Which phase in chess is the toughest for you to handle?

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28th September 2008, 09:24am
#1
by Muspelheim
Jakarta Indonesia
Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 289

Opening, middlegame, or endgame? For me = the opening, because I don't understand yet the theory behind the opening.

28th September 2008, 09:34am
#2
by BigTy
B.C Canada
Member Since: Jul 2008
Member Points: 137

The endgame is by far the hardest for me.

28th September 2008, 05:30pm
#3
by xbigboy
Minnesota United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 2851

Middlegame... I crumple around that time...

28th September 2008, 05:31pm
#4
by woodencardboard
Missouri United States
Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 239

the winning phase

28th September 2008, 05:34pm
#5
by firestare500
testlab in Nevada, Tallahassee, Florida United States
Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 1706
woodencardboard wrote:

the winning phase


lol, no duh...... opening and middle game for me

28th September 2008, 05:42pm
#6
by bondiggity
United States
Member Since: Jun 2008
Member Points: 1549

middlegame, so complex and the positional shuffling and tactical possibilities that arise usually are overlooked by me.

28th September 2008, 05:57pm
#7
by dwaxe
Thousand Oaks, California United States
Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 1044

I absolutely stink in complex middlegame positions.

I'm proficient in the endgame and know to stay away from unfamiliar openings, but long combinations are hard for me.

28th September 2008, 06:07pm
#8
by Sparta
New York United States
Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 1112

The endgame is tough, but winning is sometimes tougher.

28th September 2008, 06:15pm
#9
by dmeng
Knoxville, TN United States
Member Since: Jul 2008
Member Points: 308

I personally need work on the late opening and middlegame, though my endgame isn't exactly good either.

28th September 2008, 06:24pm
#10
by trigs
Hamilton Canada
Member Since: Aug 2008
Member Points: 538

endgame is the most difficult with middlegame a close second.

28th September 2008, 06:27pm
#11
by stanhope13
The Celestial City or Armageddon United Kingdom
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 365

definatly the endgame,why? because most games are more or less over by the time you reach the endgame,so it,s a bit of a of a formality,barring blunders, which tend not to happen because there,s so little material left.

28th September 2008, 06:29pm
#12
by idricool
Canada
Member Since: Sep 2008
Member Points: 31

Opening, I'm an ending expert but not opening. I can handle it, but its hard to choose how to start because it affects your game.

28th September 2008, 06:47pm
#13
by agent_86
Memphis United States
Member Since: Mar 2008
Member Points: 65

If I don't play hypermodern I come out of the opening at least a pawn down.

28th September 2008, 06:53pm
#14
by onosson
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 727

The transition from the middle to the end - that's where I make most of my mistakes, and set myself up for a loss.

28th September 2008, 06:56pm
#15
by goldendog
beertopia United States
Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 2285

Unless you are master or close to it (USCF not 2200 here) you need to work on all phases of the game, if you are being serious about chess anyway.

Actually 2200 isn't the end of learning about the opening or middlegame or ending,

but I hope you get my point.

28th September 2008, 08:15pm
#16
by zlhflans
Tampa Bay, Fl United States
Member Since: May 2008
Member Points: 2768

Endings, no doubt.

28th September 2008, 08:29pm
#17
by Chessroshi
Indianapolis United States
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 739

A lot of the time I have a hard time consolidating my gains, so I suppose middlegame. I just lost a tourney game on here where I was positionally better for the majority of the game, but I just couldn't play clean enough to not let the advantage dissapate. Very disappointing. It is an important skill for all to learn, how to convert strategic advantages to their physical counterpart.

28th September 2008, 09:18pm
#18
by Cratercat
Santa Clara United States
Member Since: Oct 2007
Member Points: 52

Endgame. Openings are usually routine enough to find one's way to middlegame. Middlegame isn't easy, but it's usually tactical at some point and strong intuition steers one through. Endgame is subtle and some positions such as king + pawn(s) demand an extraordinary amount of calculation.

29th September 2008, 02:14am
#19
by rich
My Home United Kingdom
Member Since: Jul 2007
Member Points: 22968

Endgames.

29th September 2008, 03:57pm
#20
by OckhamsRazor
Va Bch, VA United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 61

Great question...though the answers aren't going to help any of us :P

 

I walk a fine line with openings.  I understand there's a lot of tried and tested theory there, but I can't help but feel that that theory is a result of something deeper.  Some insight.  Some basic principles that are applied, but applied with flexibility.  So I don't subscribe to "book" playing, and...well...my opening game suffers as a result because I'm not a chess genius :)  But dammit, I'm going to keep trying until I attain the spirit of the opening rather than the rehashed theory of it.

 

Middle game...I swing like a pendulum between absolutely stunning insights and outright drooling stupidity.

 

Eng game.  Particularly those pawn/king endgame situations.  I abjectly suck.  I keep trying to see it, but I just can't.

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