One of the things that seem to help me is a report card on each of my daily games. This forces me to evaluate and track my weaknesses. The format of mine is below for those who may be interested.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Endgame Training 10, b-file pawn on the 7th rank
A Queen and Pawn endgame from my daily practice on ChessTempo.com. These are endgames which gave me trouble during the practice. I broke them down into steps to help remember them and post them to share with my fellow chess players. The solution is the shortest as verified by the endgame database. Comments are my own.
One of the things that seem to help me is a report card on each of my daily games. This forces me to evaluate and track my weaknesses. The format of mine is below for those who may be interested.
One of the things that seem to help me is a report card on each of my daily games. This forces me to evaluate and track my weaknesses. The format of mine is below for those who may be interested.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Four Knights Game, en prise means no prize
Round #1 of the annual club championship. Lately my practice games have been going well, so I approached this tournament with optimism.
My opponent was a class A player who I have not played before. My color was Black and I usually play the Petroff against e4. My opponent transposed into a Four Knights Game, maybe because of unfamiliarity with the Petroff and I was equally unfamiliar with the Four Knights.
The game was going well into the 2-hour mark when I violated one of the basic tenants of endgame play: slow down. I left my Knight en prise and was facing the probable loss of an additional pawn when I resigned.
Lesson learned: Slow down for endgames.
P.S. The pgn is appended below if anyone wants to run a computer analysis:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. a3
a5 7. d3 h6 8. Nd5 d6 9. h3 Be6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. fxe3 Bxd5
12. exd5 Ne7 13. e4 c6 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Kh1 Ng6 16. Qe1
Re8 17. Qg3 Nf4 18. Nh4 N6h5 19. Qf2 Qd7 20. Kh2 Kh7 21. b4
axb4 22. axb4 Rf8 23. Ra5 Rxa5 24. bxa5 Ra8 25. Qb6 d5
26. exd5 Nxd5 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 28. a6 Qb5 29. Qxb5 cxb5
30. Rxf7 Rxa6 31. Rf5 Ra2 32. Rxh5 1-0
My opponent was a class A player who I have not played before. My color was Black and I usually play the Petroff against e4. My opponent transposed into a Four Knights Game, maybe because of unfamiliarity with the Petroff and I was equally unfamiliar with the Four Knights.
The game was going well into the 2-hour mark when I violated one of the basic tenants of endgame play: slow down. I left my Knight en prise and was facing the probable loss of an additional pawn when I resigned.
Lesson learned: Slow down for endgames.
P.S. The pgn is appended below if anyone wants to run a computer analysis:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. a3
a5 7. d3 h6 8. Nd5 d6 9. h3 Be6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. fxe3 Bxd5
12. exd5 Ne7 13. e4 c6 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Kh1 Ng6 16. Qe1
Re8 17. Qg3 Nf4 18. Nh4 N6h5 19. Qf2 Qd7 20. Kh2 Kh7 21. b4
axb4 22. axb4 Rf8 23. Ra5 Rxa5 24. bxa5 Ra8 25. Qb6 d5
26. exd5 Nxd5 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 28. a6 Qb5 29. Qxb5 cxb5
30. Rxf7 Rxa6 31. Rf5 Ra2 32. Rxh5 1-0
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Endgame Training 9, Queen vs Pawn on the h-file
A Queen and Pawn endgame from my daily practice on ChessTempo.com. These are endgames which gave me trouble during the practice. I broke them down into steps to help remember them and post them to share with my fellow chess players. The solution is the shortest as verified by the endgame database. Comments are my own.
For those of you who have looked at my practice games in this blog, I have switched back to ChessMaster 10 for an opponent. Scid vs. PC's Phalanx has been simple to win against, even after increasing its ELO from 1300 to 1700. I hope this is indicative that I've passed a learning threshold.
For those of you who have looked at my practice games in this blog, I have switched back to ChessMaster 10 for an opponent. Scid vs. PC's Phalanx has been simple to win against, even after increasing its ELO from 1300 to 1700. I hope this is indicative that I've passed a learning threshold.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Endgame Training 8, Knight & Pawn vs. Pawn
A Knight and Pawn endgame from my daily practice on ChessTempo.com. These are endgames which gave me trouble during the practice. I broke them down into steps to help remember them and post them to share with my fellow chess players. The solution is the shortest as verified by the endgame database. Comments are my own.
For those who wish to try this endgame training exercise, just copy and paste the following EPD into your favorite chess program:
6n1/7p/8/4K3/2k4P/8/8/8 b - -
For those who wish to try this endgame training exercise, just copy and paste the following EPD into your favorite chess program:
6n1/7p/8/4K3/2k4P/8/8/8 b - -
Friday, February 10, 2012
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 4, bad chess???
"Nobody who plays good chess plays this line, and nobody who plays good chess ever will." says Sam Collins in his Understanding the Chess Openings introduction to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit.
Which is also a lead-in to my opening philosophy. My philosophy is best summed up in the classic joke:
Two guys are in the jungle when they see a lion running towards them. Frantically, one of the men starts putting on his running shoes.
Surprised, the other man says " What are you thinking, you can't outrun a lion!!!"
" I don't have to outrun the lion," said the man, " I just have to outrun you."
You do not need to know your opening lines 17 moves deep. You only need to know your opening better than your opponent. This is one of the reasons that my repertoire contains uncommon lines and gambits. It keeps my opening study to a minimum. The game becomes a chess contest instead of a memory contest.
Today’s game is another BDG in which my opponent departs from book early, and then the fun begins.
Lesson learned: When playing gambits, it is important to keep the initiative.
Which is also a lead-in to my opening philosophy. My philosophy is best summed up in the classic joke:
Two guys are in the jungle when they see a lion running towards them. Frantically, one of the men starts putting on his running shoes.
Surprised, the other man says " What are you thinking, you can't outrun a lion!!!"
" I don't have to outrun the lion," said the man, " I just have to outrun you."
You do not need to know your opening lines 17 moves deep. You only need to know your opening better than your opponent. This is one of the reasons that my repertoire contains uncommon lines and gambits. It keeps my opening study to a minimum. The game becomes a chess contest instead of a memory contest.
Today’s game is another BDG in which my opponent departs from book early, and then the fun begins.
Lesson learned: When playing gambits, it is important to keep the initiative.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Endgame Training 7, gaining a tempo
Another Rook and Pawn endgame from my daily practice on ChessTempo.com. These are endgames which gave me trouble during the practice. I broke them down into steps to help remember them and post them to share with my fellow chess players. The solution is the shortest as verified by the endgame database. Comments are my own.
For those who wish to try this endgame training exercise, just copy and paste the following EPD into your favorite chess program:
5r2/7R/8/8/8/7k/6p1/4K3 b - -
P.S. I find that learning the EPD code makes it simple to save an interesting position when watching another game. For a quick introduction capital letters are White, Small letters are Black and numbers are empty squares. Ranks are separated by / & the first letter after indicates whose turn it is.
For those who wish to try this endgame training exercise, just copy and paste the following EPD into your favorite chess program:
5r2/7R/8/8/8/7k/6p1/4K3 b - -
P.S. I find that learning the EPD code makes it simple to save an interesting position when watching another game. For a quick introduction capital letters are White, Small letters are Black and numbers are empty squares. Ranks are separated by / & the first letter after indicates whose turn it is.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit 3, confusion in the opening
Thursday's game at the local chess club paired me against a quickly improving player who had won the club's Player of the Year award with his recent winning record. Unfortunately for me, he had recently lost a game to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and had spent time looking at the opening.
I had recently added the BDG to my repertoire to replace the Veresov Attack, which I thought was too passive. I knew some of the lines, but obviously not enough of them. However, when Black responded with 1...d5, I decided to try out the BDG.
I resigned early when I could not find a plan that held any promise, whereas I could see a good plan for Black. I thought that I was behind approximately 2.5 pawns. A subsequent computer analysis of the final position is interesting:
-1.12 Rybka 2.3.2
-1.55 Toga II
-2.08 Fritz 12
-2.27 Phalanx XXII
-2.38 Shredder 11
Lesson learned: Study ALL the main lines of an opening before playing it in rated competition.
P.S. A while back, I posted that my practice games against the computer were going to be played on a real board and the moves then transferred to the computer. Since then, I have been able to increase the computer engine's strength by 200 rating points and I am doing better against the silicon monster. It slows down my playing and makes for better analysis of each move.
I had recently added the BDG to my repertoire to replace the Veresov Attack, which I thought was too passive. I knew some of the lines, but obviously not enough of them. However, when Black responded with 1...d5, I decided to try out the BDG.
I resigned early when I could not find a plan that held any promise, whereas I could see a good plan for Black. I thought that I was behind approximately 2.5 pawns. A subsequent computer analysis of the final position is interesting:
-1.12 Rybka 2.3.2
-1.55 Toga II
-2.08 Fritz 12
-2.27 Phalanx XXII
-2.38 Shredder 11
Lesson learned: Study ALL the main lines of an opening before playing it in rated competition.
P.S. A while back, I posted that my practice games against the computer were going to be played on a real board and the moves then transferred to the computer. Since then, I have been able to increase the computer engine's strength by 200 rating points and I am doing better against the silicon monster. It slows down my playing and makes for better analysis of each move.
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