Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com It has been a long time since I have posted anything. I have been very busy with my studies, especially now since I am taking 6 classes for a total of 18 credits this semester. I am not using this as an excuse for what I am about to show you. I am...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/brainfarts-can-be-contagious2Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:32:42 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/brainfarts-can-be-contagious2I figured I'd post another live game, since I tend to have a hard time coming up with good moves quickly.   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/the-chess-equivalent-of-nukingSat, 14 Jun 2008 13:52:55 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/the-chess-equivalent-of-nukingMy actual first live game was a one-minute blood battle. I simply cannot do less than 5 minutes. I'm up for analysis or commentary. http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/my-first-good-live-gameSun, 08 Jun 2008 15:23:42 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/my-first-good-live-gameI feel that this has got to be the best game I've played in a long time. It came really close at the end, and my opponent made some good moves with good tactics. Even if I had lost, I would have been truly grateful for the game.   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/a-really-close-gameFri, 30 May 2008 09:22:49 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/a-really-close-gameBelow, I have listed some variations of the game that I find interesting, along with brief details: Bughouse Chess: This has been discussed before about two-player teams playing both colors; when one player captures a piece, his/her partner may pl...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/new-chess-variationsTue, 01 Jan 2008 12:47:58 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/new-chess-variationsHey all, I don't know what I did here, but I was five pawns up in this game and somehow managed to lose. Please leave comments so I can learn from this mess.   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/how-did-i-let-this-happenSat, 22 Dec 2007 09:28:34 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/how-did-i-let-this-happenI was white and this was one of my recent games. I first put in a diagram to show the game up until the crucial point, and the second part is a puzzle to test your thinking. If there are any big mistakes that I overlooked, let me know.  &nbsp...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/the-best-positioning-ive-ever-had-i-thinkTue, 18 Dec 2007 21:19:05 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/the-best-positioning-ive-ever-had-i-thinkWell, it seems like I finally reached the peak of my game, and now my rating is going down the toilet. I don't understand what happened. At one point I'm playing the best games of my life, and now I'm losing to players 300+ points lowe...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/pissed-offWed, 05 Dec 2007 19:58:08 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/pissed-offI always keep a keen eye on those players with higher ratings, but it tends to come as a surprise to me when I actually come out victorious. Sometimes I wonder if I am really deserving of such a high rating, but I have to say that I enjoy the reco...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/a-proud-gameSun, 02 Dec 2007 11:27:32 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/a-proud-gameI enjoyed this game a lot, and I wanted to share with you the tactics I used here. I know that this isn't really forced mate, but it was fun anyway. http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/claustrophobiaSun, 02 Dec 2007 08:08:04 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/claustrophobiaThis puzzle comes from a game I played against a chess computer at medium difficulty. It should be quite simple.   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/lockdownTue, 27 Nov 2007 07:30:09 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/lockdownI've analyzed this situation from as many perspectives as possible and I don't see a single way out for this guy. I've come up with the best possible scenario in the puzzle below and we'll see if you can see what I've been seei...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/under-lock-and-keySun, 25 Nov 2007 12:28:01 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/under-lock-and-keyThis guy was destroying me for a while, but then I managed to corner his king. You try to figure it out from this point:   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/turning-the-tables-againMon, 05 Nov 2007 17:38:27 -0800http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/turning-the-tables-againWhat do you think would be the best move for white? http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/turned-tables-in-twoFri, 02 Nov 2007 08:23:41 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/turned-tables-in-twoEven being two pawns up, this one is trickier than it seems. See if you can figure it out.   http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/gain-the-advantageSat, 27 Oct 2007 20:16:29 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/gain-the-advantageDoes anybody know how your rating is determined? I'm trying to figure out how a win for me only raises my rating by like five points, and a loss subtracts close to twenty. It's driving me crazy!http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/rating-calculationsFri, 26 Oct 2007 16:03:15 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/rating-calculationsIt's kind of funny to me how I basically asked a higher-ranked player to destroy me and help me learn more from the game. I ended up beating him. I felt good about the win, but also a little bummed that the game was not rated. Before I give it...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/i-wanted-him-to-beat-meWed, 24 Oct 2007 14:35:13 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/i-wanted-him-to-beat-meI've looked back on many games that I have played or watched and about half the time, it seems that when someone castles king-side they actually set themselves up for the kill later in the game. While castling shields the king (usually) from i...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/is-castling-really-the-best-moveSun, 21 Oct 2007 16:30:04 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/is-castling-really-the-best-moveI got lucky with this endgame and won, but could I have done it no matter what he did?  Wow. I guess I had him no matter what. Sweet. http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/check-to-see-if-this-could-have-gone-differentlySun, 21 Oct 2007 07:39:21 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/check-to-see-if-this-could-have-gone-differentlyIt seems to me like a lot of the people out there with ratings between 1200 and 1500 should be rated a lot higher than they are. Right now it seems that my rating is taking huge hits because I lose to a player with a rating of like 1300, when that...http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/liarsSat, 20 Oct 2007 13:20:11 -0700http://blog.chess.com/Spike_Mason/liars