Chess Report: July 24

Putting in the work, but treading water

Welcome back to Chess in Small Doses. Today we’re looking back at the last month’s games and progress. It’s been a mixed bag for me. I’ve put in a lot of work on tactics and played 5 classical games. I feel stronger during the games, but let a lot of wins slip into draws or even losses, so yeah…. Let’s get into it.

July Stats

• Classical Rating Points: + 3

• Classical Games played: 5

• Accuracy: 84.6%

I’ve really enjoyed the focus back on tactics this month. I’ve done tactics training 6 days/week in June and kept that up into July. However, the last two weeks were on vacation so I took an appropriate break. I played 5 games including one just heart breaker of a loss. However, I feel like I’m getting stronger. I noticed that I am making better use of my time, using my 3x3 method to search for possible moves, and not just playing what looks good. It feels like my chess has gotten better. It’s far from perfect, but it’s at least a start.

That being said, there’s still work to do. Let go one game at a time. Click on the links to see my game analysis.

Game #1

I had White and played the London against the KID. It was a hard fought game, but I made a mistake only to have the favor returned in this position.

It’s Black to move. I had 2 minutes on the clock and Black had 3. I this position they played Bxc3 and the eval went from -2.1 to -0.1, basically a drawn position (Rd8 was more active and stronger). We fought on, but the bishop of opposite color endgame we got to was a draw.

Result: 1/2

Game #2:

Played a training game against @em-as-in-emily who was nice enough to bring her A game. I played the London and she played an early c5 and Qb6. Interesting line where if played right, the Black queen can get trapped. We fought a sharp, tactical opening and reached a point where I said “I am dominating here.”

White is much better developed, has the king castled, and Black still is a few moves away from safety. I saw this position and my instinct was to open the position with e4. However, I saw e4 dxe Bxe4 and the DSB is attacked by the Queen. So I decided instead to play Qe2? for some reason, missing the moment. What I missed was that after e4, Black cannot take the pawn because if dxe and Bxe4 the a8 rook is hanging. Black doesn’t have time to take the bishop. Qe2 isn’t losing, but it allowed Nc5 and we played into an equal-ish endgame that I then messed up.

For some reason, I played e4 here and gave her another target to attack. I ended up not being able to stop her passed pawns and lost. Just devastating.

Result: 0-1

Game #3:

Again I had the White pieces and we played the London vs KID. This ended up being a fascinating game full of imbalances and twists and turns. I highly recommend you look at the full analysis, but let’s get to the critical moments.

It’s White to play (I had 3:08 minutes on the clock) and all I could see is that if Rxc7 or Qxc7 then I might get mated. So I traded queens here, missing the win with Qc1+! where Black is forced to play Re3 and then Rf3 wins the piece. Bummer. However, I had a second chance to win in the endgame.

It’s White to play (I had almost 5 minutes on the clock here). I saw Be6+ Kf6 but couldn’t calculate how I win after that. I must have brain locked after a long game, and I reverted back to “see move make move” playing instead Ba6 to bring it to d3 and win the g pawn. Oops… The king just runs to the corner and it’s a draw. However, had I played Be6+ Kf6 Bg4 Kf7 Kh7 then White wins. Stranger still, all I needed to play was Kh7 to win and didn’t even have to move the bishop. Black would be in Zugzwang. Double bummer.

Result: 1/2

Game #4

Last game was just a training game without preparation. I had the White pieces and we played an Englund Gambit (damnit Eric Rosen). There were more than a few blunders between both players but we ended up in this very sharp position. It’s White to move with about 15 minutes on the clock.

This is where I got serious tunnel vision. In my defense, there’s a lot going on here so it’s easy to get brain locked. I had felt the only way to get good counter-play in the game was to attack Kingside. I credit my opponent for creative play, having captured f2 hoping i’d take back with the king setting up a discovered check. Instead I captured a pawn on c5 which led to this position. I spent a lot of time here looking at all the one move options and trying to calculate. However, I discarded the best move trying to continue the attack. So I opted for Na4? planning to respond to Nxd3 with Nxb6+. I had figured he’d move to c7 allowing Nxd5+ forcing Rxd5 which I would capture later. That turned out to be the line we played, but I missed the simple Qxf2 bxc allowing either Qb2 or e4. That would have been winning, but I got a worse position after this.

Luckily for me I could press the position, leading my opponent to get very low on time (< 1 min) and make a blunder. He resigned before I could capture the blundered piece. This was our final position:

Result: 1-0

Game 5

Once more for posterity… endgames need improvement.

I played Round 8 of Lichess 4545 40th season today and I was able to get an advantage in the endgame with 3 isolated pawns vs 1. My rook was more active, I was winning. But how to convert?

I am sad to say that I found the line that resulted in a draw. I played g6 Rb1 g7 Rg1 Ra6 Rxg7 Rxa5 and my opponent found Kb6, winning another pawn. It was a draw after that. Another winning endgame where I let the advantage slip.. On the upside, my opponent was 60+ points higher rated than I am but on the downside I probably should have won this game. Argh.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly

What’s gone well is that I’ve kept up the tactics work. I can only control the process and not the outcomes, so making tactics a consistent habit has been a success. Also, resiliency has been good. I had losing positions in two games and was able to fight on to equality. Lastly, while I switched to 1.d4 with White a few months ago I’m still deepening my knowledge of the opening lines. It feels better and better.

What hasn’t gone as well is always looking for tactical targets in games. I missed a few moments (but to be fair I also found a few) that would have won more games for me. I trust that as I continue the work, things will get better. However, making habits a focus is part of the reason I wrote out the 3x3 Method. Practice makes progress in this instance.

The one thing that was ugly this last month was my performance in the endgames. Maybe I should study or practice some endgames? Thank God for Silman’s Endgame Manual. Best chess book pound for pound in the endgame department IMO. I had so many endgames that I needed to be accurate in yet I am either getting tired (a real possibility) or I am just unfamiliar with the whole Rook endgame strategy (another real possibility).

Looking ahead

I think it’s clear that I benefitted from increasing my focus on tactics. Openings are solid and haven’t really been the issue for a while. Many of my losses (and wins) are due to tactical errors. So tactics it is (Tactics from Scratch, Woodpecker Method, Chess Tactics for Champions). The other thing is I am swearing off strategy books until I hit USCF 1800. That may sound dramatic, but seriously after Simple Chess and Power of Pawns the next strategy I’ll be reading is ONLY going to be about the openings I play. It’s such kryptonite for me (and other adult improvers) to study hard instead of actually practice a skill. Strategy books are that for me (plus I can get a lot of that in a lesson anyway).

Silman’s Endgame Manual and I are going to get chummy during August and September. If anyone has a good Lichess study on rook endgames, I would appreciate the tip.

Next up there is a tournament coming up on August 3rd that I’ve signed up for. (I haven’t played in on since April). Wish me luck!