Do you agree that my biggest blunder was not to castle after he castled?

You play well for a novice who has played for just a month. Your biggest mistake was 11...Bxf5, you should have played Nxd2 first so that he can't play Nxe4. 15...Be7 was also bad as you allow him to play Qb5+ you should play Qb7 or Rb6 to stop him (and also gain time by attacking his bishop) and obv Bd7 instead of Be6 the move after for the same reason.Overall I felt that you were pretty good at calculating and generally I got the feeling that you showed some level tactical competence (although you could obv improve a lot).

Apart from those 2-3 moves gg, and keep practicing and working on your tactics! Your opp was kind of awful though, and I expect you to beat him >2/3. Also even though you played the sicilian, you didn't really get to try it out properly as he was completely lost within 10 moves.

Thanks for the analysis! I try to learn and practice a lot. If you know any good (and preferably free) sources it would be awesome if you'd let me know.

that really is quite impressive for someone playing only a month

Can someone start Chess at 24 and ever compete with any of the hundreds of people who've been groomed for it since infancy?

Absolutely. I didn't start until I was 21/22 and can compete quite well vs the vast majority of tournament players, regardless of when they started. You simply need a good plan for improving, time and work.

I'm 23 and I hope I'll be able to in the distant future

Alright well, I'm ******* on ICC. I'm about 1300 or 1400 with 15+ minute time controls and about a 100 or a 0 in blitzier time controls, playing competitively for a week or two

+not if you can teach me some things or want a game

I know my opponent played it terribly and I made mistakes too, but I love this position

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=32503

this became the last post on the previous page so a shameless quote in hopes somebody can help me:

Faulbeitner:

11... d5 is weak imo. He captures en passant and he has some ideas again.

15... Bd6 spoils 15... Nxf3 16. Qxf3 Nxf4

The move which definitely saves white after your 15... Bd6(look for it first, easy to spot)

Damnit, I NEVER think of en passant...

Sorry if this is a FAQ but i couldnt find any answers on the software itself or through google, I just purchased some cheapo, out-of-date version of fritz and i dont know what some of these things mean:



1) light changes colors from red to yellow to green...what do the colors mean?

2)I see +- and += what is the difference? I assume the higher the number the more likely it is your going to win.

3) Sometimes the 2nd suggestion has a higher number than the first...why doesnt that variation get put at #1? Also, sometimes theyre greyed out, and sometimes not.

In general....i have no idea what im looking at

1) Red is a blunder, yellow is not optimal but not an outright blunder and green keeps the evaluation the same. Each color correlates to how much the last move changes the evaluation. For instance, if I move Ke1 and the evaluation changes from +3 for me to -3 then that move would correspond to a red light.

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctua...uation_symbols Again these are based on the numeric evaluation and I'm not exactly sure how decisive an advantage has to be in order to get +- instead of +=

3. Lag in sorting I assume.

Grey should mean the variation hasn't yet been analysed to the same depth as the #1 move (probably one ply/half-move behind). Same explanation for when the #2 move is higher ranked than the #1.

thx guys

great avatar.

I'm new here, I'm wondering where you guys play at because I think it would be fun to play against some poker players. I have played at chess.com for several years under the same screen name

I think it has to be greater than 1 for an advantage to be +-

Correspondence games at chess.com and live games at FICS (freechess.org).

I just signed up for FICS, I'm pretty new/bad to chess, mostly just play w/ Chessmaster10 program and on some iPod App before the damn thing broke and I returned it.

I thought 2nd game was kinda interesting:



I feel like I'm completely fine here? Down a pawn but huge development edge..

20... d5? 21. cxd5 Qxd5?? 22. Nf6 Bxf6 23. Qxd5 Bxa1

More or less ended game, even though I should've seen mating ideas instead of just snap-playing 24. Rxa1. I was happy with seeing Nf6 so fast, I'm not great with tactics.

...d6 would be better than ...d5 there.

Totally random but I am really surprised how often I see this c5 move in lines like this. I think its just an enormous blunder thats relatively common because OMG I ATTACKS YOUR QUEEN

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 c5

The typical line of reasoning begins and ends with the bold.

Hey guys. This is the last game I played. Villain peaked at about 1800 6-7 years ago and has only recently started to play again. I play him pretty often and he murdered me in our first 5-10 matches. Now I'm on a 4 game winning streak . I hope it's due to my progress and not due to variance or luck .

As allways, input is very welcome.

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=33357

pic of my fav analysis set, folding magnetic set with algebraic notation