Nice!
I hope you will mention "The Study Buddy Group" in your speech after winning the "Best Chess Player on Ireland Award"
Graw81`s Training Journal
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That's a pretty ambitious goal. I hope you achieve it someday.
An interesting story. What training tools and techniques are you using--besides playing lots--to improve your game from the 1700 level to the GM level?
likesforests wrote:
An interesting story. What training tools and techniques are you using--besides playing lots--to improve your game from the 1700 level to the GM level?
At the moment, i am finishing my degree (last year) so preference is going to that. For chess, I am just reading books and playing frequently. I have lots of lessons on file from when i took lessons so i am going over them slowly but surely. My exams finish in May so i guess i will be developing a better training plan then! I can say that i study chess for some hours every day. I will start playing tournaments from May and if i can afford i will take some lessons with the only GM in Ireland, hehe Realistic goal is to hit FM moreso than GM. No Irish born GM yet and well, as much as i have confidence in myself i have to be realistic. Then again, stranger things have happend!
I read you want to be a master too. How are you going about it? Maybe we could help each other out =)
I friend is offering to sell Chessbase 8 for 20 Euros or so. Do you think it is a good deal?
farbror wrote:
I friend is offering to sell Chessbase 8 for 20 Euros or so. Do you think it is a good deal?
yes!
Do you know if it works under Windows Vista?
Chessbase 8 has some issues when running on Windows Vista. Here's an article about the problems and one guy's solution for making it work better.
A year or two later i bought a cheap set with my pocket money i think. I remembered what my dad had thought me, the moves. I came home and my dad showed me a few things and we had a game or two, basically introducing me to how the game goes.
I seemed to show some enthusiasim towards chess this time and my mother informed me of a local chess club. She told my father to bring me to the club. I dont think he liked the idea,lol but anyway, he took me down to the club and i met the members. It was great fun and i met some people my age. The club members told me that there was an upcoming Irish Youth Chess Championships
which i could play under age 12 group. I thought to myself oh no, i will just lose so badly. My mother told me a few days later that she made the call and i was entered into the tournament. Ha, i was a bag of nerves but i went along to the
two day event and i scored something like 7/9 and finished in 2nd place. First and third place had played for my province and for my country so i guess i had done something right!
So, it turned out that at youth level i was quite okay for my age. I went to an 'adult' tournament a few weeks later but i scored terrible, something like 1.5/5 (1.0 being a bye,lol). I didnt mind, i was just playing a game i loved.
After reading an Advert in The Irish Chess Journal my mother phoned the Irish Chess Academy and booked me in for a lesson. I thought this would be like a 'school' but the teacher was very friendly and helpful. He decided that i was suitable to start a one of lessons with him. DUring this year of lessons i improved alot and spent time on all aspects of the game. I read only very few books and worked using chessbase. I actually took lessons for 2-3 years and during these short few years i played loads of tournaments. Mostly in Ireland but also in France, England, Greece, Spain, and the Isle of Man. I scored quite well sometimes and more or less always scored at least 50%. I won some grading prizes and each year until i was 16 i scored a placing in the Irish Youth Champs.
I got to play for the Irish Youth team at the Glorney Cup, and also in the European Youth CHess Championships (twice). One of my best achievements was scoring a board prize for my club team in the Heidenfeld Cup (Irish Divison 2) on board 2
with a score of 9/11 i think. [I also scored 2nd place in my category at the British Champs in 2002, probably the last tournament i played].
For some reason, chess seemed not to interest me so more. It was actually during the second time i played european youth champs i had this thought. I remember having a conversation with one of the Irish coaches at the time. I cant really explain why i turned away from chess but i started playing alot of guitar and spending more time with more outgoing adventurous friends! You know at that age, you get a little hyper and go off on a tangent!
So, i had started at age 12. At 13 i took lessons until around 16years old when i stopped playing chess.
For the next 4-5 years i didnt play any games at all. Only some drunken games in a pub in the middle of nowhere in Germany one summer.
I dont know what made me start playing chess last summer (21yrs old). Maybe because i have moved onto university and wanted something a little more of a challange since im reading books and studying anyway why not add chess to the list. Its fun too!
I miss the people that i met along the way and have not played any long games in years. I only play online and mostly blitz games. My plan is go start playing tournaments again and challange for a place on the Irish mens team. After that, if i can become Irish Champion i will be very pleased!! I cant say anymore as my journey to reach this goal has just begun!! Maybe in a few years i can re-write this telling you the ups and downs of it all! (wish me luck right?! :p)
Okay, so thats a long winded load of aul rubbish and i dont expect many to read it but i guess there is a story to every chess player, if hes a GM or just an average club player.
My favourite aspect of the game is the opening. I love challanging my opponents to opening battles and dont like to let people ease into the middlegame without showing they have a good understanding of the opening. If they dont, i usually
obtain an advantage. The middlegame is something that i always wanted to get to and well...try and win the game there but now i try to test each opponent in each phase of the game. (Think triathlon athlethe!)
My standard of play is quite good usually but i can play bad sometimes, naturally, we all do sometimes. I have played people of all standards all the way up to the strength of world number 2! Yes, i played GM Michael Adams in 2000 (blitz) and i even won the exchange! I have played GMs: LUke McShane, Bogdan Lalic, Julian Hogson, Jan Smeets, David Howell, Jonathon Turner(also a winner on tv show countdown,lol), Alexander Baburin, Mark Hebden, IM Bellon, IM Mark Quinn.
In 2000 i also met the great GM Boris Spassky. [Pictures are in my profile].
When i stopped playing chess i was only 1600-1700 range but i was able to hold my own against 2100+ Fide. I guess i was just building my rating slowing, but now i have read alot more and sepnt alot more time with chess but i cant say what my 'real' grade is. My guess is minimum 1700 but i cant say maximum since i havnt played long games in years.
The reason i joined the study group is not only to help my own game but if anyone needs any hints or tips even a few informal lessons i would more than be willing to help, for free. (once you have chessbase/fritz/chessbase reader or would be willing to download chessbase light which is free) [Basically so you could open the files i send you].
Fav openings: Open Sicilians, English, Budapest Gambit.