I'm starting to play chess more than ever; at least more than I have been playing in the last 10 years ... and I'm enjoying it for now.
The goal of my 52-games per year quest over the last two years was intended to just get myself to play more often. At first I tried to play 75 5 games, 120 5 games and even 60 5 games; but I have since landed upon the realization that shorter, more frequent games was more enjoyable. So, these days I'm playing more 30 5 games.
With that said, I was behind in my effort to play 52 games between September 2012 and August 2013. Over the last few weeks, I really focused on trying to fish for a 30 5 game on FICS. As was usually the case, it was hit and miss ... sometimes I could find a game, but most times I tried, no one was willing to play. Also there have been multiple hackings going on over there the last few weeks. So with that in mind, I decided to give chess.com a whirl.
I downloaded the Android app on my S4 as well as my tablet. And then, on most evenings, after I fire up the app, I'm able to find a 30 5 game relatively quickly. The chess.com app and web interface are just fine and quite reliable. I'm also enjoying the extensive educational content they have on their site. They have live games as well as correspondence games. I just started my first CC game over there today. If ever you want to play me (live or CC), look for me on chess.com. In summary, my days at FICS may be over as I'm contemplating upgrading from a free account on chess.com to one of the paid accounts.
Anyway - back to the 2012-13 season - I was able to complete playing 52 games. I have already kicked off my 2013-14 season, again with the goal of playing a minimum of 52 games. Although, I think I'll end up playing much more than 52 with my preferred 30 5 time control. I'm keeping tabs on my seasonal progress in the link to the right in the section GAME PLAY STATS.
Lastly, I had another great day at ChessTempo ... going 10/10 in my warm-up problems and then 20/20 in my blitz attempts. My performance always seems to by cyclical ... I perform great for a while and then out of no where, I come crashing down. I'm just trying to focus on consistent, good performance.
Showing posts with label 52 Game Quest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 52 Game Quest. Show all posts
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Friday, August 10, 2012
52 Game Quest (2011-12)
So the 2011-12 quest to play 52 games failed. I played 41 games. I could have gotten (maybe) a few more games in, but after the NAS-NAJ Tournament, the wind spilled out of my sails. The tournament didn't cause all of that - rather, it was a combination of the tournament and other events that culminated in a lack of desire to do just about anything.
But, I'm picking the pieces up and the desire is coming back and I'm ready to kick off the 2012-13 quest to play at least 52 games. I'm not going to be so stringent about the time controls I play. I will probably end up playing more G/60 games than any other type.
As usual, leave a comment, send me an email or message on FICS if you want to play a single game or a series.
But, I'm picking the pieces up and the desire is coming back and I'm ready to kick off the 2012-13 quest to play at least 52 games. I'm not going to be so stringent about the time controls I play. I will probably end up playing more G/60 games than any other type.
As usual, leave a comment, send me an email or message on FICS if you want to play a single game or a series.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Game 41
Round 3 wasn't too pretty either. I was paired with an 1810 player. When the games began, my opponent was not there and I didn't have a clock (at least one w/ 5 second delay capability). So I scrambled to borrow one and then got it ticking.
He showed up about 10 minutes later.
Then half way though the game, the power/lights went out for about 30 seconds. That brought some excitement to the place.
So, I lost this game at about the same number of moves of that previous game, only in this game, I was able to last to just over 50 moves. I did a bit better at using more of my clock ... had about 10 minutes left when I resigned. He only used about 20 or 30 minutes on his clock. I could tell he was bored.
I had the white pieces and tried the same sctick as last game.
I didn't play on Sunday, so I ended up going 1-2.
Closing thoughts on this tournament to come ...
He showed up about 10 minutes later.
Then half way though the game, the power/lights went out for about 30 seconds. That brought some excitement to the place.
So, I lost this game at about the same number of moves of that previous game, only in this game, I was able to last to just over 50 moves. I did a bit better at using more of my clock ... had about 10 minutes left when I resigned. He only used about 20 or 30 minutes on his clock. I could tell he was bored.
I had the white pieces and tried the same sctick as last game.
I didn't play on Sunday, so I ended up going 1-2.
Closing thoughts on this tournament to come ...
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Game 40
With my win in round 1, I was "lucky" enough to be paired with player rated 1820 in round 2. He is a chess coach out of Brownsville. It wasn't too pretty. Of course, my sloppy play didn't help much either - nor did the fact that he set the clock for 1 hour 20 minutes (thinking he had set it for 120 minutes). About a half hour in the game, when I noticed I only had 53 minutes left to play, we stopped the game and sorted out the clock issues.
Anyway ... here's the ugly game. I played the white pieces ...
In the post-mortem, he was at least gracious enough to give me a few tips. But his comments made me chuckle ... after going over the first 8 moves or so, he said flat out the game was over for me.
After that, two of his students were sitting around, so we played a bit of blitz - I was smoked easily.
Anyway ... here's the ugly game. I played the white pieces ...
In the post-mortem, he was at least gracious enough to give me a few tips. But his comments made me chuckle ... after going over the first 8 moves or so, he said flat out the game was over for me.
After that, two of his students were sitting around, so we played a bit of blitz - I was smoked easily.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Game 39
Four weeks left in the 52-game quest ... I've got until August 10 to finish up 13 games.
Game 39 is from Round 1 of the NAS-NAJ Open at the Hobby Marriott in Houston. As I said before, I'm a bit doubtful my real USCF rating is 1617. But as it is, I had no other option but to play in the U2000 division - missing the U1600 division by 18 points.
These tournaments are typically at the Hobby Hilton. I think the Marriott is much, much nicer. The place was nicer, newer and cleaner. There is also much more lobby room at the Marriott for people to hang out and play chess.
Before going into the hall, I was able to talk to Dan. He and I were in the Unrated section of the Class Championships a couple of years ago. It was good chatting w/ him again!
We played Round 1 in the same room as the scholastic kids. I showed up w/ no board or clock. So when my opponent didn't show up immediately, I had to borrow a clock so I could get the time moving. He showed up about 5 minutes later and we played.
Here is the game - I had the black pieces ...
The guy I was playing is rated 1749.
After I went up two rooks to one bishop, he decided to resign on move 24. We both had about 44 minutes left on our clocks (G/120 5 delay).
So this was a pretty good win for me - my 2nd best win in my USCF career!
Round 2 and 3 are tomorrow. I'll be taking byes for rounds 4 and 5 on Sunday.
Game 39 is from Round 1 of the NAS-NAJ Open at the Hobby Marriott in Houston. As I said before, I'm a bit doubtful my real USCF rating is 1617. But as it is, I had no other option but to play in the U2000 division - missing the U1600 division by 18 points.
These tournaments are typically at the Hobby Hilton. I think the Marriott is much, much nicer. The place was nicer, newer and cleaner. There is also much more lobby room at the Marriott for people to hang out and play chess.
Before going into the hall, I was able to talk to Dan. He and I were in the Unrated section of the Class Championships a couple of years ago. It was good chatting w/ him again!
We played Round 1 in the same room as the scholastic kids. I showed up w/ no board or clock. So when my opponent didn't show up immediately, I had to borrow a clock so I could get the time moving. He showed up about 5 minutes later and we played.
Here is the game - I had the black pieces ...
The guy I was playing is rated 1749.
After I went up two rooks to one bishop, he decided to resign on move 24. We both had about 44 minutes left on our clocks (G/120 5 delay).
So this was a pretty good win for me - my 2nd best win in my USCF career!
Round 2 and 3 are tomorrow. I'll be taking byes for rounds 4 and 5 on Sunday.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Game 38
Game 38 was another loss. This was the 2nd of 4 games w/ Jabari. You can catch the replay here. I made some whispers during the game.
Move 30 was where I dropped the ball. You can see it to the left, along w/ the times left on our clocks.
Bd7 or b7 would not have been good and there was no where else to put him.
Instead of pushing the pawn, I should have pulled the knight back to g7 and then on to e8 to defend the pawn at d6. I don't know ... I'll have to look at that a bit more.
But once I pushed that pawn, Jabari jumped all over it and then I realized I would lose a pawn. His clock was under a minute, but he played really cool under pressure. I had a bit of counterplay and had some threats, but once the queens came off, it was over.
Anyway - my head's splitting open, it's almost midnight and I have round 1 of an OTB tournament tomorrow night - got to get some sleep.
Bd7 or b7 would not have been good and there was no where else to put him.
Instead of pushing the pawn, I should have pulled the knight back to g7 and then on to e8 to defend the pawn at d6. I don't know ... I'll have to look at that a bit more.
But once I pushed that pawn, Jabari jumped all over it and then I realized I would lose a pawn. His clock was under a minute, but he played really cool under pressure. I had a bit of counterplay and had some threats, but once the queens came off, it was over.
Anyway - my head's splitting open, it's almost midnight and I have round 1 of an OTB tournament tomorrow night - got to get some sleep.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Game 37
Not much to see here ... just more crappy chess. I'm really good at making fast blunders (2.9 seconds in this game). This was solid hope chess at its best. The only redeeming feature of this game was that I even played.
Monday, July 02, 2012
A Race to the Finish (Games 35 & 36 including one w/ Ralph)
We left on vacation several days ago. Knowing that we'd pass through Columbia, SC, I contacted Ralph to see if he'd be up for a game. He could not the first weekend we passed through, but his schedule was open the 2nd weekend.
The game was played on Friday June 29 - right in the middle of the massive heatwave that gripped the East. It was 108 at the time of the game and the motel we were staying at did not have great AC.
Ralph posted the game, as well as his annotations, here.
The game was full of errors on both sides and Ralph does a great job of breaking them down.
Although the play wasn't spectacular, it was great to see a fellow blogger in person and play a game.
While in Myrtle Beach, I played my nephew a game of chess. That one turned out to be a win for me. I would have liked to play lots more games w/ him, but we were busy building sand castles and having fun with the rest of the family.
I did play a lot of 5 3 unrated games at night while trying to fall asleep at night on vacation. A few weeks earlier, I found a nice Droid app called Yafi. It worked great for the dozen or so games I played. I was only disconnected once - which is why I was playing unrated games.
So the race to the finish of the quest begins. I have 5 weeks left to play 16 games. I may not be able to get a whole lot of 75 15 games in during that time, so I will be working to find some G/60 games at FICS at night.
The game was played on Friday June 29 - right in the middle of the massive heatwave that gripped the East. It was 108 at the time of the game and the motel we were staying at did not have great AC.
Ralph posted the game, as well as his annotations, here.
The game was full of errors on both sides and Ralph does a great job of breaking them down.
Although the play wasn't spectacular, it was great to see a fellow blogger in person and play a game.
While in Myrtle Beach, I played my nephew a game of chess. That one turned out to be a win for me. I would have liked to play lots more games w/ him, but we were busy building sand castles and having fun with the rest of the family.
I did play a lot of 5 3 unrated games at night while trying to fall asleep at night on vacation. A few weeks earlier, I found a nice Droid app called Yafi. It worked great for the dozen or so games I played. I was only disconnected once - which is why I was playing unrated games.
So the race to the finish of the quest begins. I have 5 weeks left to play 16 games. I may not be able to get a whole lot of 75 15 games in during that time, so I will be working to find some G/60 games at FICS at night.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Game 34
Jabari, who visits our blogs, contacted me to play a 4 game series. We started the series tonight (game 1 link here). It was one tough game tonight. So I felt I put up a pretty good fight, but I am still weak on seeing everything. I need to take some extra time for triple-checking.
11...Qc7 was a great move on his part. There wasn't really anything I could do to defend. I just needed to see that position a bit earlier in the game.
19. e4 wasn't so great. I saw the Qb+ move a few seconds after I pushed the pawn. Sometimes this happens on Chess Tempo ... I see so many things and then they are all floating up there in my head and I have a hard time organizing my thoughts and keeping track of bad lines and such.
So he took the b2 pawn and I figured I could get some play out of that. I did a little, but he navigated all the various lines well.
23. g4 killed me. I wanted to defend that f5 pawn. I probably should have just went ahead and played Bd1, giving me a chance to defend f5 while still getting a chance to take his c4.
After g4, I saw that h3 was now open for business. It went downhill from there. Since his clock was a little low, I worked a bit at forcing him to win it. But he played quite well and finished me off no problem.
11...Qc7 was a great move on his part. There wasn't really anything I could do to defend. I just needed to see that position a bit earlier in the game.
19. e4 wasn't so great. I saw the Qb+ move a few seconds after I pushed the pawn. Sometimes this happens on Chess Tempo ... I see so many things and then they are all floating up there in my head and I have a hard time organizing my thoughts and keeping track of bad lines and such.
So he took the b2 pawn and I figured I could get some play out of that. I did a little, but he navigated all the various lines well.
23. g4 killed me. I wanted to defend that f5 pawn. I probably should have just went ahead and played Bd1, giving me a chance to defend f5 while still getting a chance to take his c4.
After g4, I saw that h3 was now open for business. It went downhill from there. Since his clock was a little low, I worked a bit at forcing him to win it. But he played quite well and finished me off no problem.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Game 33
My scheduled opponent didn't show tonight. So I fired up Chessmaster and played my nemesis Seb. I was 0-3 against him, but tonight I finally won. He made one of those dumb moves early on, but this time the outcome was different. Instead of falling into his traps and losing a won game, I finally won it tonight.
There's not much to discuss on this one. I was able to defend adequately and then trade pieces until I had just my knight and a few pawns on the board compared to his pawns and king. I continued to trade pawns - using my knight to defend and ultimately promote a pawn. From there, it was a QK vs. K ending.
Hopefully my opponent can play tomorrow night as I have another open evening.
There's not much to discuss on this one. I was able to defend adequately and then trade pieces until I had just my knight and a few pawns on the board compared to his pawns and king. I continued to trade pawns - using my knight to defend and ultimately promote a pawn. From there, it was a QK vs. K ending.
Hopefully my opponent can play tomorrow night as I have another open evening.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Game 32
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.
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.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Game 31
I missed the last of our 4 games with tommyg on Friday night - it was a hectic day. We are trying to work out a time to play that 4th game.
Tonight I played game 2 with gatoruss (replayed here). The first game last week was pretty ugly. I replayed that game a few times today and it was painful. But tonight's game had a different outcome. It was pretty interesting in the beginning and then he played 18...Nxe3? I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. But from then on, I just worked to try to trade pieces. He made a second blunder with 24...g4. My knight was pinned to my king by his queen and then he advanced the pawn attacking my knight. But that left my queen to deliver check and then retake the pawn at g4. At that point, I was up a bishop and knight. He tried a few checks, but I secured the king and he resigned.
Game 3 with him may be next week, but being Memorial Day, we may delay game 3 until June 4.
Hey you Europeans ... check out my post on brunch and chess! I'm up about the time you guys are having a late breakfast or early lunch - why not play a G/60 with me?
Tonight I played game 2 with gatoruss (replayed here). The first game last week was pretty ugly. I replayed that game a few times today and it was painful. But tonight's game had a different outcome. It was pretty interesting in the beginning and then he played 18...Nxe3? I'm not quite sure what he was thinking. But from then on, I just worked to try to trade pieces. He made a second blunder with 24...g4. My knight was pinned to my king by his queen and then he advanced the pawn attacking my knight. But that left my queen to deliver check and then retake the pawn at g4. At that point, I was up a bishop and knight. He tried a few checks, but I secured the king and he resigned.
Game 3 with him may be next week, but being Memorial Day, we may delay game 3 until June 4.
Hey you Europeans ... check out my post on brunch and chess! I'm up about the time you guys are having a late breakfast or early lunch - why not play a G/60 with me?
Monday, May 14, 2012
Game 30
Game 30 was game 1 in a new series - this time with gatoruss. Not much to see in this game - just total crap on my part. I guess one shouldn't multi-task when playing a game. On the bright side, I had a pretty good night on ChessTempo. Once I knew the game was lost, I logged on to CT and got a small bump in my blitz rating.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Game 29
Game 29 was the fourth with Nygren. Full game here.
In our postmortem, he asked me what I was thinking when I moved 9...c5. My thought, at that point of the game, was to try to open up the middle or move it along to c4. I also wanted to get my rook on the c file. He said that it wasn't a good move because it created an isolated pawn (on d5). He was right. I could not defend it well after. He also noted that I should not have have been trading pieces with an isolated pawn; but that I should be supporting it and trying to advance it. So, I was going about it all wrong. But I really welcomed the feedback. After doing a full analysis with Fritz 11, it didn't have any feedback for me on that move.
The next part I wanted to look at was 12...Nce4. Fritz 11 gives me a =+, but I didn't quite pull off the pawn capture like I was thinking. He responded 13. Rc1 followed by my Bg4. Instead of Bg4, I should have captured his knight with 13...Nxc3 14. Rxc3 Rxc3 15. bxc3 h6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 and I'd still be slightly better ... I could still attempt to capture the c-pawn with Qc7. But instead of playing 13...Nxc3, I played Bg4 and you can see this resulted in the opening of my castled king as well as going down a pawn. From that point on, I struggled to stay in the game.
The game continued - his rook and queen were playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with my king. I was trying desperately to get my queen back into the thick of things. It was looking pretty clear he was going to win, and so I decided to try to last for as many moves as I possibly could; even trying to get a perpetual check so as to draw the game. He was able to trade rooks with me and win my other glimpse of hope - a pawn with a wide-open file ahead of him. Now he had a pawn in the middle heading to be queened. My king was stuffed to the side and I was trying to get a perpetual check. After moving 37...Qc5, I was expecting him to play either h4 or Qh8+. After that, His pawn could just saunter on down. But he played g4+ after which I played fxg3+. 39. Qxg3 would have been fine, but he played Kxg3?? after which I finished it off with Qg1#.
I felt badly for him. The game was his except for that blunder. He was very gracious in the postmortem and I was very appreciative of him playing me those four games and going over them.
My pool of people to play is about to dry up. I need more players to play! I'd prefer to play a 4-game series of 75 15 games, but one-off games are perfectly ok too. G/60, 45 45, G/90 ... whatever ... just that it's a longish game. I'll play pretty much anyone ... I think I'd have to draw the line at 1875. If you're around the 1875, give or take 25 rating points, I'm not sure I'd be of any use other than to be utterly humiliated :-) ... but if you're 1875 or below, I'd be willing to take a shot.
Leave a comment if you want to play; or shoot me an email at hotmail dot com.
The next part I wanted to look at was 12...Nce4. Fritz 11 gives me a =+, but I didn't quite pull off the pawn capture like I was thinking. He responded 13. Rc1 followed by my Bg4. Instead of Bg4, I should have captured his knight with 13...Nxc3 14. Rxc3 Rxc3 15. bxc3 h6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 and I'd still be slightly better ... I could still attempt to capture the c-pawn with Qc7. But instead of playing 13...Nxc3, I played Bg4 and you can see this resulted in the opening of my castled king as well as going down a pawn. From that point on, I struggled to stay in the game.
I felt badly for him. The game was his except for that blunder. He was very gracious in the postmortem and I was very appreciative of him playing me those four games and going over them.
My pool of people to play is about to dry up. I need more players to play! I'd prefer to play a 4-game series of 75 15 games, but one-off games are perfectly ok too. G/60, 45 45, G/90 ... whatever ... just that it's a longish game. I'll play pretty much anyone ... I think I'd have to draw the line at 1875. If you're around the 1875, give or take 25 rating points, I'm not sure I'd be of any use other than to be utterly humiliated :-) ... but if you're 1875 or below, I'd be willing to take a shot.
Leave a comment if you want to play; or shoot me an email at hotmail dot com.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Game 28
Game 28 (replayed here) was against Tommyg again - our third of four. I'm up 3-0 now. It was a fairly even-keeled game ... no exploding fireworks. I had a couple of long thinks on move 13 and 29. But besides those, my thinking was fairly quick and concise.
Towards the end, I felt I had it wrapped up a couple of times, only for Tommy to pull out another move that made me pause and ponder. He put up a really good fight.
I had to delay my game today with nygren ... my son's friend and his dad invited us to see the new stadium the Houston Dynamo are playing in. We had to leave a bit early this morning and I wasn't sure if I started the game with nygren if we'd finish in time before we had to leave. So that game is tomorrow morning.
Towards the end, I felt I had it wrapped up a couple of times, only for Tommy to pull out another move that made me pause and ponder. He put up a really good fight.
I had to delay my game today with nygren ... my son's friend and his dad invited us to see the new stadium the Houston Dynamo are playing in. We had to leave a bit early this morning and I wasn't sure if I started the game with nygren if we'd finish in time before we had to leave. So that game is tomorrow morning.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Games 26 & 27
So far, the chess this weekend has not been aesthetically beautiful - blunders have abounded thus far.
Game 26 was against Tommyg - I had the black pieces. The game can be replayed here. The game was fairly even, but he had his queenside pawns ready for the attack. This worried me the entire game. But I was able to get the kingside opened up a bit and the slip my queen into his territory. Then he played 34. Ra2? As the rook sat on a1, it was already defended and in no danger. So I was able to deliver check and then capture the rook. 38. Qxa7 also seemed like a mistake - taking another defender out of the picture. This allowed for a quicker checkmate. The Tommyg series is 2-0 now.
Game 27 was ugly. This game was against Nygren and it was barf-o-rific from the start. The game can be replayed here. I probably should have resigned earlier, but this game only went 29 moves. I had the white pieces in this game. He played the KID. I played the SOL opening. 9. h3 was wrong as evidenced by the game. 9. Bh4 is the better move. When I was looking at this move, I saw him playing g5 and then possibly getting the knight and bishop forked, plus the possibility of the pawns fully storming the side. On the other hand, with 9. h3, I saw my h-file opening up; my rooks doubling and a fantastic storming of his castled king - all delusions of grandeur. By the 13th move, it was certain I would lose a knight. I went into blitz mode, which in my state of mind was suicide and very low quality analysis. So the Nygren series is now 1-2. This one has the feel of the stevelco series - where I was lucky to come off with a win in game one and then get stomped the remainder of the games.
The only consolation for me is that the overall goal of getting in 52 games in a year is progressing. I fell behind early on in the quest, but I've been cutting into the "games behind" stat. I'm only 10 games behind schedule now. I've now passed the mid-way point as well.
Game 26 was against Tommyg - I had the black pieces. The game can be replayed here. The game was fairly even, but he had his queenside pawns ready for the attack. This worried me the entire game. But I was able to get the kingside opened up a bit and the slip my queen into his territory. Then he played 34. Ra2? As the rook sat on a1, it was already defended and in no danger. So I was able to deliver check and then capture the rook. 38. Qxa7 also seemed like a mistake - taking another defender out of the picture. This allowed for a quicker checkmate. The Tommyg series is 2-0 now.
Game 27 was ugly. This game was against Nygren and it was barf-o-rific from the start. The game can be replayed here. I probably should have resigned earlier, but this game only went 29 moves. I had the white pieces in this game. He played the KID. I played the SOL opening. 9. h3 was wrong as evidenced by the game. 9. Bh4 is the better move. When I was looking at this move, I saw him playing g5 and then possibly getting the knight and bishop forked, plus the possibility of the pawns fully storming the side. On the other hand, with 9. h3, I saw my h-file opening up; my rooks doubling and a fantastic storming of his castled king - all delusions of grandeur. By the 13th move, it was certain I would lose a knight. I went into blitz mode, which in my state of mind was suicide and very low quality analysis. So the Nygren series is now 1-2. This one has the feel of the stevelco series - where I was lucky to come off with a win in game one and then get stomped the remainder of the games.
The only consolation for me is that the overall goal of getting in 52 games in a year is progressing. I fell behind early on in the quest, but I've been cutting into the "games behind" stat. I'm only 10 games behind schedule now. I've now passed the mid-way point as well.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Game 25
The march to 52 games before the end of August continues. I'm reaching the half-way point with my next game. I may try to troll the FICS seek board tomorrow for a 60 0 or 60 15 game.
So game 25 was my second game with nygren. You can review the whole game here (annotated by the FICS DB). This game was a fight for inches. I ran this through Fritz 11 and it appears that I did ok in the opening, but still lacking. There were a few spots I could have done better on. I should have played 4...Bxc3+. Maybe that would have helped a bit. Alternatively, as nygren suggests, I could have played 4...Nf6. So, as usual, there is plenty of room for improvement in the opening.
The center was in dispute up to move 15 or so. His smooth play won him a pawn and allowed him to dominate the center. I tried gaining some ground back with my N, but then he played 21. c4. I withdrew with 21...Nb6 and then he played the correct 22. d5 getting a ! from Fritz 11.
The game was still not out of hand for me yet, but he kept constant pressure; traded queens and then gobbled pawns. In the end, I tried a few tricks ... but they were just that - tricks and he saw right through them. So then I went into "infinite resistance" mode to try to force him to checkmate me. But his sly play was too good. I would be forced to trade rooks after which he would queen. At that point, I resigned.
This series is tied 1-1 now.
As always, please let me know if you want to enter a 4-game series with me (75 15 games on FICS). I usually play on the weekends at 03:30 FICS and at 18:30 FICS on weeknights. If 75 15 is too long for you, I'd be happy playing a G/60 or a 60 15.
The center was in dispute up to move 15 or so. His smooth play won him a pawn and allowed him to dominate the center. I tried gaining some ground back with my N, but then he played 21. c4. I withdrew with 21...Nb6 and then he played the correct 22. d5 getting a ! from Fritz 11.
The game was still not out of hand for me yet, but he kept constant pressure; traded queens and then gobbled pawns. In the end, I tried a few tricks ... but they were just that - tricks and he saw right through them. So then I went into "infinite resistance" mode to try to force him to checkmate me. But his sly play was too good. I would be forced to trade rooks after which he would queen. At that point, I resigned.
This series is tied 1-1 now.
As always, please let me know if you want to enter a 4-game series with me (75 15 games on FICS). I usually play on the weekends at 03:30 FICS and at 18:30 FICS on weeknights. If 75 15 is too long for you, I'd be happy playing a G/60 or a 60 15.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Game 24
Tommyg and I started a 4-game series of 75 15 matches tonight. The first game was a bit of a nail-biter. You can replay the whole game here. The opening was pretty good on both sides - no major slip-ups that I saw. I was getting settled in when he decided to send this queen side pawns down the side. I held them off pretty good, but then he played 12...Ne4; a real tricky move that could have gone disastrous (for me) quite quickly. I had to take his N with my N, but then I could see I would be able to gain a pawn ... except for his playing 14...f6 which would dislodge my N and allow the game to remain even.
But I paused and pondered a bit. I tried finding imaginary positions ... I found one. I started working out the details and it would seem I could go up two pawns. I played 15. Qg4 with the idea that I could get the e6 and b5 pawns. It worked out; and we even traded queens.
Since I still had all my pawns and he only had 3, I needed to figure out a way to queen one of them.
So they started trudging up the side. He tried to get some counter play going with his N, but inevitably, the N would be mine. I kept constant pressure on until he resigned on move 33. I took his B with one of my Rs and then one of my pawns was going to come out a Q.
So a good first battle. We plan on playing next week at the same time.
Game 25 is only a few hours away (with nygren). I need to get some shut-eye for the big match tomorrow morning.
Since I still had all my pawns and he only had 3, I needed to figure out a way to queen one of them.
So they started trudging up the side. He tried to get some counter play going with his N, but inevitably, the N would be mine. I kept constant pressure on until he resigned on move 33. I took his B with one of my Rs and then one of my pawns was going to come out a Q.
So a good first battle. We plan on playing next week at the same time.
Game 25 is only a few hours away (with nygren). I need to get some shut-eye for the big match tomorrow morning.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Game 23
The last of the 4-game series with silencehunter was quite a battle; lasting 47 moves before he resigned (link to game).
The game was fairly even most of the game. By move 12, the center was opening up; 5 moves later, we exchanged knights; another 5 moves later we exchanged queens; then on move 29, I thought he blundered, by surrendering his bishop, but actually it was a pretty good move - I took the B and he was able to recapture my N 3 moves later.
By this point, we entered the end game. By move 35, he had about 10 minutes on his clock to my 40.
I played 36...h5 attacking his N. The idea was to push it to c2 and then pin it. But then he played 37. e5? and I promptly played 37... Rd1+ and the N was mine. He kept up the fight and was trying to do something with his remaining pawns. But I was up in material and the clock was on my side. He resigned on move 47 when my pawn was about to queen.
So I won the series 2.5 to 1.5. We agreed to another 4-game series starting in a couple of weeks.
Also, tommyg has agreed to play a 4-game series as well. Those games should start next week.
The game was fairly even most of the game. By move 12, the center was opening up; 5 moves later, we exchanged knights; another 5 moves later we exchanged queens; then on move 29, I thought he blundered, by surrendering his bishop, but actually it was a pretty good move - I took the B and he was able to recapture my N 3 moves later.
I played 36...h5 attacking his N. The idea was to push it to c2 and then pin it. But then he played 37. e5? and I promptly played 37... Rd1+ and the N was mine. He kept up the fight and was trying to do something with his remaining pawns. But I was up in material and the clock was on my side. He resigned on move 47 when my pawn was about to queen.
So I won the series 2.5 to 1.5. We agreed to another 4-game series starting in a couple of weeks.
Also, tommyg has agreed to play a 4-game series as well. Those games should start next week.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Game 22
I've started another 4-game match with a willing participant - Nygren.
This series started off with a win for me. The game can be replayed here.
It got really wild in the opening and I figured I had messed up again. It also started off really fast. It was almost blitz speed. But I was able to flush his king out of the pocket early and then was able to apply constant pressure with my Q and knight.
After he moved 16...Qb6 threatening Qxe3+ or otherwise trying to offer the exchange of queens, I took 23 minutes and 43 seconds trying to decide whether to pull the trigger or to continue adding pressure. I wasn't sure which line was (if any) was safe. I looked at Qf7+ quite a bit. I figured the K would end up at b8 and it would be a tough fight trying to extricate him from that square ... plus, if the air went out of my attack, my own K was quite exposed. So then I started thinking about other options and Bb5 came up. It defended the e3 pawn, attacked his knight. Plus, I figured I could get my rooks doubled up on the d-file and the odds of attack were pretty good. But again, I was worried that his K would fully escape; that I'd lose pieces; that my K would be unsafe. So I took a really long time on this move. Not sure what Fritz says yet, but it'll be interesting to see what he thinks.
So after Bb5, he played the expected Ne5 and I followed up with Rd1. Then he played Qa5+ ... I was actually happy about this move ... it would let my king get off the back rank to let the other R into the game. Then he played 19...Kf6 attacking my N. Another decision ... do I pull the trigger or defend the N? I figured his K was essentially trapped at this point if I defended the N. After h4, he had to defend against my Qe6#. He played 20...Qb6.
I figured I needed another couple of moves to really set this up. So I played 21. Rd7 - figuring if he took with the N, I could deliver check with my Q; my B is still attacking d7; I could swing the other R over to d and my N is still providing cover. He responded 21...Rc2+ - caught me a bit by surprise. I really had no choice but to play Kd1. Afterward, he was analyzing the game and said that 22...Rc4 was probably better. But instead he played to double the rooks and that left my N to finish the game.
Game 23 is tomorrow against silencehunter - for all the marbles (or a draw). It's tied 1.5 to 1.5.
As always, if anyone still reading this blog wants to join a 4-game series (75 15) with me, let me know. Message me on FICS, leave a comment, email me at hotmail (my handle at hotmail.com) and we can schedule.
This series started off with a win for me. The game can be replayed here.
After he moved 16...Qb6 threatening Qxe3+ or otherwise trying to offer the exchange of queens, I took 23 minutes and 43 seconds trying to decide whether to pull the trigger or to continue adding pressure. I wasn't sure which line was (if any) was safe. I looked at Qf7+ quite a bit. I figured the K would end up at b8 and it would be a tough fight trying to extricate him from that square ... plus, if the air went out of my attack, my own K was quite exposed. So then I started thinking about other options and Bb5 came up. It defended the e3 pawn, attacked his knight. Plus, I figured I could get my rooks doubled up on the d-file and the odds of attack were pretty good. But again, I was worried that his K would fully escape; that I'd lose pieces; that my K would be unsafe. So I took a really long time on this move. Not sure what Fritz says yet, but it'll be interesting to see what he thinks.
So after Bb5, he played the expected Ne5 and I followed up with Rd1. Then he played Qa5+ ... I was actually happy about this move ... it would let my king get off the back rank to let the other R into the game. Then he played 19...Kf6 attacking my N. Another decision ... do I pull the trigger or defend the N? I figured his K was essentially trapped at this point if I defended the N. After h4, he had to defend against my Qe6#. He played 20...Qb6.
I figured I needed another couple of moves to really set this up. So I played 21. Rd7 - figuring if he took with the N, I could deliver check with my Q; my B is still attacking d7; I could swing the other R over to d and my N is still providing cover. He responded 21...Rc2+ - caught me a bit by surprise. I really had no choice but to play Kd1. Afterward, he was analyzing the game and said that 22...Rc4 was probably better. But instead he played to double the rooks and that left my N to finish the game.
Game 23 is tomorrow against silencehunter - for all the marbles (or a draw). It's tied 1.5 to 1.5.
As always, if anyone still reading this blog wants to join a 4-game series (75 15) with me, let me know. Message me on FICS, leave a comment, email me at hotmail (my handle at hotmail.com) and we can schedule.
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