even before i say the question mark you put on it i was like e5??? and i know its kindof obvious its a retarded move but i mean seriously... e5???  

That's how!

It would be good if news articles wouldn't be used anymore after 5 days or so in the shuffle of news. One keeps clicking on it, only to see that it's old and previously read.

Greetings. I'm interested in improving my tactics and strategy. How can i develop a killer instinct to checkmate my opponent on a consistent level? Is there anything specific i should be looking for rather than dancing pieces around? I learned how to play the game when i was 8, but i'm interested in learning more about the game on a deeper level. Aside from playing chess over and over, how can i get better? Can you get better at chess if you play it over and over?

Outstanding work Danny!  Thanks for sharing your games.  You are on your way!

Just a question, I am teaching a couple of kids at a local elementary school, my goal is to provide a fun way for them to learn chess though I am expected to prepare them well for tournaments as the lessons are paid for. So what would you think about a method along these lines:

We would set the clock to whatever time control the next tournament will feature.

Depending on the topic, the method will vary but for example studying pins and skewers it will look like this.

Draw a puzzle ramdomly from database of problems ( varying difficulty,the point here is to have the students decide how much time to spend on it )

The first students clock starts, he/she solves puzzle. Pause the clock, explain the solution to the second student.

The second student does the same and so on. The students "beat" the drill if a certain number of puzzles are completed. The point here is that through the mutual learn-teach interaction they become more skilled at recognizing patterns relating to what is being studied.

Do you think this is an effective way to simulate game conditions?

And good luck in Freemont!

Hello, Danny

You say

I will freely admit that I struggled to keep myself focused and calm after losing my first five games in a row in St Louis. After "letting it all hang out" so to speak, I did eventually find myself on the other side of my "chess tantrum". Which if you're wondering what that looks like, it basically consists of me crying to my wife about how hard I have it competing against other chess professionals  (ie not being able to study more or as much as them, having a full time job that doesn't involve playing chess more often, not being good enough anyway so why am I even doing this, I should quit chess forever, why I am even on this planet, the world is ending, etc, etc, etc ).

You're an IM - that is enough to impress most people on this site (including me). How many hours a day did it take you to reach that level and over what time period - ie, what have you already invested to get to your current level? Also, what sort of lesson is there to be learnt about never being satisfied with where you are?

I am sure it is similar for all of us. I (think I) would love to get my chess.com rating above 2000, but does that mean that once there I would always be happy in terms of chess? I suspect not. So what is it all about really?

That last picture was really something. I'd love to have a chess board like that. And don't worry about your losses. A bad day occurs in everyone. Hopefully now things can only go up :)

Ha, indeed RuralRob! It is even more amazing watching it live in person from the playing site. And in both of the last two games Greg was down a pawn and somehow recovered in both games to go 1.5/2 against two GMs!

Its all right Danny. I know you'll bounce back.

Who slipped the steroids into Greg Shahade's Cheerios?

hi danny,

glad you have a good emotional support system.   this is invaluable.  keep working on your chess and keep your head on straight and results will come justly in the long term.  easier said than done.  but so long you stay healthy and continue to work at improving your chess when you can things will work out.  hope you go through your games post mortem in more detail in some positions for your own benefit there were more alternatives in some positions than were provided [e.g. some of the assessments made on somewhat incomplete analysis].  see how kasparov tears apart his own games, for instance, as you may have mentioned - kasparov's opinions on scheveningen are quite fascinating in his '85 match with karpov. 

for a purpose of a blog post, your thoughts were quite interesting.  i'm glad you went thru these games with us, these were the ones i played thru b4 this post. against diamant, i had analyzed 9.Bxf6 the most accurate although for sure not the most practical, to a position that is +/=/+/-.  i believe i recall 9.nb5 leading to a +/= position.  regarding opening against krush i had analyzed as a main line:

happy new year! i finally managed to really get thru all that university course material, i did go thru it before of course but more superficially - particularly over the holidays  i was able to delve into some spots where we didn't come to conclusion on some lines or figure out how to play positions we didn't completely come to a conclusion best  as in how to play as in a few variations in the Kan for instance and to use the chesspublishing analysis and a few of my own experiments to supplement the material we had.  that course as a whole, and particularly the whole of the segments on the najdorf and dragon i thought really top class.  i liked the rapid pace and depth of the material of course.  i really enjoyed the rest too, the taimanov and how to play against the most aggressive black approaches in the kan too particularly.  even in the najdorf i was able to come up with improvements in established lines, deep in these variations of course as the tabiyas are so well established, mostly found that a few ideas that have been underestimated for White.  my general conclusion on a theoretical level that ...e5 is more characteristic of najdorf play on 6 be2 and be3.  on a practical level though, some of these positions that evolve are so complex that this is a non-issue, for even GM+ level, despite the abundance of theory in this line, and its a matter of who knows the positions better.

also as a food for thought, i think a lot of which is expressed in written form in the internet, it's not so simple to express all of what is intended in writing, the whole of its meaning is lost in translation. i.e. when i wrote that a position in a chess tv was just winning i didn't mean it as an affront.   to your practical assessments which are the most relevant. to any game, and the concrete analysis to any analysis as compared to speculative assessment.

anyway, happy new year and i wish you good chess in fremont.  i will be in berkeley later this year, they're right next to the berkeley campus, i'm still working out when.  some time when there's some nice chess tournaments out west i hope, and to have some level of focus so i can be a NM by then. we'll see.

best wishes,

matt

Your honesty is a breath of fresh air Danny. I've just started in chess and it's VERY hard at the beginning but it's good to know that even people as good as you have hard times. Thank you!

Thanks to all for the kind words!!! So far, 2 wins and 1 loss in Freemont. Loss coming to GM Ramirez. Will keep posted and of course, eventually write a post-tourney blog.

Thanks to doubledouble for the thoughts... pretty much the same way I felt (with a few more specifics) about those moves too. 19. e5 was of course a bad mistake and had to do with a number of miscalculations and misevaluations about the position. I missed 32. e6 even though I had been looking for an idea like that the whole time . Time pressure played a small role...

Thanks to all!!!

Danny

gl in Fremont, Danny!

Naturally my vert best wishes for 2012. The pictures were truly fabulous. Liked everyone them to the hilt.

Good luck in 2012 Danny!

GM Rensch in 2012! 

Yes, good luck in California, and let us all know how things go for you.  And as DeepGreene above mentioned, thanks for sharing the neat pictures and information from St. Louis. That chess piano is very intriguing, something I would never have imagined!  I'd like to see that one in person someday.

Get the <edit: no swearing!> back up and bring it.  Get up and fight.  It hurts to be down, but there exists no words to describe getting back up to face your enemy.  Respect and honor are only found within in, in these times- never lay down, die with dignity and live forever...the battle is forever.  You'll battle tonight...and you'll prevail.