Chess and Me-July 26th
Submitted by on Thu, 07/26/2007 at 11:25am.
This is my first attempt at a blog (ever), and it's on chess too! I was reviewing some of my games and began to notice some things.
- My endgame are rather weak.
- I've often "sacrificed" pieces, only to realize the moves I'd played through in my head weren't foolproof, and I end up down material.
- As white, I almost always play the Scotch, as I never really liked playing Ruy Lopez type openings.
- As black, I usually play the Scandinavian (1...d5). However, after watching over masters playing the Scandinavian, I realize that I never even considered playing ...c6 sometime and allowing my queen to return.
- I should take Bill Wall's advice, and work on becoming really solid with two openings for both black and white.
- The few positional games I have played resulted in losses for me, but yet were some of the most enjoyable games I've ever played, so I should open more with 1.d4!
- I need to think more about why my opponent played his/her previous move, and try to look more than just 1 move ahead.
- I have to be patient, and identify and take advantage of my opponent's weaknesses, which are often overlooked. (i.e. weak colored bishop, stacked pawns, pawn islands, etc.)
This seems like a large enough list of things to work on. Despite all the flaws in my game, I've never enjoyed being a chess player more than I do right now. Last night, I first learned about (and played) the Queen's Gambit (Accepted and Declined), and it was like being exposed to a whole new game of chess. I became inspired during the course of this game, and managed to pull off a nice mate in two after gradually advancing my pieces while picking off enemy pawns and sacrificing a weak bishop to win a rook.
To end on a really positive note, I know that my chess game is improving and will continue to get better. And I've gradually began to study while gaining passion for chess, something I would've thought impossible before trying.
Anyways, I hope this was interesting enough for you, and you'll stop by and read my next blog about my progress and chess in general.
-Andrew
PS: Feel free to challenege me to some email chess! 