some lessons it explains the value of a move if its a reasonable alternative. Some however it just says "this is not what i was looking for" with no explanation. Depends on the author. Generally i think it's a nice tool

I've made BobJoeJim an admin on there as well.

Second match looks like it should be more interesting..

First match is more interesting than it should be on my end, lol. I don't know what the policy is, or should be, on commenting on games in progress? Obviously we shouldn't comment on anyone ELSE'S games, since that would be giving them unfair advice, but is it acceptable for us to discuss our own games? Knowing that noone else will comment on our ramblings until after it's over? Or should we just wait and only post/discuss completed games?

As long as we don't give advice/and/or suggest variations, seems okay?

Did some prep on my opponent with my white game. Expecting 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 (caro-kann)

I'd say as long as no advice is given or asked for it's ok. Obv discussion afterwards is welcome/encouraged and no doubt needed

second opponent seems really strong and i'd say most likely an engine user. he has a lot of timeouts tho so i have a chance got a good variation of the catalan as white and a berlin, which i think is a good opening in a corres game vs an engine, as black, so i'm still pretty optimistic

Match 1, game 1, I'm white...feeling pretty good about this game:

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7315/chessy.png

Since this is correspondence, are we allowed to use engines?

Because that would obv make the entire game very, very different.

Engines are stricly forbidden

No you're not allowed. Many do tho, I have a good nose for them and a healthy dose of paranoia

yeah, I reckon easily half the players there over 2200 or so are using an engine (some of them every move, some of them a little more subtlely).

They do ban people for it, but not very aggressively. Even GM Julio Becerra, a staff member or contributing author there, got banned from another cc site allegedly for engine use.

Was checking up on how we're doing, your game as Black went 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.Nf3 Don't forget to play 4.-dxe4/Be7/Bb4 the next time

haha yeah, I don't know what happened, I was at work or in a rush or something, and I messed my move order up...normally after Bg5, I play the Bb4 line, then, after e5, I play h6...sometimes I play the line you suggested too.

lol won my black game with 0 moves on time. he has 4 hours to move in the other game.

sucks when that happens.

Third game set up. Some of you have joined but for those that haven't..

I'm struggling in my second lot of games

I won my game as white in match #1, but I'm still struggling to find a swindle from a bad position in game two. Here's the first game, and some thoughts. Unlike most games I post, I have NOT looked at this with a computer yet, I'm actually in a "trying to improve" mood, instead of just a "play chess for fun without ever getting better" mood like normal.

[Event "2 Plus 2 Match #1 - Board 3"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2010.11.30"]
[White "BobJoeJim"]
[Black "trade63"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1723"]
[BlackElo "1471"]
[TimeControl "1 in 3 days"]
[Termination "BobJoeJim won by resignation"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 b6? {Not a move I'm familiar with, but it seems like locking up the center is the best plan. Make his bishop bad before he ever fianchettos it. And kick the knight at the same time.} 4.d5 Nb8 5.c4{Staking out as much space as he'll give me.} d6 6.Nc3 a6? {Another pawn move? Really? I guess he has plans to break up my queenside structure, but the threats don't seem immediate, so I will just work on getting my pieces to useful squares} 7.Be2 Nf6 8.O-O e5 {Taking advantage of my better development is more important than just locking things up with a slight space advantage, at this point. I want to bust up the middle now, while his king is still centralized.} 9.dxe6 Bxe6 10.e5 {10. ... dxe5 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. Nxe5 and the king can't castle, and I'm threatening a fork on f7, which is probably worse than dropping the d-pawn; 10. ... Ng4 11. Bf4 wins the d-pawn just as surely as the main line.} Ng8 11.Bf4 h6 12.exd6 g5 {Hoping to kick the bishop off the file and win back the pawn, or maybe even trap the bishop down the road, but it won't work.} 13.Be5 {Baiting him to play f6, and finish weakening the white squares on the kingside for my bishop and queen later. If 13. ... Nf6 14. Nd5 Bxd5 (or else everything falls, with the threats of both Nxf6 an Nc7+) 15. Qxd5 and then moving the knight doesn't actually defend the rook after Bxf6 Qxf6 removes the defender} f6 14.Bg3 Nc6 15.Re1 {Claim the open file to the king before unleashing my attack.} Qd7? 16.Nxg5! {This is the move I'm most proud of. I hope the sac proves sound upon computer analysis, but I'm pretty confident in it.} hxg5 17.Bg4 {Double pinning the bishop to the king and queen, and the point of the knight sac} Nd4 {Maybe not the strongest defensive resource, but it was the one it took me the longest to find an answer to when I was considering Nxg5. I almost dismissed the sac, until I saw the continuation} 18.Nd5! {Now Bxe6 Nxe6 Rxe6 Qxe6 can be followed by Nc7+ and white wins. Plus I'm also threatening the immediate fork on b6.} Rb8 19.Bxe6 Qc6 {Tries to salvage the queen but it's too late.} 20.d7+! Kd8 21.Bxb8 Ne7 22.Bc7+ Qxc7 23.Nxc7 {Black plays on for a while, but at this point it's all elementary.} Kxc7 24.b4 Nec6 25.bxc5 Bxc5 26.Bg4 f5 27.Re8 Rh7 28.Bxf5 Rxd7 29.Bxd7 Kxd7 30.Rg8 Ne7 31.Rxg5 Kc6 32.h4 Ndf5 33.Qf3+ Kc7 34.Rxf5 Nxf5 35.Qxf5 a5 36.h5 a4 37.h6 1-0

Now... time to plug this into an engine and see if my exlams were justified or not...

The computer says:

naluneabezshapki on chess.com

Added

Would be nice to get 10 players in the third match if possible.

imeilte on chess.com thanks

Cant seem to find imeilte on there

I'm devoid on chess.com. Please add me.