WRONG pawn moves. But my opponent traded queens too early and then continued pressing his attack when it was clearly over. Then I won the endgame.

Here is the game:

I hope everyone has a great night!!

Something new-tournament prep

2012-01-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Holiday time and is excited about the new year!

I am going to go to an OTB tournament (finally!) in two and a half weeks because once school starts up again there will be no OTB for awhile. (and I will be back to my weekly ICC G/60)

For this tournament I am going to try something new (since I have the time)

I am going to continue with my daily tactics and endgame practice but will add the following:

3 styoko exercises a week leading up to the tournament.
play TWO G/60 a week at ICC
Bonafide opening preparation! (and before Chesstiger gets in a tizzy about opening study, I will state yet again that I have not purchased an opening book in two years and have only been studying openings as part of my post mortem analysis of games)
The two days before the tournament will consist only of normal tactics and endgame practice. That way I will be fresh for the tournament.

So who knows? I am excited to get to an OTB tournament again.

I will be back later this week with another pro and con book review.

EDIT: Instead of Styoko exercises I decided to go ahead play 1 or 2 extra G/60 a week leading up to the tournament.

Chess Secrets: Giants of Chess Strategy--A book review

2011-12-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

I just finished Neil McDonald's, "Chess Secrets: The Giants of Chess Strategy".

I have actually had the book for a few years but wisely knew I was not ready for it. So I held off on it until now. It is a pretty good book. Not great, not bad. Before I summarize the verdict, I will start with a bullet point presentation on the pros and cons:

Pros:

McDonald does his customary GREAT job of annotating for instruction and entertainment. McDonald really is one of our best annotators! (He really should tackle a book on Pillsbury!!)
Some great games featuring Capbalanca, Nimzowitsch, Petrosian, Karpov and Kramnik!!
All the games are very well chosen for the topic at hand. (maybe a few more Petrosian games could have been added)
Few typos, nice layout.

Cons:

The book doesn't know what it really wants to be! Is it a games collection? Is it a text book on strategy? (more on this later in the post!)
The game snippets interrupted the flow of the book. Again, I can't tell what the book really wants to be. I don't think this is the author's fault! Everyman Publishers gave him a concept and he did his best with it. I think the concept is too wishy-washy.
Switching from player to player also interrupted the flow of the book. I found myself drifting!

Verdict:

I am glad I went through the book and I think there is some great instruction, BUT the book can't decide what it is trying to do and that harms its over all effectiveness. If it is a strategy text book it should focus mostly on game snippets that make a point, with plenty of prose and then some tests! If it is a games collection it should have no snippets, all the good annotations that McDonald always gives, and more discussion per move. Oddly enough, I can't recommend the book or NOT recommend it!! :) There are better game collections ( a few by McDonald himself!) and there are better strategy textbooks (Silman's, "The Amateur Mind."). Overall, you can probably pass on "Chess Secrets: Giants of Chess Strategy." It won't hurt you to read it but it ain't gonna help all that much either. It is a shame, because McDonald always does such great work but in this case he was stymied by the publisher's concept.......

.......................WHICH brings me to my final point. I think that too many chess books suffer from the same malaise as the one I just reviewed. They don't know if they are text books, puzzle books or games collections, etc. etc. Games collections should only try to draw out the lessons of the current game on the page. The annotations should include historic tidbits, remarks on the opening theory, instructional prose and relevant variations. By playing through 60 or more annotated games of the same great player, one can not help but to intake some of that player's style and chessic acumen. (which would then be greatly enhanced by astute self analysis of that same player's games!!) Text books should use EXAMPLES, not entire games. The examples should be focused, and well annotated and should last longer than the moves surrounding that particular topic. There should be tests in a text book! If the chess publishing world as a whole, could get a handle on these concepts we would all be better off! (and don't get me started on opening books!!) :)

Till next time!!

Two ICC games both G/60 with a 10 second increment....One loss and one win.

2011-12-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

The first game was from last weekend and it was an interesting game. I had a nice position and then got aggressive with an "attack". And even though the attack was a bit loose I could have still played on with the slightest of advantage. But I missed the best continuations and my opponent DID NOT! And he calmly went on to put me away.

The second game was from this evening. I win this game with my old friend the Ruy Lopez! It was a bit of a back and forth affair with both me and my opponent having chances to win. At one point my stunted queenside development finally catches up to me and my opponent should have won. I hang around with the slightest inclination that he wasn't sure how to proceed in the endgame and sure enough he lets me back in the game and I am able to steal a win! I tend to steal a lot of wins from people by just hanging around. ??

Here is the first game..the loss:

And here is tonight's game...the win:

Have a great Saturday!

The difference between Practicing Chess Tactics and Practicing the Application of Chess Tactics, some software reviews and the WORST advice I ever received about chess openings!

2011-12-12T19:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!!

I think there are many factors to the recent improvement in my chess game. One of the most important factors has been finally finding (and using correctly), the right tactics course!!

That course is the Chess Tactics Levels 1,2 and 3 in the ChessOK Peshka Software.

I tried Peshka a long time ago and was not impressed. I do think they ironed out the bugs and I LOVE it now. So I purchased these courses based on Wang's review at his blog. And I am very glad I did. The level of progression is just about perfect. And Level 2 is hard for me for me right now. I know that fellow chess blogger Empirical Rabbit did not like a similar course in the Peshka interface. I don't know about that particular training course but I don't agree with his negative comments regarding the Peshka interface. The interface is solid, easy to use, and the courses are fairly inexpensive. I highly recommend Chess Tactics Level 1, 2 and 3 and the Peshka Interface by ChessOk!!

I have repeated Level 1 five times now and scored well over 90% on each individual lesson the last time through, so I am done with that course. (I do believe that repetition is a fundamental key to improvement, I DON'T believe in the big circles blowout as described by MDLM)

So now I am going to repeat Level 2 roughly 5 times until I score over 90% on each individual lesson on a run through. (and then the same with level 3) Notice I am not declaring any sort of "this many problems a day and this many problems a day the last time through by the first week of March" ultimatum. I think that kind of thinking is poppycock and detrimental to one's improvement. To repeat and learn and embed these tactics in my memory at a thoughtful pace and thorough manner is the important thing!

Which brings me to my main point on tactics training (actually chess training in general):

The difference between practice and application.

Practice is the repetition of a skill until it becomes second nature! That is the part that MLDM got right. (just like practicing scales in music).

Application is NOT playing games! Playing the game is the final part! Application has to be practiced as well and THAT is what you are doing when you do RANDOM puzzles at Chess Tempo OR take a swing at a Styoko type analysis exercise. THEN you start to use the stuff in games.

This is key and it is the essential how and why of becoming a good musician. (which I have already accomplished in my professional endeavors and continue to improve upon) And Chess has A LOT in common with music...especially jazz and improvised music. (that is another post!)

The trick is knowing if one need to practice (the actual acquiring of a skill...such as basic tactical patterns or harder tactical patterns or pawn endgames) or if one needs to work on application (Chess Tempo site or Styoko's etc. etc.). Now that I am done with Level 1 I need to move on to Level 2 but I need some application work as well.

And I need to continue to play because that is where it ALL comes together.

And another mini software review:

Scid vs. PC:

Scid vs PC is a GREAT (free) database management and Chess analysis GUI. It is a fork of the famous free database application, SCID that I NEVER liked! In fact, Scid vs PC is the first free Chess GUI I have really really liked. It is easy to use, works like a dream and is showing signs of finally steering me away from longtime favorite, the Shredder Classic GUI. (although not QUITE yet) However, I do highly recommend Scid vs PC as it does everything Chessbase does, and seems to be less buggy and probably won't freak out on me like every Chessbase product I have ever had!

And it has the VERY important material search that is OH SO vital to endgame study and finding cool positions for Styoko exercises. I am also finding Scid vs PC to be great for studying my opening trends!! Which will help in a bit when I actually start to study openings again!

Which brings me to another point about chess training:

The common advice to pick an opening and stick with it is BOGUS!

Now let me explain that! In a bit, I will pick a few openings and really learn them and make them mine. But I am going to pick a few. I want options. I want to be exposed to many many chess situations! I want to never fear any type of game or position. And my current spike in rating and play has come at a time when I have played quite a few different openings. And I haven't purchased an opening book in almost two years!!

I do think that I eventually need to settle on a few openings but I want a broader and wider repertoire. The game is more fun! Playing ONLY 1. e4 would be akin to being a jazz musician who only wanted to play over Rhythm Changes. Rhythm Changes are great, but man would that musician have a stale sense of adventure and a very stilted ability to think on his or her feet! That is what is wrong with the "pick an opening and stick with it" advice. One can get complacent and stale!! (and a little fearful when brought out of one's comfort zone!)

Oh and endgames are the main thing after tactics and Pandolfini's Endgame Course is WAY underrated!! If I had to pick between Silman's Endgame book and Pandolfini's...NOT even close! Pandolfini wins hand down. (fortunately I don't have to make that choice! and remember I LOVE Silman's "The Amateur's Mind" but his endgame book missed the mark.)

So that is my rambling software review/thoughts on chess training post!

Have a great week!!

Happy Belated Chess Anniversary to me

2011-12-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

Mid-November 2007. The month I decided to take up chess as my official hobby. Music was overtaking my life and I needed something to divert my attention. Having dabbled briefly with chess in the mid-nineties I thought to myself, "Man I really liked that game. I regretted giving it up. That will be my hobby."

Fateful words. Little did I know what a hobby it would be.

I even remember buying a new electronic chess set (I did not know that Fritz and his brethren even existed!) I also re-purchased "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" and not knowing any better I also purchased Rowson's "Seven Deadly Chess Sins." (EEEK!) I also purchased a $19 magnetic travel set to use for books. (That travel set is still with me and may be, pound for pound, the best and most economical chess expense I have ever made!)

Then I found ICC, Chess blogging, Shredder Chess Software, and BDK's Now Classic Chess Book Review Videos.

And away I went!!

In many ways I miss those pulse pounding exciting days where each new book, or blog, or player or software etc. etc. felt like a brand new discovery that would unlock my inner chess genius! I really do miss that mad rush of new found love. (because let's face it, that is what it was at the time!)

That was half the fun. There was (and is) SO much information on the game.

I started a blog and then shut it down for reasons I can not recollect. Then, a few months later, I opened this blog.

I remember my first OTB tournament...and if there was any doubt I loved the game and was in it for the long haul, they were quickly dismissed after that first tournament. I went to four tournaments that summer and my game showed mild rumblings of improvement.

Then I stalled for what seemed like a LONG time. I could not make many OTB tournaments, got sucked into opening study (like we all do), could not settle on a tactics course and took an ODD but entertaining detour into computer chess as a side hobby to my hobby.

As my play stalled, I of course purchased more books I did not need! My play did not un-stall.

At this point I was sure of three things:

1) I really loved the game and wanted to get better.

2) I LOVE games collections and playing through master games on a board

3) I hate playing blitz chess.

So with these three revelations I started playing correspondence chess on Chess.com, delved further into computer chess and of course purchased more chess books. Oddly enough those three things did not revitalize my game.

I realized that correspondence chess can be and often is, just as obsessive and compulsive as blitz chess. So I got that under control. Whew!

As a reward for curtailing my correspondence chess addiction I bought some more chess books and two new chess engines. Yeah...the logic is lacking, I know!

My chess study meandered, as did my game, for at least another year and a half. I moved, got a new teaching job (which I LOVE) so I blogged little and played randomly.

And then some things happened:

I stopped needlessly buying chess books (for the most part..uhh, game collections don't count, do they?)
learned how to effectively use a game database to find study positions
read Silman's "The Amateur's Mind" (and practiced the thought process using the above mentioned study positions from the chess database)
settled on a tactics course
realized my endgame study was paying off
stopped fussing over openings
came to grips with the fact that OTB play is not going to be easy to make happen and rejoined ICC
Realized my minor obsession with chess engines actually taught me how to use them really really well for post game analysis!
Settled on a few engines as my go to analysis partners
and made a pact with myself to play one G/60 a week at ICC

And lo and behold, I have actually shown improvement and have started to play some chess.

Since rejoining ICC my rating seems stable in the just over 1400 range. My record at ICC since returning is 12 wins and 9 losses.

I have also played a few correspondence games, and a smattering of G/20 and G/.30 at chess.com (my slow man's version of recreational blitz!!)

Since returning to ICC my overall record (not just ICC games) with the Black pieces is 7 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses with a performance rating of 1308. (stats by Scid vs PC)

My overall record with the White pieces during this time is 12 wins and 6 losses with a performance rating of 1471. (stats again by Scid vs PC)

I love the game, am actually beginning to understand it, know that I will continue to improve but am (mostly) detached to the rate of that improvement, and STILL love those game collections.

In other words, it is four years later and I am still in!

My ICC win streak comes to a brutal end!

2011-11-27T14:16:00.001-08:00

This week's G/60 on ICC was a BIG loss! I made some tactical blunders, a few positional goof ups and did not stick to the basic tenets of my chosen opening! All of that pretty much adds up to a losing game. There won't even be a chance for any endgame redemption.

I did however find this loss very instructive! I miss some good defensive moves AND I really need to play ...Bb7 early if I am going to play the Queen's Indian! I also think some tactical aggressiveness caught up to me in this game.

I definitely need to sit and use my thought process and use tactics for positional aims. That has been the reason for my slight improvement lately!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Here is this week's game:

I win my 5th game in a row at ICC

2011-11-20T12:23:00.001-08:00

This week's G/60 at ICC was another win. My fifth in a row. I had the Black pieces and aimed for a Queen's Indian against my opponent's 1.d4 and we got out of book really quickly.

And to be completely honest, I should have LOST this game. My opponent had a won game! I made two really bad moves early in the middle game and allowed him to get pressure on my king.

But if there IS one thing I have learned about chess---NEVER resign! EVER! Unless you know it is absolutely a lost cause and/or you are playing Kasparov. I fought on with the aim of pestering my opponent. And it worked. He first allowed me to equalize the game and then he blundered in the end game and lost.

I call it: The Being a Pain In The Ass defense. :)

All kidding aside, persistence, doggedness and making your opponent prove they can finish will often pay off.

The fact that I was losing for a good portion of the middle game definitely made this game instructive for me. I need to reinstall my thought process in my brain! I have gotten a little TOO into looking only for tactics and not threats and I have stopped scouring the board like I was a few games ago.

Here is the game:

Sometime later this week will be my 4 year anniversary "state of my chess" post. And I REALLY am going to do a review of Peshka.

I hope everyone has a great week and for those to whom it applies I also wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

My (loosely) annotated list of annotated Games Collections-UPDATED

2011-11-14T09:37:00.001-08:00

I have 5 new games collections to add to my list since the last time I did this in September of 2010.

A couple of the new collections even made it into my (very unscientific) top 5!

So here is the list:

23. A First Book of Morphy by Frisco Del Rosario

My favorite whipping boy among game collections! This book had risen a bit the last time Iupdated this list but this book is so BAD that I decided it needed to belast. As I have stated before the annotationsare boring, uninspired, and also uninformative. This book almost put a premature end to myChessic pursuits! “ A First Book of Morphy” is most d efinitely a primer on how NOT to write an educational gamecollection.

22. My Love Affair with Tchigorin by A.E.Santasiere

This book has great games BUT it is a horrible book of annotations. Why?---Because there are virtually NO annotations to speak of. The only reason I am keeping it is to use as areference to easily find some of the better Tchigorin games. Tchigorin was an interesting player. He deserves a better collection!!! (hello NeilMcDonald!!)

21. First Match For The Chess Championship OfThe World: Steinitz vs Zukertort 1886

This book is useless! Cool games but once again the annotations arecompletely useless!! The only reason the Tchigorin book was listed last wasthat it was a real book. This is more like a pamphlet and from an older time!

20. Pillsbury the Extraordinary by AndrewSoltis and Ken Smith

Yet another book of lazy annotations!! Smith did the annotations. Soltis wrotea fairly decent autobiographical section. I liked reading through the games butPillsbury is another player who deserves a really good book! Soltis is unique in that he writes stuff thatis either brilliant or utter crap! WhereOH where is the good games collection on Pillsbury! (hello again NeilMcDonald!!)

19. Fischer Vs. Spassky: World ChessChampionship Match, 1972 by Gligoric

Okay book on thematch. Gligoric’s annotations are prettygood but he sometimes feels a little like a shill for Fischer. But still a very interesting read.

18. Paul Keres: The Road to the Top byPaul Keres

Cool games but this WAS a disappointment! I loved Keres' book, Power Chess,(see below) and I had heard such great things about this book, so it is with aheavy heart that I give it a bad grade. Power Chess was really good so I wasconfident that Keres would really shine in a book on his own games! NOPE. Notas educational or as lucid as I hoped. I will read his later volume at somepoint. It hurts a bit to rank this so low BUT it wasn't that great. (INSTANT EDIT--I have just begun the second book in this series and so far it is OUTSTANDING! Keres came to annotate in his later games! If this form holds Keres' second volume will be place much higher than this volume!)

17. 50 Essential Chess Lessons bySteve Giddins

A good book but I wasnot ready for it when I read it. So therefore it gets a lower ranking then itreally deserves. I want to reread this at some point.

16. Kasparov-Kramnik by Nigel Daviesand Andrew Martin

Nice book on the Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship match. Davies annotates the games (and he does quitewell especially considering a few of the games were unconscionably shortdraws). Andrew Martin writes littleintroductions to each game “from site”. A nice book that helped me to digKramnik a lot more.

15. Why Lasker Matters by Andrew Soltis

A very good games collections book. Soltis gives some great anecdotal nuggetsand is never afraid to take on the analysis of prior annotators. I do think Lasker deserves a bit better thanthis book. Don’t confuse this with anegative review. It is a GOOD book , justnot a great book.

14. The Art of Planning in Chess by NeilMcDonald

Really, really good games anthology with an educationalbent. It is not as good as his earlierwork (seen later on this list) in his modern move by move series. Some of the games in this book felt likeMcDonald was rushing to get the book to the printer. Other games were the pure annotation goldthat McDonald is always capable of. Ilike McDonald…a LOT!

13. Power Chess byPaul Keres

This is a very good book. And it is very cheap on Amazon. Keres' annotationsare very informative and insightful. This has a lot of great games in it. Notessential reading but recommended nonetheless.

12. Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur byMax Euwe and Walter Meiden

Excellent book! Most of you probably know this one. A very instructive book!The games are not the most scintillating but they ARE instructive! (nothing newto add here...an excellent book!)

11. Chess: The Art of LogicalThinking by Neil McDonald

SUPERB move by move annotated game collection! The games are GREAT andMcDonald's annotations are both entertaining AND instructive! I can’t recommendthis book enough!!

10. Best Lessons of A Chess Coach bySunil Weeramantry

I LOVE this book! I wish all instructional anthologies could be this wellwritten. The FM at my local chess club recommended it to me and WOW was he deadon. One of the few books I want to read again.

9. My 60 Memorable Games by BobbyFischer

I LOVED this book! The games are beyond fascinating but over my head, yet thatdoes not diminish how much I loved playing through them. Fischer's annotationsare AMAZING when you use them for comparative analysis for your own or others'games. The only reason I don't have this higher on the list is that Fischer'sannotations are not the most fun to read through when just playing through thegame. This book is borderline indispensible!! And let's face it, Fischer'sgames rock!!

8. The Most Instructive Games ofChess Ever Played by Irving Chernev

Excellent collection of a wide variety of games all selected with an educationpurpose. Chernev is great…the only oneclose to him today in the educational annotation ballgame is Neil McDonald.

7. Capablanca'sBest Chess Endings by Irving Chernev

I love Chernev and after this book I fell in love with Capablanca's artistry atthe board. This is one of the few game collections that had an immediate impacton my actual OTB play. I need more Capablanca games in my life!! (Chernev doesget carried away sometimes in his adoration for Capablanca but I still love thebook. In fact, if Del Rosario had showed an ounce of Chernev's passion I mightnot beat up on his Morphy book so much!)

6. 300 Chess Games by SeigbertTarrasch

Tarrasch was dogmatic, arrogant and fun as hell to read!! His games are a mishmash of attacking chess, positional chess and sometimes even boring chess. Hisannotations are surprisingly objective and VERY instructive. Great book!!

5. Chess Praxis by Aron Nimzowitsch

What a FUN book to read through. Nimzo’s games were rather adventurous! His annotations are usually good and oftengreat. And each section has a littleintro that gives an idea of the strategic theme he is trying to highlight. Wonderful collection!

4. My Fifty Years of Chess by Frank J. Marshall

This book was a surprise to me! I was so used to seeing Marshall get rolled bythe other great players of his day that I was never interested in his own gamescollection. Was I wrong!! These games are SUPER fun to play through. Marshall'sannotations are good but not great. He is not as self-deprecating and objectiveas Tarrasch. Marshall sometimes seems like he is trying to prove something. Allthat being said, these games are a hoot to play through.

3. Tal-Botvinnik: 1960 by Mikhail Tal

All chess writers should take a lesson from Tal on how to write a gamescollection. This book has it all! Great games? Yep! Concrete variations in theAnalysis? Yep! Clear verbal explanations? Yep! Details about the psychologicalaspects of the match? Yep! Opening plans? Yep! Some of the driest and funniestwriting in any games collection you will ever see? YEP! 'nuff Said! If you likechess you will most likely love this book.

2. SelectedGames by Victor Bologan

A truly wonderful games collection written by a greatplayer! Great modern games! Great annotations! Lessons to be learned are listed at the endof each game! And some greatbiographical information as well. Bologan’s book is truly awesome. I can’t recommend it enough. Was a strong contender to bump Chernev fromthe #1 spot!

And finally, still holding at #1 (although Bologan was putting fiercepressure on this number 1 spot!):

1. Logical Chess:Move By Move by Irving Chernev

This might be might nostalgia speaking but this WAS the first games collectionI read through and it was the one that lit my fire to learn and explore thisgame of chess. Chernev's love for the game is palpable! And he is not as ruleoriented as he is made out to be. More than once in the book he reminds peoplethat the position on the board is more important than any rule he or anyoneelse may try to set down as law! Whenever I think about this book I can stillrecall the excitement that I was feeling as I read through each and every game.This book started my love affair with the game so it must STILL be first on my list!

So there is my updated list! I was surprised by how much fun Nimzo's games were to play through! I almost placed it higher than Marshal's collection which also surprised me.

Any thoughts, disagreements,, suggestions??

(as an aside I have found the only games collection books I don't like reading through are tournament books...and I am not sure why?!?)

Have a good one!

G/60 on ICC-I win my fourth game in a row!

2011-11-12T18:07:00.001-08:00

THIS was a fun game! It had some ups and downs. Some mistakes on both sides. I went for a combination and it worked! (although I missed an even better way to execute the combination).

I did notice one thing while playing this game...I got a little lazy on the thought process I have been using. I MUST use it! And I did in the middle game when I was figuring out my plans. But I could have played more thoughtful. (especially in the endgame...I got slack!) Still a win is a win!

The cool thing about my rating creeping up a bit is that I can set my seeks for higher rated players thus increasing the likelihood that I will learn from the game be it a win or a loss.

Anyway, here is this week's game:

Have a great Sunday! AND I will be doing an updated version of my favorite game collections sometime this week. Also to come is the oft promised review of Peshka training software AND a special post during Thanksgiving week commemorating my 4 year anniversary of my pursuit of chess as a hobby!!

Seeya soon!

Last week's G/60 on ICC....another win (but not pretty!)

2011-11-10T23:33:00.001-08:00

Here is my G/60 from ICC last weekend.

I win again! But it is not a pretty win. Both sides make some mistakes. I win because my opponent made the last mistake and I would have promoted a pawn. (rook endgame study pays off!)

Here is the game:

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

November Chess Improvement Blog Carnival--The Get 'er Done Version!

2011-11-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Hey All!

Sorry this was delayed a few days. Last week's storm kept the internet off and then we had a glitch with the carnival software so...

No fancy themes for this carnival--this is the Donald Trump, All Business Chess Blog Carnival!

The following are from some of best Chess.com blogs:

For a treatise on knight endings see:
http://blog.chess.com/EBurke/knight-endings

TigerLilov helps us improve our pieces:
http://blog.chess.com/TigerLilov/the-ultimate-strategy-improving-the-pieces

A VERY important endgame theme is discussed by Drazisaur:
http://blog.chess.com/Drazisaur/the-distant-opposition---an-instructive-position-for-beginners

More endgame instruction can be found here:
http://blog.chess.com/ChessNetwork/chess-endgame-queen--king-vs-rook--king

CharlyAZ gives us a great primer on analyzing our own games (a must read):
http://blog.chess.com/CharlyAZ/a-hardcore-guide-to-analyze-your-chess-games

A philosophical treatise follows:
http://blog.chess.com/JohnChernoff/a-philosophical-treatise-upon-my-last-utterly-shoddy-chess-game2

An interesting look on why being assertive at the board is important:
http://blog.chess.com/shuttlechess92/chess-personality-assertiveness

And finally from Chess.com basic strategies we ALL should know:
http://blog.chess.com/Jayadevprabhu/danrsquos-blogbasic-chess-strategies-that-each-player-should-know

And now some more great entries from our bloggers at large:

Mark Week's talks about Garry Kasparov:
http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2011/10/garrys-games.html

Chess discusses the inevitable ratings dip:
http://achessdad.com/2011/10/the-dip/

One of two posts from the man at pathtochessmastery:
http://pathtochessmastery.blogspot.com/2011/10/ratings-fear-and-loathing.html

10 reasons why we should play chess: (what? only ten!)
http://jonny-smartblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/10-reasons-why-you-should-play-chess.html

A great article written by a champion:
http://www.eimacs.com/blog/2011/10/teen-chess-champion-rachel-gologorsky/

And our mad scientist the Empirical Rabbit chimes in with a negative review of a Peshka Tactics course (oddly enough I will be giving some Peshka tactics course some majorly positive reviews sometime very soon)---(the debate rages on!):
http://empiricalrabbit.blogspot.com/2011/11/chess-combinations-for-club-players.html

And a wonderful post on sizing up one's chess performance:
http://pathtochessmastery.blogspot.com/2011/10/chess-performance-inventory.html

And finally a general shout out to Nigel Davies' always great blog:
http://chessimprover.com/

Again sorry for the delay and this rather straight forward edition of the carnival! But nature and technology will do what they do. :)

Next month's carnival is to be held at our own Blue Devil Knight's Blog!

Have a great week!

BLOG CARNIVAL: DELAYED BY STORM

2011-11-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

You may be awaiting the November Chess Blog Carnival as announced on BDK's site. However as you may also have heard much of the northeast was racked by an VERY early snow storm that wreaked havoc on power lines, water lines etc. etc.

For most of the week I was without power and water and of course internet.

Power and water came back Wednesday and internet came back this morning. BUT I must work until ten tonight due to a major concert being held at the University. The November blog carnival will be delayed until tomorrow. My apologies for the delay but mother nature will do what she does.

I hope all other bloggers who were in the storm are also seeing their power and water restored as well!

Thanks and check back tomorrow for the carnival.

ANOTHER ICC win at G/60

2011-10-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

I played my weekly G/60 (with 5 second increment) at ICC today. (So far I have been fortunate enough to always find someone to answer my seek for a long game!)

I won again as White. (I am hoping the ICC randomizer will give me the Black pieces next week!)

This was a good game with an odd opening. Both players had chances. Both player's queens got into some dicey situations in the center. I held on long enough until my opponent made a losing blunder thinking that he had trapped my queen.

Starting on move 12 I had the almost necessary developing move Bg5 sitting on the board. It sat there for a few moves and I never took it. This is common in my games: One move that needs to be played for a few moves but I ignore it. Have to look at the board a little more carefully.

My overall record at ICC since rejoining in September is now 7-6. And I have won 4 of my last 5 games. (I don't count the one blitz game I played---that was anomaly while I rode my exercise bike). I hate blitz.

But I really do need the ICC random generator to give me the Black pieces next week!

The past 6 games or so have all been at least G/55 I believe. I am going to stay with the G/60 for awhile. I may try to bump that up every once in awhile.

Anyway here is the game:

Have a good one!

Capablanca wins a knight versus bishop ending!

2011-10-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is a great game between Capablanca and Reshevsky.

Capablanca fights back from a mild Reshevsky initiative and then Capablanca boldly goes into the knight side of a knight versus bishop ending. For very clear reasons. (see the notes to the game)

Capablanca rocks!

Enjoy the game!

Another ICC win!! A lesson learned from Capablanca!!

2011-10-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okay so I did NOT in any way, shape or form play like Capablanca in the following game. Nor did my opponent play like Frank Marshall! But I did learn from this Capablanca Game not to worry about premature attacks from my opponent!

In the Capablanca game, Marshall goes all in a little too quickly and Capablanca calmly plays what needs to be played even putting his king in weird places. And then Capablanca wins.

In my game below my opponent (who at the time of the game was rated 50 points higher than me) went in for a premature attack. Not too long ago that would have made me very flustered and I would have made quick reactionary moves instead of searching for the best defensive moves. In today's game, I thought out and found the right moves to make my opponent retreat and then I attacked, gained the initiative and won a won game! (another thing I have had problems with in the past)

I definitely made a few errors but I am pleased with this game. I am even happy with some of the games I have lost lately because they have been good games for the most part. So I gotta keep doing the tactics, doing the endgames, playing through game collections, consolidating and practicing my thought process (shout out to ChessTiger!), analyzing master games AND most importantly, I must continue to play one long game (AT LEAST G/55 at ICC--and hopefully OTB soon)

The following game of mine was from this afternoon on the ICC. It was a G/60 with a 5 second increment.

Oh another good thing I have noticed lately...I am using my time better during the game. I am taking my time during these games (for the most part---some moves are still made too quickly!) So that is a shout out to Dan Heisman!!

Anyway, here is the game:

Have a great night!

Capablanca beats Reti

2011-10-15T06:57:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting game from Capablanca-Reti from the famous 1924 tournament in New York.

Capablanca beats Reti in a close game. Capablanca succeeds in the endgame as he often does. Capa delays castling AND takes on an isolated pawn in the process of winning this game.

There were no glaring errors until Reti makes a few smaller mistakes in the endgame and Capablanca capitalizes.

Enjoy the game!

Game collections I would like to see..(attentionJohn Nunn, Nigel Davies, Andrew Soltis and Neil McDonald!!---maybe even Gary Lane!)

2011-10-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

So I am about 75% done with Nimzo's Chess Praxis Game Collection. (NOT tackling My System). It is a great collection. Nimzo's notes are really good and there is an intro to each chapter's theme. He also included a thematic index for further study!! Kind of cool. Nimzo's games are a little more fun to go through than I had originally expected.

It got me to thinking that there are great chess players who have not been given proper treatment in a game collection.

(not counting Kasparov's Predecessors series..I like stand alone collections!!)

First, some of the older players of our game:

Harry Pilsbury! The only real collection is the travesty by Ken Smith. The annotations are next to nothing. Someone do a collection on Pillsbury PLEASE!

Tchigorin needs one as well. The only collection he has available also has NO real annotations.

Rubinstein could use an update! Although the Knmoch book seems good (very close on my to read list)

And really?? No one has done an annotated game collection on Adolf Anderssen?? Come on!

I would love to see Colin Crouch or Neil McDonald, or Nigel Davies, John Nunn or Gary Lane tackle one of these players in a game collection. Even Valeri Beim did a great book on Morphy! So Beim could be an author to consider to annotate one of these collections.

OH and HOW about Steinitz?? Kind of sad that there is no really good game collection on Steinitz! (believe me, I have looked)

Modern Players: (preferably by the player themselves but who knows?)

He can be controversial, but how about TOPALOV!!

Judit Polgar!! That would be an AWESOME game collection.

Gata Kamsky---he has played a LOT of people..that could be really cool!

I know there is one coming out on Magnus Carlsen so that is cool.

Maybe an update on Kramnik. (Anand's book IS being updated!)

Nakamura has been around awhile and played some great games.

There are so many good game collections that have yet to be written! Come on Gambit Chess, Batsford Chess, and Everyman Chess. Let's make it happen!!

(oh and Everyman Chess----NOT EVERY book needs to be on an opening...I mean how many opening series do you need? "Play the"..........."Starting out the".........."The (fill in the blank): Move by Move"..........."Dangerous Weapons the"......"Easy Guide to".......... "Lay an egg with the"....."Win in 2 moves with the"....."Play 2000 points over your rating with the".........etc. etc.) Sheesh!

Anybody I miss who deserves a good game collection?? Let me know!

Have a good one!

How to react against a premature attack...a lesson from Capablanca

2011-10-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

I analyzed a game between Capablanca-Marshall from 1918. It is a Ruy Lopez and Marshall gets aggressive. (seems to be playing a little "hope chess" as Heisman might say). OTB against a weaker opponent Marshall's premature attack MAY have resulted in some fireworks but it is downright fruitless against Capablanca.

This was a fun game to analyze as Capablanca doesn't worry about his weird king position, or the fact that is behind in development for most of the game. He just plays what is on the board!!

I hope you enjoy the game! (the pgn I had stopped at Bxf7+...some game scores show the mate...but it doesn't really matter..............at Bxf7+ the game was over so Marshall PROBABLY resigned there.)

Seeya soon!

This time an ICC LOSS!!

2011-10-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight's ICC game was a G/55 and I lost playing the Black pieces. I started with my 2...e6 Sicilian and the game went up and down (but not wildly) until my opponent attacked too quickly, I defended well enough and then got a nice initiative. THEN I floundered with the initiative and let my opponent breath and he proceeded to equalize and waited me out and then I walked into a pin and my opponent then won his now won game!

Some instructive moments for me! Especially regarding initiative! When I had it, I knew it but didn't stop and think! At move 25, after his Kg2 I knew I had the initiative! And I couldn't see anything so instead of sitting on my hands I made a putrid pawn push. Weak!

Fun game though!

Below is the game:

Have a great weekend!!

Another win!

2011-10-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

This week's ICC game was a fun game that had some ups and downs. Both me and my opponent had moments where we could have put the game away. I played a part of the endgame knowing I was worse. But Chess is funny is these regions that we play in. Sometimes you win by just hanging around long enough!!

I do have to say that I am very pleased to be back on the ICC. I have been able to get at least one G/50 a week. (I am going to start searching for G/60 soon)

Here is the game warts, glory and all!!!

Have a GREAT week!

(even though school is busy I may yet be back again later this week with some Peshka training program reviews)

Good chess websites, Heisman's Chess Thinker book and the Houdini Chess Engine....

2011-09-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

The school year is rocking along but I have a few minutes this morning to make a (not so)quick post.

Good Websites:

CHESS TEMPO

As the internet grows there are a few websites that are making certain softwares obsolete. For instance: ChessTempo!! The free tactics website has a great openings explorer, a solid database and endgame problems etc. etc. And if you pay for membership, you get extra search features in the website that make Chessbase (a VERY useful software that always seems to go belly up on my computer) obsolete. One of the great features in Chessbase is the search by material function. (a VERY cool way to find positions to study). The paid membership at ChessTempo has that! Not to mention downloading the games etc. etc. You don't need to pay big money for databases or database software. The cloud (ChessTempo) does it for you! And of course you can create customized problem sets for tactics and endgames. (this helped me with a recent weakness in Queen vs. a lone pawn endgames).

365GAMES

Another good database website that supplements Chess Tempo in a few database categories.

1) Seems to have more games.

2) AND with the cheap $10 a year membership you can create a great database of your own games complete with an opening explorer function for your own games. Again, this helps to make Chessbase obsolete. (Of Course it is more convenient to have just Chessbase, but really, every ChessBase program I have had has gone belly up!!)

And 365 Games has some puzzles but I like Chess Tempo better puzzles and such. If Chess Tempo ever lets you create a database of your own games then I would just stay with that site.

SHREDDERCHESS

Still my favorite Chess GUI! Easy to use, unbelievably stable and you get access to a great online opening database AND all 3-6 man endgame tablebases (via the internet through the program)

This the only GUI that I will spend money on at this point.

ICC:

A place I was NOT into at first but now I like it because the games seem to be more serious and I can always seem to get a longer game (at least G/50), without much of a wait. Maybe I like it better now because I am a bit better chess player then when I first signed up 3 1/2 years ago. :)

CHESSOK:

Another software that I didn't like at first but has now won me over is the Peshka training platform from ChessOK. (they ironed out the wrinkles). This is my main tactics training (thanks to Wang's review).

Now on to Heisman's book, "The Improving Chess Thinker". It is hard to review this book because Dan Heisman seems like the nicest person in Chess next to Anand and Kramnik! But this book was not the best book I have ever read. The chapters where Heisman details his own thoughts on thinking process were excellent. And the chapter on time management was nice as well. However the meat of the book deals with the thought processes of players at various rating levels. Not very helpful to be honest. Maybe if Heisman had just picked one or two players at each level and really dug into the flaws and strengths of their thought process...that may have been helpful. But the book is too cluttered and does not go into enough detail to be of any real help.

I am glad I bought the book for the chapters where Heisman dives into explaining a GOOD thought process and good time management, but the book could have been shorter and/or less cluttered in the middle parts of the book.

HOUDINI CHESS ENGINE

This chess engine has been controversial since it's inception. I for one, was very suspicious of it's origins. But after the recent Rybka debacle my thoughts have changed. The author of Houdini has made clear claims of innocence on various fora (it took awhile for him to do that but he finally did it) and that is enough for me. I will take him at his word until proof is offered.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

A nice game!

2011-09-25T18:38:00.001-07:00

I have recently rejoined at ICC for internet play for the following reasons:

1) I need to play long games. Playing against engines is fun and good but I need to play against people and I just have no luck getting to OTB games. (must change that)

2) It has been increasingly difficult to get G/45 at Chess.com or FICS.

3) And I want to keep increasing the lengths of the games so ICC seems like the bet right now.

4) And the games just seem more serious for some reason.

So here is a game I won this weekend at ICC. It is a G/50. I am happy with this game! I make mistakes in the game (OF COURSE) but I am starting to find myself as a chess player. Thanks so some great advice in Dan Heisman's, "The Improving Chess Thinker" I am cleaning up my thought process a bit. (a nice combination of Silman and Heisman stuff) And I am really working on thinking at the right moves and managing time. Of course my record at ICC is 4 wins and 5 losses but I am feeling good about the game. (still hitting tactics, endgames and game collections)

Another thing about this game: Even in a win I realized a major weakness in my play (have seen it before...I am often timid and unable to make the relevant pawn push to improve my position! Even ones that I thought looked good!

So here is the game:

I hope everyone has a great week.

I might get in another post this week with some thoughts on good websites, a mini-book review and thoughts on the Houdini chess engine.

A Summer faretheewell!!

2011-09-02T18:13:00.000-07:00

So summer is over. School, and thus my teaching duties begin anew. This means chess slips back into the recesses a bit. Which is fine. I am still able to steal a few minutes on most days for the royal game.

Blogging can often take a big hit. It already has with school preparations having begun to take up my time.

I will still play a game here or there and post once in awhile until next summer.

So where am I on the chess thing?I am better than I was! But still don't get to play enough OTB to really get better. This summer was a disappointment as I was prepped and ready for at LEAST three tournaments until my leg and back problems sidelined me for all of July and most of August.

I did my now yearly switch of openings (at least when playing Black). I took up the Nimzo-Indian (and by necessity the Bogo and Qeen's Indians. I also Switched to the Taimanov Sicilian against 1..e4. I like them both already!With White I am still sticking with 1.e4! Hoping to go to Ruy but ready for the Sicilians (working on a line I think I like), and the Frenches (3.Nc3!) and the rarely seen Caro kan)

I am studying Rook endings with Silman in Chess Mentor! (LOVE these courses on chess.com) Absolutely awesome!

I purchased Chess Openings Wizard and found out I really liked it! It did help me learn about the two new openings with the Black pieces.

Still LOVE game collections! They slow down a bit during the school year as well.

I still don't calculate well or fully. Gotta work on that!Tactics! Tactics!The chess tactics I, II and III courses on Peshka are my bread and butter there.

Still love the game.

But man, if I can't figure out a way to play more OTB...???? Can I continue? (probably yeah!) This is actually turning into a big question for me...It is hard to pursue something you don't get to do! But the game fascinates me and I need it for an escape from music once in awhile.

So I will be by at times with a few posts but major activity will re-up next May!So I am not gone...Just spending time on my other two passions: Music and Teaching!Be well!

Answer to yesterday's Anderssen position

2011-08-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

Linuxguy nailed it with ...Nxf2! I picked a good answer that is still clearly winning for Black with ...Nb4+.

But ...Nxf2 is the best answer. Anderssen picked a different move.

Here is the answer below:

Have a good one!

An Adolph Anderssen position

2011-08-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

The following position was from a game where Anderssen had the black pieces against someone named Mayet.

I am just posting the position for now.

I will post the "answer(s)" tomorrow evening or so.

I am happy to say that I found a completely winning move!! There is a move that is better than mine but it is one of those instances where it doesn't matter THAT much!

Anderssen picked a completely different move.

Here is the position, with Black to move:

Have a good one!

The TOP FIFTEEN Rock and Roll albums of all time....

2011-08-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

...........as judged by me!

I felt we needed a break from chess blogging so I felt like writing up this list as it will of course be controversial. And it will lead directly (in the next post) to the most underrated and overrated rock and roll acts of all time as well.

Ground rules I followed for making the list:

1) I have to have heard the album
2) There will be quite a few Funk, R&B and Soul records in the list as they are also direct descendants of early Rhythm and Blues. (and I LOVE them and it is my list!)
3) Historical importance is NOT a main criteria but it will have some influence.
4) Some early acts will be left off as they mostly released singles and I don't want to include greatest hits packages (except for ONE MAJOR exception)
5) Other criteria is purely subjective. :)
6) I acknowledge that this is only my opinion. :)

Here we go:

15. "Thriller"-Michael Jackson: This album is the album that turned my generation ON! I think every song was a hit. And it still sounds great today. Oddly enough, "Billie Jean" is my least favorite song on the record. The groove on "Wanna be Startin' Something" always wins me over! All you have to do is listen to this record to hear what an amazing talent Michael Jackson truly was!

14. "Fresh"-Sly and the Family Stone: Not everyone has heard of this record but this is ONE completely grooving record. It doesn't quite sound like anything else. Check it out!!

13. "Pet Sounds"-The Beach Boys: Landmark album! Great songs. GREAT recording. I came to this record a little late in life.

12. "Fulfillingess' First Finale"-Stevie Wonder: Another album I was late getting to. It was released right before his magnum opus. (to be seen later in the list) First Finale is an AMAZING record that in all honesty I kind of want to rank higher. This is a deserted island record for me!

11. "Van Halen I"-Van Halen: Yeah "Eruption" seems cheesy now, but every guitar player in the 80's was trying to learn it. The tunes are fun and rocking! This was and is a great album! (and the intro drum fill to "Jamie's Crying" is also on Tone-Loc's, "Wild Thing")

10. "All That You Can't Leave Behind"-U2: I know "Joshua Tree is their classic record but I LOVE this record. I couldn't get enough of it for about 2 months back when it came out. I like it a lot more than "Joshua Tree".

9. "Dark Side of the Moon"-Pink Floyd: I was late to this one as well. But once I checked it out as an entire album, I knew it was a work of genius! And yes, the Wizard of Oz rumors are true. It is kind of freaky. This one works better as an entire record. It loses a little bit when heard as individual songs.

8. "Back in Black"-AC/DC: Come on! This album is three chords, loud drums, barely discernible vocals and insipid lyrics! AND IT ROCKS LIKE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every time I hear the opening riff of the title song I want to jump on my bed and play some air guitar! COME ON!

7. "Please, Please Me"-The Beatles: "Revolver" and their later records get more press and accolades but this album is AWESOME!! And even though it wasn't their song, the performance of "Twist and Shout" an all time classic!

6. "Band of Gypsies"-Jimi Hendrix: Yeah his earlier albums are also great but this record is SMOKING! I like the band better than his earlier band. They groove a little harder and don't over play so that we can focus on Jimi Hendrix's genius!

5. "Live at the Filmore West"-Aretha Franklin: All I need to say about this one is that EVERY time I listen to Aretha's version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on this recording, I CRY! EVERY TIME! I can't say that about ANY other record or artist on this list. Aretha was, IS and always will be special!!

4. 'Who's Next"-The Who: My favorite Who album! So Many great songs. Great playing. Keith Moon going ballistic AND when Pete Townshend's Guitar comes in at 1:48 in "Baba O'Riley"??....That is THE DEFINITION of Rock and Roll!!!!

3. "Amnesiac"-Radio Head: This group has a lot of great albums but this one haunts me. Like the Pink Floyd album above, "Amnesiac" is a complete work and sounds incredible when listened to in it's entirety. A GREAT GREAT record that literally sucks me into it's world every time I listen to it.

2. "Burnin"-Bob Marley and the Wailers: A lot of people list Exodus (the greatest hits package) and it is amazing, but "Burnin" is just an amazing recorded work. "Get up, Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" are both on this record. And my personal all time favorite is "Duppy Conqueror"! I could listen to this song ALL DAY! And often do!

And now my number 1 rock and roll record of all time:

AND I COP OUT! It is a three way tie!

1a: "Songs in the Key of Life"-Stevie Wonder: Every song is a classic. There isn't a sour note on the record. It is an unquestioned work of artistic genius!! I can't even name my favorite song. It depends on my mood. It was also the culmination of Wonder's artistic journey in the early 70's that began with "Music of My Mind". Ironically, record labels rarely allow an artist to have this much control and time to develop. It is a pity. We might have more records like "Songs in the Key of Life" if they did!

1b: "Led Zeppelin IV"-Led Zeppelin: Yeah this might be a cliche pick BUT there is a reason for that. It IS a classic! Again, there are no bad songs on the record. Yeah, "Stairway to Heaven", is cliched as well...but go ahead and listen to it again if it has been awhile since you have checked it out. This really is a landmark and incredible record!

1c: "Star Time"-James Brown: This is the only greatest hits package that made my list. I just could not be without it. James Brown was ahead of his time. The first 3 CDs of this essential box set are literally a lesson on how to groove. Every song crackles with energy and life! Even James' count offs groove harder than most records.

So there you have my VERY subjective thoughts on the best rock and roll albums of all time! I know other people have some opinions. Let's hear them!

An interesting position from a Natalia Pogonina game

2011-08-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

Today's (actually two days ago) Styoko position comes from a game played by WGM Natalia Pogonina.

Pogonina is playing the Black pieces. When checking out the position I picked a good move! (Yay me!)

In post analysis with the engines and Pogonina's actual game choice it was a bit controversial. She picked a different move that kept the position closed. 2 engines liked that move better. I think that this position is a case of deciding whether someone wants to open up the position or keep it closed.

I would love to hear Pogonina's commentary on why she picked her move. It sends the game into a completely different direction.

Below is the position with my analysis and choice, the engine's thoughts and Pogonina's actual game choice:

As I said in my notes above I was happy that I picked a good and workable move, with a plan behind it (opening up the position for Black's bishop pair). I would be silly to be disappointed that I did not see the deep move that a Grandmaster saw. That is why she is a Grandmaster! :)

And if you haven't checked any of her articles out on chess.com, you might want to. Pogonina usually writes very clear and concise articles. Some of them have been very helpful!

And here is the complete game for your perusal:

Have a good one!

Random stuff and some new opening choices

2011-08-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

I finished the Match book of Kasparov-Kramnik, 2000. It was co-written by Andrew Martin and Nigel Davies. Martin sums up from the site and Davies handles the game annotations. NICE book. Best annotations I have seen from Davies. There were a few horribly short draws in the match but it was interesting to see how Kramnik wore Kasparov down with match strategy. Worth a pick-up if you can find it used (which I did).

I started the famous tournament book of Zurich 1953 today. I am only going to read through 5 rounds and then come back to it later. Trying to slog through the whole book would be nuts.

I am also starting Alekhine's Best Games collections as well (by Alekhine himself) I am going to take the same strategy and read it in parts. The first part of book ONE has 50 games for pete's sake! For game collections larger than 60 games I am going to continue with this strategy. I LOVED Tarrasch' 300 Games of Chess but MAN was that a long slog. :)

I don't know how to play against the King's Gambit as Black. SO I am going to adopt it as White!! (and practice it with both piece colors)

I want to mix up my openings a bit. NOT A LOT, just a bit.

I am sticking with 1. e4 as White. But if Black replies 1...e5 I will either play the Ruy or the King's Gambit. Just to mix it up. I want to look at different positions.

With the Black pieces I will reply to 1.e4 with either 1...e5 (as I have been) OR 1...c5 and shake it up a bit with the Sicilian. (which I have never played with the Black pieces).

If White plays 1.d4 I will either shoot for a Queen's Gambit Accepted OR a Queen's Indian. I kind of want to have some open and closed games that look different to expose myself to more positions so that I have to think a but more.

My opening study will still not be egregious. Just going over the basics in the MCO Software I have from CHessOK and then practicing. After that it will be learn as I go! :)

I am still sworn off all opening books!! Especially repertoire books, which have all been a waste of money.

Oh and I am loving the Jeremy Silman Chess Mentor course on Rook endings!! His Chess Mentor courses on Chess.com blow away his own endgame book for instruction quality, variety, sequence, depth and repetition.

I hope everyone is well!

Two positions: Rubinstein answer AND a cool Marshall tactic

2011-08-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

So LinuxGuy nailed the Rubinstein ending. I did not!

Below is the game with my faulty choice entered into the game score:

Now for today's position. It is from a Maroczy-Marshall game. Marshall wins this with a pretty attack! My move choice (as seen below) is a good one. The engine's first choice! BUT Marshall picks a better move and once the engine's see that they also like Marshall's move better. (well most of them) But I am still happy that I picked a clearly winning move! Finally! Below is the position with my move choice, Marshall's move choice and then the accompanying post-analysis engine thoughts.

This is a great in between move by Marshall! When his stuff worked it was awesome. I DO highly recommend his game collection!

This is also instructive regarding engine use. It is very important to show the engines other choices! I know for me I MUST first look at the position on my own and really dig into it. Find everything I can (of course I miss stuff!) After that, look at what the engines say (I use 4) and interact with them: Try moves they don't see, check the actual game with them, check their respective move choices against each other etc. etc. Only then can they be useful. If I don't look at the position on my own first, the engine output usually means nothing to me. I HAVE to have my own idea of the position for their instructions to either validate my opinion or educate my opinion.

Below is the complete game! Check out Marshall's cool rook sacrifice at the end to get the win!

Have a good weekend!

Rubinstein Rook Ending Puzzle!!

2011-08-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

Almost by general consensus Rubinstein is THE guy to study for rook endings. So I tried my hand at one this morning.

In the following position, Rubinstein has the Black pieces against Marshall.

For today I have only posted the position. Tomorrow I will post my own faulty answer, (I found a draw for Black, NOT the win for Black) with some engine analysis AND the complete game as well to see what Rubinstein did.

Let's hear some thoughts!

A Tal-Botvinnik position

2011-08-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today's mini-styoko comes from a Tal-Botvinnik game from the 1961 championship rematch. Tal wins this game but Botvinnik won the rematch!

The position is from a Caro Kan, and Tal has the White pieces.

I play an okay move to develop my pieces with an eye towards dislodging one of Black's knights from my territory. The better move is the simplest as you will see in the notes. (which is also the move that Tal played in the actual game)

Here is the position with my notes, analysis and engine clean up. :)

And here is the game in it's entirety:

Have a great Thursday!

Another Judit Polgar position.

2011-08-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

So I did another min-styoko with a position from a Judit Polgar-Nigel Short game. Polgar wins the game!

I saw the threat in the position but picked a move that allows Black to equalize. There were some better options. Polgar of course picked a correct one!

Below is the position with my choice and then the corrected analysis:

And here is the game in it's entirety!

Have a great night!

A Polgar-Shirov position

2011-08-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

So, I need to get back in the habit of really looking at a position and not moving to fast. Back to "mini-styokos"!

The following position is from a Judit Polgar-Shirov game. Those two make for good positions to study because there is often a LOT going on.

I miss a simple tactic in my analysis and consequently blow it! The position seems slightly unclear after some engines look at it. (check out Junior's long plan for Black's knight)

I love doing this. And it really helps to point out how much I DON'T look at (or see) even after spending twenty minutes on a position. Polgar went on to win the game.

Below is the position with my failed plan and the engine thoughts:

Here is the complete game for your own perusal. (I LOVE The way Judit Polgar plays chess!! Very aggressive and complex. In the game she sacrifices her queen to get a won endgame...and Shirov can do nothing about it!)

Seeya soon!

NOT so fun correspondence game....

2011-07-30T07:37:00.000-07:00

For every good game there is a bad game I guess!

After the nice attack of the game in my last post I now must show you a failed game.

I am playing the white pieces against a Caro-Kan (an opening I rarely see for some reason), I don't play the opening all that well.

There were a few blunders on each side but I had managed to get an advantage of a piece by move 20. (I could have also been up the exchange but decided to be too complicated...as you will see in the game.)

And then on move 22 I make a COLOSSAL blunder. My queen is threatened so I decide to try to exchange queens with a pawn move. I figure I am a up a piece, why not? Except my pawn move actually allows my opponent to put me in check and capture my queen for a rook! Game OVER! I should have just simply moved my queen.

Below is the game:

Have a great weekend!

Fun correspondence game

2011-07-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

So my summer of chess and music practice has been derailed a bit. I have been laid up for a month with some major leg and back pain. (from practicing drums on a bad throne!)

Good news is I am on the mend now!! Acupuncture is working some magic.

So I had to rescind my earlier edict of no internet chess as I have not been able to go to any of the tournaments I had on my calendar.

Thus I am back playing some correspondence chess on Chess.com

I do try to treat the correspondence chess as much like OTB as possible. I take my time, I set up a board but don't move pieces.

Anyway, what follows is one of my favorite wins I have ever had. My attack (I am playing the Black pieces) is a bit flawed but as my opponent was also a human being he doesn't defend properly and then I break through.

I have only lightly annotated this game as it was a victory. I just touched on a few of the mistakes I made. I also learned something about the Modern Steinitz defence. (Fianchetto!)

Here is the game:

Have a great rest of the week!

4th of July Chess Improvement Blog Carnival!!

2011-07-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone and welcome to this month's Chess Improvement Blog Carnival.

Our theme this month is of course centered around the 4th of July. It is always important to remember what this holiday is really about! It is not just fireworks, a day off from work and burnt hot dogs. It is about a document and an idea that even today stands as a great treatise on mankind's capabilities and responsibilities. America doesn't always get things right (what country does?) but every time I read the Declaration of Independence I get a few goose bumps. So before we begin I would like to reprint the famous preamble to The Declaration of Independence. It means as much if not more in our current time:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinceshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Allright! On to the carnival and since it is the 4th of July we are going to call this a chess improvement CONGRESS.

Our first representative to the podium, hailing from the great state of Alaska is, Robert Pearson. He is interested in debating what effect computers may have on us patzers: http://rlpchessblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/tyler-cowen-computers-and-what-they.html

Our second speaker to the podium is, once again Mr. Pearson! Is this an attempt at a filibuster?? In this post Mr. Pearson would like to discuss and expand upon Nigel Davie's thoughts on pushing oneself past our comfort zones: http://rlpchessblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/out-of-comfort-zone-and-into-fire.html

Robert Pearson again? This is a filibuster!! Only this time Mr. Pearson is just taking the stand to introduce the stately Nigel Davies. Mr. Davies will be discussing the importance of sleep on our chess game: http://chessimprover.com/2011/06/18/why-sleep-is-important/

We now move onto the Final Moves blog at Chess.com, who have six points of order to discuss:

1) The first is a quiz, written by Son of Pearl, that helps one ascertain if they are obsessed with chess or not. (Is obsession a bad thing?): http://blog.chess.com/SonofPearl/are-you-obsessed-by-chess-take-the-quiz

2)Their second point of order is a very nice introduction to the dragon variation (just knowing what the dragon variation is might mean I am obsessed with chess!!): http://blog.chess.com/ZacWilson/the-hidden-dragon-part-1-an-introduction This was written by Zac Wilson.

3. In their third point of order the Final Moves crew gives us a beautiful introduction on the principles of opening play: http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-principles-of-the-opening Written by IM ACEChess!!

4. Final Moves contributor Philidor 5949 presents this interesting treatise on the definition of an advantage in chess: http://blog.chess.com/phillidor5949/epistemology-of-the-chess-advantage

5. Final Moves contributor Soler 97 writes this interesting look at objectivity versus subjectivity in chess (with a little help from GM Rowson): http://blog.chess.com/soler97/is-chess-a-logical-game

6. The Final Moves party concludes their presentation with this very cool look at game with 2 rooks versus a queen: http://blog.chess.com/ZacWilson/queen-versus-2-rooks-a-masters-challenge Written by Zac Wilson.

Now that the Final Moves crowd has finally yielded the floor we will move onto the following point of order from Mark Weeks. For those of you who don't know (and really you should) Mr. Weeks is the author of the great blog entitled, Chess For All Ages. His entry into our Chess Congress is a great list, complete with links, of his own most popular articles: http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2011/06/improve-your-chess-game.html Thanks Mark!

Our resident Chess Historian, Blunder Prone, who is right now at the World Open in Philadelphia, (July 4th tie in!), presents his recent article on how he beat a candidate master! Go BP!! The article can be found here: http://blunderprone.blogspot.com/2011/06/into-lions-den-how-i-beat-candidate.html

Our well traveled chess blogger, Polly from Castling Queenside, presents the following point of order on the always tricky tactic of deflection: http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/2011/06/reflections-on-deflection.html

Longtime Chess Blogger Takchess discusses one of THE truisms in chess with his recent article on King Safety (and based on a few of my recent losses I need to reread his article!): http://takchesschess.blogspot.com/2011/06/nothing-is-more-important-that-king.html

And before we listen to our last two presenters at this month's Chess Improvement Congress, I would like to give a small tribute to some of the "founding fathers" of chess blogging. I highly encourage you to check out the following blogs and read through their journey! I have and it is always fascinating AND informative:

Man de la Maza: Here is his FIRST post- http://mandelamaza.blogspot.com/2004/09/oh-just-stop-reading-this-isnt-going.html#comments

Princess Errant: Check out this nice post on blundering-http://koorpret.blogspot.com/2005/03/blunderblunder.html

Sancho Pawnza: I believe this is his first post-http://sanchopawnza.blogspot.com/2004/10/day-1.html#comments

Nezha!: I again believe this is his first post-http://mrnezhmetdinov.blogspot.com/2005/02/first-steps.html#comments

And finally J'adoube: His intro post to his Circles training-http://j1mb3d3nbaugh.blogspot.com/2005/01/blogging-not-just-for-kids.html#comments

It is important to look at and pay attention to the ones who have come before us!! (this is true for Chess, Chess Blogging and of course life!)

Now our last two points of order for this month's chess congress-----

1. Empirical Rabbit continues his scientific probing of tactics study with this interesting breakdown of his recent experiments: http://empiricalrabbit.blogspot.com/2011/07/chp-experiment.html

2. HeinzK presents us with some thoughts on Fear and Loathing at the chess board (something I am sure we are all familiar with!): http://heinzk.blogspot.com/2011/06/fear-and-loathing-behind-chessboard.html#comments

If anyone submitted an article and they did not see it please contact me at my blog and I will add it as an edit. (there were apparently a few issues at the submission site)

And with that we conclude our July Chess Improvement (congress) Carnival. Takchess will be hosting next month's carnival on August 4th. Be on the look out for instructions on how to submit articles. And if you are interested in hosting a future Carnival please contact Blue Devil Knight at his Blog!

Thank you and have a great 4th of .....wait, what? Really? Why of course Mr. Franklin! Of course you can enter a late submission! You ARE Ben Franklin.

We have a late entry! Mr. Benjamin Franklin would like to submit the following link to his Morals of Chess, HERE! Most of you have probably read this but it is always worth reading again.

I will leave you with my favorite sentence from Mr. Franklin's treatise on chess:

And, lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the habit of hoping for a favorable change , and that of persevering in the search of resources.

Amen Brother!

2nd and 3rd games from my recent tournament

2011-06-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

So here are the second and third games of last weekends tournament.

The second game was against someone rated just above 1800. In hindsight it was interesting to look over the game. He just played good solid moves and then when I made a really juicy mistake he pounced ALL over it and never ever let me up from that mistake! Very educational indeed.

Here is the game:

Now on to game three. I am playing White against a player who is rated around 1675 or so. I actually had a good position in this game and then let it slip away. And once again the better player POUNCED on my mistakes!

Here is that game:

Have a good Thursday! I have one more game to post from this tournament.

First game from last week's tourney

2011-06-28T11:33:00.001-07:00

Here is the first game from my return to OTB chess!

I am playing the Black pieces against an opening I have never seen before. :)

The opening is a mess of blunders for both me and my opponent.

Then we settle down for a few moves. And THEN:

I make two major mistakes. I don't evaluate the position correctly to see what I should have been doing AND I enter into a series of exchanges where I did not see (or look) one move far enough. This again result in me not evaluating the position correctly. I thought I would be a pawn up but instead material is even and my opponent's position is better and basically winning!

Then I just blunder and lose my bishop in an already losing position. And the game is basically over although I play on a little longer, "just in case".

Here is the game:

I will have the next game up either tomorrow or Thursday.

I get whupped...and what to do about it!

2011-06-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

So I went to my first OTB tourney in about 10 months!! And only my second OTB tourney since August of 2009. And I proceeded to go 0-4!

My four opponents were rated 1563, 1675,1271 and 1805.

It was a different level of chess than I had been used to in earlier OTB tournaments.

But this is GOOD news! I learned a lot about what is wrong with my game! (and I don't mean the normal stuff that we all need to learn and get better at...I am talking about two fundamental problems that if not corrected will permanently stunt my chess game!)

Weakness #1:

I don't play enough OTB chess. My rough estimate is that I have played about 60 OTB chess since May of 2008(my first tournament). 60! In over 4 years!! Not even close to being enough. I remember reading in one of Wang's posts that he had played 45 games in two years (maybe one year..)...either way that is a lot of games! I can't get good unless I play.

What to do about weakness #1:

Well obviously: Play more! And I am now in the situation to do just that right now and I will be playing a lot more this summer. But what about the school year?? Here is where it gets dicey. It is VERY VERY hard to get to tournaments during the school year. Darn near impossible. So here is the answer in four parts:

a) NO MORE INTERNET CHESS OF ANY KIND! My old coach in Nashville had basically told me that in our first lesson. He stated it was better to play a computer at a LONG time control and move the pieces on a real board! And I even felt he was right but haven't stuck to it. SO Now I will. No MORE internet chess. It just doesn't induce the same thinking processes in me.

b) In the absence of OTB chess (ie: the school year), I will only play long games (G/60 at least) against a computer while moving the pieces at a real board!

c) After normal tactics, endgame and other stuff: In the absence of enough time to play a long game as stated above I will set up a position at the board and "Styoko" it. This at least simulates OTB play. It is much better than a G/10 on Chess.com!

d) It is imperative that I follow letters b and c during the school year!

Weakness # 2:

Calculation!!! Pure and simple! There was one set of exchanges from the first game that highlights this perfectly. I saw everything exactly as it happened! BUT my opponent saw the one move FURTHER that made my evaluation incorrect. I need to look longer, further and wider! (entire board and possible move options)

What to do about weakness #2:

The same steps as what to do about weakness #1! I need to play long games at a board focusing on taking my time and really looking at the board. This can also be helped by Styoko exercises! This is a skill that can only be practiced OTB or in situations that simulate OTB.

The neat thing is that in two of the games I had the advantage at one point! So I am
not a complete out to lunch chess loser (with respects to the former blogger of that name!).

I just need to play and work on some of the other skills (mostly calculation and LOOKING for things) that can only be practiced in games or game like situations. But if I don't correct these two weaknesses then I am just spinning my chess wheels.

So that is my deal! We will see how the summer shapes out. Next tourney is in two weeks! But I am excited for the challenges that lay ahead!

I will post all four of these games this week after I am done going through them.

OH and don't forget about the upcoming Chess Improvement Blog Carnival!

A Fun game!!

2011-06-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a game that I won! I like this game even with it's inaccuracies. I make an unsound sacrifice in the middle of the game! THEN I make a perfectly sound sacrifice to equalize the game and the my opponent blunders.

Here is the game:

Again I liked this game even with the inaccuracies! It is fun going for things and learning from them!

One thing I am really learning and relearning is that it is always important to play on until you KNOW it is over!

Have a great week and remember to submit your July Chess Improvement Blog Carnival entries here!

Next Chess Improvement Carnival!

2011-06-18T09:59:00.001-07:00

As mentioned before and on Blue Devil Knight's Blog, I will be hosting the next Chess Improvement blog carnival. The date of the carnival will be July 4th.

You can submit blog posts here.

If possible it would be great if submissions were made by July 1st. That should give me ample time to get things together.

I look forward to seeing everyone's submissions.

I should be done with my post on Fischer and another game analysis shortly!

Seeya!

I turn a win into a draw!

2011-06-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

I finally finished analyzing the first of two really good and interesting games.

This first one was a correspondence game on Chess.com.

I had a win in the endgame and then made a bad blunder and it became a draw.

With regards to correspondence games I treat them as just really long OTB games. I don't consult books or anything even though that is allowed. I try to take my time and really look at the position.

And I have tweaked my post-mortem process a bit as I am better at looking at positions now.

The process (which was first given to me by my old coach in Nashville) is:

1) Play over the game once noting when material exchanges, advantages and disadvantages.

2) Play over the game again and make notes on moves (mostly verbal) that I think could be different or just interesting.

3) Check out the opening and compare it to a database (what I refer to as "book")

4) Let an engine check out every move and when it sees a decent enough change in evaluation I mark that move as "look at later". When I am doing this I do not see the engine's suggestions..only the evaluations. (I am able to do this in the Shredder GUI)

5) Then I spend 20 minutes or so on each move I marked as "look at later". I try to really figure out what the better choice was. And I write my choices down.

6) Only after I have made it through step 5 do I consult an engine(s) to see what their actual move choices might be and how they compared to the choices I found.

I am finding it very fruitful. It takes about 3-4 days to go through a game.

Here is the game below:

Have a good beginning of the week!

July Blog Carnival and other random thoughts...

2011-06-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, June's Excellent Chess Blog Carnival has been posted at Robert Pearson's Chess Blog.

If you haven't already, stop by and check it out! It is a VERY festive version.

July's carnival will be hosted right here! Stay tuned for details!

My tactics training is going nicely. I am banging through Chess Tactics Level 1 and Simple Defence on Peshka. I am also doing a few problems a day at the ever improving Chess Tempo Site.

The site creator has added a database, opening searches, material searches, custom tactics and endgame problem sets etc. etc. It is worth the money for a premium membership. It is almost to the point of replacing Chessbase!! I love the Chess Tempo site.

I finished the Victor Bologan games collection. WOW! What a book. I can NOT recommend that book enough if you like game collections. Great games, and great annotations and mini-lessons after each game

I started Nimzovich's, "Chess Praxis", which is basically an annotated games collection that revolves around Nimzo's concepts. Silman preferred "Praxis" to "My System". Nimzo's games are surprisingly wide open (so far), and his notes are fairly clear and he gives a little preface before each section. I am digging this game collection more than I thought I would! NICE!

After a year of playing the Open Ruy as Black, I am switching to the Modern Steinitz against the Ruy. I like switching once a year or so just to experience new positions and such. And now with the MCO courses in Peshka, opening study is FUN and efficient!

I am going to have two new games of my own up sometime in the next week or so I hope. They should both be pretty instructive.

Have a great week and stay tuned for info on the July Blog Carnival!

Oh and I am going to fire up a post on Bobby Fischer in the next couple of days to see if we can ruffle some feathers. :)

Is it bad that I hate blitz chess?

2011-06-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

Should I play more blitz??

(before I embark on this late night diatribe, I want it to be known that this is not a criticism of blitz chess. It is what it is and different people like different things! I am trying to figure out if playing some blitz would help my chess.)

Even the king of slow chess himself, Dan Heisman, has advocated playing some blitz chess for board vision and practicing openings.

I wish I enjoyed playing blitz chess even a tiny bit. My aversion to it isn't related to any snobbery, ie: "Slow chess is the only real chess". etc. etc.

I just don't like the edginess that is blitz chess, which is exactly what makes it attractive to a lot of people. I don't like the energy that surrounds blitz, especially OTB. Slamming clocks, everyone moving in a hurry, pieces flying, people standing up to make moves...etc. etc. I feel like I am in a midtown traffic jam.

I don't like Blitz win or lose, OTB or online. I always feel unsatisfied and hollow no matter the result. It should be noted that I generally don't like short stories either. I always prefer a novel over a short story....even from my favorite authors.

The few times I have played blitz it actually made me hate chess. The first time I went to a chess club I ended up playing 10 blitz games and hated it. I actually thought that maybe I had picked the wrong hobby. But once I played my first OTB tournament of G/45, (still not a LONG time control) that is when I realized that, yes, this is the hobby for me. And I love even longer time controls.

But is there a BENEFIT to blitz? Should I play some blitz?? Or is it better just to ignore it since I have such an aversion to it? Any thoughts??

A great game collection, another cool Peshka course AND I think I am getting better.

2011-06-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

I only have 8 games left to go through in Victor Bologan's WONDEFUL game collection!

Bologan has a lot of interesting things to say about the Chess Profession, and the game itself. The games he has chosen are very interesting and his annotations...his ANNOTATIONS....are simply GREAT!! And he always gives a few "lessons" to be learned at the end of each game.

I would love to see Bologan write a modern day move by move book.

I can not recommend this book enough!!

I purchased another Peshka course today. It is entitled Simple Defense. It is a tactics course based completely around defense. I am already digging it! A lot.

And finally a tangible sign I am getting better. When I first got into chess a few years back I purchased a stand alone chess computer by Excalibur (now defunct I believe), entitled King Arthur Deluxe. After about a year I could NOT get past the 7th level. And then I found Shredder and modern day PC software and would only play against King Arthur once in a great while. STILL could NOT get past level 7!!

The few times I did beat level 7 in the past 3 or so years (probably 4 times, TOPS) it would always be because I managed to steer the game into an endgame where the computer would screw up.

Well today I dusted off King Arthur for the first time in awhile and I checkmated the bastard on the dreaded level 7!!

I didn't fall prey to any of his cheap tactics and most importantly I noticed that I TOOK MY TIME!!

Seeya!

Internet frustration, an unfun win, and design changes....

2011-05-29T09:14:00.001-07:00

Whew! It took me awhile to get the game posted below to fit in my old template SO I took that as a sign to change up the blog design.

Playing online can be frustrating. I signed on to FICS last night to play a G/40. Someone accepted my seek and the game was fun...for awhile!

He played a Scotchish Two Knights as White and neither one of us made any egregious errors. (there were errors..just not major ones!) And it looked like we were headed for an endgame. At move 13 I decide to exchange bishops and go into a bishop vs. knight endgame (I own the bishop as Black), with White having a better pawn structure. It looked even but it would have been fun.

Then White resigned! Resigned!!

Check out the game:

I was very psyched to play out this ending and see what would happen. White showed no fighting spirit by resigning in what was basically an even endgame.

That is why I only play on the internet once or twice a week. Yeah it was a win but it wasn't the least bit rewarding.

Have a great memorial day!

ps. Knight endgames are fun!!

Summers here, school is out and I have No AC...it might be time to blog again!

2011-05-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well my first year at the new gig was awesome! The Spring Semester was crazy busy and fun. Blogging took a nose dive as did most chessic pursuits.

I did manage to finish the tests in Silman's, "The Amateur Mind". And I did keep doggedly doing tactics, and played a few games on my droid whenever a few minutes popped up.

But summer is here! There are a few OTB tournaments in New England that I am going to get to. I also have to practice a lot of music!

So considering that summer is a good time to revamp, and I DID finish Silman's book, I AM revamping a bit but not much.

TACTICS:

The newly designed Peshka program from ChessOk is Awesome! Much better than it used to be. So based on our good friend Wang's review, I purchased the Chess Tactics Level 1, 2, and 3 courses! Level 1 is a bit easy (so FAR!) but even though I have done a lot of tactics and have repeated each tactics book at least twice if not more, I have never stuck with one system of tactics. So Sergey Ivashchenko Chess School tactics, (the courses are based on his books) here I come. I will repeat each Level at least 3 times. I will try to make it through one lesson a day but that is not set in stone. This will last a while.

I will also do 10 or so problems a day at Chess Tempo (Love this site) 5 tactics and 5 endgames!

OTHER EXERCISES:

Continuing with Peshka, I purchased the "Play Like Capablanca" course. (the Botvinnik course came free with the interface) I love this program. I am going to go through the tests at least 3x. The cool thing with this course is I get to practice more complex tactics, and strategic decisions. (and more!) If I only do one problem a day that is cool! I want to have fun with this and spend time on each problem. For the strategic exercises I will use my newly acquired Silmanesque thought procedure. WHICH has helped immensely!

STRATEGY:

Nothing new. Just practicing Silman's ideas in the Capablanca and Botvinnik course (and in analyzing my own games) will be enough for awhile. I will also pick one position from a master game in one of my openings and Styoko it to a pulp on the weekend.

ENDGAMES:

I will continue to practice one or two pawn ending positions a day from the pawn ending database I created. This will also last awhile. Every once in awhile I will blast through Pandolfini's pawn ending section like a puzzle book just to keep the basics in mind.

I am also now learning about knight endings: N vs N, N vs P. Eventually I will create a database of these endings as well.

GAME COLLECTIONS:

OH How I have missed these during the semester. I am going through Bologan's collection right now. GREAT book! After that it will on to Nunn's Move by Move book. And then after that, either the Botvinnik-Smyslov book or Rubinstein's best games. No real order.

OPENINGS:

I FINALLY think I know how to study these without breaking my time bank! First of all NO OPENING BOOKS! AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! NONE!

Most of them suck unless you are already an expert or above and by that point you don't need as much guidance.

Here is what I am doing! Again it is Peshka to the rescue. There is a great series of course entitled Modern Chess Openings. They are the perfect mix of ideas, variations, depth, and breadth. Kind of the last bowl of porridge in the Goldilocks story! I am using this program to create my own overview in Chessbase for each of my openings (mainlines only-and only up to move 12 or so). I then create a chessbase ctg book of master games in that opening. Once I am done with this I will have an easy reference to learn from my games. AND if something quirky happens I can go look it up in the Peshka courses. I will also practice the openings as G/5 against the engines and then check them against my earlier notes. So once the labor intensive part of creation is over, this will be VERY efficient.

As I am looking at all of this it seems like a lot. But it really isn't because I am not placing any "number of attempts" per day on any of it. So I can get to almost everything everyday. The way I am structuring all of this causes the amount of time to becomes less important. What becomes important is just doing a bit of all of it! If I have 25 minutes one day, then probably one exercise in each category. (and only one opening practice blitz game).

If I have an hour I do more! Forward momentum becomes easier to sustain. I am focused not on how MUCH I practice and study chess. I am instead focused on HOW OFTEN!

Oh and as I said I will be going to at least 3 OTB tourneys this summer. And when that can't happen I will play at least one long game at FICS! And analyze to bits and pieces. (thanks to Silman!) (and a few G/20s against an engine here and there!)

So there ya have it.

Have a great week!

The best chess book I have ever read IS.............

2011-01-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

Wait for it..........................

...............Silman's, "The Amateur's Mind"!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I am guilty of a little hyperbole here but not that much.

I just finished reading and playing through all the instructive chapters of "The Amateur's Mind". And WOW! What a superb instructional book! I mean superb!

I have just started working through the test positions that make up the rest of the book. And they are great as well, and the answers are like little mini-pamphlets on that particular subject.

In the instructional chapters, Silman writes in great detail on his system (always a dicey word) of imbalances as well as some thoughts on how to use rooks, chess psychology etc. etc. He highlights his concepts and rules by showing the thought processes of his students as they play through the positions. Silman is always engaging and very clear in his prose.

I know I have bagged on his endgame book before, but not for the prose, only the organization of that material. (to show how good Silman's prose is..I kept the endgame book even though I didn't like the "by rating" layout)

In "The Amateur's Mind" he got the organization and the prose PERFECT!! I mean I am actually looking at games differently. Yeah, it will take awhile to completely sink in but WOW...chess seems different...like someone unlocked the third ring of zelda for me and I can now go on the the next level. (more hyperbole!)

Anyway, I can't recommend this book enough. It even helps to make sense of tactics! Tactics are starting to have a reason for being now other than to just not lose material.

I even got the first two test positions CORRECT! BA BANG!

So my obvious excitement got me to thinking: Out of all the chess books that I have read so far, which ones really, really made a difference??

In no particular order:

--Logical Chess: Move by Move by Chernev

I have prattled on about this book before but it is the one that lit my fire!
So that counts for something and always will!!

--The Art of the Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn

This one made all the tactics actually come to life. Great explanations of the checkmates. And great puzzles to work through as well!

--Simple Chess by Stean

I read through this twice and I don't think I would have been ready for "The Amateur's Mind" without it!

--Silman's pawn ending course on chess.com

Better than his endgame book because he focuses, really focuses on one topic! Great great stuff. I mean GREAT STUFF!! Worth the price of paying for chess.com

--Pandolfini's Endgame Course by Pandolfini

All the basic positions one needs to know to get a leg up on the endgame. I have worked through the pawn positions about a bajillion times!

--Every game collection I have ever read! (except one)

All of these collections have just helped me to understand the game, and have helped to grow my love of the game! They are indispensable in my mind.

--Back to Basics: Tactics by Heisman

Great second or third book on tactics. Great instruction and great examples!!

A VERY well written book!

--How To Play Good Opening Moves by Mednis

Best book on opening concepts that I have seen. But a boatload of inexcusable typos. However it is most often found for very little cost on Amazon.

and finally as stated at the start of this post-"The Amateur's Mind"

What are your most important chess books???

One of my better games!!!!

2010-12-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

I just finished playing one of my better games of chess!! This is a G/25 on FICS. I am playing the Black pieces. I make a mistake and lose a piece BUT I manage to frustrate my opponent for a long time. He is unable to utilize his material advantage. Eventually I win the endgame!!

The game is below:

newgameforblog.pgn

Have a good weekend!

Another Knight vs. Bishop position....my move choice is a turkey!

2010-11-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

This one is from a Tal-Fischer game back in the '50's.

I again had sort of an inkling of the right idea BUT I once again get tripped up on a tactical move order. If I had looked a little harder I would have seen that White's queen gets overworked by my choice of plan. Tal chooses the correct plan and Fischer plays a few less than stellar moves allowing Tal to gain the victory!!

This is encouraging and discouraging all at once! BUT it is helpful.

I have included my original thoughts and plan along with Junior's ideas and responses and the actual game continuation! Enjoy:

Strategy position 4.pgn

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!

Another knight vs. bishop position...Smyslov rocks!

2010-11-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

This is my third attempt to analyze a knight vs. bishop position and formulate a good plan using Silman's guidelines from his book, "The Amateur's Mind". I am mostly focusing on the minor piece imbalances but am trying to take all of Silman's Imbalances into consideration.

Edit for blog carnival:

Chessbase's material finder is great for finding positions like this to work through. One just needs to understand the search parameters (easy really!) to adjust the search. When searching for positions like this I suggest searching for a particular player as well. This will keep your search results from being to unwieldy. For more info on Material searches in Chessbase check out these tutorials from Steve Lopez. Lopez explains this better than I will!! Material searches are also great for finding endgame studies!!

Back to the position at hand:

Once again I get the basic gist of the correct plan but blow it tactically! I need to look at ALL possibilities.

Smyslov's handling of the position is great! (and is included in the board below)

Strategy position 3.pgn

I hope you enjoy the position. Have a great weekend!

Another Bishop vs. Knight's position....

2010-11-18T19:22:00.000-08:00

My second attempt to analyze a position using Silman's first imbalance (knights vs. bishops) did not go as well as the first.

In that first position I got the basic plan correct but blew a tactic. In the position to follow (from a Petrosian-Fischer clash!) I didn't get the right plan either. Rybka will show us the best plan. Fischer also picks a winning plan which is a little slower than Rybka's but wonderful nonetheless.

This is fun stuff to do! Here is the position with my plan, Rybka's plan and Fischer's plan:

Strategy position 2.pgn

Have a great weekend!

A really bad game AND a really good game!

2010-11-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

So I am trying to play on FICS more and was able to play two games the other night. I think they were both G/20 or so.

In the first game I made two colossal blunders that I could have included in Chessx's dumbest move I ever made poll!

Here is the first game. A shameful display of chess!

tomgtro-ficsplayerhandle.pgn

In the second game I played on of my better games of chess and beat someone rated higher than me (at least on FICS). I made a few mistake but overall I played well and once I got an advantage played to convert it. This is a game I would have lost hands down last year!! I am happy with this game! I am starting to get better...FINALLY!

utigard-tomgtro.pgn

I hope everyone has a great week!!

The place where strategy and tactics meet, A McDonald Book Mini- Review, I start a Silman book and other stuff.......

2010-11-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

I recently finished Neil McDonald's, "The Art of Planning in Chess-Move by Move."

This was a good book! It is a move by move games collection focused on planning. (sort of) McDonald makes use of more recent games from the 90's and 00's. He does throw a chestnut into the mix once in awhile.

I really did like this book but it felt a bit rushed. There were some interesting typos and McDonald's prose is not consistent from game to game. When he digs into a game he is hands down one of the best and most educational annotators working today. But there are a few games in this book where he seemed to be rushing through the game for whatever reason. All in all this was a fun and entertaining read. I have just started Gligoric's account of the Fischer-Spassky match! I found this book for a dollar at a local used book store. Gligoric's annotations are nice so far! Match books are fun!!

I have been back at Chess Tempo again. I like to go there for a month or so after finishing a go round in a tactics book. I recently finished my 2nd time through "Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors". After another month at Chesstempo I will make my 3rd go around at the aforementioned tactics book. I am happy to say that my percentage (I don't pay attention to ranking) at Chesstempo has improved greatly. When I last left there I was basically answering the problems correctly 73% percent of the time. (which had been up from the previous experience). Over the last month I have been finding the correct solution about 84% of the time! PROGRESS!!

I slso just finished the first chapter in Silman's, "The Amateur's Mind" Great stuff! Well written and very helpful! I am going to stop for a minute at the end of each chapter and do some analysis of positions that are relevant to that chapter. So I am going to post my first try later on this post. Chessbase's material finder is great for finding a position to work through. I used to bag on them but Chessbase really is an AMAZING tool for WORKING at chess! For more info on Material searches in Chessbase check out these tutorials from Steve Lopez.

I find and copy the position (so that I don't have the rest of the game moves!) come up with a plan, and then play out that plan against an engine to see how I would have fared! After I see how that goes, I look for any engine corrections and THEN compare those corrections and my plan with the original game plan!

As we will see in the following position from a Petrosian-Nezhmetdinov game, Silman's rules regarding knights vs. bishops really did help me to come up with a suitable plan for White. (there was a slightly better plan found by Hiarcs AND Petrosian but my plan was still good and winning for White. However as will be seen, I missed an essential calculation. My overall plan was good but the tactics to carry out the plan were flawed. AND THAT is where Tactics and Strategy meet!! This was pretty instructional for me! I am excited to continue in Silman's book and to do more of this type of work.

I have included the position below along with my thoughts and moves against Hiarcs. I have also included the rest of the actual game as played by Petrosian.

Strategy position 1.pgn

Have a great week!

Playing guess the move with Spassky!!

2010-10-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

So today I played Guess the Move as Boris Spassky against Tal in a Ruy Lopez.

I am enjoying this method of study. It is a nice way to end the week. (especially if there isn't any possibility of OTB play)

I have tweaked the method a bit;

1) Play through the game with the move window closed in chessbase. I have my timer going and it is set for 60 minutes!

2) When I guess an incorrect move I make a notation in Chessbase (which you don't need to open the move window to do!) so that I know what variations and/or thoughts and plans I had! This is crucial for when I go back over the game.

3) After the game is finished I go back over it myself and try to see why Spassky (or whoever it might be) played a different move. And I should not be afraid to question their moves....as you shall see in the game below.

4) Then I check the opening with the Hiarcs and/or Junior opening books.

5) Then I go back over the relevant moves with an engine or two. And if the engine says my move was better I will let that be known. In fact doing this was very educational this time. There are a few moves where my guessed move was actually better than Spassky's game move. BUT I either let Spassky sway my opinion or I saw somewhat faulty continuations.

I need to be able to calculate well enough to refute or prove my move choice whatever the case may be!!! Calculation is the key......

So here is the game with annotations regarding the moves where I chose differently. (and a few other important moves as well)

Guess the move 1 for blog_0.pgn

And I picked up a book today on a lark that might be awesome! It is called Teach Yourself Better Chess. Title is somewhat lacking but the lessons are really cool. They are quick and all about thought process. But not the 18 step, cluck like a chicken and then make a move type process that Purdy advocates.

I will give an update on this book next time!

Have a great week!

Playing guess the move with Capablanca!

2010-09-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

So I have always wanted to go over some games with the guess the move procedure advocated by Purdy and others.

I have tried it from time to time but couldn't find a way to make it both fun and educational. As much as I love game collections I didn't like using them for Guess the Move for whatever reason.

So I finally decided to do it this way:

1) Pick a game from an opening I use. (I am starting with Capablanca's games)

2) Load it into Chessbase with the game notation hidden and set my game clock to 60 minutes.

3) Make the move I think works. If it does I will know it and if it doesn't the program will ask me if I want to add a variation. I say yes because I will come back to it later. I do write down my thoughts as well if I picked a different move than in the game.

4) After I finish the game in this way I open up the moves window and go back and try to figure out why a different move was played, and what, if any problems there are with my move choices.

5) Then I fire up an engine or two and let them tell me what they think about the moves in question.

In the following game I made a point of deciding whether my move choice was worse, better or equal than the one in the game.

I think it is important to recognize that there are often many different options available. It is important to be objective, and that means critiquing my bad moves and also realizing that for a select few I was on target even if the move was different.

So this will be a lot different than the annotated games I used to post. The annotations are more geared towards my move choices compared to the ones in the actual game.

Any moves that are variations are the choices I made (for better or worse!) that were different than the ones actually played by Capablanca. (except for one or two engine variations)

Here is the game!

Guess the move 1 for blog.pgn

Have a great week!