I'll let you know the moment I see any improvement :-)

But in the meantime, how about a fun puzzle?

click for larger view

White to move and mate in 2

This gave me a real headache at the time o_O

the reason I suspected was that most of my energy was going into memorizing and recalling opening variations.. I would play the Sicilian Dragon and be racking my brains to remember the book continuations... but I was not thinking at the board about the position, tactics, strategy etc..

so I made a big change, I decided playing only 1..e5 to 1.e4, 1...d5 to 1.d4 and 1...e6 and more often than not 2...d5 to 1.c4 and other flank opening or say 1.Nf3

this helped my game not for the particular choice of openings per se but since I now was thinking at the board rather than recalling variations..

so my tip for studying openings is think about the moves.. look at possibilities for both sides and with the help of books or engines (though I recommend self study) try and work out the best replies so you actually play through the variations..

this makes openings easier to face OTB since now you understand most of what you play... and if your opponent deviates you have some planned continuation rather than risk being totally at sea

its also good practice to calculate long variations..

for instance in one of my games... I played..

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. f3 c5 now my next move is not exactly a novelty since it transposes to a position that has been played before but rarely..

(the position is more a QID than a NID in flavour since the battle is mainly around e4 and d4 after cxd4..)

so I played 7.Qc2 which helps against Bxc3 and though I will play Nge2 next depending on how Black plays I still have the option of a Botvinnikesque Nh3

If Black plays d5, soon White can play cxd5 and a3 when if Black plays Bxc3 as expected, White can play Qxc3 and put some pressure on the c file

shaving down my openings has been something of a natural process over the last year or so, as I have finally recognized it is impossible for an amateur to play everything they are interested in.

I don't play sicilian anymore in rated games, and only play 1. e4 rarely now as well.

I do try to apporach the openings through ideas whenever possible (which is why I like the Nimzo-Indian so much -lol-) but often it is difficult to find an idea behind a move without sufficent chess understanding :-(

There are a few reasons. Firstly, it's dangerously out of touch in certain lines -- its stats show 50/50 results in a line since discovered to be a forced win for white.

If a line hasn't been played recently, try to find out why. It may just be fashion (like the decline of the Winawer French) but it could have been refuted.

It also helps to have some expert verbal explanation of the main themes of an opening -- as found in the better kind of book.

Joyayo, chigeum- because of Chu Seok party dinner tomorrow with friends...

heh

Glad to hear that. I assume you're still in Korea? Here they don't celebrate chu seok and I really miss there.

(and yes, it's a real chess opening)

<Domdaniel> wrote "But a good idea is to study a particular great player's use of a given opening, eg Korchnoi's French Defences or Kramnik's Catalans."

Very good, but I went a step farther to avoid getting lost in the ocean of possible opening moves. I would pick a grandmaster whose style I liked and who had a well-defined opening repertoire. I collected as many of his games as I could find (this phase is quite easy nowadays of course), sorted them more or less according to the opening, and played them over, studying the ones I found interesting. This way you may not encounter all variations, but the ideas are gradually taking shape and everyone agrees, in this forum also, that that's the most important.

your point about choosing an opening in harmony with your own style is a good one.

I would only add that sometimes temperament does not match up well with abilities.

In my case for example, I spent lots of effort on the Najdorf, I want to play it, but my results are shockingly bad -lol-

So I switch to the Caro-Kann, which sometimes frustrates when I feel I want to attack, but gives me better overall results.

Chess is tough... :-(

Yes I'm still in Korea- so much to love here (like chu-seok!), and so much to weep for.

I'd like to ask your opinion (again) about this sensitive topic- I think you may be uniquely suited to give me insight, given that you are not only bilingual but "bi-cultural" in a sense- having lived in both Korea and America.

Why- why does Korea pretend to maintain traditional Confucian social values- while simultaneously throwing away every aspect of traditional culture (pansori, arirang, han-ok, han-bok, temple architecture, native poetry and art- all of which is sublimely beautiful IMO)- in favor of a delirious embrace of the ABSOLUTE WORST ASPECTS of American pop culture?

I'm sick and tired of going downtown and seeing middle school girls out on a Friday night sporting Mickey Mouse ears and dressed like prostitutes- and why wouldn't they be? That's all they ever see on Korean TV.

There is something truly grotesque and sinister about combining American Kid's Kitsch (Mickey Mouse ears) with frankly pedophilic dress (sexy school girl outfits)--

And to see it in 15 year old girls is simply horrifying.

Then for the other six days a week, of course, these same girls are forced to work 14 hour school days, with some of them doing an extra 2 hours at a hakwon.

????

You know I read yet another poll in the Korea Herald recently that indicated "Over 80% of Koreans feel they are overworked".

I can also tell you from personal experience that forcing students to work 14 hours a day does not "increase" their knowledge. It exhausts them, even the best of them.

On the other hand, I can also tell you that public schools in Canada have shockingly low academic standards- the students are lazy and selfish, and the teachers are grotesquely underqualified.

Korean English teachers are among the most qualified professionals I have ever met in my life- if not the most qualified.

Korea- land of almost schizophrenic contradictions?

<Jim Halpert- dressed up to look like Dwight Shrute> QUESTION: Which is the best bear?

<Dwight Shrute> You can't answer that question, there are competing schools of...

<Jim> FALSE

<Dwight> You can't just...