Learning my lesson

So about a week ago I wrote a forum post about people who trade down pieces instead of look for sharp tactical or positional play.  I had a lot of responses and some really good advice. 

So it took me a while playing and losing a myriad of games pushing for unsound tactics or poor positional consideration. 

I decided to slow down and just play solid chess.  Nothing fancy.  Just solid.  I analyse my games in Chessmaster 10 (I know you computer people say it sucks at analysis, but it's all I've got).  My last 4 or so games I've played with 100% accuracy (so says chessmaster). 

My games have not been tactical or something I would consider art, but they have been solid positional games.  I guess I'm learning my lesson and thus I think I'm a better chess player for it. 

So thank you everyone who commented (especially the NM's) and gave me insight into a problem with my own chess Psychology. 

I also had a breakthrough concerning my issue with people who just trade pieces which came after reading a article by Bobby Fischer about the King's Gambit.  After his loss to Spassky, he wrote an article which all but brought an end to King Gambit play at the GM level.  In it he mentioned a comment by Spassky which struck a cord with me.  Bobby had asked Spassky why he played the Kings Gambit and Spassky responded that the Ruy Lopez and Guccio Piano didn't really offer much better for white as they both lead to drawish endgames. 

Guess what I always play as white?  THE RUY LOPEZ!!

The very opening I play was leading to the types of games I was complaining about.  So I'm going to start studying a new opening.  Something sharp.  Any suggestions?

Here is the last game I played with this mentality: Chessmaster 10 gave me and my opponent both 100% scores!!

Any opinions?

if you and your opponent played 100% accurately, what more can be said? :)

Not on the game...On a good sharp opening for white to start learning deeply.

Trading down for the sake of trading down is not a good habit to get into!

Immortalgamer,

Not trying to be funny here... you know I have backed you before. I suggest that a "seasoned" player as yourself might get a second opinion, i.e. a better engine for analysis? You deserve it

Donald

You are probably right.  I'll do it.

What one is best for analysis?

I agree though that is how that game went so I didn't try to force the issue. I guess the real question in my post is a good sharp opening for white that is still played at high levels of chess.  I'm not an opening guru.

hehehehe... "just try this one little sample my friend it only costs $49!" Before you know it you're $250 into it and still going! It's a slippery slope. Right now, I need an intervention; I am not even good at the game! I'm just a gadget freak, techno geek, computer dork with a curiosity about the man/machine, artificial intelligence interface but I digress...

As you know there are as many opinions out there all worth about 2 cents each and to some degree it's about how much you can/want to spend. That being said I'd think CM is the first step as an all in one solution. I have CM 11 myself. I then bought Fritz 11 which is leaps and bounds beyond CM. Then I bought Rybka 3.0 engine and use it with the Fritz GUI. Now please realize that both Fritz and  Rybka are both waaaayyyyyy better than CM for analysis and having both Fritz and Rybka allow me to run engine vs engine matches which is fun and enlightening but it costs $$$$$ right? You can't go wrong with either but Rybka is recognized as the "champ". Rybka recetly won (again) the Computer Chess Championships. So my advice if you want to take a next step would be to buy the Rybka engine with the Fritz interface. You can see that here

http://www.chessbase.com/shop/bestseller.asp?user=&coin=

It's $50 or $100 depending on you computer processor, i.e. one core or dual or multi processor. The "DEEP" version costs more but is of no value to you unless you have at least a dual core processor. Then the next step beyond that is a database like Chessmaster 10... mo' money but you have a HUGE reference database, engine, GUI all in one! You have a few options and the break points are $50, $100, and $150 depending on what you want but it definitely sounds like you might be outgrowing your ChessMaster. Be nice to your GF since Chrismas is right around the corner! By the way, I probably know more about the technology of computer chess than I know about the game of chess itself. If you want to discuss further shoot me an email offline; I'd be happy to teach you if you teach me!!!

Donald

It's a deal.  BTW you lost me when you said GUI.

Just to back up DonaldLL I must say I just purchased Rybka 3.0 with the Fritz Chessbase interface right off of Amazon.com last week.  It's engine is AMAZING for post-game analysis and it has an extensive database of over 1,000,000 grandmaster games complete with the most ridiculously detailed opening book I have ever seen which it derives from that database.  I don't think you can miss with this, I paid $69.00 for it but keep your eyes open you might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.  I had Fritz 6.0 for many years but I finally thought it was time to upgrade to something better.

Oh since no one answered my question about a sharp opening for white I went to another forum and got this answer....Common Chess.com!!

The Best Opening for White and Black depends on your personality and playing style! Do you prefer risky, dynamic and attacking play in the style of Kasparov, Fischer and Bronstein or more on positional play in the style of Karpov, Petrosian and Carlsen? There should be a direct relationship between your choices of chess opening for either color. In my case, I always play the English Opening (c4). Why? First, there were only few variations that I need to learn and I knew very well the middle game plans. Although, I can not guarantee that I will get pure English Opening because of other Black responses and transpositions, I made sure that I am aware of the sequences of move that gives me the initiative or slight advantage in the middle game (with or without transposition). If I am playing against an e4 player, I resorted to the dangerous Accelerated Dragon or Pirc, and if against d4, I used King’s Indian, Modern Benoni and Dutch Leningrad. Do you see the relationship between these chess openings? You should notice that if I play White, I am actually playing the White side of the Sicilian Dragon! Wherein, the principles of the other chess openings I mentioned were directly inter- related. In other words, I can connect the principles between different chess openings. From here, you can conclude my personality and playing style. This keeps me wonder why it was too difficult to beat strong players and grandmasters. The secret is they usually play over and over similar opening repertoire. Remember “Practice makes perfect!!!” What if you play over in over similar chess openings just what I was doing lately, you will notice a great improvement in your games! Just like driving a car, you need constant practice to perfect a parallel parking until you can do it with your eyes close. This is also another secret in blitz chess where time is of the essence. Since you have perfected your opening repertoire, you can play good blitz game because you have been playing similar games over and over and you don’t even need to think of your next. They are made automatic at blazing speed! Let me summarized these to you! If I play White, I play the English Opening because there were fewer variations compare to e4 or d4 openings which you need a life time to memorize different variations! In this case I bought the English Opening DVD for White by Roman Dzindzichashvili. Against e4, I always play the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon; I bought the Accelerated Dragon Assault DVD by Andrew Martin. Against d4, I always play the Modern Benoni; I bought the Modern Benoni DVD by Chris Ward. Every night I play each DVD before I go to sleep, I also used these openings in my tournament play! Believe it or not, I have successes in my tournament since then. This, I believe unearthed the secret of grandmaster play! Play an opening repertoire over and over, do not divert and mix different systems, you will definitely get confused and lost. For now, 2 for Black and 1 for White. Once you perfected the principles behind opening plays and principles, only then add another opening repertoire to your secret weapons!

Here are the Building Blocks that form a real chess player.
1. He must be well up in modern opening theory.
2. He must know and keep in his memory the principles behind typical middle game positions learned both from his own games, and from those other players.
3. The more a player knows and remembers, the easier it is for him to find a precedent, namely; a position which has occurred before and which is similar to his own present position.
4. A grandmaster must be able to assess a position accurately and correctly.
5. No less important is the ability to hit upon the right plan- a plan that meets the demands of the given position.
6. A grandmaster must be able to calculate accurately and quickly those variations which might arise in the subsequent course of play.

Mastery is about memory! Enhance your memory by playing over and over until you made sure it’s stored permanently!

Ferdinand DS
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

That's perfect... I talk a good game, you play a good game. It's a Ying Yang thang! I gotta go pay attention to my girl... let's "talk" soon