And also, you really need to stop overplaying your pawns. At one point I saw your opponent already moved all of its minor pieces to a better places while almost all of your minor pieces is either not yet developed or forced to defend another pieces. When I saw that, I'm not surprised that you lose.
Road to 1600 Rapid, trying to improve after every game.
Sort:
I guess you must play energetically if you play things like the Dutch.
light42 wrote:
You'll never get the mind-opening insight from your analysis if you played against similar/lower rated. A chess match against similar rated often won by a blunder rather than superior strategy. If you want to make the most from your analysis then I suggests you play against 1800+ rated and let your ratings hit the floor.
I`ll try to alter my settings so I play +400 rated opponents max.
DaddyReza wrote:
If you want to improve, you need to study more and play less. Most important is to study tactics and endgames. You focus a on openings which is not at all necessary at below 2000 level. I bet if you finish one good endgame and tactics book each, you will get past 1600.
I tend to agree to this sentiment, however studying openings is quite important in my opinion. The lower the time control, the more important it is. It`s not about memorizing moves, it`s about understanding common ideas, patterns and traps in your preferred opening. It helps a lot with time management, and it also helps you recognize when and how you might be able to play for an advantage. If your opponent plays a non-book move early you know that it is usually weakening or unsound somehow. In chess it is usually enough to play one bad move to lose a game, one bad move in the opening can give you enough of a window of opportunity to gain the initiative for the rest of the game.
Endgames are very important to study. I`m considering getting Silmans endgame book. I have done a bunch of drills and lessons on here on KP endgames. I watched almost the whole series of videos on Rook endgames: https://www.chess.com/video/player/rook-endgames-beginner-to-master-part-22
Game 77
White
"A case study in poor endgame technique"
In this game I managed to salvage a draw because my opponent didn`t know how to make progress in a winning endgame. That is to say, I gave him an easily winning endgame because my technique was poor. It`s a fairly instructional game in that the game wasn`t decided by an early blunder, but rather lacking endgame technique.
Game 78
White
"Rusty Cage"
I decided to switch focus in my studies. From now on I`ll stay hyperfocused on positional play and endgames, because after all it is the bread and butter of chess. You`re not going to get many tactics if you don`t know where to place your pieces and why. And you`re not going to convert small advantages if you don`t know how to play endgames. In fact you`ll probably have to defend because you give your opponent too many holes and open files.
I started taking the lessons on here about "fundamentals of positional play" and took home some insights. In this game I tried to put them to use and I think I did quite well. Usually I want to keep queens on the board for as long as possible because I don`t feel comfortable with endgames, but in this game I actually felt more comfortable just plugging along and trying to improve my position. It feels far less brain-wracking and confusing to play chess if you can actually defend everything, keep things coordinated, and just build pressure slowly. Maybe I can become a so-called "positional player" because this was quite fun.
I started taking the lessons on here about "fundamentals of positional play" and took home some insights. In this game I tried to put them to use and I think I did quite well. Usually I want to keep queens on the board for as long as possible because I don`t feel comfortable with endgames, but in this game I actually felt more comfortable just plugging along and trying to improve my position. It feels far less brain-wracking and confusing to play chess if you can actually defend everything, keep things coordinated, and just build pressure slowly. Maybe I can become a so-called "positional player" because this was quite fun.
Looks like this approach worked well for you in this particular game! Just be careful that you don't stop calculating variations and looking for tactical opportunities. Not every game will be this cruisy. Nice one, nevertheless!
That was a great game you showed, and that move 25.f4 was a fabtastic positional move, keeping the knight out of the game. I love playing in a positional style because it feels so smooth and natural and playing positional chess can be a lot of fun. In the end it all revolves around piece activity.
WilliamShookspear wrote:
Looks like this approach worked well for you in this particular game! Just be careful that you don't stop calculating variations and looking for tactical opportunities. Not every game will be this cruisy. Nice one, nevertheless!
Going through the game with a computer, I did indeed miss a tactical opportunity when I played 22. Ba3, I could have gone 22. Bc7 Rd7 (when the diagonal tof5 is blocked) 23. Bxf4 Rxc7 24 Bxg6 ... after which I would have won a pawn. I did consider 22.Bc7, but didn`t see that black would be "forced" to block the diagonal. Moving the rook away horizontally after Bc7 would of course just drop a pawn to Rxd5. These are the kinds of things i need to spot if I`m going to start taking some 1800+ scalps, cause they aren`t going to close their own f-file and give me an easy plan (I don`t think)
Dudley-NE wrote:
That was a great game you showed, and that move 25.f4 was a fabtastic positional move, keeping the knight out of the game. I love playing in a positional style because it feels so smooth and natural and playing positional chess can be a lot of fun. In the end it all revolves around piece activity.
I agree that solid positional play, while often presented as boring, is a very powerful thing. Everyone wants to perform explosive and dazzling tactical combination, but in many games you simply won`t get that opportunity. If you are more comfortable than your opponent just grinding along, defending everything and slowly building pressure, it is a valuable psychological edge as well. Obviously I`m nowhere near grandmaster level, and never will be, but as far as I understand this is how Magnus Carlsen wins many of his games vs other super GMs; he just grinds them down in long drawn out endgames, not budging an inch, while waiting for his opponent to make an inaccuracy he can pile onto. I`m originally from Norway so I watched back in 2013 when Magnus Carlsen won convincingly over Viswanathan Anand in the world championship match. As far as I remember that is exactly how he won his games.. slow positional play and surgical endgames
Game 79
White
"Triple Threat"
Got a nice miniature the other day. I think I`ve shown enough painful losses to earn the right to show it. It`s not every day you get to checkmate with 3 pieces, with the knight delivering the final blow. If you ever encounter the Scotch as black, watch out for this positional trap, except if you play against me, then you can play this line 
https://www.chess.com/a/TXrRmaiiY6LE You can analyse the game.
Giasira wrote:
Short intro: I started playing chess last November and got hooked on it. After playing a LOT between November - March and getting to 1470 rapid rating, I got burned out and frustrated because I felt like I was spending too much time on chess without improving much. I also got into "blitz fever" playing too much blitz without really studying to improve. I would sit up late nights, often with beer involved, just playing game after game until I was so strung out I was just hanging pieces left and right.
Now I`m back in the chess saddle and I have decided to go back to the drawing board. Back to basics. Chess 101. Giuoco Piano. Development, king safety. I need to have a healthier relationship to chess, and I need to make my chess time productive.
I am going to play rapid 15/10 and 30 min, and I`m going to analyze every game as thoroughly as my understanding and time allows. If I make mistakes I am going to try to learn from them,
Goals for this summer:
1. Eliminate horrible blunders, such as leaving pieces en prise, falling for obvious skewers, dangerous pins, forks and "mates out of the blue". Win, lose or draw is not the important part here, I just want to practice good chess habits and learn how to play patiently and solidly. If I lose I want it to be because I got thoroughly outplayed, not because I gave up something for free. At least this way I can go through my loss and learn something more productive than "I shouldn`t have left that piece undefended"
2. Don`t play when tired or distracted. Chess time will be "tunnel time", during that time it will be my sole focus. I am going to set aside time specifically for that purpose. I will warm up with some tactics puzzles, and if I`m so tired or distracted that I can`t solve any of them then I`m probably better off doing something else than chess at that time.
3. Analyze every game. By forcing myself to analyze every game, I am forcing myself to learn from every game. If it is a particularily instructional game, or the opening catches me off guard or the endgame is completely unfamiliar or something like that, I will do a deeper analysis. I will study the unfamiliar opening or the particular endgame, as to be better prepared in the future.
End goal for 2019: Reach a solid 1600 rapid rating. I`m already 1470. I`m quite confident that I can reach 1600 if I get a good streak. By solid 1600 I mean I should be able to hold my own consistently in games against other similarly rated opponents. If I can stay around 1600 for 100 games or so, then I`ll consider my goal reached.
Without further ado: Game 1 (with analysis). I am black in this game
Horrible blunders: 0
The most important part is that I avoided blunders. However I`m a bit dissapointed with myself that I didn`t "see" Nxf1 going up the exchange on move 24. In this particular instance it probably didn`t matter much. But I need to be honest with myself in that I didn`t see it.
Possible improvements: attacking f2 with the queen on move 12 was perhaps a bit premature. Maybe I should have played more positionally with 12. Qg5 or 12. Nd5. Though Nd5 would have been met by Ba4 and later c3 so don`t see how I would gain much.
You can firstly play 6...h6.Your move also ok but you can play what I said because after 6...0-0 7.Bg5 your opponent played correct I think because he can get the Knight to d5 then your pawn structure will be bad to avoid it you have to weaken the kingside.
Giasira wrote:
Dudley-NE wrote:
That was a great game you showed, and that move 25.f4 was a fabtastic positional move, keeping the knight out of the game. I love playing in a positional style because it feels so smooth and natural and playing positional chess can be a lot of fun. In the end it all revolves around piece activity.
I agree that solid positional play, while often presented as boring, is a very powerful thing. Everyone wants to perform explosive and dazzling tactical combination, but in many games you simply won`t get that opportunity. If you are more comfortable than your opponent just grinding along, defending everything and slowly building pressure, it is a valuable psychological edge as well. Obviously I`m nowhere near grandmaster level, and never will be, but as far as I understand this is how Magnus Carlsen wins many of his games vs other super GMs; he just grinds them down in long drawn out endgames, not budging an inch, while waiting for his opponent to make an inaccuracy he can pile onto. I`m originally from Norway so I watched back in 2013 when Magnus Carlsen won convincingly over Viswanathan Anand in the world championship match. As far as I remember that is exactly how he won his games.. slow positional play and surgical endgames
True. Most of the time if you play solidly your opponent will make a mistake. Then look for tactics.
Aug 16, 2019
0
#196
@StickFingersRequiem you learned chess 7 days ago and you are rated 1600 rapid already?
Wow. You must be very talented.
StickyFingersRequiem wrote:
So I learned chess on the 10th of this month and have been steadily climbing. I just passed 1600 rapid on this website and I have done it mostly on the fly.
What I can say tho is to ask questions, you should have a plan to improve your position and try to play to the area's where you're stronger.
You want to get your pieces out, have some threats and think about what your opponent wants to do rather than just your own side.
Good luck!
109 wins 0 draws and 0 losses, that is indeed a stellar record. I think you are progressing faster than Magnus Carlsen!
StickyFingersRequiem wrote:
So I learned chess on the 10th of this month and have been steadily climbing. I just passed 1600 rapid on this website and I have done it mostly on the fly.
What I can say tho is to ask questions, you should have a plan to improve your position and try to play to the area's where you're stronger.
You want to get your pieces out, have some threats and think about what your opponent wants to do rather than just your own side.
Good luck!
In my seventh day of learning, I was still trying learn the rules.
Game 80
Black
"The one that got away"
I decided to start playing the French defense as my standard response to e4 again. First of all, because 1...e6 can be a standard response to both e4 and d4. Second of all I`ve become a big fan of GM Simon Williams, who plays the French and Dutch defenses and has excellent entertaining video series on both openings.
In this game I thought I played well, but the computer hated my opening right from the start and I got into a losing position early. I got into a losing position because my opponent could have played g4 and ruined my entire game.. though this is the first time I have no clue what the computers recommended moves entailed. I don`t get why g4 would have been so dangerous.. had my opponent played g4 he would have had an almost 4 pawn advantage according to the computer..
My endgame was atrocious as per usual. I should have stuck with the maxim that getting a rook to the 7th or 2nd rank is worth a pawn. Instead I gave my opponent way too much counterplay. In the end I blundered a mate in 2 to a stalemate.. but it`s all good. Earlier I`ve lost winning position instead, so drawing is at least an improvement over that
Notes:
#1 in the french opening with a very early f4, try to go for an early d5 and open up the position.
#2 g4 can be danger danger high voltage in this type of position with early f4 so h5 seems to be an obligatory defense
#3 watch out for the stalemate when playing against a lone king
Game 81
Black
"You just keep me holding on"
This game was intense. Chess can be a very exhilarating game. I don`t think many people except chess players realize that. It`s a special feeling to have the clock ticking down, lots of pieces hovering around your king and you know you can`t make a single wrong step or you`re done.
You'll never get the mind-opening insight from your analysis if you played against similar/lower rated. A chess match against similar rated often won by a blunder rather than superior strategy. If you want to make the most from your analysis then I suggests you play against 1800+ rated and let your ratings hit the floor.