Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com Hey everyone :) (This is a really long blog... Originally intended for the cheating forum.) Every once in a while I see a particular link tossed around (http://www.redhotpawn.com/profile/playerprofile.php?uid=306509). For those of you who don't...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-ih8sens-storyThu, 19 Nov 2009 22:04:39 -0800http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-ih8sens-storyHi guys :). I'm in the middle of the local championship right now... Not doing too well but that's more because everyone else is really good than it is I'm playing poorly.   Umm what else... right... I'm annotating all my games in depth for t...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/sudbury-championship---2009-round-1Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:21:23 -0800http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/sudbury-championship---2009-round-1A lot of players I know (even experts and masters) make a fairly significant mistake.  In an effort to avoid... well... effort, these players opt for less common openings, hoping to avoid theory.  The Scotch and the Scandinavian are the two most...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/theory-in-non-theoretical-linesTue, 20 Oct 2009 12:40:06 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/theory-in-non-theoretical-linesRound 5 and 6 :).  Cleaner games than on my first two days.   And finally game 6.  I was playing someone with half a point more than me ... meaning that a win with the black pieces clinched part of the first place prize.  Anything else lef...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-3Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:51:45 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-3Here are Sunday's games.   After that (almost lucky) win, round 4 was very important to me.  I felt I needed to win to make it into the prizes.  Turns out I did need to ... http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-2Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:19:56 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-2As promised, my games from the Labour Day open.  I was fortunate enough to go undefeated... and unfortunate enough to still finish out of the money! (4 of my 6 games drew).   I've annotated them all ... haven't checked any with Rybka... hopefu...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-1Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:16:45 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/toronto-labour-day-open-part-1After reading chess.com's official (okay, unnoficial) 'millionth resigning thread', I decided it was worth a blog :).   So here's the thing: No one can tell someone else to resign, and no one should feel pressured to resign a game they feel lik...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/to-resignThu, 27 Aug 2009 16:25:55 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/to-resignWell, I'm finally back in my hotel room with Drake Lalonde (PMorphy123 here on chess.com ... he's my latest loss if you're reading this while the blog is fresh). The tournament's been pretty good so far.  One little glitch occured when Drake and...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/hamilton-summer-open---day-1Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:37:47 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/hamilton-summer-open---day-1A couple days back I had the privledge of playing a correspondence game with a National Master here at chess.com.  It's rare I get the chance, so I looked forward to the opportunity.  As I suppose you would guess, the one and only game I had eve...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/playing-a-masterWed, 19 Aug 2009 23:24:26 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/playing-a-masterHere's a fun game I played today with one of my regular opponents.  The Benko is really an interesting line.  Black sacs a pawn for what appears to be a very tiny lead in development.  It turns out (much to the surprise of many) that the sacri...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-beautiful-benkoTue, 18 Aug 2009 11:15:12 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-beautiful-benkoWhat a dynamic line!  The Najdorf is so interesting from both sides.  I won't get into some long speech about the theory, origins, etc... but I will say that it can create some very crazy games.   Enjoy!   http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-dangerous-najdorfWed, 12 Aug 2009 13:10:20 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-dangerous-najdorfHere is a fully annotated game for you to take a look at.  The annotations will discuss Nimzovich's theory that masters 'overrate' small advantages, and Capablanca's approach to chess.  Namely, that one advantage can lead to another more signifi...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-value-of-small-advantagesWed, 12 Aug 2009 07:50:22 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-value-of-small-advantagesI'm sure all of us have had similar circumstances.  We're paired in a tournament with someone rated far higher than us in a key game.  If you're anything like me, your 'must win' feeling definitely overpowers your 'no chance' instinct.   Here...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-bittersweet-resultTue, 11 Aug 2009 11:13:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-bittersweet-resultHere are my games from a 3 round swiss blitz (3min.) tournament.  I haven't annotated them but they're a nice watch.  Particularly game 3.   http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-fun-blitz-tournamentMon, 10 Aug 2009 08:23:23 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-fun-blitz-tournamentAs I gradually become a stronger chess player, I continually look forward to reaching new milestones.  An all-time high rating in live chess was my latest accomplishment.  Here's the game that gave me this new rating.  Excitingly enough, it was...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-3-minute-masterpieceWed, 22 Jul 2009 20:04:41 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/a-3-minute-masterpieceTo start off, I'd like everyone to know that this is completely an opinion piece.  Even at the very top levels of chess, superGM's will answer this question differently.  However, here, I'd like to share my opinion on the most effective way to s...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/how-to-studyFri, 10 Jul 2009 10:12:14 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/how-to-studyHere's a game I played today at the Hart House U2000 tournament in Toronto.  I finished the tournament with a 3/5 score (shoulda been 4/5 .. kinda hung my queen in an endgame). Credit should be given to David, my young opponent who played incred...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/my-immortal---accuracySun, 05 Jul 2009 22:24:58 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/my-immortal---accuracyWow, that was fun! http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/my-first-fischer-random-gameThu, 02 Jul 2009 12:56:21 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/my-first-fischer-random-gameAs I'm sure just about everyone who follows my blogs knows, I tend to avoid situations where positional concepts don't find the move for you.  As much as I love tactics and actually work very hard in the tactics trainer, I tend to (like so many o...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/tactical-chaosThu, 02 Jul 2009 09:57:32 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/tactical-chaosHi everyone! :)   I was browsing around the forums today and saw a very interesting post talking about the 'difference between a 1400 and a 1600 player'.  Naturally this lead to discussion about the differences between players of all rating ca...http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-difference-betweenFri, 26 Jun 2009 12:28:20 -0700http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/the-difference-between