Fells Point Chess Club

I went to another G/30 tournament at Fells Point Chess Club yesterday, and did not get 0 points again! I played 4 games, and I feel I played ok. I got 1.5 points, but did play 2 masters, so I guess I should be happy. Here are the games:

NN 2204 - Askine 1609
Askine 1609 - NN 1718
NN 1460 - Askine 1609
NN 2206 - Askine 1609

I do feel like I am already playing better than I was earlier in the week. Maybe that is good, or maybe I am crazy. Either way, until next time.

~Kyle

My game from earlier today

I once heard an IM get asked the question "how do you beat lower rated players?" His answer is very interesting, and correct I believe. He said "just give them a lot of choises. Make them choose as much as you can, don't force things, and they will normally make a mistake."

Well today I played a much higher rated player, and I drew. But really I think that his mistake was he didn't mix it up at all. None of my moves were hard to find, and nothing really was happening in the position for most of the game. We were looking at a line after the game that Fritz called even, but it was very dynamic. I think it would have been more correct to go into this even line, where both sides have chances, then to go into the line where he was up half a pawn, but all of my moves were obvious.

However, I am proud of myself because I was up on the clock during the game. When he had the option to mix it up he only had 5 minutes left, while I had 15. This also led to him not wanting to make it complicated. I believe if he had had another 5 minutes on the clock he would have played the complicating move, and would have had more winning chances.

Though, he certainly had no losing chances in the line he played, and if I didn't know my rook endings quite well I certainly could have lost the position, so I can't blame him too much for his decision. Anyways here is the game:

NN 2225 - SirKy 1500*

*Note the above are ICC ratings, which are probably about 200 points higher than the corresponding OTB (Over the Board) ratings would be. Well, except mine because I have played 3 games in that time control, all about 2 years ago.

ICC / Chessninja G/30

I just drew a 2225 rated player on ICC in a G/30. I am pretty happy about this, because that means he is probably an expert OTB. Will post the game later tonight.

For now I'm driving home. I am thinking about going to Fells Point again tomorrow to play in another G/30 tournament.

~Kyle

Game from last night.

Here is my game from last night.

Askine 1609 - NN 1611

Arlington Ladder

I played in the Arlington Ladder tonight. I played a 20 move draw after a Kings Gambit when horribly wrong, and I had to desperately trade down to win his f-pawn. I think he could have held it with g5, but it may have been unclear. Anyways, I'll post the game tomorrow.

Games from last night

Here are the promised games from last night.

Askine 1609 - NN 1900

NN 1512 - Askine 1609

I may or may not go to Arlington Chess Club tonight and try to play a game. It depends on if anything else is going on.

Fells Point Chess Club

I just got back from Fells Point Chess Club, and they had a three round G/30 swiss there tonight. I went 0-2 with a forfeit win. This either means I am not as good as I think I am, or that my opponents got really lucky. Yeah, I think we all know the answer to that. Will post games tomorrow.

First Game!

Here is the game I played last night at the NIH Chess Club in Rockville. Please feel free to post your comments below with your name.

Askine 1609-NN 1662

I will not have the names of any of my opponents posted, but I will have their ratings.

What it's all about

Hi everyone, and thanks for visiting. As some of you may or may not know (well I guess all of you may or may not know) I am going to try to go to the World Open at the beginning of July, and there is a $10,000 First Prize in my section. Starting June 1st my rating is officially going to be 1597 thanks to a dreadful Amateur Team East, and Maryland Open. I feel like I am probably about a 1750 now in strength, and maybe even higher if I play more practically.

Chess is a game, and the object of course is to win. If you are in a tournament to win, this should obviously be your primary objective, with things like "finding the best move" secondary to winning. This is a huge problem I have. When there is a decision before me, that I know only matters a little bit, for example if I should develop my bishop to g4, f5, or d7, I often take forever making it because I am looking at 2937182 lines that all look about the same. I am trying my hardest to understand this, and to just make a move in these situations, so I do not get into time pressure later.

Now if you are playing mainly to improve, and winning is secondary, then perhaps finding the best move you can in the time available is the way to go, but getting into heinous time pressure absoutely kills your winning chances. Believe me, I know. In three DC Chess League matches in a row I had dead winning positions, and blundered a piece in time pressure at the end of the first time control. Luckily my positions were so good before this that I managed 1.5/3 in these games anyway, but if I had had plenty of time to think about my moves I would have gotten 3/3.

To improve on this aspect of my game, as well as my general understanding, I am going to play as much chess as I can in the next month, at all time controls. I am going to post some/all of the serious games I play here with some annotations, and I want you guys to tell me what you think. It will be good for me to go through each game and annotate them all, but it will be wonderful for you guys to look over them and post some opinions too. And if we work together maybe I can come home next July 4th with a nice check.