mjl4871's Blog

• Online Tournament 4 of 4: Front and Center

  In the fourth game, I had the black pieces and expected to face my toughest competition thus far. I chose a tactical but impatient line of play within the Sicilian opening and probably didn't do myself any favors in doing so.  All in all, I was ... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Aug 23, 2011
  • | 169 views
  • | 0 comments

• Online Tournament 3 of 4: Impatient Zero

  This was my first game against the second best player in our tournament bracket. An 1800-level player is generally no slouch, and I'm well aware that many players at this level are actually better than me since my rating is a bit distorted from pl... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Aug 18, 2011
  • | 191 views
  • | 1 comment

• Online Tournament 2 of 4: Crouching Center, Hidden Bishop

  This next game was my rematch against opponent one. I had the black pieces and played a passive but principled system against my opponent's imposing central assault.   As you can see, opening play created some interesting possibilities, but my ... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Aug 17, 2011
  • | 158 views
  • | 2 comments

• Online Tournament 1 of 4: pwn play

  Recently completed round 2 of the chess.com tournament, "Finish by 2012?" I tied for first/second in my bracket (drawing my closest opponent both games) in round 1 to advance to round 2, so I was eager to earn my place at the top of the second rou... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Aug 16, 2011
  • | 172 views
  • | 1 comment

• Classic Blitz Hokum

  We all know that blitz, at best, only occasionally resembles actual chess. Especially on chess.com (due to lag issues, I suppose) it seems like it's all too easy to encounter a 1700+, 1800+, or even 1900+ player whose rating appear grossly inflate... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Jul 31, 2011
  • | 199 views
  • | 1 comment

• An embarrassing collapse (more blitz)

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  • mjl4871
  • | Feb 23, 2011
  • | 229 views
  • | 2 comments

• A Humdinger (3-0 Blitz)

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  • mjl4871
  • | Feb 23, 2011
  • | 229 views
  • | 2 comments

• Blitz Series 1

  I've spent the last three months focusing on the lessons learned through blitz play, especially 3/0 time controls but not exclusively. At times, I've asked myself whether blitz play is really chess at all.  OK, yes, it's chess, but is it good c... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Oct 6, 2010
  • | 248 views
  • | 3 comments

• A real life puzzle

  This is a position that occurred in a game I recently played. I had the white pieces and realized (after making my move) that black had a pretty effective way to win material. I plugged the position into Chessmaster 9000 and it produced this combi... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Oct 29, 2009
  • | 356 views
  • | 4 comments

• How many times will I move my queen?

  This is a game I recently completed. I had the black pieces, and my opponent played an opening I had never dealt with before. Neither side played his best. Probably the funniest part, on review, was how I often I moved my queen! Yikes! (I'm obviou... | Read More

  • mjl4871
  • | Oct 28, 2009
  • | 273 views
  • | 1 comment