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Apr-22-12
 | | morfishine: Good Evening <Patriot>! Here is an interesting article on openings by IM Greg Shahade http://main.uschess.org/content/vie...
Very good, in my view :) |
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| Apr-23-12 | | LIFE Master AJ: 
click for larger view It is Black to move here ...
the second player is down an exchange and should be losing. Is there any way that Black can save himself here? |
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Apr-23-12
 | | Patriot: <LMAJ> I would say 1...Rxh3+ is the answer. 2.Kxh3 Qd3+ forces mate. 3.Kh4 Qg3#; 3.Kh2 Qg3+ 4.Kh1 Qh4#; 3.g3 Qxg3#. Interposing the bishop with 3.Be3 makes no difference. 2.gxh3 Qf2+ 3.Kh1 Ng3# |
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| Apr-24-12 | | LIFE Master AJ: <Patriot> Good job, as usual. (I missed it.) |
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Apr-24-12
| | Patriot: <LMAJ> That would be easy to miss during a game, with the clock counting down. But it's also a tricky puzzle. |
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Apr-28-12
| | morfishine: Good evening <Patriot>! Much apologies for overlooking your post of 4/22. Very good and glad you enjoyed the Shahade article.
I'm a big believer in speed chess (5-min), but only as it supports and improves ones play in regular time controls (ie: 40/2)...besides its fun! There's no doubt it increases calculating speed, which can only help in regular time controls. The argument over 5-min chess is quite polarized with one side saying it can harm your regular play while the other says its only a tool. I fall in the latter group. I like to site the fact that Fischer was a great speed player who could go on playing all night long with no detriment to his regular game. One must not become discouraged when one loses a speed game: Have a laugh, and set them up again! On a final note, I beat two 2000+ players in succession to finally break over 1800 at 5-min, so perhaps I am on my way! Sure feels good to get over that '1750' 5-min obstacle! :) |
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Apr-30-12
| | morfishine: <Patriot> Well, you got your money back, so that adds to the fun! Time is so important in chess, that one could almost argue its the most important factor. Luckily, there are a number of ways to conserve precious time that we've identified: (1) Consciously moving briskly in non-critical positions (2) Physical/mental exercises to increase calculating speed (3) Becoming proficient in a few, favorite openings & (4) Problem study to enhance pattern recognition. Add any if I've forgotten something Kotov's comment goes a long way in describing the patron's here at <CG>: There is a solid percentage of chess enthusiasts who love the exercise of solving chess problems. Time is not a factor. Working out the solution is all that matters. However, the aspiring player is working on time management constantly; otherwise he'd lose every game, lost in thought. |
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May-04-12
| | morfishine: Good morning <Patriot>! Glad you are trying some 5-min exercise games and getting some value. Stuff will always be missed, but keep in mind, there's a difference between 'missing' a move and stubbornly following a plan you have in mind: As long as it leads to a 'W', thats all that matters Wow, 98-moves! The longest 5-min I played was 80-moves. I won on time by 2 or 3-seconds. I had B+2 pawns vs Q and was able to keep inching up the board, all the while blocking his checks, until time ran out. Those sure are fun |
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May-14-12
| | morfishine: Hello <Patriot>! How goes it? Nothing new or noteworthy here, just mulling along, reading a few books, and watching the Anand/Gelfand match. Not really sure what to make of the match. Will say I do not agree with such a short format. I mean 12-games? PLEEZZZ!! If 24 is too much and the argument is for 12, then split the difference and use 18 (which IMHO is a bare minimum). |
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May-15-12
| | morfishine: Good morning <Patriot>! One game per night seems reasonable; Thats good you feel you are playing faster: Of course, this goes without saying, but I can't resist: Use the time to analyze ON HIS TIME (more bang for the buck) I meant to ask you (1) "Are there increments?" I don't think I've ever played with increments & (2) Are you making an effort to condense your openings with a view to saving time? I know you will do well! Let the opponents bad luck be your good luck! |
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May-15-12
| | morfishine: <Patriot> Well, I hope your tournament goes well this week. What I meant by 'condense' your openings was to specialize on lets say the KID as Black against <d4> or the Sicilian against <e4>, or whatever you feel comfortable with; Even if for just awhile, you may find yourself in favorable positions, game after game. Saves time too |
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| May-16-12 | | LIFE Master AJ: Nice annotated game - in three parts - on my player page. (Good notes.) IF you are interested ...
BTW, GL in your tournament. |
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May-16-12
 | | David2009: Nicely-told (and well put) story against yourself today in C T Goering vs E Schallopp, 1877. Good luck with your tournaments! I think Morf hits the nail on the head with his advice to concentrate on a few openings. |
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| May-17-12 | | LIFE Master AJ: I want to tell you a story. (All true.)
About 3-5 years ago, not sure when, I played a guy in one-minute chess. I thought he was my friend, but he beat me and went blabbing everywhere how I was all washed up. (We mostly played 1-0, I would usually be winning on material, but I would lose on time.) This bothered me somewhat. So, ever since, I have been training at 1-0. (I lay off usually the last 2-3 weeks before a tournament, no speed/blitz at all.) My goal was to become proficient at the 1-0 time limit. I did not care if someone beat me by making horrible moves ... however, I wanted to get to the point where I could say I was pretty good at 1-0. Obviously, I can beat nearly everyone at my club, so it would have to be on the Internet. I also tried to do tactics 2-4 hours ... every single day. I am "FLchessplayer" on www.chess.com. I now have over 200 medals (1st thru 3rd) in on-line tournaments, 95% (or better) have been 1-0 tournaments. My goal was also to TRY and learn how to play good moves ... no matter what the time limit. (I also looked upon it as training ... I have lost a few tournament games by making a bad error when very short of time ... so I view this as training for "crunch time" in a real game.) Of course, just about all tournaments are "SUDDEN DEATH" nowadays ... Here is a game played today:
punkkiler (1303) - FLchessplayer (1999)
1-0 LC tourn. / Chess.com, 16,05,2012.
1.e4 e5; 2.Nf3 Nc6; 3.Bc4 Bc5; 4.Nc3 d6; 5.0-0 a6; 6.Na4 Ba7; 7.Bb3 Nf6; 8.Nc3 h6; 9.a3 Bg4; 10.Ba2 Nd4; 11.Nd5 Nxd5; 12.exd5 Qf6; 
click for larger view Black is already winning ... and I went on to win easily. 13.d3 Nxf3+; 14.gxf3 Bxf3; 15.Qd2 Qg6+; 16.Qg5 hxg5; 17.Bxg5 Qxg5# 0-1 I also only used around 10-15 seconds for the whole game. Obviously my opponent could have played a LOT better, but that is not the point. For me, the question is: A.) Force myself to play many openings that I do not normally play. B.) Would I be happy with these moves in an OTB (USCF-rated tournament) game? (Yes!) All this was played in a 1-0 tournament, there was NO increment. What do you think? |
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| May-17-12 | | LIFE Master AJ: I guess the point of my story is that EVERYTHING you do can be considered training ... if you take it seriously enough. |
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May-20-12
| | morfishine: Good morning <Patriot>! Your notes on your game dove-tail almost exactly with comments by Yusupov (ref his book: "Training for the Tournament Player"). In it, he cites one of his students who had a really nice line worked-out, but backed-off due to uncertainty. He eventually won after a struggle but it turned out his first idea was sound, and he would've won much faster. Great that you won anyways, thats what really matters. There's nothing wrong with keeping the win in hand [following a more conservative line.] I don't think this constitutes a real 'flaw in logic'. After all you won. Could be just a minor confidence issue (since you see whats best.) You see it, go for it! Thanks for the congrats on the game! I count myself fortunate due to the irregular nature of the opening. The PM should reveal some interesting subtleties (besides the outright mistakes!) :) |
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May-20-12
| | morfishine: Hi <Patriot>! I meant to ask, how did your other games go? On your comment <16...Rxc3! was a really nice exchange sac!> Thanks! I felt it was practically forced; My plan to mobilize quickly with <10...h5> had backfired since the K-rook couldn't develop safely along the h-file, and with the c-pawn gone, the Q-side was no place to castle; I felt I had a poor position because castling K-side looked awful. I was worried I wouldn't be able to move the K-rook at all. In essence, I had to resort to tactics, try to relieve some pressure in the center, and play on his e-pawn. Luckily, most of my problems were solved when I finally was able to castle (on move 29!). I won't follow that plan again, thats for sure (its a questionable plan with the light-square bishops off...) |
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May-20-12
| | morfishine: Last Call <Patriot>! I went over your latest diagram and thats a doozy! Sure was a 'golden opportunity': A real fascinating position: The line you missed would've forced the Queen into uncomfortable squares (since the Knight would've occupied an escape square) while in the second line (winning the exchange), the knight is left hanging like a ripe orange: the whole issue here hovers around that knight in both lines; maybe thats something to consider: knights can make juicy targets since they are slow and can't juke away like a Bishop or rook plus they have limited squares...very interesting; Thanks for displaying that position!
BTW: I tried to imagine what I would do in that position (even though I saw it all) and I came up with this: My first impulse would be <Rxc5> with a view to <Rxc8> and trying to regain the exchange or win material; Since I can't do that immediately, I then looked at <dxc5> and noticed that the knight can occupy the square vacated by the pawn. That was my thought process |
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May-21-12
| | morfishine: Good morning <Patriot> Meant to add, that in the line you followed, that was a really cool way to win the exchange |
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May-24-12
| | David2009: <Patriot> thanks for re-visiting. How is the weekly tournament going? Are you ready to post any game scores? Good luck! <sevenseaman> posts some excellent problems on his forum but alas! They are much more beautiful and striking than the everyday thud-and-blunder positions that I meet when playing - and which I all too frequently fail either to recognise (when attacking) or avoid (when defending). |
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May-27-12
| | morfishine: Good evening <Patriot>! Well, how did your tournament turn out? |
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May-28-12
| | Patriot: <morf>/<David2009>, hello! I played the first two rounds and won both. Tomorrow is the last round but I will most likely miss out. My mom had a mild stroke Saturday but has been improving a lot. Depending on test results, she may even get to go home tomorrow. It's been a very stressful weekend. I'm convinced that I need to go back to basics on tactics. That sounds strange after doing over 95,000 tactics on CTS, but as I told someone else, that's like trying to paint a wall by randomly putting splotches on the wall--helpful but not thorough or efficient. I think that by practicing very easy patterns repeatedly it will help solidify this area of my game. Here's a position in my last round where I was winning but yet missed a combination (white to play): 
click for larger viewIt looks really easy from a puzzle perspective, doesn't it? All I could think about was "trade while ahead" and play 13.Bg5 (which is what happened). But noticing the x-ray of queen on the unprotected knight should have given away 13.Nxe5! This illustrates that this simple pattern was not readily available, which is my point. And after 13.Bg5 Bg7, the shot was still there but again I didn't see it: 
click for larger view14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Bxf6 wins again. At least I noticed a simplification in this position: 
click for larger view42.Rc7+! Rxc7 43.Nd5+ Kd7 44.Nxc7 Kxc7 45.Kc4, which is an easily winning K&P endgame. |
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May-29-12
| | David2009: Hi <Patriot> thanks for sharing this. May I send every good wish for your mother's full and speedy recovery. This sort of thing puts chess into its proper perspective. Best regards, David |
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May-31-12
| | morfishine: Good afternoon <Patriot>! I am so glad your mother is improving so quickly. These things are such a shock. It sounds like she suffered a TIA, which my Dad was afflicted with. It also sounds like you are doing good. I am glad your stress levels have been reduced and I wish your mother the best in her recovery. Best always, Mark |
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Jun-03-12
| | morfishine: Good Evening <Patrtiot> I hope your mother is progressing in a positive way. Its very hard to translate emotions into real words when it comes to those you love the most. Instead of trying to use a number of synonyms, all I can say is that there are those you can lean on, talk to, unload on...Anytime Morf |
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