Thoughts on Chess

Here I sit dwelling on my past tournament which ended a six game losing streak. I find that although my score was a 1/4 result, I still have a lot to learn.

Probably the most important lesson is to learn a group of openings, go through the material slowly, and get the basics down pat. For example, I'm currently going through the Caro Kann defence, but haven't gone over the Exchange Variation material and I got hammered over an elementary mistake. Regarding the openings I chose to play the Torre Attack as white (along with the Colle and London Systems). There are some clever things involved that I like regarding them. On the black side of the board I chose the Caro Kann and Dutch Defences. The reasons are that the first is very solid, and the second is something you do not see often. As I've already stated above knowing the basics I got stomped on so it means I have more to learn.

Moving on to lesson number two. Tactics. Simply put, tactics, tactics, tactics. The middle game is where the real stuff happens and it's not enough to know how to play the opening. There are numberous internet sites and books which provide good puzzles and such and reviewing them daily is best. If at first you do not succeed, just try again. It'll come.

Lesson three. The endgame. A really good resource is Silman's endgame course. It's totally awesome if not the best book out there. Pawn endings are a must. Thank god for winning that last game. it was the extra pawn that did it for me.

Now for the all important stuff outside of the above statements.

1. Play as often as you can. OTB, Blitz, Correspondence, etc. And if anyone says blitz hurts you in an OTB match... tell them to go elsewehere. It's better to get the mistakes taken cared of online in a quick match then OTB where it counts. Alot of mistakes can be solved. Which brings me to the next rule.

2. Study your material. Your matches tell you where you went wrong and the stuff is fixable. Even the won matches have errors. So look over your games.

3. At your match take your time selecting the best move possible. A good rule I use is sit on your hands if you get a little edgy. It helps you from making critical errors. And look over the whole board before you make that move. I lost a won position due to this error and hung a bishop. Rather foolish on my part.

4. I would suggest eat well and keep your eyes open for new ideas, etc. other than that nothing much else I can suggest, except to play strong if you want your goals met.

5. Just have fun, it's a great way to meet new people.

As for myself, Here are the results for the new year. +1, -6 to date. Last year was +3, -5, =2. That does not include the correspondence matches. Currently my rating is 1074 but I hope it goes up after the last tourney. As I set a high goal for myself (1400) I have my work cut out for me in order to reach it. If I don't I just want to be better than I was.

Question to those who read this: Any ideas how to play against the King's Indian Defense? What is a good resolution playing either the Torre or Colle System?