I'm referencing game 80, sorry for the vagueness.
Road to 1600 Rapid, trying to improve after every game.
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WilliamShookspear wrote:
I think that generalising "g4 can be dangerous in the French" is not the best way to approach the issue.
Instead, I suggest going back and actually investigate with the computer and see what it suggests. Eg, take a look a few moves into g4, suggest moves for black, and keep going until the evaluation makes sense.
I haven't looked deeply at the position, but after 11 g4 ne3 12. Bxe3 dxe3 perhaps stockfish likes f5 for white, as a pawn break against the uncastled king. Maybe there's some kind of concrete line with nd6 and ng5.
Also, I think it might be better to consider tempo-gaining moves such as g4 as a matter of practice. At least to investigate them and establish whether or not there is a good follow up for you or your opponent.
Unfortunate about the endgame. Gotta keep vigilant for such things. 😉
I went and investigated a bit, and despite my knight having several flight squares after white playing g4 the main problem is that I would be forced to give up control of d6. At that point in the game it was guarded twice by both my knight and the queen. Obviously having it guarded only once by the queen would allow Nd6+ A knight on d6 by itself is annoying enough, but the real nail in the coffin would have been the fact that another knight could have come to g5 and both knights would have ganged up on f7. Basically the situation below would be unavoidable
I still have a long way to go in terms of positional understanding because I left myself very exposed on d6 so much so that the game was positionally lost almost from the very start. I should have opened up the position and played against whites centre early
Aug 17, 2019
0
#204
StickyFingersRequiem wrote:
Giasira wrote:
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!
Take the 109/ 0 / 0 with a grain of salt, the post game analysis thing often says I made some mistakes, blunders or missed wins and it's likely that I will start having blemishes after I start meeting stronger and stronger opponents!
Why do you keep playing 800-rated players?
I just published this, it might be of interest to you. (Not trying to toot my own horn just sharing something that I hope will be useful for everyone 
) On Chess Improvement
Game 82
White
"Sucker punch"
The title of the game refers to the fact that I felt the rook lift which won me the game was a "sucker punch", telegraphed way beforehand. My opponent decided to play the Scotch exchange variation, which is very comfortable for white. There were a few moves in the game I`m not entirely happy with. I should have castled queenside and gone for a pawn storm, and I could have found a more active square for my LSB. The rest of the game I`m very happy with.
Game 83
Black
"Frexit"
This game was quite funny as my opponent resigned prematurely. I think the French is definitely my opening as e5 leads to either too many symmetrical positions, or heavily studied lines like the Ruy Lopez/Italian games. I guess I will start hating my choice of opening when my opponents play the Exchange French, but then again, it will be good practice to play drawish positions.
Good Job, I came so close to 1600 in 3 Minutes Blitz but failed @ 1591 and my ratings dropped back to 1490s, but I won't give up getting to 1600 is my dream.
Game 84
Black
"Missed opportunities"
In this game I missed 2 major opportunities to outright win the game, but otherwise I think I played decently.
Major lesson to learn form this game is #1 always look for tactics even in the early opening and the endgame. A king on the edge of the board is especially vulnerable to pawns + a rook ganging up on it.
MagnumC wrote:
Good Job, I came so close to 1600 in 3 Minutes Blitz but failed @ 1591 and my ratings dropped back to 1490s, but I won't give up getting to 1600 is my dream.
I feel you, I got to 1594, played a game vs a 1750 where I had a winning position twice, but blew it, and lost the next game as well
Giasira wrote:
MagnumC wrote:
Good Job, I came so close to 1600 in 3 Minutes Blitz but failed @ 1591 and my ratings dropped back to 1490s, but I won't give up getting to 1600 is my dream.
I feel you, I got to 1594, played a game vs a 1750 where I had a winning position twice, but blew it, and lost the next game as well
Seems like I am not the only one who suffered this situation.
Game 85
White
"Something is A-skewer"
I went on quite a winning streak, I`m not sure if I`m getting better or just lucky to play opponents who are having a bad day. In this game my opponent blundered a rook, though I blundered a clearly winning position earlier because I started getting low on time and didn`t see the key line I needed to find. Whatever the case might be, I started winning regularly against 1600+ opponents. 9 months ago 1600 rated players were untouchable Gods of Chess to me, now I`m around the same level and I`ve realized at 1600 you`re still barely scratching the surface of chess. I have barely touched study of endgames and positional chess, yet here I am, patzering my way to greatness.
Game 86
White
"Oops I did it again"
After my winning streak boosting me to 1596 I got a bit cocky, so it is good that I lost this game to knock me down to the ground again. I played my highest rated opponent so far, though I didnt know it during the game, because I used "focus mode". I had a whopping 3 chances to gain a significant advantage in this game, which is both sad and great at the same time. Sad because I didn`t win, great because I was playing a 1750 and was one correct move away from winning.
Game 87
White
"Over the finish line"
This game brought me over 1600, and with that my goal is reached! I started playing chess seriously 24.11.2018 and the milestone was reached 21.8.2019. What comes next? Though I`m probably not at a stable 1600 playing strength, I`m thinking to shoot for 1800 at this point as my progress has been relatively quick, though if I`m going to make a series about it it will probably be in a blog, I feel a bit guilty about hogging all this forum space with my posts.
Me reaching 1600 proves that most anyone can do it if they are willing to put in the study and analysis time. I`m no natural chess player. I`m a married man holding down a full-time job, so it`s not like I have tons of time to study. I`ve done thousands of tactics puzzles (reset my trainer several times) and yet I can still miss simple mates in 2. Not to mention the fact I`ve missed a lot of super obvious tactics in the games I`ve played to reach 1600.
I still make obvious blunders and mistakes in game, can`t calculate well, and throw away won positions. I haven`t devoted much time to studying several key aspects of the game. My endgame skills are only slightly better than when I started. I`ve watched a few videos and done a few lessons on positional chess and that`s pretty much it. If you can avoid horrendous blunders and have enough tactical pattern recognition skills to get 1900-2000 rating in the tactical trainer you got what it takes to get to 1600 rapid rating imo. I`ve barely touched the surface of chess, and I`m curious to see how far I can get rating-wise before the time commitment would make it impossible to continue.
WilliamShookspear wrote:
I just published this, it might be of interest to you. (Not trying to toot my own horn just sharing something that I hope will be useful for everyone ) On Chess Improvement
I did read it and it is very true what you said in that post. I got to 1600 by simply being consistent, doing something chess-related almost every day, and by recognizing simple tactical patterns.
Well done on reaching your goal! 1800 will take you on a wild adventure. It might take a while,, and you might sink back under 1600 at some point. But that is okay, you have reached the milestone, so you can take courage in that fact. Good luck!
Congratulations! I think 1800 is definitely a good idea, and I hope you keep posting on this thread. I think 1800 is definitely a reasonable goal for where you are now.
Congrats man. You deserve it. I actually think you might underestimate yourself. As others said - go go 1800!
Dudley-NE wrote:
Congratulations! I think 1800 is definitely a good idea, and I hope you keep posting on this thread. I think 1800 is definitely a reasonable goal for where you are now.
I think I might make a blog. Others have started posting their own improvement threads so I think it is time to bow out and continue analysing in a different format. Will look into it, but I`m definitely hungry for more chess 
I think that generalising "g4 can be dangerous in the French" is not the best way to approach the issue.
Instead, I suggest going back and actually investigate with the computer and see what it suggests. Eg, take a look a few moves into g4, suggest moves for black, and keep going until the evaluation makes sense.
I haven't looked deeply at the position, but after 11 g4 ne3 12. Bxe3 dxe3 perhaps stockfish likes f5 for white, as a pawn break against the uncastled king. Maybe there's some kind of concrete line with nd6 and ng5.
Also, I think it might be better to consider tempo-gaining moves such as g4 as a matter of practice. At least to investigate them and establish whether or not there is a good follow up for you or your opponent.
Unfortunate about the endgame. Gotta keep vigilant for such things. 😉