20 July, 2016


The time elapsed since the last post just shows me that I have been tied up too closely with work issues.  

What chess I played has revealed that I really need to pay attention to tactics, as I miss them far too often.

I reach decent positions, am not sure how to progress ( often my opponent is in the same slippery place ) then miss a tactic and spiral downhill afterwards.

Here's a typical missed opportunity, easy to spot when shown as an exercise, but easy for me to miss with a time-constraint.

White to play

The other area is endgames (or maybe its calculation in endgames).

Here I am, played a nice series of exchanges to go a pawn up, but play the wrong move, and give the game away.

Equally, this could be classified as over-aggressive play, or over-estimating an advantage and trying to take more than the situation actually gives ?

Black to play
However it should be classified, it frustrates me to lose in such situations, but the only way correct this is to put in the effort, and plainly, I need to make the time available to do this. 

Question is, will I ?  


LinuxGuy said...

This game is better at explaining why chess isn't blitz.

In the first diagram, instead of 1...Rf8, you should be playing 1...Ba6. You were trying to stop Kf2 with your move, but after 1...Ba6, 2.Kf2 Nxc4 (you probably saw this but were afraid of the pin), 3.a4 (to prevent ...b5, which he/she may allow anyway) Na3, 4.Rb3 BxB, 5.KxB.

IOW, it's wrong to think "Oh, I missed the tactic". It's more honest, or at least on the right track, to think "Oh, I missed the strategy". You missed the tactic because you were thinking of his 'tactic' of Kf2 which prevents you from capturing on c4 with the bishop first, which is probably why you played ...Rf8.

If you miss a workable strategy, then you are strategically busted anyhow. Dropping that pawn isn't the big deal, the big deal is that your entire position is strategically busted there because you didn't realize that you had to win his c4 pawn or else.

So, you see, this was really an excellent example you gave of why strategy is so important in chess! :-)

LinuxGuy said...

Also, after 1...Ba6, 2.Nxc Bxc, 3.BxB NxB, 4.a4 Nd6, you are in position to save the position. I'm just trying to cut to the heart of the position, what should be done, rather than who is winning or losing, as I usually find that question to be unhelpful, or can be counter-productive if done in the wrong spirit.

SilentKnight said...

I don't see anything winning for black in the 2nd diagram. Is the rook on d8 instead?