Trompowsky Attack

I am learning new openings, as my Bird is too often played at our chess club. This is the Trompowsky Attack. We morphed into a variation that lead to a advantageous version of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. My opponent declined the pawn on f3 and I was out of my known book at move #7.

Lesson Learned: I am taking too much time for moves. I missed a mate-in-4, so I need to work on my calculation skills.

Fritz 12 Sparring

I had a bye last night at the chess club. Instead of missing a week's posting or reviewing an older game, I thought this game that I played against Fritz 12 Sparring would be of more interest. I have been trying various programs to find one that most simulates what I experience in OTB games and this game is from my latest try.

Lesson learned: It is worthwhile to set problems for your opponent.

King's Gambit Accepted

Tonight's game was played with one idea in mind: to develop my pieces to their best position. This strategy worked well, no defensive mistakes. I did, however miss the variation 20...Qxe4, which would have freed my pieces and potentially exchange into a winning endgame. Overall, one of my better games in the last few months.

Lesson learned: Slow and steady wins the race. Also, see my thoughts on Dan Heisman's Looking for Trouble in an earlier post.

Levitsky Attack

An online game to explore new openings. Although won, I did not like the early position resulting from 2.Bg5 without pinning the f6 Knight.

Lesson learned: During the heat of the battle, I am making some poor moves, probably due to not selecting enough candidates. When you see a good move, look for a better one.

Budapest Gambit 2

This is the first time I have played the Budapest Gambit in a USCF rated game. More study is needed of the basic variations. Also, my tactical analysis is not sufficient for this level of competition.

Lesson learned: Surprisingly, Shredder11 preferred my 6...Ngxe5 at depth 15. This move was not found in my database search. One should not rely solely on the output of a chess engine in lieu of chess theory.