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Recent Studies: How to Handle the Scandinavian

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RyanMurphy5
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Good time of day to you my dear chess friends,

 

     I still need to make a post for the 2014 World Open which took place on the 4th of July Weekend in Arlington, VA, where I finished with  6/9 (quite disappointing). In the meantime, here is an update on how my training is progressing. I have another two months or so until the Midwest Class tournament, where I will be competing in the Class A event (for what will hopefully be the last time).

     This time, I will be sharing some opening preparation that I just did on the Scandinavian defense, thanks in good part to a lecture given by GM B Smith that is available (at least for part 1 of the series) on youtube. I also did some analysis of my own using chessgame.com's database and with some aid from Rybka. There are lots of fascinating variations in what follows. I don't really feel like I'm giving away a competitive edge by sharing this as it should for the most part be public knowledge anyway (and because I have not yet decided if I'm even going to play these lines for white; the fun thing about the Scandinvian is that white has many options to get a small advantage after 2...Qxd5).

In subsequent posts I hope to add some tactical exercises from a book I'm currently working through (M. Blokh's "Combinative Motifs").  I'll also add some endgame studies if I have the time, and of course, I'll finish analyzing some of my games from the World Open for a separate post. Until then, happy chessing.
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Road to 2200

RyanMurphy5
RyanMurphy5
Ryan Murphy
Milwaukee, WI
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Originally, this was labeled 'Road to 2000,' but that's already been achieved. In this blog, I will do write-ups on my tournaments, including games I felt were instructive. I will also cover some of my training methods and track my progress over time as I try to become a USCF National Master. You will also find some of my analytical work here (on endgames, important historical or modern games, etc).  Ideally I would like to hit my goal before the end of 2019 (which is not so much time given the amount of work to do). I hope you enjoy following along.