My Path to FM - Week 12/13
I'm slacking! Uhoh!
I played in a tournament last weekend, so I have some neat stuff to write about. Let's get right into it...
There were a few critical positions that I think I handled pretty well, and one that I didn't handle well at all.
I kind of liked this position. My tactical eye is getting strong enough that I can notice and pick lines that are full of traps. And we're not talking silly 2 movers... I'm finding deep stuff that justifies a line that might otherwise look anti-positional. Hard to explain, but tactics and positional play are starting to mesh more than ever.
Here's another position, not from the tournament mind you, where I came up with a creative little idea to turn a tiny advantage into a decent one.
In the following position I have a small advantage thanks to my superior pawn structure, but if I don't get something going black might get enough counterplay on the kingside to equalize or more.
This strange manoeuvre was inspired by a chess.com article (maybe by Simon Williams?) that I just saw a few weeks ago. The article showed a KID game where black brought his queen from d8-b8-a7-c5.
Anyway, I don't know if this shows improvement, but I thought it was a pretty neat idea. Maybe one of my readers will get a chance to use it some time.
Finally, I'd like to show a position where I did not handle myself well.
This wasn't really a calculation issue... it was a patience issue. I didn't spend enough time over the board considering my possibilities. I wanted to blow my opponent off the board and didn't consider that I was just better without getting into any of the nonsense. In my next tournament I'm going to do my best to stay calm and remember that if I don't see a threat from my opponent, then there isn't one. I don't think psychology is going to become a problem... hopefully this was a one-off.
Anyway that's it for now! I have a really big tournament coming up at the end of May that's (finally) FIDE rated! I just checked and my FIDE rating is only 2057 lol... I think that'll make me the lowest seed in my section, even though I'm in the top half because the tournament is paired by CFC ratings. Even if I only have an average tournament I can expect my FIDE to climb close to 2100, which always helps.
Alrighty! See you guys next week.
Ps - If any titled players want to get a long game in this week feel free to shoot me a message and we'll schedule something. I'm always desperate for training games!
"The ability to work hard for days on end without losing focus is a talent. The ability to keep absorbing new information after many hours of study is a talent." - Garry Kasparov