I wondered if I should put a good disclaimer on my posts or something, I figured that might happen.

It relates back to what I said in that other thread: Chess is a game of acquired (or for a few people, innate) skill, not accumulated knowledge. Even bad chess players like me can accumulate a ton of knowledge, it just doesn't do us much good on the board.

I'm a bright guy and I've picked up most of what I need to know about chess very fast. But I've only spent about four months grinding out the skills I need: tactics training, mental focus, endgame technique, etc. The results have improved pretty fast, but unfortunately I'm at about the peak of the bell curve right now and it's only going to get harder moving forward.

Correspondence etiquette question:

If you have a dead lost position, but your opponent runs out of time, do you claim the win, or wait for him to show back up and finish beating you? I would kind of like the rating points, but I know I didn't earn them. Ideally, I wish there was a "claim draw on time" option, that would feel fair. I ought to get *something* out of him not following the time controls, but I didn't "win" this game, and it shouldn't be recorded as such. Tough call... (not a tournament game or anything, so there's no real reason to be unscrupulous about it, except for sheer vanity regarding my rating...)

Here's the FEN of my position, if that makes any difference: 1k6/pp5p/4n1p1/5p2/5B2/2Pp2PP/1P3P2/4N2K b - - 1 35

Edit: I decided to leave it up to him. Offered a draw, and wrote an explanatory message, we'll see what he decides

I don't know the answer, but I like that I play on gameknot where I don't have to make that decision. There, the loss is automatically given once you run out of time. I once won a game this way where I was completely lost. I was lost for a while but I didn't have the time to sit down and make sure enough so I would feel comfortable resigning, so I played on a bit waiting for the position to become more clear. I did feel guilty, but there was nothing I could do.

I also once won on time in a totally drawn position. I was on the defending side of K+R v K+B. This time, I felt no guilt as he made me prove I could hold it for 17 moves. He could have offered a draw at any point instead of playing on until he timed out.

Just because its correspondence doesn't mean time is no longer a part of the game. I'd happily flag him.

Flag him.

Comments always appreciated. This is a 45 45 ICC pool game played as white:



1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4

Accepting the gambit.

4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bg5 Be7

Here's mistake number 1. The book wants me to play g3 and go ahead and take care of the light-squared bishop that will otherwise be hard to develop.

Bg5 isn't a bad move in and of itself. The bad move is my plan to just exchange off whatever he uses to block the check. That's a big no-no and I know better! Why waste time developing a piece just to trade it for an undeveloped piece, letting him develop another piece in the process? Especially in a gambit when you are already behind in development.


6. Bxe7 Ngxe7 7. Na3 Bg4 8. Qd3 Qd7 9. O-O-O O-O-O 10. Nb5 Bxf3
11. gxf3 a6 12. f4 Qe8

Here's a nifty little move that I'm rather proud of! Rather than just move the knight immediately, I support the e5 pawn and create another nice diagonal for my light-squared bishop to operate on. It also threatens some tactics with Bh3 if he doesn't respond immediately, and at this level there's at least a chance he won't.


13. Bh3+ Kb8 14. Na3 Ng6 15. Qf3 Qe7

The right move here is e3, but I was nervous about opening up so many lines toward my king in this situation. I thought about it pretty hard but ended up dismissing it, and that was one of the early turning points where the position shifts toward black.

16. Nc2 Qc5 17. Qb3 Nxf4


I'm trying to make fewer pawn moves, and it had been serving me well, but not here. b3 is definitely required here, even if it means stretching out my king's defenses.

This just concedes the kingside pawns. It's an interesting strategic move, putting the queen in an attacking spot, but it utterly fails tactically.

18. Bg4 Nxe5

So what do I do now? The right thing to do is keep pieces on the board and aim for counterplay.

The wrong thing to do is trade down, simplify and hope he messes up in the endgame. The passed d-pawn is completely decisive in a king and pawn endgame, so I'm basically just long-form resigning by trading down.

19. Bf3 Nxf3 20. exf3 Rhe8
21. Qb4 Qxb4 22. Nxb4 c5 23. Nd3 Nxd3+ 24. Rxd3 Re2 25. Rd2 Rde8
26. a3 Re1+ 27. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Kxd1 Kc7 30. b4 b6
31. Kd2 f5 32. Kd3 Kd6 33. b5 a5

Kinda vaguely trying to create my own passed pawn.

34. a4 Ke5 35. h3 Kf4

Could have resigned awhile ago.
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You're too nice to people BJJ :P

Kyle, post your game into a viewer and you'll get more feedback. chessvideos has one but it can't parse the one with the comments

yeah, that or post the uncommented PGN separately at the end

Will do! Though the workweek is on again and I'm done spamming the board for a few days. I appreciate all you guys' comments.

Yeah, probably

If anyone is curious what happened, he accepted the draw offer from his won position. I'm content with the half point

this is cutting it a little close and it's on another forum, but what the heck

I'm trying to organize an online book club for How to Reassess Your Chess 4th edition over at chessvideos.tv - come sign up for a free account cause I'm too lazy to crosspost over here

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7873

RB

Do we get a free book?

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Bxe7 Ngxe7 7. Na3 Bg4 8. Qd3 Qd7 9. O-O-O O-O-O 10. Nb5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 a6 12. f4 Qe8 13. Bh3+ Kb8 14. Na3 Ng6 15. Qf3 Qe7 16. Nc2 Qc5 17. Qb3 Nxf4 18. Bg4 Nxe5 19. Bf3 Nxf3 20. exf3 Rhe8 21. Qb4 Qxb4 22. Nxb4 c5 23. Nd3 Nxd3+ 24. Rxd3 Re2 25. Rd2 Rde8 26. a3 Re1+ 27. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Kxd1 Kc7 30. b4 b6 31. Kd2 f5 32. Kd3 Kd6 33. b5 a5 34. a4 Ke5 35. h3 Kf4

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Curse you Christmas! I've got some money with strict orders from family members to only spend it on something fun and tangible, so they feel like they got me something.

I'm resolutely determined to not be one of those players who buys a bunch of books and never uses them. I've already got Modern Chess Openings (which I've decided I don't need), Pachman's Modern Chess Strategy (which I think is just a bit beyond my level, and the descriptive notation is annoying), and Silman's Complete Endgame Course, which I've been playing through enthusiastically but I've just about mastered the chapters that are useful to my level and any level I am likely to obtain in the next year or two.

The siren song of more books, maybe some other of Silman's best, are calling me toward the rocks

The Amateur's Mind?

I'm tempted to get that one and Reassess 4th edition together. They seem like they go well together.

Not really. They both cover the same stuff but Reassess is more advanced. If you want to dive straight into that I wouldn't even get The Amateur's Mind. You said Pacman was too difficult so I just thought...

Is it more advanced? That'd make a difference. I could just stick to one.

Or I could just leave the books alone and tactics-train my brains out some more. That'd probably be more productive.

Woohoo it's 2011! This is going to be my first full year as a serious chessplayer. If I can keep focused and serious about the game for 12 months, I'm excited to see how far I can get in a year. The last half of 2010 saw amazing (to me) progress, but we're almost to the peak of the bell curve and it's going to get much harder from here on out.

I went ahead and ordered Amateur's Mind, btw.

My official training goals for 2011:

1) 300 days of at least 15 minutes on the tactics trainer at chess.emrald.net
2) Play 50 online games in which I use at least 45 minute of my time
3) Spend at least 5 minutes on a move, fully considering my options, at least 50 times
4) Become proficient in every endgame in Silman's Endgame Course up through the Class B chapter
5) Play through every example game in the major chess book I currently own (Modern Chess Openings) and the one that is on the way (The Amateur's Mind). And don't buy any other books until this is done.
6) Compete in at least 10 rated OTB tournament games. Two major tournaments should knock this one out, but I'd aim for at least a few smaller ones two if I can.
7) Learn and feel comfortable playing four new opening themes, two for white and two for black. (This is more for fun than improvement. I use the "don't study openings" method and just play it by ear from move 1 for the most part, but I'd like to learn some of the classics that have an important place in chess history).

I'm going to try not to get caught up in a ratings goal, but I figure doing all this should see continued improvement.

I'd love to hear other people's goals for 2011.

I am wondering if anyone has been to the tournament in Wijk an Zee in January. I am a not very good chess player (1500-ish), but I really enjoy chess as a spectator and hardly miss any ICC simulcasts. I wasn't able to attend the London event last month, but am thinking about driving out to Wijk an Zee, maybe playing in one of the events (it's only like 30 euros), and hopefully spectating on some GM games.

I was wondering if it is stupid for me to consider playing in one of the amateur events given my low playing strength, and also if it is fun to go there as a spectator. I have been to Wijk an Zee before, just not when the chess is going on, so I know that there's not that much to do around there, but would appreciate any info that anyone has about whether a patzer can have fun there playing and spectating and just hanging out.

what would be stupid about playing in one of the events? Chess is fun, and if they are open to all players you can be sure there are a lot of players there weaker than you. And it's probably well organised and you can combine playing with spectating on the GM events.

I can't speak for what there is to do in Wijk aan Zee outside the tournament time, but if you like drinking and blitz chess I'd say there will be opportunities for both. If you want to do more, the Netherlands is small and you have a car, you can probably even commute from Amsterdam in an hour.

Also, if you win a section, you can look forward to telling people "when I won Wijk aan Zee in 2011..."

That would be awesome! There are 2 3-round events at classical time controls. I'm thinking about playing in one of those--it might be really fun to play a strong player in a game that long--the times I've played against strong players have been rapid games, and I've never played against a titled player in a game longer than 5 minutes.

It certainly does look like fun.

Definitely go. If I lived nearby I'd be there for sure.