The Qualifier Continues
My first two games of the championship qualifier were scary. I ended up ok but I played absolutely horrible chess. The third game was similar...
But the fourth game went really well.
Here are the two games.
The main thing I was doing in the fourth game that I wasn't doing in the first three games is rejecting my own conclusions. Over time I was able to gain a firmer grip on the position and avoided making mistakes out of carelessness.
I really wanted to win but more than that this felt like a must win game. I was not positioned well in the tournament after losing my third round and also it was against Shoemaker who I have a not so secret vendetta against. I told him I would beat him 10 times before he ever beat me. I have 3 after last Thursday... Vern Young said "If you had lost that game you would have never heard the end of it."
During the day of this game I felt an overwhelming sense of confidence. It was very weird. I knew that I was going to win I just had to pace myself and continue finding strong moves. And that's what I did. I used my time well and I produced a nice clean win. No chances for white, no tricks, just steadily building on a lead. Just like I said I wasn't doing in the last post. I haven't felt this good about a win in months, my play was very strong. It was a good day.
But the fourth game went really well.
Here are the two games.
The main thing I was doing in the fourth game that I wasn't doing in the first three games is rejecting my own conclusions. Over time I was able to gain a firmer grip on the position and avoided making mistakes out of carelessness.
I really wanted to win but more than that this felt like a must win game. I was not positioned well in the tournament after losing my third round and also it was against Shoemaker who I have a not so secret vendetta against. I told him I would beat him 10 times before he ever beat me. I have 3 after last Thursday... Vern Young said "If you had lost that game you would have never heard the end of it."
During the day of this game I felt an overwhelming sense of confidence. It was very weird. I knew that I was going to win I just had to pace myself and continue finding strong moves. And that's what I did. I used my time well and I produced a nice clean win. No chances for white, no tricks, just steadily building on a lead. Just like I said I wasn't doing in the last post. I haven't felt this good about a win in months, my play was very strong. It was a good day.
Good luck on getting to 10-0 :)
I like this template
I am playing in the Chicago Open as well, are you?
iw
Getting to 2000
This is an erroneous statement. The truth is that I have been playing 1. d4 for so long that if you were going to play a Slav, I had to decide on which system I was going to chooose.
Since I have experience with the Dutch Variation, The Krause Variation and the Exchange Variation. This is why I spend 10 minutes right out of the Opening.
As far as the move 6. a4!?, it's recommended by Tartakower. I wanted to give it a try or else I would have played the normal 6. Bd3leading to the Main Lines.
You should remember the game where I blew Garingo off the board in the Slav/Dutch Variation.
There was never a question for me as to move-order and I'm not that in love with the Marshall Gambit.
Truth is, I often avoid main lines if I have not enough time during the week due to my studies and my married life.
What is your secret? I have struggling to get to 1900 for years.
Getting to 2000
katar - that means a lot.
iw - I was planning on playing, I went to school in Chicago and my brother is currently at Northwestern so I always have an excuse to go out there. I decided if I was going to go out there I would just spend the weekend in the city and then I was kind of strapped for cash and I was going to postpone my trip altogether, but looking at that $600 that the IRS just deposited into my account and not having played a tournament in over a month I think I might end up in Chicago Memorial Day weekend.
As far as the improvement goes, I think people who have really seen my play for the last few years can attest to the fact that I was expert strength long before my rating reflected it. I have always tried to keep my performance above my rating and stay one step ahead because I plateaued at 1600 for a little bit (I also stopped playing chess though) and it's not fun to be stuck. I worked very hard and I really feel like the work I did 2 years ago is still paying dividends because I have not been as committed as of late. It really comes down to wanting to win every time you sit down at the board. I am aware of my rating but it does not become a factor, I just play as well as I can and try to exhibit determination and perserverance at the board. For probably the last 6 months during this jump I have been seriously examining WHY I make mistakes, now the substance of the mistakes. And it has lead to me reevaluating my play and altering my style accordingly.
shoemaker - At the end of our last game you said something to the effect of "It will be a long time before someone plays that pawn wedge against me again." To which I replied: "Give me a week." I felt like you would expect the Marshall. Also to be completely honest I felt like I did not need to complicate the game to beat you, and the strategy paid off. I played simple chess and just outplayed you. If I had invited the Marshall again I would have had to tip toe around and check myself very carefully. Also the reason I chose the d5 e6 c6 move order in the first place was to reach the position we reached on move 4 in this game, so I figured I would attempt to get this position with a different move order. I am well aware that you have been playing 1.d4 forever, but I am also confident that I can find equality at will against your opening knowledge with several different systems for Black.
As far as Tartakower recommending 6.a4!?, there's a reason that this move is obscure and has never been picked up at the top level. Even Tartakower himself never made use of it. What does it do?
If you didn't want to play the Meran you should have played Qc2, even Tartakower played this move a couple times. And it has been played in my database almost 10000 times, a4 has been played 34.