Chess According To ih8sens

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

Einsteins Theory

Submitted by ih8sens on Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:56pm.

After a shockingly accurate game (even by today's standard) in which Fischer exploited one (and quite likely only one) small mistake by Mikhail Tal for the win, Tal is quoted as saying: "It's difficult to play against Einsteins theory."   Perha... Read more »

Careless Win

Submitted by ih8sens on Fri Feb 6, 2009 6:13pm.

I must admit, this game is one of my personal favourites.  However, after slowly (and very precisely) building a significant advantage, I try to cash in too soon and almost lose my edge.  Thankfully my opponent missed one big chance and the rest... Read more »

Brilliancy Prize

Submitted by ih8sens on Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:25pm.

It was once said that "the loser always wins the post-mortem". Especially around the <2000 level, this couldn't be more true.  As beautiful a game as chess is when you win, there are times where overlooked wins are nothing short of crushing. ... Read more »

White To Move And Win :D

Submitted by ih8sens on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:46am.

If anyone calls this 'easy' I may be forced to hunt you down :P. Read more »

Clash Of The Opening Prep!

Submitted by ih8sens on Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:42pm.

Here is quite a fascinating game I recently played in a tournament I was in.  Both my opponent and I prepared the same opening line!  The result was that a surprise prepared by me lead to a nice advantage and a strong win.  Nothing too exciting... Read more »

Beating Greed

Submitted by ih8sens on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:32am.

I'm sure everyone has lost to an opponent who played very materialisticly (is that a word?!).  Often, they take pawns that your instinct tells you had no business being taken... and yet you are unable to exploit it and so end up losing.   As a... Read more »

When 'A Matter Of Technique' Isn't Enough

Submitted by ih8sens on Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:27pm.

So let's quickly set the stage...   We're in the finals of a small tournament.  I am 0.5 points behind my opponent and so must win with the black pieces in order to claim first place.  My opponent and I have the exact same rating and a rather... Read more »

Bruce Highcock vs. Matthew Nicholson (ih8sens)

Submitted by ih8sens on Mon Dec 1, 2008 9:40am.

I've taken the liberty of blogging the 'highlight' game from my latest tournament.  It was quite an exciting game, both of us preparing quite well for the match. I've annotated it as best I can.  Some postgame commentary by my opponent is also i... Read more »

Tournament Game 5.

Submitted by ih8sens on Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:54pm.

And here it is ... the last game of the tournament.  A real dissapointment for me because my opponent looked like he was 12 and I was told by a few friends that he was in fact 12 years old ... can anyone say "child progidy?"   Anyways enjoy it... Read more »

Tournament Game 4!

Submitted by ih8sens on Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:35am.

Well ... if you've seen games 1, 2, and 3 ... You'll wonder if it's the same person playing this game :).   This one is much more in 'my style' ... enjoy!   Read more »