Vegas Baby...
Yeah.... so.... it's been a while...
I'm not really going to give you guys a good post, I'm not going to be posting much for the summer I don't think. I'm sure I'll throw an update in here and there though.
2 weeks ago I played Fischer, it was boring. I tried really hard to win cause he made it really clear he would take a draw and ended up in a losing position. He agreed to a draw I think cause he was short on time.
I'm playing him in the first round of the Club Championship, a four game match. I took Black for the first game. I'm going to let him play for a draw and then just take it. Then it's a best of 3 and I have 2 Whites.
My last two weeks I haven't been myself at the board. I'll play risky chess for a little bit but I'm taking small advantages and not looking to break things open with complicated play. That's not my style. I like to hang it all out there. So I have been studying. I'm into chess again. I went through like a month, maybe longer, where I couldn't get into it. I was playing well but I wasn't interested. But I think I'm over it.
I feel like I'm playing my best chess. Especially recently. I played 5 games in the last 2 days and they all felt really good. But I've only played 10 games on ICC this month. I've played some skittles with Nate and Vern but really I haven't even been playing chess. It's pretty weak. I need to step it up.
So I have. I'm back in a good routine. Couple hours a day. I'm out of shape. I'm not worried about it for the match with Fischer, but for Vegas and for the later rounds I am going to need to be on my game. I want to have 100 point summer. I have been consistently achieving 2100 performances with suspect play. I know I can play better though. I want to have a 2200-2300 average in my performances for the rest of the year. That seems like an achievable goal.
I think it was the difficulty of the work that has turned me off. Master almost seems out of reach even though it is so close. Sometimes it takes me time to appreciate the value of compounding work over months or years. I'm all about instant gratification, maybe why I can't win a won position... I know I can be a master, but how badly do I really want it?
The National Open is my favorite tournament. It was the first BIG tournament I played. I played it in 2004, 2005, and 2006. It is the tournament I look forward to all year long. I didn't play it last year because my brother graduated high school and there were other circumstances at play. I have never finished out of the top 10 in my section. I finished with 4.5/6 in the U1600 section two years in a row and then my third year in 2006 I tied for first in the U1800 section. Now two years later I have to play the U2200 section, which is a big leap. So I have to work. Go hard or go home. If I'm not going to work a couple hours a day I should really just quit because there are plenty of other things I could be doing than chess. But for now it's something that I'm good at, that I enjoy (although sometimes I forget that for a while), and that's enough to get me to spend time on it. What else is there?
I'm not really going to give you guys a good post, I'm not going to be posting much for the summer I don't think. I'm sure I'll throw an update in here and there though.
2 weeks ago I played Fischer, it was boring. I tried really hard to win cause he made it really clear he would take a draw and ended up in a losing position. He agreed to a draw I think cause he was short on time.
I'm playing him in the first round of the Club Championship, a four game match. I took Black for the first game. I'm going to let him play for a draw and then just take it. Then it's a best of 3 and I have 2 Whites.
My last two weeks I haven't been myself at the board. I'll play risky chess for a little bit but I'm taking small advantages and not looking to break things open with complicated play. That's not my style. I like to hang it all out there. So I have been studying. I'm into chess again. I went through like a month, maybe longer, where I couldn't get into it. I was playing well but I wasn't interested. But I think I'm over it.
I feel like I'm playing my best chess. Especially recently. I played 5 games in the last 2 days and they all felt really good. But I've only played 10 games on ICC this month. I've played some skittles with Nate and Vern but really I haven't even been playing chess. It's pretty weak. I need to step it up.
So I have. I'm back in a good routine. Couple hours a day. I'm out of shape. I'm not worried about it for the match with Fischer, but for Vegas and for the later rounds I am going to need to be on my game. I want to have 100 point summer. I have been consistently achieving 2100 performances with suspect play. I know I can play better though. I want to have a 2200-2300 average in my performances for the rest of the year. That seems like an achievable goal.
I think it was the difficulty of the work that has turned me off. Master almost seems out of reach even though it is so close. Sometimes it takes me time to appreciate the value of compounding work over months or years. I'm all about instant gratification, maybe why I can't win a won position... I know I can be a master, but how badly do I really want it?
The National Open is my favorite tournament. It was the first BIG tournament I played. I played it in 2004, 2005, and 2006. It is the tournament I look forward to all year long. I didn't play it last year because my brother graduated high school and there were other circumstances at play. I have never finished out of the top 10 in my section. I finished with 4.5/6 in the U1600 section two years in a row and then my third year in 2006 I tied for first in the U1800 section. Now two years later I have to play the U2200 section, which is a big leap. So I have to work. Go hard or go home. If I'm not going to work a couple hours a day I should really just quit because there are plenty of other things I could be doing than chess. But for now it's something that I'm good at, that I enjoy (although sometimes I forget that for a while), and that's enough to get me to spend time on it. What else is there?