Game 32 (replayed here) was the 4th of 4 games with tommyg. I won the game and the series. I'm not sure if tommyg was playing at 100% or not. His kingside pawns were all down the side and I was able to slip my white-squared bishop in the middle, fortified by a solid pawn chain. He had a chance of whacking this bishop with his knight, but did not.
Later he played 14. Qa4+ and I had to place my knight between his queen and my king on d7. His knight was also bearing down on d7 and he could have easily traded knights and queens and then it would have been a bit more difficult to get my rooks out and my king safe.
After he played 25. Raf2?, I took his bishop ... again - not sure what he saw when he made this move. Then he followed up with 26. R2a6 and then I delivered the knockout punch with 27. Qf2#.
I now have 20 games left to play before August 6. I should get a few extra games in during the week of June 21-28 during a family reunion. My nephew plays chess and hopefully we can get a few long games in. Then the weekend of July 15 there is a local tournament and I should get a few games in over that weekend. So, in the mean time, if I can get 1-2 games per week on FICS, I should reach my goal of 52 games in 1 year.
Hi RockyRook,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion 52 games would be deficient, at least 100 games a year should be played for improvement.
I have also a plan for slow games, for this I play on ICC (team4545league and chess9030). Is there any slow game league on FICS?
Ra2 was ouch. No way White can let you have that tasty bishop at e4, I'd trade that sucker for the Kt in a heart beat. 52 slow games in a year is a pretty good amount-does this include tournament games?
ReplyDeleteHi Savas - yes, you're probably right about 52 games per year being deficient. But if you consider how few games I was playing at the time I started that goal, 52 games is quite an improvement. Actually, I was playing about one 45 45 game a week as part of the FICS 45 45 league (http://teamleague.org/). And then I played a few OTB tournaments at G/90. I found that I love the longer games much more than the 45 45 games. So, I started my 52 game quest by playing G/90 or 75 15 games. I've been trying to round up people to play every week and it's been working quite well.
ReplyDeleteWhen I finish my 52 game quest, I may try to go for 100 games over the next year. However, between a full time career, a family with kids in soccer, band concerts, dance classes and church activities, I have very little chess time.
I think I answered you questions about slow game leagues on FICS ... there is teamleague as well as the STC Bunch.
Hi Tim - yes, the 52 game quest includes tournament games, but I've only done a handful of those (OTB) over the course of the year.