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 Well, the articles in this series seem to grow less frequent as time progresses, so I'll do one when I can. In a few recent games of mine, I've encountered an opening pattern that can be seen from many different opening paths. The main character...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--71909Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:47:07 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--71909Sorry this is a little late again, haven't been on chess.com much lately. Anyways, this week's topic is on openings.  Usually I play pretty standard openings, such as the ruy lopez, sicilian, and king pawn openings.  However, a few weeks ago, ...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-6109Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:09:34 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-6109Hello, and glad you're reading this week's edition of Improve Your Rating, a weekly article series designed to help lower-rated players improve. (Although skilled players are free to read as well!) This week's topic is about patience in chess.  ...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-52509Sun, 31 May 2009 15:04:25 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-52509I was playing some fast live chess on another site, and I realized how much fun you can have by going absolutely crazy.  Often times I enjoy playing the crap (h4), moving pieces backwards, or going kamikaze with my king just for fun.  All the g...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/the-joy-of-stupidity--part-1Thu, 21 May 2009 12:47:09 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/the-joy-of-stupidity--part-1First of all, sorry for being incredibly late.  AP exams, debates, weekend ultimate tournaments, and a hectic life have kept me from spending much time here during the last month or so.  Hopefully that is all over now, so I can continue blogging...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-51809Tue, 19 May 2009 14:41:59 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-51809First of all, I'd like to say sorry for being this late, I was loaded with things this week (i.e. notes, debates, chess tournaments, etc.)  Anyways, this week's topic is on my lessons from learned from the Queen City Classic on 4/18. The Queen...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-42009Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:12:10 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--week-of-42009Here are some puzzles from my own games     http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/somewhat-harder-puzzlesFri, 17 Apr 2009 15:34:04 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/somewhat-harder-puzzlesHere are some puzzles from my own games.     http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/easy-puzzles-1Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:38:26 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/easy-puzzles-1Sorry in advance for the delay, because of homework this week's column was moved to Wednesday.  For new readers, this is my weekly column meant for players under a 1400 chess.com rating.  It is also posted in my group, Free Chess Help. (http://w...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--41509Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:27:53 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--41509I saw this game in a book and found it very interesting.  It's from the Bugojno tournament of 1982.  Bugojno is a small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the tournaments held there are it's claim to fame.  In the 1982 tournament, Najdrof was act...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/kasparov-najdrof-bugojno-1982Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:45:19 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/kasparov-najdrof-bugojno-1982Before I begin this week's topic, I'd like to give a plug to my new group, Free Chess Help. (http://www.chess.com/groups/home/free-chess-help)  I designed this group to help players rated under 1400, and a few over 2000 are needed to help.  The ...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--4609Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:28:31 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--4609Hi, I'm Wicksta85, and this is the first in a series of articles designed to help lower-leveled players. (On chess.com, maybe 1200 rated or less.)  If you're rated higher than that, then this is probably too basic for you, but feel free to read! ...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--33009Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:22:03 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/improve-your-rating--33009I don't really know how i found this move.  I was down a whole piece, with a terrible position as white.  My opponent had heavy pressure on my position, and my f1 rook was doing absolutely nothing. He had just moved 22... Qb4, threatening both m...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/3rd-combination-blogTue, 17 Feb 2009 14:31:04 -0800http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/3rd-combination-blogMy second nice combo.  Not that bad for a ~1450 USCF player. I was down a pawn, ended up one.  Unfortunately, I blundered and lost the game, but I was proud of this combo. http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/another-comboSun, 08 Feb 2009 16:28:14 -0800http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/another-comboI really enjoyed this game, from the advantageous opening, to the pausing of the attack for defense, to finally the nice combo at the end, and I hope you will enjoy my analysis of it.  It was one of my first truly excellent games, at least for my...http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/my-first-really-good-combinationTue, 03 Feb 2009 13:11:35 -0800http://blog.chess.com/wicksta85/my-first-really-good-combination