Florida Match

Howdy!  Congrats to TwoBlkAces for starting off our upcoming victory against Florida!  Shucks, I've only make two moves in our Florida match too...hey slow down everybody!!  Analyze, analyze, analyze.

he's right

Sorry, I'll slow it down, but the scandinavian main line plays itself.

Howdy TwoBlkAces, nothing to be sorry about, as your game was masterful, but just remember that correspondence chess is more about analyzing deeply the nuances of the position.  Also, I was directing my statement to the whole team, not just you. 

By the way, welcome to Team VIVA Las Vegas, it's great to see a new face here...we need more Vegan chessplayers to represent our city!!  Why not give a little introduction about yourself here?  When you started playing chess, your goals, your chess style, etc.

Happy trails, Bruce

i'm mark.  lived in vegas on and off since 1974 ( i wasn't even one when my folks moved here)  i teach high school and i'm medicore at chess.

Hey all, My name is carl. I lived in Las Vegas in the early eighties before returning to southern California to help in the family construction business. I moved back full time sept, 2001 except for one year that I spent traveling the country as a professional poker player. I discovered chess.com while looking for lessons to improve my game. Just as in poker or any other game,  the more you work at your game the luckier you get!

 Howdy Mark, glad to meet you and thanks for all your organizing work here at VIVA Las Vegas, it's much appreciated.

I've been playing chess since I was eight years old...I'm now 59 years old.  I had joined USCF when I was 12 years old and played in hundreds of chess tournaments since then.  My USCF rating has been fluctulating between 1950-2025, I don't play many tournments now since I'm married and work 12-hour nights as a cab driver...unfortunately I work weekends too, when most chess tournaments are held.  Chess.com has been beneficial for me to explore new openings and new ideas in my old chess openings, I do feel sharper from playing speed chess here too.  I'm also a marathon runner.

Happy trails, Bruce

 Howdy Carl, it's nice to meet you here at chess.com!  Chess.com does improve your game as the more you play the more you learn.  Also chess.com has excellent chess articles too! 

 I'm originally from Lansing, Michigan, but I've been living in Las Vegas since 1988.  I've met many chessplayers who now play poker exclusively, funny how that happens...probably because chessplayers don't make as much money as poker players.

Happy trails, Bruce

Well Bruce,  The money may be better, but the hours are long. I have played poker for over 20 years, most of the time as a side job, but I took a year off when dad retired to dedicate myself to playing full time.

 As I am entering my 50's the game is not as fun as it used to be. T.V. ruined golf and now poker. I went on chess.com to find better chess books. I am self taught and the only books I could find at libraries or bookstores were super introductory or about how to play the f3 variation of the nimzo.

 I learned to play poker by reading countless books and exploring game theory and I want to learn chess the same way. I joined chess.com  soon after discovering this resourse. I study about an hour a day, I know it's a bit late in life to learn such a complicated game but I hope my studies in other games will help.

Viva Las Vegas, Carl

P.S. I'm dying to make my next move but I will study the position for another night first as you and G.M. Vaughan have asked!

 Howdy Carl!  I would highly recommend the book, "How to Reassess Your Chess: A Complete Course to Chess Mastery" by Jeremy Silman.

Silman's book will teach you Basic Endgames, Thinking Techniques and List of Imbalances, Calculation and Combinations, Minor Pieces in the Middle Game (How to put your Bishops on dynamic squares and/or how to post your knights in avantaged positions...my favorite chapter) Space and Preventive Medicine (reminds me of Nimvovich works, but Silman makes it much easier to understand), Weak Pawns-Strong Pawns, Weak Squares, Material Loss and Sacrifice, Development and initiative, Open Files, etc.

Once you finish the above book and fully understand the principles you'll be close to an expert in chess.

When I study a position I would choose several possible candidate moves and delve into the position as deeply as possible, determine what tactics and strategy to use, and always look to see if I can reach a favorable endgame and thereby start trading heavy pieces.  I usually strive to study the position as much as possible during the allotted three days.  NOTE: THE BEST WAY TO PLAY CORRESPONDENCE CHESS IS NOT TO PLAY TOO MANY GAMES!!  Unless you're unemployed or retired, you need plenty of quality time to give your games their full attention.  For fun, take a look how many games that Vaughan and I are currently playing on chess.com.

Happy trails, Bruce

Howdy Carl, when I mentioned the best way to play correspondence chess in not to play too many games is not really directed to you per se, as you only have one game going currently, but for the benefit of the rest of the team. 

Also, when you have only two realistic candidate moves it would be much easier to study the position deeply.  Of course, if you are forced to retake a piece, you really don't need to study the position for the full three days.  Even on forced retakes, I would use the allotted time to see what could happen far in the horizon...better to analyze later moves now before he later retakes, than you would even have more time to study.

Happy trails, Bruce

Thanks Bruce, both for the book advice and the play advice. I just knocked out 4 games this week in round 5 of my first tourney, that's why I only have one game going. however I am using the time to study some lessons on positional variations of the Scandinavian.

 I use this opening against e4, since it mirrors openings that I have come up with myself. I don't have a clue where knights are best outposted but at least i'm worse with bishops.. It would be nice to read some of Master Silman's comments without being berated as he does in my mentoring program.

Besides this tournament I have the 2nd round of the sept. chess.com coming and the finals of another. I will have plenty of time to give these games the respect they deserve. I hope to be up to the task.

Thanks for the advice, Carl  TwoblkAces 

Marinas has just lost one game on time against Florida, and is about to lose another game on time soon.  I pray that Marinas is o.k. and in good health.

We're currently tied with Florida with only two games left...Marinas game and my game, if Marinas loses that game on time, we'll be a full point behind with only my game left in the match.  Therefore, if I draw my game against DPSmachine, we lose the match...unfortunately I'm forced to play for the win against my opponent who wants revenge for losing our first game.  I've been studying my game with DPSmachine when I'm working in my cab, during every free minute at home, and have even been dreaming about my last position...I HATE TO LOSE!!!

Opps, my Florida opponent's moniker is DSPMachine, NOT DPSMachine...who calls himself a machine anyways???

I just finished my game against DSPMachine of Team Florida, I was able to squeeze out another win.  Our current score is 7 to 6, with only one game left!  Talk about pressure, if Marinas can win OR draw his game, we'll win the match, but he is a pawn down.  I hope Chess Goddess Caissa smiles down on Viva Las Vegas!!