What does an engine think of the potential sac? It's certainly interesitng and I'd probably give it a go in blitz, but I can't find a win right now and would probably not have the cojones OTB.

Houdini says that retreating to d2 is +0.11 for white, and the sac is 0.00.

I don't know if I'd have the guts to play it OTB. Probably yes, because it's very similar to the sac I made on the black side of the Ruy Lopez Exchange last year to beat a 2000-rated former NM. I probably wouldn't do it against a similarly-rated opponent where I felt like I had something to lose.

Kyle:

Oooh, shiny. I haven't analyzed it too deeply, but I like the way you think!

I like that logic. If you're playing someone higher rated and have nothing to lose, why not try to complicate and go for the jugular? I'd freeze up against someone lower rated too.

It's served me well!

This game will always bring a smile to my face:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=47763

Round 2 of 4SS local open, me as black in the Ruy Lopez Exchange against semi-retired national master. I figure if I'm going to lose, at least it'll be fun to make him defend for awhile so I just throw the kitchen sink at him. He makes a few inaccuracies and gets mated in 25 moves.

Sure, it's no IM win, but it's what I got

That's an awesome game man. Was that from your tourney where you went up something like 400 points? Not sure how I missed that game. Really well played. Like YKW says, keep the pressure on and they crack.

Talking about that sac, I usually do the complete opposite, I would instantly do it against a lower rated opponent and would probably not do it (unless i can calculate it very well, to some sort of a comfortable position for me) against a higher rated opponent.

Not sure why my brain works that way.. I think maybe because I feel that against a lower rated opponent, even if I fked up my calculation, I will have a chance to win the game somewhere somehow, while against a stronger player, I am thinking that if the sac fails, it's almost an instant GG.

When I was a kid, I had a baseball book that told a lot of cool stories from some of the supposedly more cerebral players/managers/etc. One old manager was talking about pitching, and he had this great quote: "How do you pitch to Hank Aaron? Fastballs up and in, breaking balls low and away. How do you pitch to Babe Ruth? Fastballs up and in, breaking balls low and away. How do you pitch to God? Fastballs up and in, breaking balls low and away. But He'll know it's coming."

I always think about that when I realize my solution to virtually every opening is to castle long and play for mate.

How do you play against the exchange Spanish? Castle long and play for mate.

White wastes just a couple of tempos and misplaces a few pieces, and boom, mate in under 20.

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game...r.php?id=60849

Great game Kyle, very nice attack. I don't understand white's 12. Qe3 and 16. Qd3. I fail to see what those move accomplish, or intended to accomplish. Are those a couple of the wasted tempos you were talking about? 12. Qe3 certainly seems like it since it was pretty clear you were going to exchange on f3 anyway.

Qd3 definitely, d3 and then d4, which puts the bishop on d4 (where it isn't any better than it was on e3). Plus I don't think the knight on c3 was well-placed either.

Qe3 was a nice idea, I thought, because it x-rays towards a7, which is a key square for him to attack.

What is the computer eval after 11...Nh6? What move does the comp like for white on move 12? Reason I ask is I'm having trouble coming up with a good move/plan for white. It looks like black's attack is coming too quickly.

Houdini says 13. h3 is -0.27. Houdini, of course, isn't scared of the bishop for two pawns sac on h3, and without that sac, h3 takes away the best square for black's bishop and knight. White survives but is still awkwardly placed.

After Qe3, black has a tactic to simplify a lot and win a pawn, but Ng5 is almost as good for black and a lot more fun.

The thought "Two options, but it doesn't matter which" precedes an amazingly high percentage of my losses.

Small brag, finally hit 2250 on the Tactics Trainer after plateauing for almost a month after 2000. Now on to 2500.



Also over 1800 in correspondence, but to complement with a beat and variance; I missed a million ways to win against a 1900 and eventually lost and I'm even losing a game against a 14xx currently :\

wena, hora de jugar en vivo entonces... ?

(good, time to play live tournaments then... ?)

My experience live is that I dont gain anything playing a 20/0 game where I have to play a lot of moves really fast and I cant analyze the game afterwards and half of my oponents are either too bad or too good for me.

[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[Site "www.chesscube.com"]
[Date "2012.03.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "essam56@chesscube.com"]
[Black "jewbinson@chesscube.com"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2055"]
[BlackElo "1864"]
[ECO "B00"]
[Time "02:12:57"]
[TimeControl "300+3"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 Bf5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Be3 e6 8. Be2 Be7 9. Nf3 d5 10. c5 Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. O-O O-O 13. d5 exd5 14. Qxd5 Bd3 15. Rfd1 Nb4 16. Qxd8 Raxd8 17. Bf2 a6 18. a3 Nc6 19. Rd2 f6 20. Rad1 fxe5 21. fxe5 Rxf3 22. gxf3 Nxe5 23. Kg2 Bg5 0-1

Ok, admittedly I missed 19...Na5, but hey, nobody's perfect. The point is that...

This game demonstrates is why I play the Alekhine!

As a side note, at the end there is f4 Bxf4 Re2 for white which I missed but apparently black is still somewhat better

Beat: Blundered with Rf3 in what would have been an unbelievably beautiful crush.


[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[Site "www.chesscube.com"]
[Date "2012.03.11"]
[Round "-"]
[White "jewbinson@chesscube.com"]
[Black "danielr1@chesscube.com"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1889"]
[BlackElo "1970"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Time "03:18:25"]
[TimeControl "600"]

1. d4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. Be3 h6 7. c3 Qb6 8. Nh4 Ne7 9. Qc1 g5 10. Nxf5 Nxf5 11. Bd2 c5 12. f4 cxd4 13. g4 Ne3 14. cxd4 Ng2+ 15. Kf2 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 gxf4 17. Qxf4 Qxb2 18. Nd2 Rc8 19. Rab1 Qxa2 20. Rxb7 Be7 21. Bb5 Rd8 22. Kg3 a6 23. Rf1 Rh7 24. Rf3 axb5 25. Nb3 Qe2 26. Re3 Qd1 27. Na5 Bg5 28. Qf3 Qg1+ 29. Kh3 Qxe3 0-1

LOL just engine checked this and I was behind the whole way. My only excuse is that I don't know the mainline Caro-Kann very well...

Brag: I won my T4545 game. I actually scouted my T4545 opponent this week and saw he had a pet response to the Ruy Lopez.

I spent a couple of hours playing around with it till I thought I had it all pretty well figured out.

Beat: He played right into a line I had prepared and was about to go a pawn up on a combination beginning with white's 13th move. I got white's 13th and 14th moves mixed up though and put myself in a materailly-even but clearly black-favorable position.

Variance: I think I could have held the draw, but 10 moves later he botched a tactic and entered a crushingly lost endgame. Because really, that sort of thing was always going to decide the game, not some silly opening prep.

NEW GAME (264285187) - Hero vs. Villain (3 0 rated) (win: 9, draw: 1, loss: -7)
Villain: GOOD GAME
Villain: GOOD GAME
Villain: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Villain: QUEEN
GAME OVER - Hero vs. Villain - Villain won on time (-7). Your new blitz rating is 1731.
NEW GAME (264286999) - Villain [1.0] vs. Hero [0.0] (3 0 rated) (win: 9, draw: 1, loss: -7)
Villain: U DONT KNOW WHEN UR CRUSHED I SEE
Villain: OVER
(He's down an exchange, but up on time)
GAME OVER - Villain vs. Hero - Hero won by checkmate (+9). Your new blitz rating is 1740. Match Scores: Villain [1.0] vs. Hero [1.0]
NEW GAME (264289003) - Hero [1.0] vs. Villain [1.0] (3 0 rated) (win: 9, draw: 1, loss: -7)
Hero: i agree
Hero: i like how you predicted
Hero: that it was over
Hero: in my favor
Hero: very prescient
(Blunders Queen, imminent Royal Fork)
Hero: you are very talented
Hero: i might need a few seconds
Hero: to decide what my next move is
Hero: do you have a suggetion?
GAME OVER - Hero vs. Villain - Hero won by resignation (+9). Your new blitz rating is 1749. Match Scores: Hero [2.0] vs. Villain [1.0]
NEW GAME (264289822) - Villain [1.0] vs. Hero [2.0] (3 0 rated) (win: 8, draw: 0, loss: -8)
Hero: do you plan to win another game?
GAME OVER - Villain vs. Hero - Hero won by checkmate (+8). Your new blitz rating is 1757. Match Scores: Villain [1.0] vs. Hero [3.0]
NEW GAME (264291304) - Hero [3.0] vs. Villain [1.0] (3 0 rated) (win: 8, draw: 0, loss: -8)
Villain has joined the chat.
(Blunders Queen again)
Hero: are you serious
Hero: i'm going to offer a draw
Hero: because that's just embarrassing
DRAW DECLINED: Villain has declined a draw
GAME OVER - Hero vs. Villain - Hero won by resignation (+8). Your new blitz rating is 1765. Match Scores: Hero [4.0] vs. Villain [1.0]
GAME ANALYSIS - Analyze this game - with your opponent | alone
Hero: this is where i leave you to stew
Villain: UR TRASH
Hero: in your failure
Hero: you failed
Villain: U DONT KNOW WHEN TO RESIGN
Hero: say please
Hero: and I will rematch
Hero: I promise
Hero: that's your only chance
Villain: SSUUUUCCCKKK MYYYY DIIIICCCKKK
Villain has left the chat.

not funny...

Two pretty games. I think the field on chesscube is pretty light...

[Event "ChessCube Game"] [Site "www.chesscube.com"] [Date "2012.03.13"] [Round "-"] [White "jewbinson@chesscube.com"] [Black "myori@chesscube.com"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1807"] [BlackElo "1814"] [ECO "C00"] [Time "06:36:44"] [TimeControl "300+3"] 1. d4 e6 2. e4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. Bf4 Bb4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Qe2 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. Nf3 h6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. h3 O-O 11. Bh2 Bc8 12. Rfe1 Re8 13. Ba6 Bxa6 14. Qxa6 c5 15. Bxd6 Nf8 16. Bh2 Qd7 17. Ne5 Qc8 18. Qxc8 Rexc8 19. Re2 c4 20. a4 a6 21. Rb1 N8d7 22. f4 Nxe5 23. fxe5 Nd7 24. Rf2 Rab8 25. Rbf1 Rf8 26. d5 b5 27. a5 b4 28. cxb4 Rxb4 29. Rf3 Ra4 30. Rc3 Rc8 31. dxe6 fxe6 32. Rd1 Rc7 33. Rd4 Kf7 34. Kf2 g6 35. Ke3 g5 36. g4 Ke7 37. Bg3 Rc5 38. h4 Kd8 39. hxg5 hxg5 40. Rd6 Ke7 41. Rxa6 Rcxa5 42. Rxa5 Rxa5 43. Kd4 Nb6 44. Bf2 Kf7 45. Rf3+ Kg7 46. Be3 Nd7 47. Bxg5 Nxe5 48. Bf6+ Kg6 49. Bxe5 Kg5 50. Rc3 Kxg4 51. Rxc4 Kg5 52. Rc5 Ra4+ 53. Ke3 Ra3+ 54. Bc3+ Kg6 55. Kf4 Kf7 56. Ke5 Ra6 57. Rc7+ Ke8 58. Bb4 Kd8 59. Bd6 Ra4 60. c4 Ra1 61. Kxe6 Re1 62. e5 Rc1 63. c5 Rh1 64. Rd7+ Kc8 65. Kd5 Rd1+ 66. Kc6 Ra1 67. Rh7 Ra6+ 68. Kd5 Ra1 69. c6 Rd1+ 70. Ke6 Rg1 71. Rh8+ 1-0

[Event "ChessCube Game"] [Site "www.chesscube.com"] [Date "2012.03.13"] [Round "-"] [White "myori@chesscube.com"] [Black "jewbinson@chesscube.com"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1792"] [BlackElo "1829"] [ECO "B00"] [Time "07:09:58"] [TimeControl "300+3"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. d3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Nxd5 Qxd5 6. Qf3 Qxf3 7. Nxf3 Nc6 8. Be2 Bf5 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. a3 Rad8 12. Rfe1 Bf6 13. Rab1 Rd7 14. Bc5 Rfd8 15. c3 b6 16. Be3 Na5 17. Rbd1 Nb3 18. h3 h6 19. g4 Bh7 20. h4 c5 21. g5 hxg5 22. Bxg5 Bxg5 23. Nxg5 Bf5 24. Kg2 f6 25. Ne4 c4 26. Ng3 Bxd3 27. Bxd3 cxd3 28. Re3 d2 29. Re2 Nc5 30. Nf1 Nb3 31. Kf3 Rd3+ 32. Ne3 Nc1 33. Rexd2 Rxd2 34. Rxc1 Rxb2 35. Ke4 Rxf2 36. Rg1 Rf4# 0-1

And I've lost 100 points of ICC45 in the last week due to their servers disconnecting me. Heaven forbid they put a 60-second reconnect window in for a 45-45 minute game.

*suddenly remembering why he keeps letting his subscription expire*

there's a lot of admin convention/designs/rulings that have come to make me loathe icc but i'll probably resubscribe quite soon as i want to start studying w0 quite a lot again and the tools they offer are pretty nice