Originally posted by Fat Lady
I think most of us find a way of playing which we feel halfway competent at early on in our chess career and then tend to play like that for ever! For example a lot of players learn one or two tricky openings, win a few pretty games against other beginners and then stick to that opening repertoire for the next two decades.
What worked for me twice is del nd how you can win games even when your opponent doesn't miss anything obvious.
yes this I can understand this as it somewhat reflects my own experience. It seems
to me fatlady that you have, through the process of practical play come to certain
realisation concerning what i term chess realities, for example that its an inherently
strategic game and we should therefore play strategically. Here on timeforchess i
win almost all of my games against players of my own strength playing against
weakened pawn structures or in endings. I never hardly ever go for crazy attacks,
the experience of seeing them refuted next move was rather apparent. I think that
we differ for i tried to play Sicilian for ages and came to the conclusion that its
simply too complicated and sharp for me. I like clear and simple position so I
switched to ...e5 and don't mind the black side of a Ruy or playing the Giuoco Piano
its far better than being pawn stormed by f3, g4, h4 and h5 every time, but again it
took me ages to realise this.
Endings have made a difference somewhat, although not in ways I expected. I still
don't know what a Lucena position is or a Philidor or how to reach them, so I am
determined to learn as much as i can about rook and pawn endings.