
The search for improvement #5
This is the 5th edition of my blog about my search for chess improvement.
I think that the endgame tactic is for me the hardest part of this program for improvement. I feel like I am being dragged through a hedge of calculation backwards and I must admit that I only saw the first move after seing my candidate move being critisised. I guess that tactics calculation is easier because I have a method of thinking and that I need to create this for the ending, preferably as fast as possible. The lesson I learned from this puzzle, warning big hint ahead, is to always look to gain tempis (or in this case a tempo). Here is the position.
Okay so I have already said that I was wrong with my first idea, bringing the king around imediatly, I kind of new it wasn't winning but because there wasn't anything else that I could see went for it. It draw by one tempo. The answer is Rg8+ that forces the king to go to the f file (go to the h file and you are condemned to a slow painfull death) you then follow it up with Rh8 forcing him to protect his pawn and then bring your king around, you will gain the tempo necessary and will reach this position white to play an win:
Here we go, tactics time.
1st tactic : solved
My game of chess is another 15+15 game. In this game I had the higher rating and unlike last game it was quite smooth. I could have messed it up because of a trap but I saw it coming so dodged it because I took more time in calculating. I was much slower than my opponent and I am proud of it, I took my time to calculate all the lines, here is the game :
Okay, I am going to put my personal analysis with in brackets the computers position on the key positions that I chose and any other position where there was an evaluation change.
-I played a tame opening because I am somewhat unconvinced with the variation with c3 than d4 in the place of 0-0
-I calculated tricks after Nxa4 where I took the b pawn, they all seemed to fail (stockfish : I agree)
-Re8 was the first mistake he should have simply taken my pawn (stockfish : I agree)
(-after this blacks positions gets worse little by little then...)
-Nxf7 fails to Nd5 where the knight is trapped I well get enough pans but I didn't want the complications (stockfish : I agree)
-Re8 was the second mistake he should have played (the same) knight to d5 (stockfish : I agree)
-Re7 lost on the spot, the best move was probably c6 (stockfish : I agree)
The middlegame lesson was on queen vs two rooks here are the principales :
-The safety of the side with two rooks king is key. If the queen has a target than its can do more forks. The rooks are bad defenders so aren't very usefull.
-The rooks are strong when they are connected and targetting one point. If that is the case and the king is safe than the rooks are better.