Playing and Studying

Still here. Just nothing much to say. I can only talk about studying master games and playing more long games so much. Is that a correct sentence? Anyway, I also borrowed Logical Chess from the library. Great book. I've downloaded the games into my Palm and have been reviewing them on the bus. The King attack is especially instructive for me.

I've discovered another great feature of the Pocket Chess database. I can download chess puzzles into the database and go through those too. Currently I've downloaded 50 Checkmates, which covered the different themes like Anastasia's, Morphy's, etc. Again, most instructive for learning how to attack.

Here is my Round 7 game from T28. I didn't feel too good after it was over. I was getting my butt kicked from the beginning but swindled the win on the last three moves. Very un-pretty. At least if things work out we are heading to the finals to defend our championship title. If we do I hope you guys can come out and support us against Knightly Carnage. They kicked our butts the last time we met. Here's the game:

[Event "Team 45 45 League T27"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2005.07.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "SamuraiGoroh"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1514"]
[BlackElo "1409"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Nh5 11. h3 Nxg3 12. fxg3 Bh5 13. Qe1 Qe7 14. Qe3 O-O-O 15. Nb3 g4 16. Nfd2 gxh3 17. gxh3 Qe6 18. Kh2 Rdg8 19. Qf2 Qg6 20. Qf5+ Kb8 21. g4 Bxg4 22. Qxg6 fxg6 23. hxg4 g5 24. Kg3 b6 25. Nc4 Be7 26. Nxe5 Kb7 27. Rf7 Bd6 28. Rf5 h5 29. Raf1 h4+ 30. Kh3 a5 31. Nf7 Rh7 32. Nxg5 Rhg7 33. Nf7 Rxg4 34. Nxd6+ cxd6 35. Rf7+ Ka6 36. R1f2 Rg1 37. R7f6 R1g3+ 38. Kxh4 Rg1 39. Rh2 Rh8+ {White resigns} 0-1

Palm chess

Thanks for those who gave feedback about the chess programs. I am really enjoying PocketChess Deluxe so far. The database features are very easy to use and navigating between multiple TWIC issues in pgn and my ICC pgn only takes a few clicks. It also has a nice annotation function that I can use with my portable keyboard. This programs suits my needs perfectly because I don't play games against computers that often and if I'm going to do heavy analysis on a game I'll use Fritz on my desktop. Another nice little bonus is the program marks which games you reviewed already so when I'm switching between TWIC #557 and Zurich 1953 I know exactly where I left off.

All that said, now that I have a great program, it would be nice to finally upgrade to a high-res screen. Currently I'm using a Palm Vx which has served me well over the last five years but lacks the aforementioned screen. Does anyone have any comments on a PDA with a decent screen and battery life? I don't need wifi or camera or anything fancy like that to drain the battery life. My perfect PDA would be a Vx with a high-res screen. Thanks.

Palm program

Does anyone have suggestions for a good program for reviewing master games on my Palm V? I was considering the following programs.

PocketChess Deluxe
Chess Tiger
Hiarcs
Chess Genius

Update
After using the demo version, I've decided on PocketChess Deluxe. The database functionionality is very well done IMHO. They also give you a desktop program to organize your game databases for your Palm. On top of that, if you register for their newsletter they give you a 20% discount on your next purchase so I got the program for $15.99. Not too shabby.

Slow week

Didn't get much studying done this past week and only played a handful of games. I did pick up two books I've been meaning to get for a while now, Zurich 1953 and Tal-Botvinnik. Now the only book on my got-to-have list is MCO 14. My current collection should be sufficient till at least 1800.

Team DeLaMaza has a bye this week but since CD couldn't play in U1800 I'm subbing for him. CD also had a bad experience with his round 3 opponent last week. The guy resorted to accusations to try to get the tournament directors to change their match call against him. He didn't appear to have read the Team 45 45 rules although I must admit, between the shouting and name calling, his rant seemed rather eloquent to me. Kudos to CD for holding his temper.