Analysis Medley #3: Lead Zeppelin
The pictures should be more than clear: It's been a horrible "chess season" for me.
It's been a long while since I've blogged about my games. Probably the main reason is mentioned in the title: I've been sinking like a "lead" zeppelin in almost all tournaments I've participated in (as far as I know, this concept is where the name of the actual band comes from.)
This was partly due to time out losses, but more than that, I simply didn't have enough time make my moves, and had to blitz through every game. This ended in a very long and dreadful series of losses, which I'm willing to share with you as the first step of a resurrection.
In my new year chess resolutions, I had set my rating goal as 2300 at the end of the year, and now I've fallen below 1900. I don't know how it's going to happen, but I still believe when I cut down on my games, I can play at a level above 2000. 2300 seems impossible to reach at the end of the year at this point, but I'll try to gather my motivation back, and even if I have no chances of advancing in a tournament, I'll at least try to fight for the rating in the remaining games.
OK. Here begins the medley: not analyzed very deeply, but tried to give a sense of what happened, mentioning the critical points of the games.
Here, I'd like to share the pre-game and post-game comments of myself and my opponent, simply because I enjoyed it:
Skytale: A toast to the glory of Chess. Either you're toast or I'm toast.
philidor_position: sounds like a worthy toast :) hello and hand shake :)
Skytale: As White can only maybe win with his extra man if Black continues to fight to win eg 11 Kg1-h1, Qf2xd4 12 Bd3xNe4 , and as Black can force a draw by 11...Qf2-h4+, White accepts the draw. An interesting opening, something new I think.
It was a game I drew without making a move of my own. A book draw, that was, but a nice chat. I hope my opponent doesn't mind me sharing it here.
And finally, a win, with a tactical shot I enjoyed. This gives me motivation and hope to carry on trying hard to improve at chess:
