Nice games! You're clearly improving!
What I would recommend is adjusting your settings so it matches you against harder players.
Thank you, I definitely start feeling more comfortable playing chess now. Though it is too soon to say, last week was rough with plenty of blunders. I`ve thought about adjusting my settings. I think I`m ready to try to take on 1600+ rated opponents.
Lemme try to analyze a game for you. A lot of these games, you can learn from what your opponent does wrong.
Lemme try to analyze a game for you. A lot of these games, you can learn from what your opponent does wrong.
Hey, thank you for your analysis, there are definitely some aspects of positional understanding you mention which can be very useful to understand. I`m glad that you think I made some good moves, and that you didn`t find any egregious mistakes or blunders.
In the middle game I was definitely too afraid to end up with doubled pawns. This is one of those things which beginner-intermediate players think of as big concessions, because when you study chess, and/or read or watch game analysis` it`s usually one of the things they talk about: "doubled pawns are a long-term weakness". But as with all weaknesses, if your opponent isn`t capable of capitalizing on them, and you can use the holes in your own position to create attacks, then it`s not so bad after all. Other than that I think my other mistakes came from losing track of my plan and capitalizing on my opponents weakening moves. Playing the bishop back on move 16 would have prepared Rb8, and eventually all my pieces would be aimed at white`s b-pawn. The f-pawn strike caused more trouble than it was worth and didn`t help my piece coordination.
all wrong; improve DURING the game
A good retort my friend, alas you too are wrong. The key to chess is to defeat the opponent BEFORE the game even begins. Touché
Hi Giasira,
I've done quite a similar thing to you, as in I started an improvement blog, which actually looked quite a bit like this, but I let it go after about 6 - 7 months due to life circumstances being changed, and because it started to feel like an obligation.
It looks like you're progressing well. Just a few ideas for you:
1) Try looking at master games in the openings you play, if you don't already. This is pretty much the only opening study I would recommend you do, unless you feel like doing more, but I find that examining commonly played opening patterns can lead you to the best move.
2) Whatever level you're trying to attain, try to channel your intuition as well as your discipline. Often I find that if I get too hard on myself, I become stuffy, and I paradoxically miss more things. It's good to make sure you're not making of a mistake, but once you've come to a conclusion, trust yourself.
You can check out some of my older posts if you feel so inclined. At any rate, good luck in your journey! I'll follow this forum post from now on 
Hi Giasira,
I've done quite a similar thing to you, as in I started an improvement blog, which actually looked quite a bit like this, but I let it go after about 6 - 7 months due to life circumstances being changed, and because it started to feel like an obligation.
It looks like you're progressing well. Just a few ideas for you:
1) Try looking at master games in the openings you play, if you don't already. This is pretty much the only opening study I would recommend you do, unless you feel like doing more, but I find that examining commonly played opening patterns can lead you to the best move.
2) Whatever level you're trying to attain, try to channel your intuition as well as your discipline. Often I find that if I get too hard on myself, I become stuffy, and I paradoxically miss more things. It's good to make sure you're not making of a mistake, but once you've come to a conclusion, trust yourself.
You can check out some of my older posts if you feel so inclined. At any rate, good luck in your journey! I'll follow this forum post from now on
Hey, I`ll check out your blog and previous posts It will be interesting to see how others have progressed before me. I can definitely see myself dropping this "quest" in the future. I have this kind of personality that I become intensely obsessed with something for a while, then I get bored or burned out, then I become obsessed with something else. But the reason I get burned out is usually that I do too much of said thing to the detriment of my health or other aspects of my life, so this time I`m taking a more healthy approach. I did for example technically have time for a game yesterday, but didn`t play because it was a long day and I felt too tired. I don`t wanna fill my archive with crappy games where I dropped something due to inattention.
About intuition: I definitely see what you mean. My main goal for the next few weeks isn`t anything too crazy, I just want mainly to play chess without too many egregious mistakes or blunders. It`s only when i avoid the worst blunders I can think of anything else.
@ghost_of_pushwood
"Over and over again players post games here, generally accompanied by a lot of airy philosophizing about positional subtleties and so forth.
Then, when I actually go through the game, I find it almost always boils down to this: everything was going along okay...until somebody hung something big."
I agree. I took no offense to this. It is an honest assessment. I would add a bit more complexity though. I also notice that often the hanging something big is preceded by a complex situation or the opponent achieving some advantage. There is often some distraction going on that leads to making a big mistake. That is why I am much more likely to hang a piece in a competitive game than against a weaker opponent.
For an average chess hobbyist, like me, chess improvement isn't about learning how to make moves a master makes, it is about learning how to stop making the obvious blunders that masters avoid.
Giasira,
I enjoyed playing through the "Drunken Knight Tango."
That is a very cool checkmate, and a perfect candidate to be added to Puzzle Rush.
In thinking about learning from this game, to me, the key lessons here are:
1. Don't resign too soon.
2. Find the easiest way to win a won game and don't waste time mopping up pawns if you don't need to.
You lost your second rook for a bishop on move 22. I think we would all rather be White at that point, but would also be aware that it can be lost quickly, as you demonstrated.
If I found myself in that position, I would be trying to find the simplest way to turn my material advantage into a win. To me that means White should play the most obvious, but unexciting move on the board 23. a5, probably followed by 24. a6, if possible. It isn't theoretical, or fancy but it forces Black to deal with the passed pawn immediately, moves the knights away from the White king, and it is likely to cost Black at least a knight to prevent the pawn from queening.
Occasionally, the keep it simple approach of a lower-rated player (me) is the best one.
Giasira,
I enjoyed playing through the "Drunken Knight Tango."
That is a very cool checkmate, and a perfect candidate to be added to Puzzle Rush.
In thinking about learning from this game, to me, the key lessons here are:
I`m glad you enjoyed the game. The main lesson of this game imo is to not play if you`re not in a good spot to play chess mentally. I made a bunch of rookie mistakes due to inattention. From now on ill only play chess when ive had sufficient sleep and rest, when I feel like playing (not because "i have to"), and completely sober. One beer doesn`t feel like it makes much of a difference, but it actually does.
You are right about the key to converting winning positions. Keep your head cold and be realistic about your opponents` counterplay. I`ve thrown many games due to becoming either too overconfident or too cautious when I`m about to deliver the coup de grace.
Very teaching post for people under 1600.
Instead of the rook sacrifice you could have played 16 Qe5 with a gorgeous double Attack threatening mate and the g7 pawn which would have been a decisive infiltration. I do not think you needed to sacrifice the rook in this position. The king was stuck in the center and was not going to be able to get away. I think calmly coordinating your pieces for the decisive attack may have been a little more sound. Thoughts?
The way things turned out that could have been a better idea. But if you check the game there was a winning combination after the rook sacrifice which I added as a variation. I just failed to execute it properly. (After 17. Rd2+ black must defend Bd6, when´18.Qf7+ would be crushing) I failed to see this because black could block this f7 check with the knight, finishing development and connecting the rooks. I didn`t look further into this line, if I had iI would probably have won the game
Nice games! You're clearly improving!
What I would recommend is adjusting your settings so it matches you against harder players.