I had great time at this tournament. The playing conditions and organization were excellent, complementary coffee and snacks were nice touches.
Douglas M Forsythe - Organizer and TD
I don't like to play with time controls less then G/90 or play more than 2 games a day. This tournament was G/60 and there were 4 games in one day. But there was nothing else I could find for this w-end, and I decided that I would like to get better at shorter time controls too.
All my games went right down to the wire in terms of time. The two games I lost were mad time scrambles by both players.
I finished with 1-2=1, and will probably lose about 19 points. to get back down to 1865
I lost both games as White! The final 10-15 moves in these games were not recorded.
Click here to replay the first loss.
Click here to replay the 2nd loss.
Let's be realistic. One of the hardest things to do in life is actually get better at something after you have achieved a certain level as an adult over several years. You are not going to become a better chess player as far as talent, but you can achieve better results in a number of ways. The most obvious is opening preparation geared towards getting more easy wins and even easy draws. Time management to avoid serious time trouble (also helped by good opening preparation!), basic endgame knowledge, knowing when to offer a draw, playing up (it's hard to gain rating points against low rated players!), etc. People say they want a higher rating, but they aren't willing to do what it takes to get there! I, personally had a stretch where I went from a high 1600's rating to 1973 in about 9 months. I certainly did not become a more talented or better player. You just need to know how to get results without the benefit of talent.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is MUCH harder to become better at something as an adult. However, it is not impossible, it just takes probably 2-3 times the effort. If you really want to become an expert, or a master, or a GM for that matter, then you just have to put in the amount of time needed.
ReplyDeleteThe question is ... does Ivan want to become a "better chess player," or - apparently like the first poster - simply get a higher rating?
ReplyDeleteFirst game - 8.c5 I would play, then, you opened the king side with fxg3 - I would prefer hxg3. Plus your pawn chain is directed to queen side meaning you should play there instead of king side play. That's not so well known tip but GMs know it. And move 30. Why not Kxc7? You force black to take your queen and then you retake his bishop. You are up a knight and without queens and bishops you should be able to win. But you decided to keep the queens on. Hoping for a draw? I think not because (you saw why) Qe5 0-1 I hope these tips help
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