
The Short Not So Happy Loss of Jdcannon
Welcome to another set of JD's losses. For those just joining us please check out my first post at: http://www.chess.com/blog/jdcannon/testing where you will hear all about my failures as a chess player as well as my personal challenge.
A slight admission:
I must ask for forgiveness. It’s been not even a full week and already twice I've broken my vow to not play unrated games. I accepted a challenge for a Chess960 game for the express purpose of trying to increase that rating, and much to my dismay did I find that it was unrated. As for the second game, again I think you'll find cause to forgive me, I was sitting in live chess waiting diligently to be paired for a rated game when a little hollow green dot appeared near the very very top of the Challenge Graph, and it was a standard time control game to boot. I couldn't help myself. A standard game against a 2445 was to too much to pass up!
Ratings progress:
It’s not been an amazing week for my rating.
- Bullet: 1691 -> 1701
- Blitz: 1776 -> 1743
- Standard: 2172 -> 2173
- Tactics: 2046 -> 2043
I still feel very nervous during my games. I find myself taking considerably more time than necessary on moves. Sometimes not even calculating… just staring, worried that it’s a bad move. I need to break that and play with more confidence.
Defeat of the Day:
Today’s loss is pretty disappointing. I got to test out a new idea I learned in the Hedgehog. White was passive in the opening, and everything was perfect. Exactly one move after realizing my strategic dreams, I blew it.
Even though I blundered pretty badly at the end of that game, I don’t think calculation was my problem. I feel that my error was thinking that since I had achieved my major break that I should have some immediate win or decisive gain in material. Instead I should have accepted that I was just better, but still had a game to play.
Maybe chess books are to blame! It seems like anytime a player achieves the thematic break, the game is decided almost immediately. Check out Logical Chess by Irving Chernev and look at any game where black plays c5 to see what I am talking about.
Speaking of Chess books, in my last post I mentioned I was reading The Giants of Power Play. There is no doubt its an excellent book; its just that I find the games totally baffling. I play through the games palms pressed into my temples thinking, "What is happening?!" Here is an example from the book I've spent a lot of time with, and I think I understand the ideas but I couldn't dream of coming up with them on my own.