Chess Improvement

Originally posted by MoneyMaker7
That's a great server. What's your rating so far?

I'm 1470 right now. It's hard to raise my rating because my raitng hardly goes up or down. I have been using the CTS a lot and with their rating system it makes it hard to go up or down.

I thought I would elaborate a little and add my own comments .. A warning, i haven't put my move suggestions through an engine so there is the distinct possibility that some may be tactically unsound.

For those that analyze other peoples games, do you prefer for them to do an initial analysis first?

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Sure, I'll give a quick analyzation...


[Event "Challenge"]
[Site "http://www.playtheimmortalgame.com"]
[Date "2006.11.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "MoneyMaker7"]
[Black "kal79"]
[WhiteRating "1575"]
[BlackRating "1605"]
[Result "1-0"]
[GameId "2756639"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bf8g7 3. Nb1c3 b6 4. Ng1f3 Bc8b7
5. Bf1b5

I don't get this move really, you had to see that he was going to reply with something like a6 and just kick it back - forcing you to waste another tempo. If you want to play develop that bishop now I'd suggest Bc4. This isn't the formation I usually set up against the Pirc/modern, so I'm not sure if that's the proper move. I generally try to setup a 150 Attack with an early Be3, Qd2 and O-O-O, which should work against the modern.

5. I think Bb5 isn't great but for other reasons. you don't really lose tempo in the game because a6 is largely wasted and weakens blacks position. Black's move order makes things awkward but i think I would have played 5 .. Nf6. I suspect you would have preferred the bishop on c4 particularly after black castles, depending on how things go Bc4 may also give you access to tricks involving Ng5, Qf3 and e5

a6 6. Bb5d3 I probably would have retreated to c4 or e2, but d3 looks ok

Nb8c6 7. d5 again, I don't think this move really makes sense in the given position, O-O seems to be the most logical move here, but again d5 is playable.

The REASON that 7. d5 isn't great is that it just isn't yet necessary .. at this stage it is better to remain flexible, keeping d5 OR e5 as tactical options once the rest of your pieces are developed

Nc6e5 8. Nf3xe5 Bg7xe5 9. O-O e6

10. g3 I don't get it, the light squared bishop isn't going to develop here so why bother with it? Be3 and Qe1 (That's Fritz's move) are probably better.

I assume g3 was to avoid Qh4? Again, the reason that its a bad move is because it isn't NECESSARY .. it's too passive. I would have gone Qe2 .. eying off that weak a6 pawn and putting the queen on the soon to be open e file looking straight at the black king


Be5xc3 11. bxc3 exd5

12.Bc1e3? What's the idea with this move? This gives black a material and positional advantage that should be converted into a win. exd5 should ensure a good game for white, Fritz gives the line as Bxd5 Re1 Kf8 Bf1 with an advantage for white, which you should probably be able to find at your level (after the natural recapture those next moves seem to play themselves.)

Yep, Be3 was a blunder. Not appalling (as the game showed) but i'm not sure how you would have continued after 13 .. d5 then c5?

dxe4 13. Bd3c4 Qd8e714. Bc4d5 O-O-O 15. Bd5xb7 Kc8xb7

14. .. c6 looks better to be that O-O-O .. how would you respond?

16.f3 Hmm, yeah I think you can play this, but Qd5+ is better. After f3 I think your opponent has an easier time taking control of this game. I was tempted by Bd4 here, but after f6 black is doing better than after f3

the reason Qd5+ is good is that it threatens the e4 pawn AND starts the attack on blacks weak king position. I don't like f3 because once again you don't NEED to play it, it weakens your own kings position. All your moves at this point should be directed at the black king. It would be hard to resist Bd4 but i agree, after f3 you got nothing, I would have waited for the knight to come out for the pin .. Rb1 looks playable maybe even c4?

d5
17. a4 Ng8f6 18. a5 h5? White can capitalize here

h5 loses the game, black HAS to play b5 .. he should have enough resources to defend and then counter attack. It looks like he could hold c5 too, making the job easier.

19. Qd1e2 Not with that move though, the natural axb6 is good here cxb6 Bxb6! and Kxb6 is bad here with Qd4+ and Rb1 to follow with an assault on black's king.

h4? Again, he gives you the chance to trade off there and win - you catch it this time.

20. axb6 Rd8a8 21. Rf1b1 exf3 22. Qe2xf3 c6 23. Be3g5 Qe7c5 24. Kg1h1 hxg3

the simple bxc at move 21 looks promising .. followed by 21 .. Qxc2 22. Rfb1 or 21 .. Kxc2 22. Rxa3. The king is in front of the Queen AND there is no support for the rook on h1 leaving the possibility of a number of pins .. of course an engine will tell you if this is sound or not, 21 .. exf does worry me a little .. Rfb1 is solid and effective though

25. h4 Qxg3 and the threats to black's king look deadly, your move gives black a passed g pawn that looks pretty dangerous - black actually has a bit of an edge here compared to Qxg3 where you're dominating. 25.Qxg3 Ne8 (Rc8 Bxf6) 26.Re1 and it's done.


Nf6e4?? (Nd7 seems to be the only way to save the game)

26. Qf3xf7 Kb7b8
27. Bg5f4 Qc7#

Ne4d6 28. Qf7c7 1-0

Originally posted by idioms
I thought I would elaborate a little and add my own comments .. A warning, i haven't put my move suggestions through an engine so there is the distinct possibility that some may be tactically unsound.

For those that analyze other peoples games, do you prefer for them to do an initial analysis first?

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Sure, I'll give ...[text shortened]... 8
27. Bg5f4 [b]Qc7#

Ne4d6 28. Qf7c7 1-0[/b]

Nice additions, I appreciate the expansion. It seems like you did a better job saying what I meant than myself. 🙂

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Nice additions, I appreciate the expansion. It seems like you did a better job saying what I meant than myself. 🙂

At club level I used to enjoy group analysis. It would start with the two players of the game doing an analysis and then move to the rest of the group. People have different ways of explaining things that make sense. One guy always used to explain things in terms of colour control, it wasn't always entirely accurate but it did make you look at positions differently.

Second page? Shame on you sub 1600's - especially you sub 1400's.

Part IV:Basic Strategy

Read The Amateur's Mind

Before I start I should mention that everything mentioned up to this point should still be practiced daily, otherwise those parts of your game will start to suffer. This is an easy to describe section because to learn basic strategy I think there's only one book that you need to get and read through - The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman. Set up a board (or use the computer board) and play through all of the games in it, pay close attention to his comments and thoroughly read this book. It should give you a deeper understand of the moves you play, and should help your play a lot. That's it - read the book. 🙂

Quick quiz, is this helping anyone or should I not bother adding posts to it? I'm really using it as a basis to help me study as well, but I could just as easily write it in word if it's only for me. 😉

Originally posted by Falco Lombardi
I'm 1470 right now. It's hard to raise my rating because my raitng hardly goes up or down. I have been using the CTS a lot and with their rating system it makes it hard to go up or down.

you've just hit the level you're on. now the real work begins. 🙂

1470 is okay, many 1800's here do about the same. but 60% correct is really bad. it's almost pure guessing, and you've gotta really work those gray little brain cells to improve. raising the % to around 80 will set you back about 200-150 points, but you'll improve far more given time than with low %. 82-85% gives about the optimal improvement rate for me, but some do even 93-95%. to me it looks like they don't improve as fast though...

Originally posted by wormwood
you've just hit the level you're on. now the real work begins. 🙂

1470 is okay, many 1800's here do about the same. but 60% correct is really bad. it's almost pure guessing, and you've gotta really work those gray little brain cells to improve. raising the % to around 80 will put you back about 200-150 points, but you'll improve far more given time than ...[text shortened]... for me, but some do even 93-95%. to me it looks like they don't improve as fast though...

I'm thinking about training there, seems like a good place for tactics, I tried it before and the first night I went wild and did over 100 (or was it 200?) tactics.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
I'm thinking about training there, seems like a good place for tactics, I tried it before and the first night I went wild and did over 100 (or was it 200?) tactics.

I did 700 the day I started. 🙂 nowadays about 200-300 a day. but I'm taking november off...

Originally posted by wormwood
I did 700 the day I started. 🙂 nowadays about 200-300 a day. but I'm taking november off...

Oh god man, that's insane - wow, impressive though.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Oh god man, that's insane - wow, impressive though.

it works. I'm starting to be pretty good at tactics (there's a finnish guy 2150 fide around the same level on cts), but get killed in the endgame. don't mind being unbalanced though, I'll get to endgames next, after I break 1600 permanently on cts. I'll shift focus from tactics to endgame, and start drilling them like I do tactics now. there's only so much you can do in 24h...

Originally posted by wormwood
it works. I'm starting to be pretty good at tactics (there's a finnish guy 2150 fide around the same level on cts), but get killed in the endgame. don't mind being unbalanced though, I'll get to endgames next, after I break 1600 permanently on cts. I'll shift focus from tactics to endgame, and start drilling them like I do tactics now. there's only so much you can do in 24h...

Yeah, but endgames are still essential. Learn those and maybe you can beat him. 😉

Originally posted by cmsMaster
[b]Part IV:Basic Strategy

Read The Amateur's Mind

Before I start I should mention that everything mentioned up to this point should still be practiced daily, otherwise those parts of your game will start to suffer. This is an easy to describe section because to learn basic strategy I think there's only one book that you need to get and re stand of the moves you play, and should help your play a lot. That's it - read the book. 🙂[/b]

Here's an example of basic strategy - I'm black (3 min. game) and the center gets closed very early (Don't use this game as opening instruction, the first few moves aren't played well 🙂) Knowing this I decided it was ok to forego castling - if the center is closed and it's hard to open it's often ok to leave your king in the center. Of course, as a general rule castling is a good idea. Notice how white cannot penetrate to attack the king, I deleted the last few moves because things got absurd in massive time trouble.



[Event "Rated game, 3m + 0s"]
[Site "Main Playing Hall"]
[Date "2006.11.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Curie"]
[Black "CMSMaster"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1432"]
[BlackElo "1371"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2006.11.17"]
[TimeControl "180"]

1. e4 {1} c5 {1} 2. c3 {1} Nf6 {3} 3. e5 {2} Nd5 {2} 4. Bc4 {1} e6 {2} 5. Bxd5
{6} exd5 {1} 6. d4 {1} c4 {2} 7. f4 {4} d6 {1} 8. Nf3 {2} Qe7 {3} 9. O-O {2}
dxe5 {1} 10. fxe5 {2} f6 {4} 11. Re1 {3} f5 {6} 12. Bg5 {6} Qe6 {2} 13. Nbd2 {
19} h6 {3} 14. Be3 {3} g5 {2} 15. Bxg5 {11} hxg5 {2} 16. Nxg5 {0} Qe7 {0} 17.
Ndf3 {1} Bh6 {3} 18. Nh3 {10} Qe6 {7} 19. Qe2 {7} Nc6 {3} 20. Qf2 {3} Kd8 {5}
21. Qh4+ {6} Kc7 {3} 22. Qg3 {9} Rg8 {6} 23. Qh4 {9} Rg4 {9} 24. Qf2 {16} Bd7 {
11} 25. Rf1 {3} Rag8 {3} 26. Nh4 {9} Rf8 {10} 27. Qf3 {8} Rxh4 {7} 28. Nf2 {3}
Rf4 {6} 29. Qh3 {3} Bg5 {' 36} 30. Qh7 {3} Rh4 {5} 31. Qg7 {8} Be7 {9} 32. Qg3
{3} Rhh8 {5}(Lag: Av=0.45s, max=2.3s) 0} 0-1

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Yeah, but endgames are still essential. Learn those and maybe you can beat him. 😉

I'll get to it eventually, just can't do everything at once. 🙂 (the sooner the better, as I do realize everything that I'm learning about middlegame now is in a way, wrong)