Saturday, March 19, 2005

Tactics and openings

Well my dear friends knights, I'm back after a week hard work:
monday: music theory and orchestration lessons, then at evening my choir
tuesday : going to play chess for my club somewhere in the country. did not play, car stopped halfway, was lucky to get home with leaking dynamo? or something? ?
wednesday: music theory lessons, then going to play chess for my club somewhere in the country. lost from somebody with a rating 350 more then mine.
thursday: my other choir
friday: chess at the club. victory, hurray (blessed is king's gambit, again)
saturday: extended housework, shopping and visitors
Every day : working on my circles : 480 for the 5 time, 300 for the 4 time, all 100 %, yahoo ! and 200 for the first time 90 %. Oke the problems are not to difficult but if I could see them in real games allways I would be a much better player.
But now the thing is how to get the situations on the board?
With somebody who plays weaker than I do, I have the chance and tempo's to create attacs according my tactical lessons.
With stronger players not. It seems like I only can follow his moves and defend.
My openings are for this reason quite agressive so my opponent have to follow my rules. But....
This guy who I met last week with 300 points more rating turned the situation after 5 moves.
From attacker I become defender. I hate this. I want to keep control, so I have the time and tempo's to set up a sneaky trap.
The question is now:
What is a good opening in relation with tactics?
By exemple, the games where my bishops are both pointing from the queenside on to my opponents kingside are usually won by me. In the famous books from Mr Max Euwe is keeping the bishop pair highly recommendend. He gives allso a lot advices about openings.
I understand his ideas a little but it seems to me that his ideas are for the long range. In the books of Gallagher I found more openings (especially the Kings' Gambit) which create the situations where I can find all these tactical possibilities. Mr Euwe did not like kings gambit at all.
He recommanded for black Kings Indian. I quotate:"with good chances for black". I tried to played this with result: my opponent shuffled all the pawns in the center until we both did not have a move at all, untill we have to sacrifice to break in the centre. Then it was only exchanging peaces and an endgame with some pawns. For my tricks I learned from my tactical course I need open lines. Oke I know there must be more in the game but I cannot see it. For me is: the more chaos the more I like it. In the complications are the double attacks. My queen can skate around when she has the space. I need my knights to jump around on unexpected locations.
With closed games it is to difficult (yet) to see. As long I am not a grandmaster I have to mess around in open, complicated (?) games, where everything could happen.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Blunder,blunder!

Why do I blunder so much?
In my games it goes well in the openings. In the middlegame often I have the inititiative.
And when the moment is there to finish it off, it happens........
The blunder......
Sigh.
I work so hard to learn the tactics, on the club some good players asure me they see improvement in my playing. As fathers they support and advice me; they are even proud at me when I win a game. (This happens when you are the only woman at the club, I'm a kind of mascotte.)
When they saw me growing fast they even think I was talented ( ha ha, it was the training! no talent!)
The last year I don't know what happened to me, I've lost 70 ratingpoints, all because of blunders.
I give an example of my last game:
I played white.

white black

  1. e4 c5
  2. c3 e5
  3. Bc4 Kf6
  4. d3 Be7
  5. Kf3 d5
  6. exd5 Bd6
  7. Kd2 0-0
  8. Ke4 Re8
  9. 0-0 a6
  10. Bg5 Kh8
  11. Kxf6 gxf6
  12. Bh4 e4
  13. d3xe4 Rxe4
  14. Bd3 Rg4
  15. Re1 Be7
  16. Qe2 Rxg2 +
  17. Kxg2 hurray! Qg8 +
  18. Kh1 Bh3
  19. Rg1 Bg4 I do not dare to tell, I knew that I had to be carefull for mate. but I was eating my sandwich, and was focussed on his e7 bishop, to catch than after Rxf7+, and that was it, in a winning game
  20. I took the bloody $%%*^!#** bishop

He took of course my knight and it was over. I have seen this move. I knew it, but why do I allways have a mind absence at "le moment suprême"?

I'm happy with my optimistic character, otherwise I would have give up the whole chess thing and concentrate on my music.

But I will overcome this blundering, and I will play heavenly.

Sometime.