Chess According To ih8sens

An in depth perspective of anything and everything chess...

The Dangerous Najdorf

Submitted by ih8sens on Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:10pm.

What a dynamic line!  The Najdorf is so interesting from both sides.  I won't get into some long speech about the theory, origins, etc... but I will say that it can create some very crazy games.   Enjoy!   Read more »

The Value Of Small Advantages

Submitted by ih8sens on Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:50am.

Here is a fully annotated game for you to take a look at.  The annotations will discuss Nimzovich's theory that masters 'overrate' small advantages, and Capablanca's approach to chess.  Namely, that one advantage can lead to another more signifi... Read more »

A Bittersweet Result

Submitted by ih8sens on Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:13am.

I'm sure all of us have had similar circumstances.  We're paired in a tournament with someone rated far higher than us in a key game.  If you're anything like me, your 'must win' feeling definitely overpowers your 'no chance' instinct.   Here... Read more »

A Fun Blitz Tournament

Submitted by ih8sens on Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:23am.

Here are my games from a 3 round swiss blitz (3min.) tournament.  I haven't annotated them but they're a nice watch.  Particularly game 3.   Read more »

A 3 Minute Masterpiece

Submitted by ih8sens on Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:04pm.

As I gradually become a stronger chess player, I continually look forward to reaching new milestones.  An all-time high rating in live chess was my latest accomplishment.  Here's the game that gave me this new rating.  Excitingly enough, it was... Read more »

How To Study

Submitted by ih8sens on Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:12am.

To start off, I'd like everyone to know that this is completely an opinion piece.  Even at the very top levels of chess, superGM's will answer this question differently.  However, here, I'd like to share my opinion on the most effective way to s... Read more »

My Immortal - Accuracy

Submitted by ih8sens on Sun Jul 5, 2009 10:24pm.

Here's a game I played today at the Hart House U2000 tournament in Toronto.  I finished the tournament with a 3/5 score (shoulda been 4/5 .. kinda hung my queen in an endgame). Credit should be given to David, my young opponent who played incred... Read more »

My First Fischer Random Game

Submitted by ih8sens on Thu Jul 2, 2009 12:56pm.

Wow, that was fun! Read more »

Tactical Chaos!

Submitted by ih8sens on Thu Jul 2, 2009 9:57am.

As I'm sure just about everyone who follows my blogs knows, I tend to avoid situations where positional concepts don't find the move for you.  As much as I love tactics and actually work very hard in the tactics trainer, I tend to (like so many o... Read more »

The Difference Between ...

Submitted by ih8sens on Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:28pm.

Hi everyone! :)   I was browsing around the forums today and saw a very interesting post talking about the 'difference between a 1400 and a 1600 player'.  Naturally this lead to discussion about the differences between players of all rating ca... Read more »