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sputnick's game analysis blog

This blog is dedicated to game analysis and, more generally, chess improvement.

Your thoughts on the games and analysis would be greatly appreciated.

-sputnick


    • Round 4

      This round 4 win clinched the Class B tournament victory. This, unlike the round one and three wins, is relatively well played by me. All four my games in this tournament entered the endgame, and my opponents played it poorly in my three victories... | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | May 11, 2012
      • | 60 views
      • | 1 comment
    • Round 3

      Another unimpressive win in which white simply implodes in the endgame. | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | May 11, 2012
      • | 50 views
      • | 1 comment
    • Round 2

      Here is round two of the tournament I played last summer. Typically, I bailed out of a complicated position for a small advantage. This time it was insufficient to win. | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | May 11, 2012
      • | 47 views
      • | 0 comments
    • Round One

      I am analyzing some over the board games I played a while ago. The following was a four game class "B" tournament that I managed to win. The round one game, which is not beauty, follows: | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | May 11, 2012
      • | 50 views
      • | 0 comments
    • Some interesting subtleties in this Catalan

      I was never in danger of losing here, but allowed plenty of chances for my opponent to equalize and only won when he blew an equal king and pawn endgame. | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | Jan 3, 2011
      • | 333 views
      • | 1 comment
    • Could not have played better in this 18 move crush.

      | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | Dec 3, 2010
      • | 299 views
      • | 1 comment
    • The error of avoiding complications

      In this game I had several opportunities to put the game away, but I chose to avoid complications and settle for a smaller advantage. The end result was a win, but am not happy with my approach, which would not be sufficient against stronger oppo... | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | Nov 6, 2010
      • | 296 views
      • | 0 comments
    • The Threat is greater than the execution!

      See if you can find out where the motto "the threat is greater than the execution" applies in this game. | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | May 14, 2010
      • | 362 views
      • | 0 comments
    • And now the loss

      Some time ago, I posted a my analysis of four games from a tournament I played in mid-June. Attentive readers may have wondered, what about game five? Tied for second with 3/4 going into the final round, I had a chance to tie for first if I won an... | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | Jul 13, 2009
      • | 316 views
      • | 0 comments
    • Amateur Opening Preparation: The Evidence

      You may have seen opening analysis that cite statistical evidence regarding how well an opening fares. Those statistics are based overwhelming on games by players with ratings over 2200. What would we discover if we looked only at amateur games? H... | Read More

      • sputnick
      • | Jun 18, 2009
      • | 306 views
      • | 1 comment