Tournament Victories
I scored a perfect 8 out of 8 points in the first round of the 1st chess.com correspondence tournament (U1800 section), raising my rating to 1873.
Despite being one of the favorites, I will probably withdraw. I want to become a master of OTB chess, not correspondence chess, and subsequent rounds will probably require more analysis time to score.
World Open Training
I don't think my training regimen can really be called intense training, but here are the things I've done to improve my chances:
Openings - Refined my White opening repertoire based on lines I've had trouble with, books, master games, and statistics. Played and analyzed 16 10+5 games to get comfortable with it.
Experience - There's no substitute, but I read the rulebook, familiarized myself with my clock, played a few locals OTB, and have gotten useful insights from cratercat and polly on what to expect.
Diet & Physical Training - I am still boxing, swimming, hiking, etc. daily and eating right to get in better shape.
Endgames - Reviewed Q v K, R v K, B+B v K, B+N vs K for speed & K+P v K, K+2P v K, K+P vs K+P, K+2P vs K+P for accuracy.
Strategy - I've been reading up on passed pawns, pawn chains, weak pawns, and pawn breaks, especially from My System.
Tactics - I've reviewed sections of CT-B and Heisman's tactics book.
In the final two weeks my focus will be on refining my Black repertoire and avoiding basic tactical or endgame errors.
Can't Wait!
BluderProne & BlunderDaughter, ChessLoser, and SuperKnight42 will be there. It will be fun to meet some fellow bloggers. :)
8 comments:
Nice job on the 8/8.
The training you are doing seems very good. Good luck!
Thanks. Mostly it can be summed up as follows: "Argh!? How long have I been playing and I still don't have a full repertoire??" and "I don't want to hang my queen!!". :)
Maybe I should drive up there just to harass ya' bastards :)
Sounds like a lot of fun!
bdk, that's a wickedly long drive, but if you make it out here we'll each buy you a pint. ;)
I travel under the Alias : George Duval to save my cult hero status of Blunderprone.
There may be a chessloser and Blunderprone rocking chess jam at some point as I am packing the guitars. I pack percussive devices for this to be a group event.
What section are you playing in the WO?
Anon, this is my first tournament so my only options were Unrated, U2400, or Open. I chose to play down rather than up. Either my section will be a piece of cake (and I win back my travel money) or it will be a useful learning experience. Perhaps both!
we need a good photo of you!
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