The Chess Wanderer

First chess related award

2007-06-30T14:06:00.000-10:00

I'm not sure if any of you were aware of this, but I've been volunteering my time to help with the Team 45 45 tournaments as a Division TD. I've assisted with the last two tournaments. The Chief Director and Conference Directors have awarded me the Division TD for the tournament. It's a thankless job, you get yelled at by angry players, and it's nice to be recognized. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

PawnSensei

T33 Division TD of the Tournament

PawnSensei, it is our pleasure to present to you the

T33 Division TD of the Tournament award.

Your handle will be listed on the Champions Page,

and will be submitted to ICC for a membership extension.

These are very small tokens of appreciation

compared to the dedication and judgment you have shown

to the membership of Team 45 45 League.

Losing, losing, losing

2007-06-17T00:34:00.000-10:00

On another losing streak. Plus I'm still playing mainly G15. Don't know when I'll go back to G30 30. Sometimes it feels like I'll never get used to this fast time control. Still improving though so that's a comfort at least.

I've finally gotten over my attachment to ratings. Feels good. Enables me to play more confidently. When I started playing I was really afraid of losing. I don't think you ever get completely over that feeling but it becomes less important the more games I play.

Well, better get back to my losing streak!

Quick game with a checkmate

2007-06-03T22:58:00.000-10:00

First game I was able to use a checkmate pattern. It only worked because my opponent didn't see what I was trying to do. 6 Nxe5 was actually a mistake and a trappy move. Oh well. My excuse is that it was a G15.

[Event "ICC 10 12"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.05.30"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1472"]
[BlackElo "1382"]

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 d6
4. Nc3 Bg4
5. O-O Nd4
6. Nxe5 Bxd1
7. Bxf7+ Ke7
8. Nd5# {Black checkmated} 1-0

Still under 1600

2007-05-20T23:17:00.000-10:00

Hi all. Sorry I haven't posted in a loooooong while. As the title states I am still under 1600 even though I was predicting to pass that point last October. I'm leaving the old deadline up there so I can see how off I was.

Even though I haven't seen much progress in my rating I am pleased with my new level of comfort while playing. I'm trying to break the habit of taking too long to choose a move and I'm steadily improving in that area. An A-Class player told me it is due to my lack of experience.

I'm still working on "Art of the Checkmate". Slowly getting through it. My priority is playing games right now, then doing tactics, and finally, if I have time left over, reading books.

The rating system in ICC sucks. It's a good tool but the system needs serious revision. My main gripe with the rating system is that a person's rating could be anywhere from G15 to infinity. So, if my rating is primarily based on G30 30 then there may be a mismatch if I play someone, at the same rating, whose rating is primarily based on G15. Anyway, it's a minor point and doesn't diminish the fun of playing on ICC.

I've been playing much more aggressively lately. I like tactically rich games and point my games in that direction at the first opportunity. I've gotten into trouble doing this but I feel this is good for my development at this point in my games. Time will tell.

I do wish my tactics eye was faster. The more I play the more I agree with Tempos' approach to chess. My strength has always been my patience so my battle is to make sure I don't get lazy.

Hope everyone else is doing good.

Yearly G15

2006-11-28T08:33:00.000-10:00

Every so often I take a break from serious chess and play some G15. Usually 5 15 to have some time delay. It drops my rating more than 100 points but it's a fun break. Returned to tactics this week, after laying off the puzzles for over a month. Little rusty but it's amazing how much of it sticks.

Just one of those days

2006-11-24T17:25:00.000-10:00

Just had one of those days that make you want to quit chess. Played horribly and let my opponent just slap me around like I was his you know what for two whole games. Did I mention he was 200 points lower than me? Yeah, I suck. No soup for you!!

Chapter 2

2006-11-21T07:19:00.000-10:00

Finished chapter 2 of "Art of the Checkmate" last week. So far I am really enjoying the book. One of the great thing about seeing these games in their entirety is I understand why some of the opening moves are played.

On the flip-side, I see how weak moves can lead to mate. For example, as a beginner I wrestled with the Knight pin. It was uncomfortable for me to have my KN pinned to the Queen, and for some reason it is a favorite of players rated under 1200. I spent some time trying to figure out a defense to this pin until a Master pointed out that I don't need to worry about it most of the time unless the opponent is threatening something, like winning the QP for example. With the examples of games where Legal's Mate was used I can clearly see the potential weakness of this move. The author even spends a whole page explaining the reasons why this pin can be bad.

Awesome gift

2006-10-31T21:49:00.000-10:00

My Dad's friend gave me this marble set today. He said his niece gave it to him, as a gift, three years ago. Since he doesn't play chess he decided to give it to someone who does. I was floored when he gave it to me. Now to find something to store it in besides the box it came in. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is my first marble set.

Artful Checkmates

2006-10-09T19:37:00.000-10:00

Got through the first chapter in "The Art of the Checkmate". It's a really good book so far. But you know what? I say that about almost every book that I start but don't finish. I'm familiar with the checkmates that they have shown so far but it's really interesting to see the complete game that led up to the mate and where the mistakes were. Gives me a better view of how not to play. Did I mention that I'm addicted to Master Games? There is just something exciting about watching two greats using all their brainpower against each other.

I haven't gotten around to playing a real game in a while. Other things have taken up my tim. For instance, I am currently writing this from a townhouse in Tahoe. It's nice and cold up here. Lake Donner is just beautiful. My Dad and I drove around it today and the scenery is just breathtaking. We are planning on doing the same for Lake Tahoe. We visited the Donner musem too.

Is Blitz beneficial?

2006-09-28T20:35:00.000-10:00

Wanted to take a quick poll. Do you play blitz? Do you think it helps your chess at all? Since joining ICC I haven't played a rated blitz game with my account. Lately I've been considering playing some blitz every day, especially when I don't have time to play a full 30 30 game.

Not another one?!

2006-09-27T15:18:00.000-10:00

Because of some comments on Sancho's latest post I was forced, against my will, to buy yet another chess book. This one is called The Art of the Checkmate, which should compliment my other recent purchase, The Art of the Attack. Strangely they were written by different authors. Which brings me to a curious observation. Chess books tend to use the same words for their titles. Is it possible that chess players/authors aren't the creative types? Or is it that the people that read chess books need to see uncreative titles? The world may never know.....

You know it's time to write another post...

2006-09-25T20:42:00.000-10:00

when DG takes you off of his list =( Again, appologies for being absent from the blogosphere. I'm still at Stanford with my Dad. We are scheduled to be here till some time in October. I try to get a game in at least once a day but you'd be surprised how busy it can get. I had more chess time when I was actually working!

My rating on ICC is hovering around 1450 right now. 1600 by end of October seems impossible right now but I'm still keeping it on there until I pass that date. We'll see how close I can get by then.

Bought a couple of new books too. Went crazy on Amazon since they gave me a trial membership with Amazon Prime. Got Simple Chess, Starting Out: The French, and Art of Attack in Chess so far. I'm going to read through those before getting back to Pawn Power. I think Pawn Power is just slightly out of reach for me right now. My Dad picked up all five seasons of the Dick Van Dyke show and the two seasons of The Rockford Files that were released. Keeps us busy after dinner.

In non-chess related news I visited New York and New Jersey for the first time. I really liked both places but the traffic was slightly unnerving, especially in NY. People would beep each other like they were saying "Hello". Like the cars were communicating in some strange animal language. Odd. Didn't get any fingers while I was there but some dude did come up to us at one of those Papaya hot dog places and did some kind of crazy dance while laughing in our faces. I considered going into zenkutsu dachi to say "Hi" back but figured that was too formal. Too bad I can't do crazy dances myself =P

Passing 1500

2006-07-30T09:12:00.000-10:00

An ugly game but a win nonetheless. A little behind schedule to hit 1600 by October so I'm adjusting to October 31. The books are slow reading. The main reason is I actually need a board to read them. I've tried using just the books but it's too hard to follow without a board. That and I barely have time to play one game a day. I'll keep trucking though and see where it takes me.

On a different note, here is a game I played yesterday that had a famous endgame position. Good thing I read those Heisman articles. I'm playing White.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. Be3 e6 7. O-O Nge7 8. Nc3 a6 9. Qd2 Ne5 10. Bb3 Ng4 11. Bg5 f6 12. f3 fxg5 13. fxg4 Qb6 14. Rad1 Nc6 15. Ne2 h6 16. Kh1 Ne5 17. h3 Qc7 18. c3 b5 19. Nf3 Bb7 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. Qd3 O-O-O 22. Rf7 Qc6 23. Nd4 Qxe4 24. Qxe4 Bxe4 25. Re1 Bxd4 26. cxd4 Bc6 27. Rc1 Rhe8 28. d5 exd5 29. Bxd5 Kb8 30. Bxc6 dxc6 31. Rxc6 Re1+ 32. Kh2 Re2 33. Rxg6 Rxb2 34. Rxa6 Rdd2 35. Rxh6 Rxg2+ 36. Kh1 Rgc2 37. Rh8+ Rc8 38. Rxc8+ Kxc8 39. a3 Rb3 40. Rf5 Rxh3+ 41. Kg2 Rxa3 42. Rxb5 Ra2+ 43. Kf3 Ra3+ 44. Ke4 Ra4+ 45. Kf5 Kc7 46. Kxg5 Kc6 47. Rf5 Kd6 48. Kh5 Ke6 49. Rf1 Ra8 50. Kh6 Ra2 51. g5 Rh2+ 52. Kg7 Rg2 53. g6 Ra2 54. Kh7 Rh2+ 55. Kg8 Rg2 56. g7 Ke7 57. Rf4 Rh2 58. Re4+ Kf6 59. Kf8 Rg2 60. g8=Q Rxg8+ 61. Kxg8 Kf5 62. Re1 Kf4 63. Kf7 Kf3 64. Kf6 Kf2 65. Re4 Kf3 66. Kf5 Kg3 67. Rf4 Kg2 68. Kg4 Kh2 69. Rf2+ Kg1 70. Kg3 {Black resigns} 1-0

I wish everyone good health.

PS

Sorry for the absence

2006-07-12T16:09:00.000-10:00

My Dad was recently diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. I've taken time off of work to help him through this tough time. Haven't played more than a handful of games in the last couple of months because our days are packed with medical preparations. MRIs, CT Scans, doctor's appointments, etc. We've been to Stanford Medical and UCLA. Anyway, just thought I'd drop by and update everyone. Please pray for my father if you have a religion. Thanks.

PS

Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma

2006-06-11T21:20:00.000-10:00

If anyone knows anything about this disease, please let me know. Thanks.

Not in the mood

2006-05-23T09:01:00.000-10:00

Yesterday I played a game when I didn't really feel like playing. I played it just to keep up with the training. Did horribly as expected. Dan H. says to play only when you are in the mood and have some energy. Now I know why.

Early in the opening my 1500 opponent left book in the Vienna Game. I had forgotten all of the book moves but through analysis found the correct ones anyway. He dropped a Knight but on my next move I gave it back with interest and allowed a King side attack. Then I let him fork my King and Queen twice. It was a disaster. Throughout the whole game it made me realize how much my thought process has been aiding me and when I neglect to do it how terribly I play. The funny thing is I was taking the same amount of time per move that I usually do but I wasn't "seeing" things like normal. I would stare at the position and say, "Why did he make that move?" and I would come up with the completely wrong answer. They were all one move threats too.

Logical Chess

2006-05-19T08:16:00.000-10:00

Finished "Logical Chess" last night. This was another book that took me almost a year to finish. As I stated in the previous post I used a different approach to reading it. I think this book is great for my level but the first few sections are especially good for absolute beginners. In the last section though, he tended to list a lot of variations. That section was probably meant for stronger players.

I did a search on rating for Pogo and I came upon this. Good grief. To think I used to play primarily on that server for a little while. I wonder if people have created that sort of stuff for ICC. The Pogo cheaters probably use it to get Pogo tokens but cheating at chess seems kind of stupid if you ask me. Especially if money isn't involved. To me, the beauty of chess is that no matter how bad you are you can always find someone just as bad as you if you use the rating system. You don't see that in other sports.

Opening tactics and storming the Kingside

2006-05-18T08:39:00.000-10:00

Two observations and an enhancement to the study plan today.

First observation. I noticed that my opponents, especially weaker ones, tend to steal a pawn from me in the opening. I think the last 4 out of 6 games I had this happen. They don't necessarily win, but it's a little disappointing from my point of view. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe because I don't play blitz? Meaning, I don't have that opening intuition that usually comes with playing a lot of games. Anyways, not a major concern at this point because I can still hold my own at this level a pawn down, but something to think about.

Second observation. I've had a handful of successful King attacks in the last couple of weeks. I've never been able to do this previously. I think this one has to do with the two annotated books I just read, "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors" and "Logical Chess". Those books have quite a few successful Kingside attacks.

After getting some really great advice from Blunder Prone here, I have decided to enhance my Master Games study time. Instead of reviewing only games of one person or the other, currently it's Morphy, I can kill two birds with one stone by following BP's advice of studying games with the same opening. That way I can build my opening knowledge, and maybe even fix the problem in my first observation in the process. Thanks for the tip BP.

1500 here I come

2006-05-15T09:29:00.000-10:00

Same ol, same ol. Pushed a little higher with yesterday's game. 1416 now. I feel like my tactics are decent enough to get to 1500 but my strategic knowledge is lacking. It could be due to reading Heisman's articles though *smirk*. I know I could get to 1500 or even 1600 on stronger tactics alone, but I think if I solidify my thought process and gain more strategy then it will help me get past 1600 as well. In other words, invest now for future gains. Anyway, here is the game with some of my comments.

[Date "2006.05.15"]
[White ""]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1354"]
[BlackElo "1416"]
[TimeControl "1800+30"]

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6 {What's your intentions bub? I make White decide where we go from here.}
4. Ba4 Nf6 {Ok, so time to hunker down for a long fight.}
5. O-O Be7
6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 d6
8. c3 O-O
9. d3 {Oi, we are both playing defensively. White's idea is to put pressure on the center. Black needs to confront him. c5 is the answer here. But I ignore convention at this point and prematurely start an attack.} Be6
10. Bxe6 fxe6
11. Qb3 d5 {Unintentional gambit. This leads to a Marshall type position. Time to rock and roll.}
12. exd5 exd5
13. Nxe5 Nxe5
14. Rxe5 Bd6 {Time to kick around the White pieces. I'm ahead on development and have open lines to the enemy King. That Queen looks misplaced too.}
15. Rf5 Qd7
16. Rxf6 gxf6 {White might be seeing ghosts here. The Rook on a8 is guarded so the Queen can't really make any major threats by herself.}
17. Qxd5+ Kh8
18. g3 c6 {Dude, what was I thinking? I take away the Bishop's main defender forcing her majesty to do lowly guard duty. Sorry your Highness, it won't happen again.}
19. Qf3 Rae8
20. Bh6 Qh3 {Demon begone! Heisman says "Loose pieces drop off".}
21. Bd2 Re6
22. Qxc6
{Oh man. This looks juicy. White's King looks pretty exposed at this point and he doesn't have anough defenders. Time to storm the castle.} Rfe8
23. Be3 {Long think here. I can win a Pawn, plus open up the Kingside. But is it my best move?} Bxg3
24. Qg2 {Ok, it's over at this point. The Queen can't fight my forces alone.} Bxh2+
25. Qxh2 Rg8+
26. Qg3 Rxg3+
27. fxg3 Qxg3+
28. Kf1 {White Resigns} 0-1

Progress

2006-05-03T09:23:00.000-10:00

Wow, another post. I've been busy posting these past couple of weeks. I guess I've had a lot to say lately. I decided to write this post after some reflection on my progress last night.

In the last couple of months I've noticed two developments in my games. First, my candidate move intuition is starting to show. It's not necessarily the best moves but I'm less prone to being overwhelmed by a whole bunch of bad moves. Now I just cocentrate on a few moves that "pop" up. I suspect this has to do with the few hundred master games I've reviewed so far. When I'm looking for candidate moves I have always looked at the checks and captures, but now I'm starting to add on certain moves that I think I've seen in other games. d4 and f4 break moves are two examples. This has helped me to use my analysis time more efficiently, even though I may not be picking the "best" candidate moves in the positions yet.

I've also noticed that my candidate move selection process is getting better. Once I have my list of candidate moves I start to weed out the bad ones through analysis. In the beginning I would often weed out a move, or narrow the list of moves, because of a certain danger level (like a mate threat on a certain square), but then forget about it and make the move that allows the threat. I don't know what this is called but it is frustrating when it happens. I notice this happens a lot less frequently now. Almost as if my position recall or memory is getting stronger. It's tough for me to explain but this is how I feel currently. I'm not sure if this is due to having played more stadard games or something else.

Annotated games

2006-05-01T08:40:00.000-10:00

Ok, finally finished "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors". I think that these sorts of books have a limited affect on chess learning. My chess coach once told me that he doesn't believe in reading annotated master games because he feels it is better to gain what you can from going through a game than trying to understand what someone else is telling you. Also, by going through more games you will see the same patterns over and over again, whereas annotated games tends to slow the reader down. Given this information I am going to modify the way I go through these types of books. I've downloaded the next book, "Logical Chess Move by Move", into my Palm Pilot so I can go through the games first, without annotations, and refer to the book when there are moves that I get stuck on, or don't understand.

I'm also going to make a better effort, from now on, to write down moves in unannotated games that I don't understand, and ask a higher rated player to explain it. This way I can slowly start to learn to think like a higher rated player.

Tactics
Still doing at least 30 minutes of tactics a day. On a good day I can get two 30 minute sessions in, for a total of one hour. I've temporarily switched from CTFB to PCT for a few units to drill more basic mate problems. I was starting to bog down in the "Win material" section so I figured it wouldn't hurt to do more basics before moving on.

Endings
I think I now understand the basics of the K + P vs K endgames. Been drilling the first couple of units of the first module in PCT. I'm also planning to spend more time on the games in "Capablanca's Best Endings" when I have the chance. The annotated books are taking up my Master Games' time right now.

Playing
Lost my latest game against a 1500 player. I thought I played much better this time around even though I won our previous encounter. I made a weak move in the opening and had to play defense the rest of the time, but made it to a drawish looking endgame. Don't know if I screwed it up or if I was lost already, the position was too complicated for me. On top of that I only had seven minutes left on the clock. One of the things I was proud of in this game was my clock management. At one point in the game I had something like 10 minutes on the clock and he had over 20. After a couple of moves however his clock dropped to around 12 and we were pretty even on time. Usually this doesn't happen with my games. I'm usually on the short end, win or lose, so I was pretty stoked about my clock management. Rating is still fluctuating between 1410 and 1390, so I hope that means it's stabilized. Sometimes after a new high it drops like 100 points or so. We'll see what happens.

Just....four....more....games

2006-04-28T09:45:00.000-10:00

I've been trying to finish "Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors" for the past eight months or so. I must have borrowed it from the library at least three times. I'm finally at the 21st out of 24 games so I can taste victory. I also, ambitiously, borrowed "Logical Chess" for the third time as well. I plan to complete that book after I finish "Unbeatable Chess".

I'm in another slump too. Not a ratings slump though. My rating is hovering at 1409 right now. But my playing seems uncoordinated to me. Almost like I am second guessing myself a lot. I have a feeling that if I can get over this hump, and learn how to plan effectively, I can push through to 1500 but only time will tell. For the past three weeks I've been faithful to my CTFB, doing 30 minutes a day. I also stored the Polgar brick and WCT on my Palm Pilot, and do those when I'm on the road or at a coffee shop. Pocket Chess Deluxe has proven to be worth it's weight in gold for my improvement plan. I would recommend it, without hesitation, to anyone with a Palm.

Speed chess and ratings

2006-04-26T13:29:00.000-10:00

Quick question to the Knights. I once played a guy OTB who said that his ICC blitz rating was 1500. He didn't have a standard rating but pointed out that it should be 100 to 200 points higher than his blitz rating. After thinking about it I speculated that playing only speed chess should have a ratings cap while slow chess shouldn't, since the former consists of only tactics and intuition and the latter includes thought process. So my question is this, has anyone read anything about the approximate number for this cap?

Don't fall for this trap

2006-04-24T21:17:00.000-10:00

Heheh, played a game today where my opponent likes to play a lot of trappy moves. Fell for an early trap but hung on until move 38 where I had an opportunity to equalize. The correct defense to the trap was 4 Nxd4. Then after exd White can castle K-side.

[Event "ICC 30 30"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.04.25"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1374"]
[BlackElo "1384"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[TimeControl "1800+30"]

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nd4
4. Nxe5 Qg5
5. Ng4 d5
6. Be2 Bxg4
7. Bxg4 Nxc2+
8. Qxc2 Qxg4
9. O-O O-O-O
10. f3 Qg6
11. d3 dxe4
12. dxe4 Bd6
13. g3 h5
14. Nc3 Ne7
15. Nb5 h4
16. Nxd6+ Qxd6
17. Bf4 Qb6+
18. Kg2 Ng6
19. Bg5 f6
20. Bxh4 Nxh4+
21. gxh4 Rxh4
22. Rad1 Rdh8
23. Rh1 g5
24. h3 Qe6
25. Rc1 c6
26. Kf2 Rxh3
27. Rxh3 Qxh3
28. Ke3 g4
29. Qe2 Qh6+
30. f4 Qh3+
31. Kd2 g3
32. Rg1 Rg8
33. Qg2 Qd7+
34. Ke3 Qe6
35. b3 f5
36. e5 Qg6
37. Qh3 g2
38. Rxg2 Qxg2
39. Qxf5+ Kc7
40. Qf7+ Kb6
41. e6 Rg3+
42. Kd4 Qd5# {White checkmated} 0-1

Homework incentive

2006-04-24T19:22:00.000-10:00

I bet I would have done better in grade school if I had this as an incentive.

Passing 1400

2006-04-10T09:38:00.000-10:00

After a little over a year at ICC I have finally passed the 1400 mark. This puts me right on schedule for Heisman's step program. But seing as how it took me a year to gain approximately 100 rating points, it seems a little farfetched to gain 200 points in the next six months given his timeline. I'm game though. We'll see how accurate his plan is. I also have to take into account that there is a 100 point difference (higher or lower) between ICC ratings and USCF ratings. You can read more about it here.

Book order

2006-04-05T10:33:00.000-10:00

Ok, program update time. I haven't been following my New Year's schedule like I planned. In fact, even my CTFB program was halted midway. Needless to say my tactics have suffered and I have to get back on top of it. I need to finish up CTFB and get back to reviewing WCT and Polgar.

I did modify my program a little however, after reading Heisman's article #19 here. I thought his timeline was really appropriate for me, almost to the month, so I decided to give his recommendations a go. One of the things that encouraged me to do this was the fact that higher rated players who reviewed my games were commenting that I needed to learn more about planning. Heisman basically says the same thing for people in steps 3 and 4 of his timeline. Therefore I ordered three books yesterday to help me get to step 5 by October. They are "Modern Chess Strategy", "Pawn Power in Chess", and "The Amateur's Mind". If things go as planned then I will continue with his book recommendations through steps 5 and 6.

I'm a little excited about starting on these new books because I have been re-reading a handful of books over the last year and I'm looking forward to adding more tools to my toolbox.

So...no suggestions for improvement on my last game? Too boring huh? One of the suggestions I did receive was to work on my knowledge of opening theory. The reviewer thought that it was time for me to spend time on the planning phase of the middle game. He said my tactics needed work as well but I can work on that through more time on my tactics program.

Playing these higher rated opponents has been really good for my improvement. The blunders come less frequently and careful play is the norm. I am less likely to see the wild Queen forrays that I used to see in the 1100 to 1200 level.

EDIT
Correction. I ordered "Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur", not "The Amateur's Mind".

First win against a 1600

2006-04-02T23:01:00.000-10:00

Wow, I've had a lucky streak lately. This game is my first 1600 rated opponent. It's not the prettiest game and I was tactically lacking but the endgame was a good lesson for me. Tell me what you guys think about this format. I tried to copy it from Sancho.

1. e4 c5

2. Nf3 d6

3. d4 cxd4

4. Nxd4 Nf6

5. Nc3 a6

6. Bg5 e6

7. Be2 Be7

8. O-O {If 8...Nxe4 unsure of outcome. Does Black win a pawn?} Qc7 {Supporting Qside attack and preventing future e5.}

9. Qd2 Nc6

10. f4 {Starting attack. Fritz doesn't like this move. Prefers Rad1.} (10. Rad1 Nxd4 11. Qxd4) Nxd4

11. Qxd4 {This move puts Q and K on same diag.} d5 {With the threat of Bc5.}

12. Kh1 Bc5

13. Qd3 dxe4

14. Nxe4 Nxe4

15. Qxe4 h6

16. Bh4 O-O

17. Bd3 f5

18. Qe2 Bd4

19. c3 Bf6

20. Bxf6 Rxf6

21. Rad1 Bd7 {I considered Bc4 or Bc2. I liked Bc4 to attack the e-pawn but it also blocks the c-pawn and ties down the Q. Chose the safer Bc2. However I chose wrong. Bc4 is more active and prevents next move. After b5 all Black pawns are on same color as Bishop.}

22. Bc2 Bb5 {Black thinks this wins the exchange but neglected to see the counter.}

23. Qe5 Qxe5

24. fxe5 Bxf1

25. exf6 Bc4

26. fxg7 Bb5 {Rd6 is superior here. If he has weaknesses need to attack!}

27. a4 (27. Rd6 Re8 28. Bb3 Kf7 29. Bxe6+ Rxe6 30. Rxe6) Bc6

28. Bb3 Re8

29. Rd6 Kxg7 {The e-pawn is not safe. Black will have to trade R and be down a pawn in the endgame.}

30. Rxe6 Rxe6

31. Bxe6 Kf6

32. Bb3 Ke5

33. Bc2 Be4 {Now the Bs are traded. Black can not queen because the K can make it to e1.}

34. Bxe4 fxe4

35. Kg1 e3

36. Kf1 Ke4

37. Ke2 {With opposition. The game is won here.} b6

38. g3 b5

39. axb5 axb5

40. b3 h5

41. h3 b4

42. cxb4 Kd4

43. b5 Kc5

44. Kxe3 Kxb5

45. g4 hxg4

46. hxg4 {Black resigns} 1-0

First 1500 win

2006-03-27T23:01:00.000-10:00

Milestone. First time defeating a 1500 opponent with slow time controls. I was playing White. He neglected development and wasted tempi with a6 and h6. I believe this is also my shortest game to date. Opponent's rating: 1514.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 exd4
4. Nxd4 h6
{h6 seems too passive. Want to develop KB. Considered Bb5, Bc4 and Be2. Chose Bc4 for activity.}
5. Bc4 Qf6
{Q takes the N's best square and forces it to e7 later in the game.}
6. Be3 (6. Nb5 Bb4+ 7. N1c3)
6... a6
{Again, very passive and ignoring development. Considered Nc3 and 0-0.}
7. O-O Ne5
{Need to move the B. Considered Be2 but didn't like the fact that e-file is crowded. I want to keep e and f open for the pawn advance. Fritz recommends Be2.}
8. Bb3 c5
{I notice that the B is trapped. However, Black will have to use at least 1 tempo to capture and he is way behind in development. I see Nc3 will threaten c7 by way of d5. I considered Nc3 but decided to save the N by moving into enemy territory. Fritz recommends using this opportunity to attack with f4.}
9. Nf5 c4
{Considered f4 and Nc3.}
10. f4 cxb3
{Here I need to continue the previous idea with fxe5. I mistakenly thought that opening up files would aid my attack on the uncastled King.}
11. axb3
{Oppening the a-file for my R. B's K will be stuck in the middle for at least three more moves. I plan on putting on the pressure with my sup development. Fritz considers this a bad move.} (11. fxe5 bxc2 12. Qxc2 Qxe5)
11...Nc6
12. Nc3 Nge7
13. Nd6+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Trip to Japan

2006-03-06T23:07:00.000-10:00

Just got back from my first trip to Japan. I thought you guys would get a kick out of this. I snapped this in Kobe while we were walking off the Kobe beef and beer.

When GMs blunder

2006-02-04T10:58:00.000-10:00

Found this beauty in my "Chess Tactics for Beginners" CD that I received yesterday. Made me feel better about the times where I drop a major piece.

[Event "URS-ch49"]
[Site "Frunze"]
[Date "1981.12.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Mikhalchishin, Adrian"]
[Black "Romanishin, Oleg M"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2535"]
[BlackElo "2590"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "1981.11.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "12"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 O-O 12. d5 Bc3 0-1

UPDATE
Fun fact. Three years earlier, Mikhalchishin had beaten a young Kasparov in tournament play.

Visualization

2006-02-03T11:27:00.000-10:00

I've been thinking about visualization lately. I know a few of the Knights have mentioned it in their posts before so I would like to ask for opinions.

In your experience:

1. Does the ability to see all the threatened squares at a quick glance help in a chess game?

2. If so, what do you think is the best way to learn how to do this? I have software that has a "threatened squares" button that will show me visually how much real estate each person has. Or does this ability come naturally after playing thousands of games?

Best of '05

2006-01-25T15:43:00.000-10:00

What? You didn't know that I was a band.....wagon......jumper......something? Well I am! Anyway, this one is different than the million other "Best of" posts..........somehow. I'm going to cover a few of my favorite posts from my fellow Knights over the past year. I'll be updating it over the next few days so this list isn't complete yet. Anyway, on to the list!

Don takes on Kramnik
Don lays the smackdown on a World Champion.

Don takes on Walmart
This was one of the first posts I read from Don and was the inspiration for me to join this crazy bunch.

Don takes on everyone
More from the twisted mind of the founder.

PMD abducted in the Badlands of Level 40
This was part four in a six part series I like to call "The Adventures of PMD" that starts with this post. If you haven't read that series I highly recommend you spend a couple of minutes to do so. I like to compare PMD's writing to Don's in creativity. Whereas Don likes to take his writing in crazy unexpected directions, PMD tends to lean towards the more classical approach with plot lines and twists. As far as I can tell PMD was the first Knight to be abducted, although not the first to lose his mind during the crazy quest.

Jim takes on Larry Evans
This one was made famous by "Chess Life". Nuff said.

Supercharge your life
Jim shows us how to speed things up. Hawt!

TS vs a windmill
Do they have a lot of windmills in the Netherlands?

TS vs his garden
TS shows us how a chess couple lives.

Going forward

2006-01-18T08:42:00.000-10:00

Hello world! Back from my sniffles adventure. Hope everyone is doing fine.

During the break I had some time to reflect on this past year, my first year in chess. Here is what I have figured out so far.

1. I've run out of things to say. I think in the beginning everything was so new and there were a lot of decisions to make. Every turn had new possibilities. Now that I've got my first year under my belt I feel confident that I know where I'm going and I know, fairly well, how to get there. Now comes the hard part of the journey. I must roll up my sleeves and tread that long and difficult path.

2. ICC really is that good. I've played on a fair number of internet chess sites (MSN, Yahoo, Pogo, FICS, Playchess, ChessAtWork) and ICC has been the cream of the crop. Once I got over their ugly interface things really started rolling. It's the only place I play now. I can usually find a 30 30 game within five to ten minutes, whereas on FICS I could wait more than half an hour to get a game longer than G20.

3. I suck at speed chess. I've honestly tried to like it. I spent about a month playing nothing but quick time controls, but I just couldn't get into it. Even when I won I didn't really feel like I got much out of it. I'll probably play a quick game here and there in the future but I know I won't really care about the outcome and therefore not play my best.

4. Blogs are great. But they are written more for other people than yourself. Blogs != Diary. It took me a while to realize this. I guess in our disconnected society (I'm talking about the U.S.) this medium is the new way of reaching out to people. Let's face it. I wouldn't have met the great people I've met this last year if it wasn't for this blog.

5. I *heart* master games. I really didn't appreciate them in the beginning, mainly because I don't understand a lot of the moves they make, but once my coach taught me how to go through them I was immediately hooked. I currently use my Palm Pilot with Pocket Chess Deluxe to review games and I take it practically everywhere with me.

So that was '05. Here is my study plan for '06.

1. Play at least one 30 30 game every day.
2. Go through at least one master game a day.
3. Review Winning Chess Tactics once a quarter.
4. Review first 450 problems in Polgar's book once a month.
5. Complete Chess Tactics for Beginners.

And that's it. Posting will probably become very infrequent from here on (besides a couple that I have stored up), mainly due to the fact that the above study plan isn't supposed to change much over the next year. If I can master the tactical material then I'll post an update to the plan.

Feeling a case of the sniffles

2005-12-28T13:33:00.000-10:00

*sniff* *sniff*

Pat Morita

2005-12-01T16:53:00.000-10:00

I know this has nothing to do with chess but I just wanted to take a moment to honor one of my childhood heroes, the original sensei, Pat "Noriyuki" Morita, aka Mr. Miyagi.

Mr. Morita passed away on Thanksgiving day, November 24, 2005, at the age of 73. He was best known for his Oscar nominated performance as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid series, and his role as Arnold the cook on Happy Days.

Goodbye Mr. Morita. You will be missed.

Temposchlucker's CTS

2005-11-30T12:21:00.000-10:00

Anyone else notice that TS has the second highest number of problems attempted at CTS? With 31,011 problems he is right behind a FIDE Master. Dang, he owns that bad boy. They should hire him as the Jared of chess tactics.

"I gained 200 rating points in six months by doing 200 problems a day on Chess Tactics Server and you can too!"

3D Chess Pieces

2005-11-28T20:37:00.000-10:00

Does anyone know how to get the fully rendered chess pieces for Chessbase 9? They show the pieces in the manual but they don't show up in the 3D board options. I think it would be nice to be able to play with realistic 3D pieces.

The Great Sancho

2005-11-20T20:06:00.000-10:00

Set aside some time this weekend, between studying programming and chess, to fool around with chess programs.

On Saturday Sancho volunteered two and a half hours of his time to show me some of the myriad features of CB9. We went over downloading new chess games, how to merge them with my reference DB without incuring duplicates, setting up an opening book, importing games into critical positions, and more. Next time he says he'll show me how to use the training feature to do puzzles. If you guys have any questions on CB9, Sancho is your man.

The other program I dedicated some time to was CPT. After using it for half a year there were some things that bothered me about the program. Such as not being able to move around sub-rep tabs or renaming sub-reps, etc. So I fiddled around with the files until I learned how to do some of those things. It wasn't pretty. It kind of reminds me of the bit-twiddling with C++ casts that I am currently learning about. At one point I thought I had deleted some of my hard earned work until I figured out how to recover it. The program uses XML and it was my first experience with the language. Similar to HTML I guess, but Jim could probably tell you more about it.

In all a productive weekend. In the future I'll post any neat features I come across in CB9 in case it would help anyone with that complex program.

Bonus

2005-11-17T08:30:00.000-10:00

Well, stayed up past midnight, playing with CB9. Jeez is it complicated. It shipped with three CB magazines that included WAZ '05, Linares '05 with Kasparov's last game and interview, and the 2005 World Championship in Sophia. Just the videos alone ate up most of my time. I'm planning to start on the Lopez articles tonight when I get home.

Chess Mentor

2005-11-16T10:26:00.000-10:00

What happened to Chess Mentor? Oh well, glad I picked up my copy.

Still waiting for my CB9. Can't wait to open the package.

UPDATE:
Ask and you shall receive. When I got home CB9 was waiting on my doorstep. The install is running as I type this. So much for getting to bed early tonight.

Chessbase

2005-11-10T08:21:00.000-10:00

Finally got around to ordering CB9 last night, Sancho convinced me to part with the cash. I can't wait until it gets here. Since I already have Fritz 7 I decided to hold off on getting a newer version for now. I also ordered a half-sized plastic set for my gf's cousin. The last set we bought him was one of those horrible glass sets you get from KBs at twice the price. Hey, it looked nice on the box. Anyway, he's getting a lot better since he started playing with the chess club at his grade school so I thought I'd get him a more serious set. Finally someone to play with! I can't wait until he's old enough to analyze games with me. Hopefully he'll still be interested.

I'm still playing at least two games a night. Rating fluctuates a lot, especially since I experiment with different ideas, but I feel like I'm learning a lot and slowly improving. Hope everyone else is having fun.

Good and bad news

2005-11-08T15:17:00.000-10:00

First the good. Druss has a new addition to his family. With CD's new baby, that makes two new additions among the Knights this year!

The bad news is U1600 lost to Pawnmowers in the finals, thus ending the T28 season. With three out of three trips to the finals however, I think we can conclude that the DeLaMaza program does indeed work.

First successful e5 attack

2005-11-04T12:42:00.000-10:00

I wasn't planning on posting another game so soon but I wanted to share my tiny triumph. Ever since I started playing e5 as White I haven't had a successful attack with the e-pawn. Most times it gets captured or traded. This game was the first time I could remember where I used it effectively.

[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.11.04"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "Unfriendly Foe"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "1341"]
[BlackElo "1320"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {The Scotch.} 3... Bd6 {Black leaves book. There is no good way to decline the pawn.} 4. dxe5 {I was debating between this move and d5. I chose dxe to see where it would lead.} 4... Nxe5 5. Nxe5 Bxe5 6. Bc4 {Open game with a central pawn. I hope to use it for an attack later in the game.} 6... Nf6 {I looked at f4 for a while but didn't see anything. Fritz says f4 wins material.} 7. Nd2 O-O 8. O-O a6 9. c3 {Squeezing the B and protecting b2.} 9... b5 10. Bb3 Bb7 11. Re1 c6 {Creates a bad B. I will take advantage of the removed attacker.} 12. Nf3 Qc7 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 {I used up a good chunk of my clock here. I eventually saw f4 leading to Qc5+ Be3 Qe7 e5.} 14. f4 Qc5+ 15. Be3 Qe7 16. e5 Nd5 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Bd4 {Taking advantage of the hole. With opposite colored Bs there is nothing that can move my B.} 18... Qd8 19. Qg4 Re8 20. e6 {And away we go.} 20... f6 21. exd7 Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Qf8 23. Qe6+ Kh8 24. Qe8 Kg8 25. Bc5 Qxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kf7 27. Rxa8 Bxa8 {f5 leads to mate.} 28. d8=Q Bc6 29. Qc7+ Kg6 30. Qxc6 h6 {With 2 minutes and change I don't want to take too much time thinking so I take material instead. If Black wants to play it out I can Q another pawn in a few more seconds.} 31. Qxd5 f5 32. Qc6+ Kh5 33. Qxa6 {Black resigns} 1-0

Recent game

2005-11-02T20:52:00.000-10:00

Pretty straightforward.

[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.11.03"]
[White "Unfriendly Foe"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C59"]
[WhiteElo "1275"]
[BlackElo "1313"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. d3 O-O 11. Nc3 Re8 12. O-O Qc7 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Bb7 {Fritz doesn't like this move.} 15. Bd3 c5 16. b3 Rad8 17. Re1 c4 18. Bf1 Bb4 19. Bd2 Bxd2 20. Nxd2 c3 21. Bb5 Rxd2 22. Qh5 Qc5 23. Re2 Qxb5 24. Rxd2 cxd2 25. Rd1 Rd8 26. c4 Qc5 27. Qe2 Qd4 28. a3 Bxe4 29. g3 Bc2 30. Rxd2 Qxd2 31. Qxd2 Rxd2 32. c5 {Be4 prevents c6 and threatens mate on d1.} Nxb3 33. c6 Rd8 34. c7 Rc8 35. a4 Rxc7 36. a5 Be4 37. a6 Rc1# {White checkmated} 0-1

"Ok ok ok ok" - Leo Getz (Lethal Weapon 2)

2005-10-27T14:35:00.000-10:00

I know I've been slacking on updating everyone on my chess progress so bear with me as I go over the last couple of months, briefly.

Opening Study
I completed my opening rep. and have been putting it to good use over the last couple of months. No major tweaking so far but I still forget some of the lines I play and leave book before my opponents.

One of the great benefits of opening study is you kill two birds with one stone. First, you increase your rep. with each game you play and analyze. Second, opening study is basically studying the first handful of moves of current master games.

Studying Master Games
This has turned out to be a daunting task. I try to review at least two or three games a day on my Palm while I'm on the bus or at a coffee shop. After a month I'm still on the same issue of TWIC! Heh. By the time I'm done with the thousand games in that issue my grandkids should be here.

Thank goodness for Fritz. There are a few games where I was completely lost. I kept asking myself "Why doesn't he just take the Queen?" or "What was that Rook move for?". Mr. Fritz can usually clear things up pretty quickly.

Playing, playing, playing
I brought down the time limit of my games considerably. This allows me to get more games in every day as well as force me to play with a faster time control. I was prompted to do this after my coach told me that I take a long time to arrive at an incorrect move. This is due to not looking at the immediate threats (captures, mate threats, etc.) I figure, the more wrong moves I play in a short time period, the faster I'll learn to think correctly. Of course each game is followed by the ritual head slapping and "Stupid idiot!" "WTH was that?! Look at all captures you dummy!" Kind of like Self Flagellation, in homage to PMD's site.

Chess coach
Did I just say chess coach? Yup. I don't know if anyone one remembers way back in March when I posed the question about hiring a chess coach. Well I did, and I just completed my eleventh (and final for this year) lesson in September. There was a LOT of stuff to absorb and to work on for the forseeable future. His advice has helped to focus my studies and point out the problems in my thought process. Most of these things I've pointed out in previous blog entries but one of the most important was where the big gaps in my knowledge was coming from.

If anyone else is considering a coach I would not hesitate to recommend him. Leave me a comment and I'll get the info to you.

Well that's about it for now. I'll post one of my more interesting games in my next entry for your amusement.

The funniest thing I ever heard of

2005-10-25T09:35:00.000-10:00

Posted on BCC today. Collegiate drinking chess!

Team DeLaMaza is going to the finals

2005-10-24T09:12:00.000-10:00

DeLaMaza is going to the big show for the third time in a row baby! Good luck guys, and make us proud.

Tough week for Team DeLaMaza

2005-10-17T10:48:00.000-10:00

U2000 lost to MFO. Total MP 1.
U1800 lost to MFO. Total MP 2.
U1600 lost to Squared Vision. Total MP 3.5.

Things are really heating up for the U1600 section folks. With Squared Vision's win they are still in the running for the Division Finals. Also, if All Good People III win their next game they will take the lead from DeLaMaza with a 0.5 point lead in Game Points. Round 6 is looking to be the make it or break it round for the Erg Section. Go team!

EDIT:
Jim just pointed out that U1600 now has 4MP. Looks like there was a disqualification in Round 4. I'm not sure what happend. As it stands now, as long as U1600 draws Round 6 they move on to the Finals!

Bloglines

2005-10-13T08:45:00.000-10:00

Started using bloglines yesterday. It's a neat website with an inadequate help page IMO.

Can someone please explain the Bloglines Notifier and the Public vs Private Access options? Thanks.

T28 Round 4

2005-10-12T08:44:00.000-10:00

U2000 lost to The Hot Rock, current MPs 1.0.

U1800 is hinging on Lliamah's game against Rockazb of the Dilligaf team. There is added drama because the winner of this round will take the lead in MPs.

U1600 drew against All Good People III but maintains the lead with 3.5 MP.

Personally I've been playing a lot more games on ICC. My rating has dropped 100 points, mostly to blunders and time trouble, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with my game. That might be due to my opening study. I'm also learning how to find the turning point in my games in the postmortem. Even with the ratings drop I feel like I'm really close to breaking into C class for the first time.

T28 Round 3

2005-10-05T10:11:00.000-10:00

Round three is now complete. Here is the scoreboard.

U2000 lost to Fritz Using Cheaters. Match Points 1.0.

U1800 drew against Poisoned Pawns, another veteran group. Match Points 1.5.

U1600 won against The Maroczy Blind. Match Points 3.0 and maintains the lead.

T28 Round 2

2005-09-28T08:16:00.000-10:00

U2000 lost their match against MFO. Total Match Points: 1.0

U1800 drew against MFO the T27 U1800 champions. Total Match Points: 1.5 and tied for the lead with MFO.

U1600 won against Squared Vision. Total Match Points: 2.0 and the lead.

I be illin

2005-09-23T22:22:00.000-10:00

Hey everyone in the blogosphere. Sorry I've been out of commission. I haven't been feeling all that into chess lately. I hope it's not a long term thing.

Haven't been doing to well in chess lately. Oh well. Hopefully I can get back in the groove soon. I haven't been faithful to the Polgar book either. I'm still stuck around problem 400. Those two move mates can be really nasty.

I need to start learning how to play quick chess too. It seems most people OTB don't like playing anything longer than 15 min. Aside from playing a bunch of G15 does anyone have any advice on how to improve on this time control? I'm not used to anything shorter than 20 20 and even then I lose on time sometimes.

Anyway, hope everyone's chess is doing good. Team DeLaMaza did well in the first round. Won two sections with the win in U1800 hanging on Lliamah's game. Go team!

Team 45 T28

2005-08-28T22:05:00.000-10:00

Hey all. Team DeLaMaza is looking for players for Team 45 45 tournament 28. We will have teams in U1600 and U2000. No U1800 this time. I won't be participating in this tournament but please post here if you are interested so that Roman can start registering the teams. So far Generalkaia and Phorku have shown interest in U1600. Thanks.

Team DeLaMaza is T27 Champs!

2005-08-14T22:23:00.000-10:00

With ItsMrPatzer's win today we secure the win for Tournament 27 and successfully defend our championship! Thanks everyone for a great tournament. Hopefully everyone had a good time and will want to play again in Tournament 28 in September.

Does anyone know how to delete comments? I received my first unsolicited ad in my previous post.

Please welcome phorku to the blogosphere. He played with us on our DeLaMaza U1800 team in this last tournament. I'm trying to encourage him to join the round table as well.

Epiphany

2005-08-01T08:15:00.000-10:00

You know those days when you are driving along the street, minding your own business, when suddenly you realize that you've been using your chess thought process incorrectly? Well, yesterday was one of those days for me. I have been looking at my opponent's threats incorrectly where I would see threats that weren't even there. This took up a lot of unneccessary thinking time. I'm going to start to change that today.

It looks like Roman's Pomaranch Team U1800 is having a bit of trouble. One of their members, Cerebero, was accused of computer assistance. You can read about it on his blog and see the games. Roman wants our help in analyzing the games to see if there really was cheating or not. It sounds like Teachchess is not forthcoming on information.

Playing and Studying

2005-07-29T08:27:00.000-10:00

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

2005-07-14T14:56:00.000-10:00

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

2005-07-11T09:46:00.000-10:00

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

2005-07-06T10:09:00.000-10:00

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.

160

2005-06-27T10:04:00.000-10:00

Finished problem 160 in Polgar's book. I notice the problems become easier once I recognized the patterns of the one move checkmates. I really like the format and this should help me with my attack and defense. I was especially intrigued with the two Knights and Queen and two Bishops and Queen scenarios. Got rid of that book cover because it was getting in the way. I plan on taking it with me wherever I go so it will probably get busted up. In any case, I hope they don't discontinue the book because I plan on re-purchasing it if this one falls apart. Now if they could only publish more hardcover versions of MCO-14......

Lost my U1800 match but won my U1600 match. In my U1600 match my opponent made a mouse slip and asked for a takeback. Good thing I knew the rules because if I had agreed I would have drawn the game instead of won it.

I have decided to try and attend the local club meetings from now on. What brought this about is quite a long story but the gist is, I got a used car from my Grandfather's friend for free and was about to trade it in when I thought about using it to drive to the meetings. I figured, might as well until the car breaks down. So I'll let you know how that goes.

Finally, I still haven't found my mojo yet. I've been on a solid losing streak since the end of April and it doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. The good thing about it is now that my rating has dropped significantly I can practice spotting and taking advantage of weak moves as well as my mating attack.

Local Quads

2005-06-23T08:16:00.000-10:00

Finally got around to visiting another chess club. Quite a drive from town. Got there around 7p and left after 9p. There was quite a few people there.

The president of the club also asked me if I was interested in joining their Go club. Oh man, I told him I didn't have two lifetimes to work on improving at intellectual games, and I hear Go is even more complicated with more possible scenarios.

Don't foget to vote for USCF if you haven't done so. I followed Susan Polgar's recommendations and voted for Mr. Randy Bauer, Mr. Joel Channing, Mr. George John, and Mr. Robert Tanner. See her blog for more details.

Hump day

2005-06-22T10:59:00.000-10:00

Did 40 problems from Polgar's book on Monday then another 42 problems last night, which brings me up to 82.

Still losing more than winning. I'm dropping down to G15 to give me more flexibility on playing games. I know it's not ideal and I miss a lot of things because I am rushing but playing is more important for me right now than playing at my best. In the last month I've only clocked about 2 or 3 games a week so that has definitely got to change. My rating is currently fluctuating between 1210 and 1250, which sucks, but I'm hanging in there.

Opening study has paid off tremendously so far. I am much more comfortable with the different opening positions and I am starting to get the feel for seeing when someone leaves book and how that affects the position. It speeds up the time it takes to find tactics in the opening. I am also learning which moves are natural moves and why they are normal compared to other, not so natural ones.

Hiatus

2005-06-19T23:00:00.000-10:00

An IM I consulted has recommended I not use CT Art at this stage in my development. Instead he recommended Polgar’s book. Spending about 30 minutes a day on doing problems. Primarily, however, he said the main thing to improve my game right now is to play more games. He said my weaknesses stem from my lack of experience. Therefore I am going to take his advice and put CT Art on the shelf for now, right beside Soltis’ book. I am still going to finish Chess Mentor because it offers a lot of good advice like “Logical Chess Move by Move”, but that will take third behind playing games and doing problems from Polgar’s book.

Even though I will still be posting, I won’t be doing Don’s Inferno anytime soon. Please feel free to put me on your hiatus list if you feel it is more appropriate. Hopefully I will get to the level where I can tackle the problems soon.

Knightwiz and Harmless

2005-06-17T15:37:00.000-10:00

I was forced to agree to a game time for the both of you since neither of you posted anything to the forum.

Knightwizzy - Sunday, 11:00 FICS

Xeones - Sunday, 9:00 FICS

If you want to reschedule I suggest you start doing it soon or else you will have to show up at that time. Here is what the handbook says about rescheduling:

Rescheduling. Once a game time has been offered and accepted, it is considered to be binding on both players. However, up to the end of the 30-minute grace period, a player may ask his opponent to reschedule the game. The opponent may either agree to the request or not, and does not need to give a reason.

T27 Round 1

2005-06-15T18:54:00.000-10:00

Lost. Man, what a way to start the tourney. I hope you guys did better.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2005.06.15"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "clarinetref"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1422"]
[BlackElo "1494"]
[ECO "B34"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Nxc6 {Blunder. Normal was Be3 followed by Nf6. Equates to trading a d pawn for a b pawn.} 6... bxc6 7. Bd2 e6 8. Bd3 Ne7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qc1 Re8 11. Bh6 {Putting a strong B on h6.}11... Bh8 12. Qd2 d5 13. f3 {Loses a pawn to Qb6+. Forgot to check all of my opponent's threats. I was dreaming of opening up the f file.} 13... Qb6+ 14. Kh1 Qxb2 15. Ne2 Qa3 16. Qc1 Bb2 17. Qe1 {The R on a1 is safe. If Bxa1 then Qxa1.} 17... a5 18. Bc1 Bxc1 19. Qxc1 Qd6 20. a4 Ba6 21. Bxa6 Rxa6 22. Rb1 f5 23. Rd1 Ra7 24. Qe3 Rd7 25. Qb6 {Wastes a tempo.} 25... Ra8 26. Rb3 Qe5 27. Qd4 Qxd4 28. Nxd4 {Loses the N to a disc attack.} 28... dxe4 29. fxe4 e5 30. Rdb1 Rxd4 31. exf5 gxf5 32. g3 Rad8 33. Rb8 Rxb834. Rxb8+ Kg7 35. Rb7 Kf6 36. h4 Rd1+ 37. Kg2 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Rxc2 39. Ra7Rc3+ 40. Kf2 Rc5 41. Kf3 h5 42. Ke3 Nd5+ 43. Kf3 e4+ 44. Kf2 Rc2+ 45. Ke1Rc5 46. Kf2 e3+ 47. Kf3 Nc3 48. Kxe3 Nxa4 49. Kd4 Rd5+ 50. Kc4 Nb2+ 51. Kc3Nd1+ 52. Kb3 Nf2 53. Ra6 Rd6 54. Rxa5 Ne4 55. Ra4 Nxg3 56. Kc4 Re6 57. Kc5Ne4+ 58. Kc4 f4 59. Ra1 f3 60. Kd3 Kf5 61. Rf1 Kg4 62. Re1 f2 63. Rc1 Kf364. Rc5 Nxc5+ 65. Kd4 f1=Q 66. Kxc5 Qc1+ {PawnSensei resigns} 0-1

Out of stock

2005-06-11T11:10:00.000-10:00

Wow. Just checked the Chess Mentor Comprehensive Course on Wholesalechess and they are out of stock until June 17. Glad I got my copy before they ran out.

Looking For

2005-06-06T15:35:00.000-10:00

1. Good opening encyclopedia. I only used MCO14 so far but no one seems to carry a hardcover version. The paperback versions are just too flimsy for 700 pages. Who's idea was that anyway? Does anyone use ChessBase instead of a paper based encyclopedia? What are your comments?

2. Method for storing OTB clock times electronically. I have Fritz 7 and use Winboard but can't figure out how to do it with either program.

Games that people play

2005-05-26T15:47:00.000-10:00

I've heard of chess players playing poker but do you know of any chess players that play this game? Sounds like a game chess players would be interested in.

Attention team DeLaMaza U1600

2005-05-25T12:38:00.000-10:00

Please sign up for the ICQ Group I created for us. Since we only have four players everyone has to play every round but it will be a good place for us to discuss strategy or any problems.

UPDATE
For those of you who do not want to download and install ICQ software there is a web registration for your convenience. Once you register you can log in from any computer with internet access.

Wassup?

2005-05-23T14:06:00.000-10:00

Wow, didn't realize that my last post was a week ago. Thought I'd update everyone. Here it is, in list format for your convenience.

1. Losing, losing, losing. Been on a solid losing streak for the last two weeks. My rating dropped from around 1350 to about 1230. Last night's win broke that streak and brought my rating up to 1250. It's a slump. It'll pass.

2. Per Dan Heisman I created a "Hall of Shame" in Word and periodically update it when I make a major mistake. It's quite a fun concept and really helps to avoid repeating game losing blunders.

3. Per Robert Snyder I am in the process of creating an openings catalog. It's a great way to study openings and helps to keep all my opening study in one location. I've just about got it down to where I want it. With a few more touch ups I should be finished. As Snyder suggests, from there I'll just update it when I come across something new.

4. Learned how to use MCO 14. That book used to intimidate me but after borrowing it for a couple of weeks to build my catalog, and looking up openings from my tournament, I am much more comfortable with it. I am thinking about tracking down a hard cover edition if there is such a thing. Nice thing to have for the coffee table.

5. Working on inputting 50 checkmate patterns into Chessbase. Slow going but I really need this for my games right now. I miss too many opportunities and threats.

6. Finally, got a new analysis set (did I mention this in a previous post?). Neat little set with flat pieces and the optional wood pieces if someone wants to play. Cost more than my tournament set and bag but worth the price. I take it with me wherever I go and it's much much lighter than my old magnetic set from the 80's.

One thing I've neglected that I really feel bad about is my Chess Mentor. I'm at problem 500, which is over half way but I've been so tied up with the above stuff that I haven't gotten around to it. I barely have time for my daily 30 30 game. Once I complete my openings catalog I should have more time for the Mentor. I can't wait till it's done. I can then return MCO to the library. I'm getting tired of lugging that brick around with me.

The newest Knight

2005-05-17T08:00:00.000-10:00

Please welcome RomaLavrn to the round table. He's the captain and founder of Team DeLaMaza on Team 45 45. His first post may be his last before becoming an alumni though. He's on his seventh circle already. He's from Ukraine so what about the Pomaranch Knight?

UPDATE
If you are planning to play in T27 please update your profiles again. The information was accidentally deleted during a website maintenance. The two things you NEED are:

1. Click YES on your interest to play in T27

2. Click Yes on "I have read and accept the Team 4545 league procedures."

Ooooooh, another guantlet

2005-05-16T11:15:00.000-10:00

The following conversation took place between RomaLavrn of Team DeLaMaza and FusterCluck of Team MFO. What do you guys think? Up for a challenge?

******************************************************
FusterCluck: We are beating U.S. open champion Georgi Orlov in a team game right now

FusterCluck: interesting disussions

FusterCluck: correspondece game that has been going for months

FusterCluck: http://www.mrfixitonline.com/getPostings.asp?hdr=&ForumId=1633

RomaLavrn: that is nice idea

FusterCluck: MFO vs. Georgi Orlov

FusterCluck: kind of like Kasparov vs. the world game

FusterCluck: actually, we are looking for an opponent for next team game. YOU SHOULD PLAY US!

FusterCluck: we have good rivalry going

FusterCluck: you and all your guys vs. us?

FusterCluck: all of you vs. all of mfo

FusterCluck: we usually have 6-10 people who participate in team game discussion

FusterCluck: since it is a correspondence game, not everyone has to participate every day

FusterCluck: some can take vacation

RomaLavrn: comps are not allowed. what is allowed?

FusterCluck: well, we have been debating the computers

FusterCluck: we prefer no computers

FusterCluck: but we have some players who would not mind a game with research allowed - using books or computer databases of games.

FusterCluck: but absolutely we don't want anyone to turn on the computer to run the chess engine

RomaLavrn: I agree about chess engine

FusterCluck: so, you guys could propose your terms... either NO COMPUTERS at all or COMPUTERS ONLY FOR RESEARCH.

FusterCluck: we need our next opponent soon. i think we have Georgi close to resigning

RomaLavrn: when to start?

FusterCluck: you can see how close to finishing our game with Georgi is

RomaLavrn: ok

FusterCluck: when the game ends...

FusterCluck: our game with Georgi has been very difficult

FusterCluck: first game vs. him was much easier

RomaLavrn: how you could beat him?

FusterCluck: we squashed him

FusterCluck: we beat him easilly last time we played him

FusterCluck: in a very tactical game

RomaLavrn: How could it be if he has enough time to think?

FusterCluck: because we had so many people to look at the tactics... we though together as one. like a computer

RomaLavrn: and which opening is so tactical?

FusterCluck: in the second game... he got smart. he played a very positional defense. the many team mates did not help us understand the positional subtleties

FusterCluck: he played us like a grandmaster plays a computer... positionally

FusterCluck: first game we beat him with Benoni

First tournament results

2005-05-14T23:58:00.000-10:00

Today was my first OTB tournament and boy what a rush! My head was spinning after the third round and at the end I had a pounding headache. Very good learning experience though. Going in I was really nervous and had a rocky first round but things improved after that. Playing in the Team 45 45 tournament really helped me with my focus under pressure. I also got to split the reserve prize with another unrated guy, to win back my entrance fee. Here are the games with annotations. They were all G45 sudden death time controls.

Round 1. I was matched up against another unrated person who I eventually went on to split the reserve prize with. Like myself he doesn't belong to any local clubs and plays primarily on the internet and at home.

[Round "1"]
[White "First Opponent"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D20"]
[EventDate "2005.05.14"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 {Trading a central pawn for the c pawn. Queen's Gambit Accepted.} 3. Nc3 e5 {I leave book. Correct move is a6.} 4. d5 Bb4 {Blunder, losing the B.} 5. Qa4+ c6 6. Qxb4 cxd5 7. e4 Ne7 8. exd5 Nxd5 9.Qb5+ Nc6 10. Qxd5 Be6 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Nf3 Nd4 13. Nxd4 exd4 {And Black has the only central pawn.} 14. Nb5 O-O 15. Bf4 a6 16. Na3 b5 17. g3 Rfe8 {Preparing a disc check on the K.} 18. O-O-O d3 19. Bg2 b4 20. Nb1 Bd5 {Blunder. Black has a weak back rank.} 21. Bxd5 Rxd5 22. Rhe1 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 c3 24. Re8# 1-0

I did a lot better in round 2. My opponent is returning to competitive chess as a high school student. He was very confident in the opening but started slowing down the further we got into unknown territory.

[Round "2"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "Second Opponent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C44"]
[EventDate "2005.05.14"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 d6 {My opponent plays the Philidor Defence which is bad for Black} 4. Bc4 Bg4 5. h3 {Blunder. Deviated from book and wasted a tempo. Correct was dxe5 where Black loses at least a pawn.} Bxf3 6. Qxf3 {Mate attack on f pawn.} Nf6 7. dxe5 Nd4 8. Qd3 {Trying to prvent N fork on c2. Need to get K out of center.} dxe5 9. O-O Bc5 10. Bxf7+ {Trying to get the B on c5.} Kxf7 11. Qc4+ Ne6 12. Nc3 Qd4 13. Qb3 Nxe4 14. Be3 {Trying to take advantage of a Queen skewer.} Qb4 15.Qxb4 Bxb4 16. Nxe4 Nd4 17. Bxd4 {Trading down for the endgame.} exd4 18. Rad1{Trying to take the half-open files.} Rad8 19. c3 dxc3 20. Nxc3 {More simplification. Trying to force Black to take R so White can control D file.} Bxc3 21.bxc3 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Re8 23. Rd7+ {Rooks are deadly on the 7th.} Re7 24. Rd2 {Not ready to trade Rooks. Black K has better position for the endgame.} c5 25. f3 g5 26. Kf2 {Preparing K for endgame.} h5 27. Rd5 Kf6 28. Rxc5 {Taking another pawn before trading Rooks.} Re5 29. Rxe5 {Trading Rooks with a 5 to 4 advantage.} Kxe5 30. Ke3 b5 31. g3 h4 32. gxh4 gxh4 33. f4+ Kf5 34. Kf3 a5 35. a3 a4 36. Ke3 {Black is in Zugzwang.} Ke6 37. Ke4 {Pushing black king back.} Kf6 38. f5 Kf7 39. Ke5 {Blunder. Kf4 would win.} Ke7 40. f6+ Kf7 41.Kf5 Ke8 42. Kg5 Kf7 43. Kxh4 Kxf6 44. Kg4 Kg6 45. h4 Kh6 46. h5 Kg7 47. Kg5 Kh7 48. h6 Kg8 49. Kf5 Kh7 50. Ke5 Kxh6 51. Kd5 Kg6 52. Kc5 Kf6 53. Kxb5 Ke6 54. c4 Kd6 55. Kb6 Kd7 56. c5 Kc8 57. Kc6 Kb8 58. Kd7 Kb7 59. c6+ Ka7 60. c7 Ka6 61. c8=Q+ Ka7 62. Qc6 Kb8 63. Kd6 Ka7 64. Kc5 Kb8 65. Qd7 Ka8 66. Kb6 Kb8 67. Qb7#1-0

I have played this opponent before and had won a very close game. Again this one went down to the wire and I had a major blunder right before he ran out of time. He was so upset that he banged the table and swore after losing on time. He saw the draw right before he ran out of time. I definitely ruined the rest of his day.

[Round "3"]
[White "Third Opponent"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "1315"]
[EventDate "2005.05.14"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Qe2 Bc5 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bxd4 7. Bg5 O-O 8. Qd3 Bxb2 {Rook is lost.} 9. Nc3 Bxa1 10. Nd5 Re8 11. Be2 d6 {Freeing B on c8.} 12. O-O Be5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 {Attacking Q with tempo.} 14. Qc2 h6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 {At this point I saw N fork but too late. I will be punished for ignoringcomplete development. Will try to minimize damage by finally developing the B.} 16. Qxc7 Qxc7 17. Nxc7 Be6 18. Nxe8 Rxe8 19. a3 f5 20. f3 fxe4 21. fxe4 Bc4 {Attacking the pinned B to simplify with a superior endgame for Black.} 22. Bxc4 Nxc4 23. Rb1 Re7 24. a4 Nd2 25. Rb2 Nxe4 26. Re2 d5 {Freeing the R to get to the first or second rank.} 27. g3 Rc7 28. Kg2 Nc3 29. Re8+ Kg7 30. Kf3 d4 31. h4 Rd7 {Rooks belong behind passed pawns. The pawn will queen.} 32. g4 d3 33. g5 hxg5 34. hxg5 d2 35. g6 d1=Q+ 36. Kg3 Qd3+ 37. Kf4 Qxg6 38. a5 Rd5 39. a6 bxa6 40. Kf3 Rd3+ 41. Kf2 Qg3+ 42. Kf1 Rd2 {Major blunder in time trouble. Rf3 is mate. White loses on time.} 0-1

I was told that this opponent plays at a higher strength than his rating. He was able to rattle off sequences and games from memory. He loves fast games and I don't think he even used up 5 minutes on his clock compared to my 25 to 30 minutes.

[Round "4"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "Fourth Opponent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[BlackElo "1294"]
[EventDate "2005.05.14"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 {Trying to prevent trading central pawn for c pawn.} Nc6 5. Bb5 Qb6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. O-O Ba6 8. Re1 Nh6 9. c3 cxd4 10. cxd4 c5 11. b3 {Protecting the b pawn before moving the bishop.} Nf5 12. Bb2 c4 13. Nc3 {Taking with bxc would lose at least the bishop.} Rb8 14. Rb1 {Preparing for Q attack.} cxb3 15. axb3 Qxb3 16. Ba1 {X-Ray check on b8.} Qa3 17. Rxb8+ Kd7 18. Qa4+ {Forcing a Q trade. The R on e1 will now join the attack on the centralized K.} Qxa4 19. Nxa4 Kc7 20. Reb1 Bd3 21. R1b7+ Kc6 22. Rxa7 {Black resigns} 1-0

I really felt lucky to be able to play the leader. It was neat to see him slowly squeeze my position and punish me for my mistakes. He appeared to be very humble and seemed to truly enjoy the game. During the post-mortem he told me a little bit about himself and helped me with my opening mistakes.

[Round "5"]
[White "Fifth Opponent"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "1856"]
[EventDate "2005.05.14"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 {My opponent was nice enough to point out my mistake after the game. Here, the main line goes 1...b5 2 b3 0-0.} O-O 7. Bxc6 bxc6 {The usual reply is dxc6 but I thought the action was going to be in the middle. What the hell right? Might as well have fun.} 8. Nxe5 Bb7 9. Nc3 Bd6 10. Nc4 Re8 11. e5 Bxe5 12. Nxe5 d6 {Planning to post a R or Q on e1 to tie down the B and harass the K.} 13. Nf3 c5 14. Rxe8+ Qxe8 15. h3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Qe1+ 17. Kh2 Re8 18. d3 h6 19. Rb1 {Creates a disc attack on e1. Ex. Bxh6.} Qe5+ 20. Bf4 Qf5 21. g4 Qg6 22. Rg1 c4 23. g5 hxg5 {Trying to prevent the dis attack on g6.} 24. Bxg5 cxd3 {Trying for desperate pawn push to c1. After Qh7, Bxf6 loses more material.} 25. Bxf6 Qxg1+ 26. Kxg1 Re1+ 27. Kg2 dxc2 {Now I see Bg5 ending my hopes and dreams.} 28. Bg5 f6 29. Bd2 Rb1 30. Qd5+ Kh7 31. Qd3+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Tentative Lineup for T27

2005-05-12T12:13:00.000-10:00

First, thanks for all the enthusiastic responses guy! Last tourney I had to beg people to sign up and no one wanted to, so I had to represent and play every round. Still waiting for more Knights if anyone else is interested. If we get one more Knight for the U1800 section we may have enough players to make another U1800 team if we are joined by members of RomaLavrn's Pomaranch Team (they're from Ukraine).

I don't have enough people for the U1400 section yet. Am I the Knight with the lowest rating? C'mon Blue Devil. It will probably be only me and you. We can lose together! It will be fun.

Finally, to all DeLaMaza team members in the U1600 section, please start creating an ICQ account. I have created an ICQ group for us to communicate with each other and will be posting the link shortly.

Finally, finally, just fyi, the MFO team (Mr Fixit Online) does read my blog so they know we are gearing up for the next tournament. Just to warn you, they WILL review your histories in FICS and study your openings. Do NOT take them lightly. In T26 one MFO team was our rival to make it to the final round and our opponent in the final round was another MFO team (they had two U1600 teams). Can you guys smell a rivalry brewing?

Here is the current tentative lineup:

U2000
1. TripleCheck
2. bahus (NE)
3. Romalavrn
4. Lliamah
5. CelticDeath (NE)

U1800
1. bahus (NE)
2. RomaLavrn
3. Lliamah
4. CelticDeath (NE)
5. PawnSensei (NE)
6. psionics (NE)

U1600
1. Lliamah
2. Nezha (NE)
3. PawnSensei (NE)
4. Knightwizzy (NE)

Team DeLaMaza is looking for a few good men (and woman of course)

2005-05-09T08:18:00.000-10:00

We just finished the tournament 26 on FICS last night and our U1600 team is the new champions. We will be starting up U1800 and U2000 teams for tournament 27 and I hope some of the Knights could join up. I have already recruited KnightWiz for our U1600 team (which I will be captaining). Here are the dates:

June 7 - Deadline for team lineups
June 14 - First round of T26 begins

You need a free FICS account and 20 slow (15 minutes or slower) rated games to register with Team 45 45. Here are a few links for further instructions.

Main page with dates:
http://teamchess.org/

FAQ with instructions:
http://teamchess.org/faq.html

Please post a reply even if you aren't interested so I know who read this. Thanks all!

UPDATE
Due to the overwhelming response we received, team DeLaMaza may be putting together an U1400 team now! If so, I will be captaining that team as well. So, especially if you have a low rating, please consider signing up!

TEAM 45 45 FICS U1600 CHAMPIONS!!!!

2005-05-08T17:40:00.000-10:00

[Event "Team 45 45 League T26"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "PDT.05.0"]
[Round "8"]
[White "ahorse"]
[Black "LLIAMAH"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1527"]
[BlackElo "1722"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Qc7 4. O-O e6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 a6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Qf3 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. Nd2 h5 11. c4 Ne5 12. Qe2 Nxd3 13. Qxd3 bxc4 14. Rac1 Ng4 15. Nxc4 Qxh2# {White checkmated} 0-1

I hope I didn't lose the finals for the team

2005-05-06T23:27:00.000-10:00

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2005.05.06"]
[White "SamuraiGoroh"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "1453"]
[BlackElo "1427"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {The a6 variation of the Ruy.} 4. Bxc6 bxc6 {Taking with the wrong pawn.} 5. Nxe5 Qg5 {Trying a double attack on the g pawn and knight.} 6. Ng4 Nf6 {Offering to trade knights.} 7. Nxf6+ Qxf6 8. Nc3 Bc5 {Threatening mate on f2.}9. Qe2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. b3 Qe5 12. Bb2 Bd6 {Threatening mate on h2.} 13. g3Bb7 14. Rab1 c5 {Increasing the pressure on e4.} 15. d3 Qe6 16. f3 f5 17. Rfe1f4 {If gxf then Bxf4.} 18. g4 Qg6 19. Qd2 h5 {Taking advantage of pin on g4. If g5 then Qxg5.} 20. h3 Be5 21. Ne2 d6 22. Nxf4Bxf4 23. Qxf4 Rf8 24. Qe3 Rae8 25. c4 Bc8 {Increasing pressure on g4.} 26. Re2Qh6 {Offering to trade queens.} 27. Qxh6 gxh6 28. Rf1 h4 29. Bc1 Kh7 30. Be3Rg8 31. Bf2 h5 32. Bxh4 hxg4 33. hxg4 Rg6 34. Rg2 Reg8 35. Kh2 Rh6 36. Kg3 Kg637. f4 Bxg4 {Taking a pawn.} 38. Kxg4 Kf7+ 39. Kh3 Rxg2 40. Kxg2 Rxh4 41. Rh1Rxh1 {Accepting the trade in hopes of drawing after Kxh1 black king is closerto the action.} 42. Kxh1 Ke6 43. Kg2 c6 44. Kf3 d5 45. exd5+ cxd5 46. cxd5+Kxd5 47. Ke3 a5 48. a3 Ke6 49. Ke4 Kf6 50. d4 cxd4 51. Kxd4 Kf5 52. b4 axb4 53.axb4 Kxf4 54. b5 Kf5 55. b6 Ke6 56. b7 Kd7 57. b8=Q Kc6 58. Qd8 Kb5 59. Qc7 Kb460. Qc5+ Ka4 61. Qc7 Kb5 62. Kc3 Ka6 63. Kb2 Kb5 64. Kb3 Ka6 65. Qc6+ Ka5 66.Qc7+ Ka6 67. Qc5 Kb7 68. Kb4 Ka6 69. Qd6+ Kb7 70. Kc5 Kc8 71. Qe7 Kb8 72. Kb6Kc8 73. Qc7# 1-0

First annotations

2005-05-04T22:12:00.000-10:00

Did I mention that I love Fritz?

[Event "ICC 30 30"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.05.01"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "jabjab"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1285"]
[BlackElo "1389"]
[TimeControl "1800+30"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 {I usually meet the Scicilian with c3 then follow upwith d4 to attempt to trade the c pawns.} e5 4. d4 Qc7 5. d5 {Taking more space.} Nd8 6. Bc4 d6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Qe2 a6 9. Bd3 {Preparing for c4.} Bd7 10. c4 b5 11. b3 Be7 12. a3 {Prophylactic against b4.}Qa5 13. Bd2 b4 14. a4 {Can not take b4 due to Qxa1.} h6 15. Na3 {Taking advantage of the pin on b4.} Qc7 16. Nc2 Nb7 17. Ne3 {Amassing forces on kingside.} Na5 18. Bc2 O-O 19. Nh4 {Eyeing advanced post on f5.} Nxe4 20. Qd3 f5 21. Nhxf5 Bxf5 22. Nxf5 Nxd2 23.Qxd2?? {Good grief. What about Nxh6+!!!} Nxb3 24. Nxe7+ Qxe7 25. Bxb3 Qf6 26.a5 e4 27. Qe3 Rae8 28. Rae1 Qd8 29. Ba4 $2 Re5 30. Ra1? {Trying to take a6.}Qf6 31. Bc6 Re7 32. Rae1 Qg6 33. f3?? {As soon as I moved the pawn I saw exf3. That would have been bad.} Rxf3 34. Qe2 Re5 35. Kh1 Ra3 36. Ra1 Rxa1 37. Rxa1 Qf6 38. Bd7 Rf5 39. Be6+ Kh8 40. Bxf5?? {Heheheh....} Qxa1+ {White resigns} 0-1

DeLaMaza makes it to U1600 championships

2005-05-03T09:57:00.000-10:00

Well, our team did it. We are in for the championship round on FICS. It was really fun for my first tournament and this was the first one for team DeLaMaza as well. For T27 I have been asked by the captain to take over as captain for the U1600 team because his rating is too high. We also recruited one of the Knights (Knightwiz) for that tournament. You can check our team out here.

&%*@!

2005-05-01T18:39:00.000-10:00

Man am I ticked off today. I was on the way to playing a great game. I had a lot of space, initiative, and from my limited knowledge of positional play I think I had a great position. Mainly I felt like I was slowly squeezing this guy. Suddenly things start going sour. After the game he tells me I had a forced win on move 22. I think I had a couple of chances for a forced win in the game but blundered them all and had to resign to a queen mate. I would post the game but I don't know how to annotate yet. Can anyone give me pointers on how to annotate a game. How long do you stare at each position? What positions do you annotate. Stuff like that. I think it's Miller time.

Alekhine's guns

2005-04-29T08:03:00.000-10:00

Didn't get much studying done yesterday and played very poorly on ICC. I did get to use Alekhine's guns successfully for the first time though. Had um lined up behind an enemy pawn on the c file and broke through with b6. It was really neat to see them crash through into enemy territory. I'm not sure if my opponent knew what was going on because he didn't respond until after I got the queen in place.

How to be unbeatable

2005-04-28T11:40:00.000-10:00

Got through the first three games in Unbeatable Chess Lessons. It's an entertaining read. Some of the positions are over my head though.

Does anyone have any suggestions or comments for my first tourney? Someone told me to take a Sharpie and put my initials on the felt on the pieces as well as the board and clock. Anything else? It will be a four round eight hour tournament.

Challenges completed: 500
Average of all scores: 85

Play Winning Chess

2005-04-27T10:21:00.000-10:00

Finished the book yesterday. I still like the Idiot's Guide better but had some gems in there too. I especially liked the annotated games at the end of the book.

Started on Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors today and finished the first game so far. At this rate it shouldn't take me longer than two weeks to complete the book. I'm still working on Chess Mentor but once that's done I'll be moving on to Don's Inferno.

Finally, I'm going to my first tournament in a couple of weeks so we'll see where my studies have placed me. I think I get a rating after my first tourney.

Awesome!

2005-04-25T14:16:00.000-10:00

I just found out that one of the local clubs is hosting three (that's right, you heard me, three) G45 tourneys this year! One in May, one in September, and the last one in November. Reading that news really made my day. I better start working on my OTB experience.

T26 Round 6

2005-04-25T00:36:00.000-10:00

This is the last game I'll post on my Blog. Don't really feel comfortable putting this stuff out here. My win guaranteed us a spot in the championship match.

[Event "Team 45 45 League T26"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2005.04.22"]
[Round "6"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "clarinetref"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1411"]
[BlackElo "1519"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. e5 d4 6. cxd4 Qxd4 7. Nf3 Qd7 8. O-O e6 9. b3 Nc6 10. Nc3 Nge7 11. Ba3 b6 12. Nb5 a6 13. Nd6+ Kd8 14. Nxf7+ Kc7 15. Nxh8 Ng6 16. Nxg6 hxg6 17. Rc1 Kb7 18. Re1 Be7 19. d4 cxd4 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21. Nxd4 Nxd4 22. Qxd4 Rd8 23. Qe4+ Ka7 24. Red1 Rh8 25. h3 g5 26. Qc4 Kb7 27. Qe4+ Ka7 28. Qc6 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Qc7+ Qxc7 31. Rxc7+ Kb8 32. Rxg7 {Black resigns} 1-0

A dark day indeed

2005-04-21T08:45:00.000-10:00

Don has just announced his intention to retire from the Order of the Knights. If his decision is final it is a sad sad day. Since I started my chess journey last November Don and the Knights have been an inspiration and source of encouragement for me. His humor and upbeat attitude through the circles made me feel less daunted by the task.

I hope De La Maza's program doesn't destroy people's enjoyment of chess. I mean, the founder himself quit chess shortly after completing the program. If that is true then I don't want to do the program anymore. For me chess IS my life and I don't want to lose it due to burn out.

Completed the Idiot's Guide yesterday. I am starting Play Winning Chess today.

Challenges completed: 443
Average of all scores: 87

Hip to be square

2005-04-20T08:11:00.000-10:00

Completed the chapters on space and weak squares. I never understood what people were talking about when they were talking about strong and weak squares, until now. What an eye-opener. Now I know why people would go after my fianchettoed bishop when I played the Pirc. I also understand the a or h pawn push too. Never made sense to me before reading this. Sneaky, very sneaky. I'm seeing a lot more now and I'm confident that these books are at my level. Hopefully they will be enough to prepare me for the Inferno in a couple of months. I haven't set a definite date yet because I don't know how long it will take me to complete the three books but I am estimating a start date sometime in July.

I was thinking about something on the way in to work. I was wondering if I'll complete all of the puzzles that I have in my current library of books? It includes:

Reinfeld's "1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations"
Polgar's "Chess"
Seirawan's "Winning Chess Tactics"

Now I know I'm definitely finishing WCT soon but I'm not so sure about the other two. Polgar's book has 5334 puzzles by itself. And that doesn't include CT-Art and Chess Mentor. I figure, if I don't become a chess genius after that then I'll sure be stuffed with a lot of useless information!

Sunday is FUN day!

2005-04-17T22:56:00.000-10:00

Games
Played three games today. Lost them all. Quite disheartening. But onward and upward!

Idiot's Guide
Finished the chapter on pawns as well as the chapter on space. It's a little hard to grasp for me right now but it's all good info. I especially liked the explanation on side-by-side pawns.

Chess Mentor
Got to the level 4 problems today. I'm starting to see some of my weaknesses. I got hung up on a couple of mate problems and long distance queen forks. I also saw Morphy's and epaulette's mates for the first time. Finally, I discovered the analysis board. Nifty little feature that. It's like having your own little peg or magnetic board on the table as you work on the problems. It reminds me of Chessbase Light. I used it a couple of times to look at some of the variations mentioned in a few of the problems. One of the advantages over a real analysis board is the ability to reset it to the original position with the click of a button.

The Perfect System
I read one of Don's posts today and I have to agree that sometimes we get caught up in finding the perfect system instead of actually going through one. I guess part of it is due to our analytical natures. If we didn't like analyzing things to death we wouldn't be chess fanatics. Add to that the OCD and you can see where you can run into some problems. So where does that leave me? If you haven't noticed I've been delaying Don's Inferno until I feel more comfortable with the basics. My current plan is to read a couple of intro books (The Idiot's Guide to Chess, Play Winning Chess, and Unbeatable Chess Lessons for Juniors) then run through Chess Mentor a couple of times. But for the record, I'm doing Don's Inferno, and that's that. There. I said it. No turning back now. It's written in stone. May God have mercy on me.

First Run
Challenges Completed: 328
Average of All Scores: 89

T26 Round 5

2005-04-16T21:37:00.000-10:00

Here's the game:

[Date "2005.04.16"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "maglover"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1406"]
[BlackElo "1543"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 b6 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Qf3 Ne5 7. Qb3 Nxc48. Qxc4 Bb7 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Bg5 Be7 12. O-O Ne8 13. Bxe7 Qxe714. Rfe1 c5 15. Rad1 Nd6 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Nb5 18. Qxd7 Qxd7 19. Rxd7Rad8 20. Red1 Rxd7 21. Rxd7 g6 22. c4 Nd4 23. Nxd4 cxd4 24. Rxd4 Rc8 25. b4f6 26. f4 Kf7 27. e5 fxe5 28. fxe5 Ke6 29. Re4 Kf5 30. Re2 Rxc4 31. e6 Rc832. e7 Re8 33. Kf2 Kf6 34. g4 a5 35. bxa5 bxa5 36. a4 g5 37. Kf3 Rxe7 38.Rxe7 Kxe7 39. Ke4 Ke6 40. h3 h6 41. Kd4 Kd6 42. Ke4 Ke6 43. Kd4 Kd6 44. Kc4Kc6 45. Kb3 Kb6{Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

I fought as hard as I could but couldn't convert my 2 pawn advantage in the endgame. I guess I need more practice in that area. My opponent was the same guy I drew with the last time. He was nice enough to do a post-mortem with me and showed me where I could have won the game and how to do it. Interestingly he also reads my blog. I forgot to ask him how he found out about it. You know, for some reason I find the chess players on the net seem to be more helpful than the players I meet in the local club.

Challenges Completed: 223
Average of All Score: 95

A little further

2005-04-15T20:52:00.000-10:00

Another hour on Chess Mentor today. Got out of the intro stage into level 2. Still not challenging yet but a good refresher on basics.

Blundered my game against a 1330 on ICC. Rating dropped to 1360. On top of that I used up almost all of my time and he barely used up any. I'll review my game before going to bed tonight.

Challenges Completed: 140
Average of All Scores: 94

Chess stuff arrives

2005-04-14T23:24:00.000-10:00

Cool. I tore into Chess Mentor today. Spent about 45 minutes on it. Here's my score so far.

Challenges Completed: 85
Average of all initial scores: 98

I also bought a used copy of "Chess for Kids" for my girlfriend's cousin. Lots of nice pictures using a wodden board and wodden (Staunton?) pieces. I've noticed that children's chess books are quite expensive. I guess because there are a lot of nice, high quality, color pictures for them to look at. If he really gets into it I can start lending him books from my collection.

Finally, did 1 hour and 30 minutes of tactics from the Idiot's Guide.

Ahhh, the pawn studies

2005-04-12T08:35:00.000-10:00

Finally hit the section of the book that covers pawns. You know, with a name like PawnSensei you think I would kick some major bootay with those buggers but it just doesn't work out that way. The chapter is very informative but slow going. It's the only chapter in the book that I'll have to go through more than once.

Finally mastered the two bishops vs lone king scenario. I don't know how often that guy comes up but it was instructive on how to use the bishops better during the middle game. I didn't realize that two bishops were impervious to the king when they are side by side and the king is in front. Maybe it is obvious to most of you but it was an eye-opener to me. I was thinking about doing knight and bishop vs king but I hear that guy can go over 50 moves easy and I think I can better spend my time with tactics and other studies. Any comments?

Played black against a king's gambit accepted last night and won. It was a good feeling because it was my first time seeing that opening.

Good weekend

2005-04-11T11:38:00.000-10:00

for chess that is. Skipped the tactics and played a lot of games this weekend. I also reviewed my drills since I have been slacking on them in the last month. I try to do them every Sunday but neglected them recently.

Also did some basic opening study and review. Saw some new opening moves over the weekend so I worked on solid replies to give me a fighting chance in the middlegame. In particular I seem to be coming up against a lot of Ruys as black and c5s as white. I think I got them down but only time will tell.

Hit a new high of 1370 on ICC yesterday, which is 20 points higher than the previous week. I hope this is an indication that I am slowly improving. I'd hate to think I was wasting my time.

Knightwiz

2005-04-10T16:54:00.000-10:00

We have a new potential knight amongst us. Don, I'll send him to ya as soon as he gets his blog up for his dubbing.

T26 Round 4

2005-04-10T09:08:00.000-10:00

[Event "Team 45 45 League T26"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2005.04.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Triplea"]
[Black "PawnSensei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1261"]
[BlackElo "1399"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bxd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 e4 12. gxh5 exf3 13. Bxg7 Rg8 14. Bc3 Qxh5 15. Qd2 O-O-O 16. O-O-O Rde8 17. Qf4 Rg2 18. Rdf1 Re2 19. Rh2 Ne7 20. Bd4 Nd5 {White resigns} 0-1

Pieces in harmony

2005-04-09T17:20:00.000-10:00

This was my favorite game to date. I know it was against someone 100 points lower than me, but that notwithstanding I liked how my pieces worked together. This was also the first time I applied Dan Heisman's "Go to sleep" strategy.

[Event "ICC 20 20"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.04.09"]
[White "PawnSensei"]
[Black "soumya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[WhiteElo "1363"]
[BlackElo "1251"]
[Time "22:43:07"]
[TimeControl "1200+20"]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 Bd6 3. dxe5 Bxe5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 d6 6. O-O Bg4 7. Nc3 Nd48. Nxe5 Bxd1 9. Nxf7 Qf6 10. Rxd1 Nxc2 11. Rb1 g6 12. Nxh8 Qxh8 13. Nd5 Qe514. Nxc7+ Ke7 15. Nxa8 Qxe4 16. Bg5+ Nf6 17. Bd3 Qe5 18. Bxf6+ Qxf6 19. Bxc2Qe6 20. Re1 Kd7 21. Rxe6 Kxe6 22. Nc7+ Kd7 23. Nd5 Ke6 24. Rd1 Ke5 25. f4+Ke6 26. h3 a5 27. Bb3 b5 28. Nc7+ Kd7 29. Nxb5 Kc6 30. Nxd6 h5 31. Nf7 Kb532. Rd4 Kc5 33. Re4 Kb5 34. Ba4+ Kc5 35. a3 Kd5 36. Ng5 Kc5 37. b4+ axb4 38.axb4+ Kd5 39. b5 Kc5 40. g4 h4 41. f5 gxf5 42. gxf5 Kb6 43. f6 Ka5 44. f7Kb6 45. f8=Q Ka5 46. Qa8+ Kb6 47. Qa6+ Kc5 48. Qc6# {Black checkmated} 1-0

Detective work

2005-04-06T18:16:00.000-10:00

All this talk of detective work has got me a little worried (paranoid person that I am). So I would like to ask the Knights for help. If you can find my real name in the public domain can you let me know through email so I can be more careful in the future? Please reply to this post so I know who is helping me out. Thanks!

Coffee and Chess, Chess and Coffee

2005-04-05T08:16:00.000-10:00

Don't they go great together? Last night walked over to the strip mall and had Arabiki curry at the Curry House then went next door to the coffee shop and studied for two hours. In total, last night was 1 hour tactics, 1 hour Idiot's Guide, 2 games (20 30) on ICC (1 win 1 loss), and about a half hour on basic endgames (bishop and pawn vs two pawns, and bishop and pawn vs four pawns).

One game was lost before we got to the endgame. The other game, though it was a win, was mildly dissappointing for me. I was killing this 1250 guy. I was black. Had my rooks beaming down the e and f files pinning his bishop and knight to his uncastleable king and queen, my queen was deep in enemy territory on the h file, and to top it off my knights were ready on the third and fourth rank to fork anything that moved. My attack fizzled and I had to fight back to a winning endgame with four pawns and a rook vs a rook. The good news is I'm getting a lot more comfortable with open positions. Now I have to learn how to attack with gusto. Playing the Pirc and King's Indian really made me passive. BTW, I learned that at my level I don't think I really need to fear the English or the Sicilian. The guys at my level don't really know how to use it. One guy used c5 against my e4 and when I played d4 I think he panicked. I'm not really even sure if my response was solid but it worked.