My game has suffered recently, but I am more determined than ever to improve…so the following quote should help me on my way:
Settle on your objective is the rule. Such an objective may be a pawn or a point. Which one, it matters not. But aimlessly drifting from one to another, this will expose you to a strategical disgrace.
Aaron Nimzowitsch
Photo report of the Miami Chess Open held from September 28th through September 30th.
Photography: William Mendez © 2007
Hikaru Nakamura wins the 2007 Miami
Chess Open
Photography: William Mendez © 2007
U.S Champion Alexander Shabalov
Photography: William Mendez © 2007
IM David Pruess contemplates the position
Fritz: Tactical, but positionally sound. Well rounded.
Hiarcs: Positional and human-like play. Good in unbalanced positions.
Junior: Very tactical, sacrificial style play.
Rybka: Strongest chess engine. Excellent positional understanding and human-like play. Excellent evaluation of dynamic positions. Great for analysis.
Shredder: Very positional and solid. Excellent endgame play.
Zappa: Human-like play, aggressive. Very strong, catching up to Rybka.
Fruit: Well balanced positional play.
The following endgame example illustrates how to turn a one pawn advantage into a win:
The conversion of an extra pawn falls into three phases: 1) the King is activated. 1.Kf1
1…Ke7 2.Ke2 Kd6 3.Kd3 Kd5 2)Mobilization of the majority. 4.b4
Mobilize by moving the “candidate”, which is the unopposed pawn.4…Kc6 5.Kc4 h5 6.a4 h4 7.b5+ Kb6 8.Kb4 g5 9.a5+
9…Kb7 10.Kc5 Kc7 11.b6+ axb6+ 12.axb6+ Kb7
3) The King goes to the Kingside to gobble up the Black pawns (transformation of one advantage to another):13.Kd6 Kxb6 14.Ke7 f5 15.Kf6+- .
In a previous post I had promised to compile and post the most instructive games in ChessBase format. I haven’t been able to get around to compiling all of the games, so I am posting a PDF file containing a list of these Educational Chess Games based broken down by themes.
Today is the first entry of my online training notebook, I’m still trying to figure out how I will work this out, but I plan on adding an entry with the salient topics that I covered as well as personal progress and benchmark data.
I also plan on adding a downloadable ChessBase file which will contain additional positions, games and notes.
Study Endgames
Reviewed pages 57-88 in Silman’s Endgame Course. This chapter dealt with distant opposition as well as basic K+P vs. K endings.
Below are a few keypoints from the chapter:
Opposition without a direct connection
In the diagram below notice that the corners of the rectangle have the same colored squares, in this case White has the opposition, since he is 5 (odd number) of squares away from the Black King. You can determine the opposition of two King’s without a direct connection by creating an imaginary rectangle with intersecting same colored squares.
Questions to ask in a K+P vs. K endgame:
Endgame Puzzle
White to move. Is White lost?
Study Tactics
Did questions from the 3rd stage of studies (Queen Checkmates) #419 -442 (23) for 30 minutes with an 84% success rate.
This is a simple puzzle, but I notice that tactics that involve pinned pawns give me difficulty. Highlight for answer [1.Qh6+ Bh7 2.Qxg7#]
The best thing I can do for my chess is to improve my thinking process, which is one of my greatest weaknesses. Below are some of the reasons why it my thinking process just plain stinks.
That’s it for now, I’ll add more in time. Feel free to leave comments on how you can improve your thought process.
I have come to the realization that there comes a time in every improving players game where we try to apply all we have learned yet we end up losing more games than we win. The improving player needs to realize that reading more chess books, learning a new opening or practicing obscure endgames is not going to improve their game.
The improving player’s game will be better served by simplifying their chess and going back to basics. Here are five things we can do that should lead to improved results:
1. Improve your thought process. Make sure you look for checks, captures and threats on every move, and always consider what your opponent is trying to accomplish and what move they would make if it would be their turn instead of yours.
2. Improve your ability to analyze. Consider at least three half moves before making a move. If the position leads to a forced tactical continuation, and you are unable to calculate until the position is quiet, then choose a ‘safer’ strategically based move that will require less analysis and calculation.
3. Do not force the situation and instead play for small advantages. Ensure that there are no weaknesses in your camp, while at the same time scanning for weaknesses in your opponents side.
4. Calculate several candidates before making each move, and always expect that your opponent will play the best move. Remember that once you found your move, try to look for a better one (unless you are in time trouble).
5. Play less blitz games. Blitz is the number one reason we develop bad habits which hurt our thought process. Blitz causes us to not analyze and think the position through. Play longer games (at least G15/5) instead of blitz, these longer games will allow you to work on your thought process and analysis skills. Once those bad habits have been eliminated, you can then return to blitz play as a much stronger player.
I haven’t given up on compiling the list of educational games, but it was more difficult than I first thought. I have come up with a list of approximately 150 games from different sources, and I have narrowed it down to the 50 you see here. I tried to keep at least one version of each theme, but I wanted to keep the number of games manageable.