Philidor Defense (7), a dynamic defense

A complex endgame is below today’s game. Take the FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. It only took a couple of tries to win today’s endgame, mainly because I wanted to find a reasonably efficient method. My opponent was Shredder set at full strength.

Today’s game is an online tournament game. I was able to make the standard opening moves despite White’s variation from the normal Philidor setup, so no improvements or supplements are necessary for my opening repertoire notes. In the middle game, I was able to open a file and gain control of it. My advanced Knight posting was unchallenged. Being up on material, I traded some back to open White’s King protection.

The variations and move symbols are Critter’s (1.6 32-bit), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Critter. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

Chernev said “The best openings to play are those you are most at home in.” Thus, I am relegating the BDG to secondary status for white and bringing back Philidor’s Defense for black. The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit is too complex for me and does not seem to have a common theme, other than tactical opportunities. The Philidor/Old Indian has worked well for me in the past and is a solid, almost universal defense.

FEN "8/4k3/8/1p2Pp2/p7/P1K1P3/1P6/8 w - -"

Blackmar-Diemer Gambit (13), early complexities

A complex ending is below today’s game. Take the FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. It took several tries to win today’s endgame, so do not be easily discouraged. My opponent was Houdini set with 6 seconds of calculation time per move.

Today’s game is is an online tournament game. Black uses a rare defense. His making an unadvised trade on move 9 gives White a vast lead in development. After that, White presses his advantage, but makes several tactical errors before securing the win. Black tries to defend the final position by attacking White’s Queen, but that quickly leads to his concession of the game.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at (increased to) 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

I am continuing to re-evaluate my chess activities and playing philosophy. A year-end project is to sort through my 170+ chess books in preparation to whittle them down to under 50.

FEN "k7/2p5/8/KP3p2/8/8/6P1/8 w - - 0 1"

 Happy holidays everyone.

Paleface Attack (12), slow and steady

Since my ‘Winning the Won Game” series is so popular, I will be appending a complex ending below today’s game. Take the FEN and paste it into your favorite engine and try to repeat the win. It took several tries to win today’s endgame, so do not be easily discouraged. My opponent was Houdini set with 6 seconds of calculation time per move.

Today’s game is played against Chessmaster 10’s Ginger, a player rated 144 points higher than me, played at G45 + 3 sec./move. Ginger varies early from my opening repertoire, so I play cautiously, trying not to take many chances, but still pressing my early advantage. I am happy with this game as it shows that I can still play without making significant mistakes and/or blunders.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at (increased to) 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

I plan on continuing to supplement my OTB games with games against Chessmaster, steadily increasing the opponent’s rating.

FEN "8/8/8/k1p5/2P5/1K6/P7/8 w - -"

Happy holidays everyone.

Paleface Attack (11), lack of development

Today’s blog entry is from an online tournament game. White uses the Paleface Attack to transpose into the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. Black lets two of his pieces remain on their starting squares. Black is essentially giving away odds of a Rook and a Bishop, which White capitalizes on before Black can complete his development.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at (increased to) 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

Thoughts on the coming new year:

I am scaling back my chess studies, planning on reducing my chess library by at least 75%. (How to dispose of 100+ chess books?) In addition, I am going to play next year in the section determined by my rating. I think the constant, negative reinforcement of losing so many games in the higher section has a detrimental effect on my game. I need to start enjoying chess again.

Playing online, turn-based games helps develop my openings, but the lack of continuity requires a different type of move analysis. Recollection of the thoughts in the previous moves are often faulty. I will continue to play these turn-based games and try to play ChessMaster games when my schedule permits to supplement the local club tournament games.

I bought a Nexus 7 tablet last month and found that I can do many chess activities on it, (i.e. giving me more access to daily ChessTempo tactic problems, etc.).

Old Indian Defense (2), back to ChessMaster 10

Today’s blog entry is against ChessMaster 10, with the opponent rated at 1554. White makes early threats while I defend and continue to develop. I like the Old Indian because it has a lot of themes in common with my 1.e4 Philidor Defense. I own the center and have king-side space, so after White castles I work on destroying his protection. I missed a beautiful combination on move #26, but shortly after trade down to a winning endgame.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at (increased to) 20 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

There is a quote somewhere about when an opponent has an unprotected piece, there must be a combination ... no matter how deep you need to look to find it. Does anyone know the source? I would like to add it to my quotation list at the bottom of my blog.

Paleface Attack (10), blown opportunities

Today’s blog entry is from an online tournament game. White again plays the Paleface Attack, hoping for the BDG, which Black avoids. White castles on the opposite side with the intention of launching an all-out attack on the Black King. White had a winning position, but badly misplayed the combination at move #20. Some of this is attributed to trying the SWOT thinking process, some to overconfidence in a winning position, and some to playing too quickly. In any event, it went bad very quickly.

The variations and move symbols are Houdini’s (1.5 w32), diagnosed with ‘Scid vs PC’ at 10 seconds per ply. The verbal comments are my thoughts during the game and my interpretations of the analysis provided by Houdini. The score chart is at the bottom of this entry.

After reviewing this game, I am abandoning my try with the SWOT thinking process and going back to Dan Heisman’s CCT (Check, Capture, Threat) method of move analysis.

 Also, after self-analysis of my recent play, I intent to play in the section dictated by my USCF rating in the 2013 club tournaments. Playing up gave me very few competitive games. Plus, I am not improving ... probably going the other direction.