Thank you for sharing!
My Chess mentor recommended to annotate my own games and to document all candidate moves. That was very useful since I realized that my thought process OTB is very narrowsighted. I tend to analyze too few variations OTB.
Keep us posted on your progress!
Thank you for sharing!
My Chess mentor recommended to annotate my own games and to document all candidate moves. That was very useful since I realized that my thought process OTB is very narrowsighted. I tend to analyze too few variations OTB.
Keep us posted on your progress!
I will, and I will also post some of my games here to get several of you to comment on them as well. I think getting a broader spectrum of ideas outside of my own will help build up my chess thinking.
This was a game that I played in the Carlisle Open in the U1500 section. It seemed that I had a very good position against my opponent, but I was unable to come up with the winning moves during the game. At the final position, the player offered a draw and I took it, but even then I felt I could be winning. Please take a look and tell me what you think.
Well, I've been keeping up with my chess tactics on a daily basis. My book studies have dwindled a bit because I am trying to juggle my school work with my chess studies. I have been going over my games and I find (as in the case above) that I put myself into good positions, only to blow it away. It seems that I get a case of "tunnel vision" and I do not look for other opportunities as they arise. Oh well, Rome wasn't built in a day!
Hi shark!
Played through your game above (too quickly, but I didn't have more time), and one thing is certain, where you agreed to a draw theres only one player who can win, and that is black - so why not play it out for practice? rook endings are an extremely important part of a chessplayers arsenal. Having said that the love for that part of the game doesn't come quite as easily as when you get to play a sacrificial attack 
. One more observation. In the position after 17. - Nd5 it would be a fairly standard method to continue with 18.Ne4 insetad of exchanging the nights. If black woud then accept the exchange of Bishops his weakened black squares would soon start to hurt, in particular on d6. A possible sequence would be 18. - Bf8 (to keep the bishop on) 19.h4 to soften up his Kingside. There is a distinct possibility of a strong kingside attack later on. Superficial remarks, I know. good show though, you played the endgame inventively!
Best Regards
Ludde
thanks Ludde, I appreciate the input.
I've kept up with my tactics training, but I find it hard to keep up with my book studies ( haven't picked up my book since Mon.!) I will be playing the first round of my county tournament tomorrow, and I will post it some time this weekend.
Well, I played a bad tournament game last night. I'll have the game posted here later tonight for dissection. I was wondering, is the King's indian attack a good opening for white?
Well, how good is good? I think it is more a question of taste preferences and fun factor.
Agree with farbror. If you want to know the theoretical status I believe it is not considered to be a serious bid for an advantage, but it is a strategically interesting variation!
I guess what I am trying to say is that is it a solid opening for someone who has a low rating like myself, or should I stick to more of a traditional opening like a ruy lopes?
Many chess Mentors recommend playing Open games as an improving player. That is probably ture and wise but I doubt that the choice of opening has much of an impact on the rate of improvement.
Follow established Opening principles and have fun and you are on the right track.
I'm sorry for not updating my journal sooner! I'm back on track with my book studies, finished another chapter last night. I don't know who started the post about the chess books but it made me realize that I COLLECT the right books but I don't READ them. If I would just read and take in all the knowledge that is on my shelf, I'd be a master by now! Alas, I'll just keep building up my game slowly and improving on a daily basis. I kept my tactics training up as well. I've also got to play some great games on this site as well.
Thanks for the advice about the king's indian attack Farbror and Ludde. I have a book by Emms that I've thumbed through only briefly. I think I'll give it a serious look after I'm done with my current book.
I actually have the book by Emms too, and I believe it is quite good. Especially I like the part that he focuses on explaining the ideas behind the opening rather than too many detailed variations. I myself play the Kings Indian Attack (KIA) occasionally, more due to laziness since I play the KID as black and the ideas are often similar. In general though I believe that people focuses way too much on opening theory and not enough on improving their middlegame and endgame play. That's one thing I like with many of the "Storting out" books - that they show the whole games, including the finish.
I actually have the book by Emms too, and I believe it is quite good. Especially I like the part that he focuses on explaining the ideas behind the opening rather than too many detailed variations. I myself play the Kings Indian Attack (KIA) occasionally, more due to laziness since I play the KID as black and the ideas are often similar. In general though I believe that people focuses way too much on opening theory and not enough on improving their middlegame and endgame play. That's one thing I like with many of the "Storting out" books - that they show the whole games, including the finish.
I agree, and so many of the club players at my level couldn't tell you what the 12th move is supposed to be so I also like the general ideas of the openings. That way I can still keep a general idea in mind while dealing with a different variation.
Just keeping up with my tactics and reading my KIA book. I've been caught up with studies so I haven't been able to post any of my games or go over them myself.
You can also check out the software Chess Opening Trainer it is pretty good. You can load your opening i.e. C25 the Vienna and it will make the appropriate moves against what you do. It also will cover the variations. If you do this for, say 10 moves deep you will at a good idea of what is coming. Then your tactic training will help you finish the game off.
i'll look into that thanks
Openings tend to be one of those things where you need to pick something that fits your comfort zone. So depending on what you're comfortable with, I'd recommend anything from the Bird to the King's Gambit to the Ruy Lopez. It's all in what you like. I've seen beginners do well with closed systems and vice-versa. Just try a bunch and imagine them all as different sized swords. Pick the ones that appeal to your personality the most and then learn them and play with them.
Look at Linksspringer, for instance. This guy is diabolical with Bird's Opening, yet most peopl will get on a forum and bash the opening as being unsound.
http://www.chess.com/echess/profile/linksspringer
Just look at his games with openings like 1.Nc3 or 1.f4, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Unorthodox does not mean bad - follow your heart.
Hello all! I am back, although I was only on briefly before. I am trying again with a training regiment and here it goes.
First- 20 tactics problems on chesstempo.com per day
Second- Read through the book Understanding Technical Chess by Jacob Aargaard
Third- Go over as many of my games as possible to scrutinize where I may need improvement in my game. (so far as I can tell, the middlegame, because I get to a point in a lot of my games where it seems to me the pos. is even, but I come up with the wrong plan)
My long term goal for the year is to break the 1500 level by the end of the year. (am 1309 currently)