Chess and Me-July 26th

This is my first attempt at a blog (ever), and it's on chess too!  I was reviewing some of my games and began to notice some things.

1. My endgame are rather weak.
2. I've often "sacrificed" pieces, only to realize the moves I'd played through in my head weren't foolproof, and I end up down material.
3. As white, I almost always play the Scotch, as I never really liked playing Ruy Lopez type openings.
4. As black, I usually play the Scandinavian (1...d5).  However, after watching over masters playing the Scandinavian, I realize that I never even considered playing ...c6 sometime and allowing my queen to return. 
5. I should take Bill Wall's advice, and work on becoming really solid with two openings for both black and white. 
6. The few positional games I have played resulted in losses for me, but yet were some of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, so I should open more with 1.d4!
7. I need to think more about why my opponent played his/her previous move, and try to look more than just 1 move ahead. 
8. I have to be patient, and identify and take advantage of my opponent's weaknesses, which are often overlooked.  (i.e. weak colored bishop, stacked pawns, pawn islands, etc.) 

This seems like a large enough list of things to work on.  Despite all the flaws in my game, I've never enjoyed being a chess player more than I do right now.  Last night, I first learned about (and played) the Queen's Gambit (Accepted and Declined), and it was like being exposed to a whole new game of chess.  I became inspired during the course of this game, and managed to pull off a nice mate in two after gradually advancing my pieces while picking off enemy pawns and sacrificing a weak bishop to win a rook. 

To end on a really positive note, I know that my chess game is improving and will continue to get better.  And I've gradually began to study while gaining passion for chess, something I would've thought impossible before trying. 

 Anyways, I hope this was interesting enough for you, and you'll stop by and read my next blog about my progress and chess in general.

-Andrew

 PS: Feel free to challenege me to some email chess!