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 Here is the latest game I recently completed.  I've added my usual annotations.  I do feel that I tend to forget a lot of important stuff that I was seeing during the game by the time I review/analyze the game at completion.  I may ...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/surrendered-diagonalsTue, 19 Aug 2008 18:16:49 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/surrendered-diagonalsIn this next game I ultimately get outplayed in the middle game.  The title comes from the position where the queens are faced off against each other at the end of the opening and neither of us takes.  I definitely need to improve my mid...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/face-offSun, 17 Aug 2008 13:43:22 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/face-offI titled this blog entry House of Cards after the way my position falls apart rather quickly after my pawns are undermined.  Looking over the game, I felt that the key mistake was one of calculation.  I'll run the game through Rybka to s...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/house-of-cardsSun, 17 Aug 2008 08:08:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/house-of-cardsI took the title of this blog entry from the position below: Below is the full game score.  The position above occured in the late middle game.  Its an interesting position.  I had recently played my rook to b6, which wasn't a g...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/uncovered-checkSat, 09 Aug 2008 21:22:47 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/uncovered-checkThis game actually finished just before I resigned my 'Humbled' game.  This is a Sicilian Dragon/Yugoslav Attack game.  As black I manage to solve the issues of whites typical attacking posture, although white could fine tune his handlin...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/dragon-vs-yugoslavThu, 07 Aug 2008 21:19:22 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/dragon-vs-yugoslavSo with my rating over 2050 (very much inflated), I sought a new game, this time setting the low rating seek limit to 1900.  I was quite surprised to find myself in a new game with a 2500+ player.  Well, lets just say my opponent probabl...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/humbledWed, 06 Aug 2008 20:41:24 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/humbledHere is the next game I completed.  My opponent wanted to play out of book, preferring a tactical game from the start.  I got lucky with some knight forks and KedDuff politely resigned. I also hope my opponent wasn't bothered by my lac...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/kedduff-vs-wizzifnab-20080728Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:08:43 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/kedduff-vs-wizzifnab-20080728Here is my latest game.  I enjoyed this game.  In the middle I get to a position where I feel I have the advantage.  Then, I make what I feel is a bad choice in placement of my queen and black gets the initiative with some kingside ...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-veronaldea-20080730Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:41:30 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-veronaldea-20080730Here is my latest game.  I played the Colle.  I didn't play exactly as I should in the first few moves and I believe black could have taken advantage of that.  However, I was able to get the typical setup and had a very successful e...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-chebon-20080720Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:15:59 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-chebon-20080720Here is the latest game I played.  The rating of my opponent has gotten progressively higher, about 200 pts each game. Update: I've added Rybka notes.  Although I knew the 18. ... Nd5 move was probably not best, Rybka clearly saw thi...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-medina-20080720Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:56:22 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-medina-20080720In the below game, I play the Sicilian Dragon.  Again, this game was played after about a 9 - 10 month break from playing chess.  So my dragon is a bit rusty.  It veered early from the lines I'm familiar with.  I'll be updating...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/brady123-vs-wizzifnab-20080720Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:59:01 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/brady123-vs-wizzifnab-20080720I'm planning to analyze all my games, since that is supposed to be the best way to improve your game.  This first game was against an opponent rated a bit lower than me.  Since I haven't played in a while this suited me fine.  I'm n...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-kiltro-72008Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:16:39 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/wizzifnab-vs-kiltro-72008Well, I'm back playing again.  I took a break after playing in the 26th OCF North American FIDE Open last September.  I did OK in that tournament, raising my USCF rating to 1572.  I'll try to play more online games this time.&nbsp...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/playing-againSun, 20 Jul 2008 17:47:49 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/playing-againI hate rotating my vinyl board around on my desk.  Usually, I've got the board setup ready to play through some game from a book.  I go to rotate the board, because I'd like to be looking at it from black's perspective instea...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/lazy-larrySun, 23 Sep 2007 16:33:58 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/lazy-larryThe 2nd tournament that my nephew and I signed up for was the 2007 Houston Open being run by Cajun Chess from Jully 20-22.  Unfortunately, the Friday that we were to head down to Houston I came down with a cold.  Since my nephew wa...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/bad-timingTue, 11 Sep 2007 05:18:00 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/bad-timingMy nephew and I were looking over this position and wondering if it was a draw.  It seems like it to me.  If it is, I wonder if with a little variation it would be winable by white? I just came across a post by likeforests, The Endg...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/knight-and-pawn-endingMon, 10 Sep 2007 19:41:09 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/knight-and-pawn-endingThe first tournament I played in since returning was the 1st Annual UT Arlington Classic on June 23-24th.  This is intended to be a new series of annual tournaments directed by the Watauga Chess Club. My nephew Robert and I had been meeting u...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/first-tournament-after-returningSat, 08 Sep 2007 17:33:15 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/first-tournament-after-returningI've recentely, as of May, returned to playing chess.  Chess has always been an on-again, off-again thing for me.   My first chess games were scattered across my middle school years and pretty much consisted of me getting crushe...http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/returning-to-chessSat, 08 Sep 2007 11:23:26 -0700http://blog.chess.com/wizzifnab/returning-to-chess