Your plan of advancing f-and-e pawns also seems to be winning as well though so I guess its just a case of taking your pick!

It seems the more I learn about you, the more I understand why Fischer is your favourite player! I recognize a 'killer instinct' when I see it and I respect that.

In a way I wish I had been more serious like you when I was still improving, I suspect it would have made me a better player. (as it was I was far too frequently the one having my ego crushed, as opposed to doing the crushing LOL)

Fischer has one hell of a lot to answer for I tell you!

Couldn't help it!

Monsieur going to start all over again.

<Nf5> Very strong and enterprising--- I considered the positional squeeze with the K-side pawn advance... Black's basically helpless.

click for larger view

Black has too many problems related to the safety of his king and the uncoordinated placement of his pieces. For example:

23...Ne7 24.Qd2.

23...Ne5 24.Nxb7 (not 24.Qd2?? Nf3+) followed by Bc3 after the bishop retreats.

23...Bxc5 fxg6 Bf8 (or 24...Be7 25.gxf7+ Kxf7 26.Bc3 Re6 27.Bc4 Nd5 28.Qxh7) 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.gxh7+.

Btw, is that the only game you played today?

It looks a little ghostly to see your FEN.

Before I played <20.Nf5>, I calculated the Queen sac line exactly to the FEN position you just posted.

It's like looking at a picture from my brain, seeing it on the page there.

After I reached your FEN position in my brain, this is how "sophisticated" my conclusion was while playing.

<Well I figure I can beat him from here>. I didn't spend even a second trying to calculate the line further before moving on to other thoughts in my "pre-move calculation."

I spent around 15 minutes thinking before making my move here.

If he had in fact gone for the line, then I hope I would have found all your refutations of his potential moves. But who knows what he might have played... it's the "game that never happened"...

My brain is fried right now, so I will "wake myself up" playing out your posted lines on my board before I play tomorrow's game.

Yes, I only played one game today and I did it under "optimal conditions..."

Clean house, clean mind, well rested, well fed, relaxed, excited to play-- and I really took a lot of time on my clock with the Opening and transition into Middle Game.

I went in to the game thinking to myself-- OK-- I'm going to give this my very best effort-- I want to win this game. This one game.

Of course I was tempted to play another-- but I'm glad I didn't. Instead I ran my Shredder over it, posted the critical position, and then I studied chess for maybe six more hours after.

That included viewing some <chess vids>, playing through some <English games> using my computer, Playing through <English lines> with the <OE>, reading a bit of chess history, and making moves in three of my current correspondence games at <letsplaychess.com>.

A long time ago <branko> advised me to play only one game a day if I was playing seriously at a long time control.

It takes some restraint, but same drill tomorrow...

I may play the Black pieces.. but who know, I might be tempted to try another <!.c4>.

Well, about he Blind thing: I think it works miracles for me... I started to use my keyboard more, instead of my mouse, and playing through games from my engine with the arrow keys, and got the luminous idea to disable the board (no squares + pieces visible), but WITH the notation visible, and typing in the moves, practising basic pawn mates--gradually adding a piece or two-- and thus play them out BLIND, all the way to mate... Even the B+N mate with over 25 moves involved in the procedure, I'm managing now... Although I'm very familiar with that one.

I'm becoming less <visually dependent> (or impaired, for that matter)

The big challenge is of course to practise that in more complex and 'unfamiliar' positions...

Just read parts 2 and 3 of your EMU--

I think I'll leave the post I just made, as I think it "gets the job done" and it certainly doesn't break any posting guidelines.

Nor does it break my new resolution to refrain from insulting ANY <CG.com member> ever again in the future.

On a much happier note, I look forward indeed to your treatise on <BLIND> training?

I'm not even sure what you mean...

Mrs. No- Eyes.

Whacka I stayed up all night watching Horror movies and today I made an "executive decision" not to play chess.

I am not afraid to play-- but chess is sacred to me. Even though there are only two days out of each week I can play, I'm not playing when I'm overtired.

So I've been spending my day cleaning my house, and doing "light chess enjoyment."

1. Spent a few hours with the GMAN game

2. Analyzed a few <Kingscrusher> videos.

3. Played through a few the <Great GM Smyslov>'s games he won with <1.c4> using my computer to help me understand. Funny, sometimes "it" didn't understand either!!

HAHAHAAHAHAHAAH

4.. Read a GREAT, GREAT article by the <Great GM Hans Ree> at <chesscafe.com>...

Where he gives a link to this

SIMPLY OUTSTANDING CHESS VIDEO RESOURCE FEATURING THE <incredibly interesting> comments of the <Great GM Viktor Kortchnoi> on computers, styles, openings, experience, humanity, Cheparaniov, suicide, winning, losing, and so much more-

Here is the link--

http://www.nhchess.com/index.html

I wonder why the best chess writers are always <Dutch>?

<Donner, Krabbe, Ree...>

But the blind practise is cool, eh? I started it because I HAD to use the arrow keys, in order to eleviate the muscle= and nervous strain from over-using my mouse, in my right arm.

whopPA!

heh I still don't understand what you mean by the Blind training, or how to do it...

Waiting further instructions via EMU or posted here...

Gosh, you produced that great post at a lightning pace...

heh

No idea to what you might be referring to...

I start every morning with a <pint of aviation fuel>, whether I need it or not...

OK - well, it's just that when using the shredder interface to analyse or play, in order to move the pieces, you HAVE to drag the Piece from one square to the next... BUT IF THE BOARD IS INVISIBLE YOU CAN'T DRAG A PIECE

heh - so I then can just type like: h2e5 and the engine sees the move as Bh2-e5, and then replies... So I just type in the moves, no on-screen board needed! In fact I want to use specifically, to fix a position in my head, vsualize, and play on BLIND by typing in move coordinates to move pieces, and yuse the arrow keys to take back a move if needed...

However, I'll need step by step instructions on how to make the board invisible, and, perhaps more importantly, how to make it visible again after....

No need to hurry with the instructions.

Right-click again, and on TOP in the menu there appears 'board', and after clicking that, the board and pieces re-appear!

Judging by your chess workload <JFQ> you are really serious about improving. I don't know if you have read this before, but one of the main differences between good chess players and poor ones is in the speed of their pattern recognition.

Playing 'blind' is all well and good, but the reason chess-players can do it is not because they remember each move as a 'unit', like a computer, but because they have an incredible 'database' of patterns stored in their memories through experience.

making connections between well know patterns (or spotting them outright) on the board reduces the amount of new information the players brain is having to deal with and so makes both blindfold play and incredibly deep play over the board possible.

My advice would be to work on pattern-recognition as a whole separate area, because it really is worth it! I had an old book on it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it right now. However, I also have a newer book by <Polgar 'Chess 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games'>

It is literally full of short-mates and while they are often easy to solve individually, the idea behind it is not to test your calculating ability, but to cement patterns in your memory so you no-longer have to re-calculate them OTB, but just recognise them.

I can't praise this technique enough, it really works and this book saves you having to collect all these puzzles elsewhere, they are all there for practice in one volume.

***'FOLDING SENTENCES'***

This is how we played it.Let's say you start.On thick paper,you write a sentence, then you pass it to the next man.He responds with one of his own, and folds yours down so it can't be read by the next person.The process is repeated as the page is passed 'round the circle.Each player is only able to see the one sentence written before him.When everyone has had a turn, someone unrolls, and the whole page is read out.Hopefully, there's a little bit of sense, a couple of laughs, and a good time is had by all.

I think this 'game' can be developed into an exercise of interest, nuance, and potential.And this place provides all the furniture that is needed to do that.We will need about a dozen players to start with.

We set a date and then begin.Take the CG quote for that day as the first sentence.Everyone has a number drawn by lot (ie 1-12).Players are told each other's numbers.P1 responds to the quote in his own forum.He heads up his post so that the sentence is not visible on the Chessforum Activity Page.

Now someone has to 'host' this -- it's my idea, so I'll do that, but I want to play next time. I think the game might work this way, but am very keen to hear any improving suggestions.

I'll paste P1's post on to my page and then on to P2's page (suitably headed).When P2 posts his sentence I paste it after P1's ( players may well choose to delete, once their sentence has been acknowledged ).By the time P3 gets his sentence, there is already one 'hidden' and we're off.Players will be asked to post their sentences reasonably promptly, so as to 'keep the ball rolling'.

Once the cycle is completed, we start again.On the second cycle each player gets to see two sentences behind him.On the third, three, and so on.If we do twelve cycles, that will give us 145 sentences.On the last cycle each player will see the eleven previous sentences.

He is not referring to the popular new slasher film <P2> which is set in a Parking Garage.

Anyway, he dropped a whole rook from nowhere, and I mated him 6 moves after that!