Back to Tournament Play! (Puzzle Edition)
Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I've blogged. The world has been hectic, and busy, chaotic - but one should always make some time to play chess!
I've been teaching, but wanted to get back into tournament chess, and so in the last couple of months managed to play a few games. Maybe I'll eventually post full game analysis for some of them, but for now, I figured it would be fun to show some positions I got, and to have some fun with the tactics. Ready? Here we go!
If you solved that one - good job! This position showed that there's always the possibility of tactics arising in a middlegame position, even one that looks pretty solid/uninteresting/passive. Let's try another position:
What this shows is that even in the opening, if your pieces do not retain their harmony, tactics can arise very quickly, leading to the loss of a pawn or even worse! Always look out so that you try to keep your pieces are organized and harmonious as possible.
These are just some of the positions I had to face when I returned to tournament play. I hope to be playing more in the coming months and feel free to follow my blog if you want to come along for the fun! 
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I'm Abe, a chess coach online and tournament chess player! Here are some facts about me:
Peak rating: 1945 USCF
93.6 percentile in State Ranking: 326(tied) out of 5051
Chess coach for 8 years
Feel free to message/DM me if you want more info about online classes! I will soon be accepting students for the upcoming fall semester.
