Week 2

I'm still undefeated! This does not in any way indicate that I'm good; rather it says that players  here, at least in the 1400-1600 range, are overrated compared to the OTB world. I realize that these players probably do not have a library of books to draw upon. My own is not extensive and it's a bit dated, but it's probably light years ahead of my opponents' collections. Not that it's really mattered. Book only gets you so far. You need to understand the positions and work out the tactics. So far it's always been my opponent that's broken from book, and typically their decisions are not good ones. You gotta work through the lines people! Try to answer "why?"

My most interesting game to date has been against a French player, Jeffroi (King Jeffrey? My French is not very good despite living in a billingual province.) http://www.chess.com/echess/game.html?id=8417252 A seemingly harmless variation of the Caro Kan has turned into a very dynamic, tactical mess. I offered an exhange of pieces with moves 14 ... Ne4 and 15 ... Qb6, but he decided to accept the b7 pawn I offered instead. Now his King is battling for his life! But mine isn't exactly safe either, and my Queen is not where I want it, which is close to his King! We're currently through 20 moves. We'll see how it goes, and hopefully nobody makes a silly blunder. I spent a good hour this morning going over variations, and I think I have the right plan. It's a game that deserves some deep analysis for sure!