Chess Quest

Hey I'm still here

2011-10-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

Still alive, still playing chess, still as patzer as ever.

Some updates:

I've gotten over 1300, finally, landing somewhere around 1352.

I played in the U1600 at the last nationals, breaking even despite being one of the lowest in that section, and scored a number of draws against some very high seeded players.

Still playing Blackmar-Diemer, started playing Scandinavian

Still going through tactical goodness!

* * *

I'm going to get started with CT-ART once and for all, so lets hope that goes well.

Dissappointing Victory

2010-04-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

So nationals has been concluded, and I'd like to think I've done rather well. I finished 13th in the U1200, with 5.5 points out of 7. My rating rose from 1185 to 1282, nearly 100 points. The team placed 7th, and trophies were awarded.

However, despite this "Good result", I can't help but be a bit disappointed. I was undefeated going into the final round, and lost due to a lack of mobility. All of my games were not only won, but won in a textbook fashion, very aggressively. I only won one decisive game with black, in addition to an extremely narrow win, a draw, and a loss. Its disheartening that I lost my shot at second place, but it is even worse that none of my games with black had any interesting tactical opportunity whatsoever. They were winnable, certainly, but not tactical. My strength lies in tactics, not strategy. I don't believe that my black play is playing to my strengths, and so I've decided to switch openings.

Regardless of this disappointment, I had a great tournament with many interesting games, the most notable are below, annotated.

Round 2 I had white, and I performed a textbook 150 attack.
Round 2.pgn

Round 4 was a Blackmar-Diemer accepted, in which my opponent resigned in only 17 moves.
Round 4.pgn

Round 5 was one of the most narrow victories I've ever had.
Round 5.pgn

Round 6 was an interesting line of the Blackmar-Diemer with an interesting greek gift sacrifice.
Round 6.pgn

Round 7 was my only loss.
Round 7.pgn

Lets do this

2010-04-08T07:13:00.001-07:00

I'd like to think I'm pretty well prepared for the nationals. I recently won a tournament where I was seeded 3rd, and my rating is now 1185 for a u1200 tournament. I think I have pretty excellent chances. Given that all season I was playing people above my rating level - and holding on - I may even have a good shot at placing highly.

My younger brother just left for the Junior High Nationals. I'm sure that will be an interesting tournament. He generally performs very, very well at national events. Last year he gained 100 points just from that one event, while I gained about 90.

It just sort of pains me to see my rating trend over the last year. Since nationals, last year, I've lost four points over the year. This is opposed to last year, where I gained 300. Not much chess improvement, which I suppose you could attribute to the difficult tournaments, but that isn't particularly an excuse.

Regardless, I hope I do well.

Much, Much better than I expected.

2010-02-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

Back from a weekend-swallowing black hole that is the US Amateur Team East. I am actually pretty satisfied with my results, breaking even out of 6 games on second board.

Breakdown of my games:

First round I got paired against a 200, with a 400 on 1st board. Needless to say, I won. I did take 45 minutes on a single move in this game though, it was rather embarrassing. But he fell into a 5 or 6 move trap that won his queen. Being paired down is fun. 2AEM wins 4 - 0

Second round I got paired against an 1830. It was completely even for the entire game, until the end where he got a small positional advantage and won via passed pawn. I felt like I was so close to a draw, too. The coach, who was playing on 1st board, lost to a 1900 by a single tempi. It was a very disappointing and brutally close few games. 2AEM loses 0 - 4

Third round I got paired against a 1900. He played into a Blackmar-Diemier declined, and I proceeded to get a four move lead in development. I was winning by so much. It was a very depressing result, as I couldn't take advantage of it. He beat me in and endgame. After the match we started talking about the game, and he said that we were "The best team of 1100's we've ever played" and saying that I was clearly winning at the start. Our first board drew an expert and our 4th board beat a 1700. Despite of it, 2AEM loses 1.5 - 2.5

Fourth round I got paired against a 1820. I won a knight after playing a reasonably solid Pirc, and proceeded to give it back for a pawn. I had winning chances, but I choked after losing the knight and offered a draw. He accepted. I was very disappointed in my blunder (Which was my only major mistake the entire tournament), however I managed a draw against an 1850, so I was pretty satisfied. 2AEM loses

Fifth round I got paired against an 1030. I won a rook on move 6 in the most fearless way ever. It was very amusing. I decided in the end that I would trade my rook advantage to get everything off the board, and my three passed pawns easily won the game. I think I'm beginning to understand this game. 2AEM wins 4 - 0

Sixth round I got paired against a 1700. I held him to a dead even draw, trading down to a king and rook endgame with 3-2 pawns vs 2-3 pawns. The position was so dead and lacking counterplay, so I offered a draw (At the time it was two rooks vs two rooks and an extra pawn on each side.) He declined and we traded a rook and a pawn after about 6 moves. I offered another draw, as I could see absolutely no way in for either side. He declined. I put my rook on an square that completely cut off his king and defended all the key remaining pawns, and a few moves later I offered another draw. I felt terrible about offering so many draws, but the position was so drawn. Our fourth board had already won, and our third board was winning. Our first board looked like he had drawing chances, so I felt that a draw would help the team. However, he simply didn't take the draw. It had to eventually turn into a battle of walking left and right with the kings until he would accept the draw. I felt terrible, like I had been annoying with the draw offers, but I could simply see no way in. Our third ended up drawing, and our first ended up losing, so our team drew 2-2.

So our team ended up 2.5 - 3.5, having played only four overmatched rounds. I ended up 3 - 3, with two upset draws and two wins. I feel like I played very well in this tournament, and I feel very, very confident about the Columbus nationals, where I will be playing in a U1200.

Hope this result is here to stay!

Varsity is easy? + study updates

2010-01-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

I expected a tough time. With all of our 1600 players graduating, I thought I would get my behind handed to me playing first board.

That didn't happen, oddly enough.

First match was against Mountain Lakes, which we won 10-2, with two draws and a loss. We played two matches, with me beating their first and second board.

Second match was against East Stroudsburg. I don't remember the score exactly, but it was a very hefty win. I also beat their first board.

Third match was against Bloomfield. They were the easiest of the teams, and we won 4-1. I also beat their first board.

Our most recent match was against Newark Academy. This was the team to beat, with their first and second boards being 1400 and 1200, respectively. My opponent played a Sicilian, to which I responded with a Morra and absolutely shred him into pieces. I know I had a win, but I had three minutes and a choice between "Pressure, pawns, and space" or a draw by repetition. I chose the draw. I was a bit frustrated by my inability to find a win, but to be honest I did draw someone rated 200 points above me. Our team won 5.5 - 1.5

The thing that makes me feel most guilty is that I have not been practicing. I've been playing, sure, but my tactics circles are frozen, my openings stay unclear, I've been lazy! I can attribute this to full honors classes, all-nighters, coaching children, what have you, but when push comes to shove I am not getting things done.

The Greater New York Scholastics are in 5 days. I'm going to get ready for them if it is the death of me. Parsippany is in a few weeks. Nationals will be here before I know it.

I resume my studies as of now.

***

Openings: I'm going to give the Blackmar-Dimier Gambit a shot. Some club members have had success with it (Beating 1700s, huge rating boosts, etc), and I figure if club level openings are not important at my level than I might as well try a risky, tactical opening. "At amateur level, all openings are sound.", I suppose.

Cheers?

Optimism during the Crisis of a team

2009-12-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Our best player has stepped down from the team. That places me, an 1174 and a first-year, at first board. Our team this year is as follows

Varsity

1st board - 1174
2nd board - 1098
3rd board - 994
4th board - 990

With no Junior Varsity team.

Quite a contrast from last year which went something like

Varsity

1st board - 1800
2nd board - 1700
3rd board - 1490
4th board - 1100

With a decent Junior Varisty team as well

I mean, I suppose I could be optimistic and say "Woohoo, I'm 1st board now!", but man this is going to be a tough year. We're all going to have to improve a LOT if we want to have a half-decent year.

That didn't end so badly!

2009-11-23T13:52:00.000-08:00

So around three tournaments happened since my last post. In the local tournament, I've officially set my position as the 2nd in the team. In the Varsity match against a school from Connecticut, our team won 10-2, with me beating their top board and their 2nd. In the Grade Level tournament, I went 3-2, placing 7th in my grade. All in all I'm having a pretty decent season so far! I hope this will continue, so I'll be able to get my rating over 1200 AT LAST. Wish me luck!

Ah! Panic!

2009-10-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Wow I've been busy. Between all honors classes, activities and friends on the weekends, I have had very little time to study chess.
And now all of that is going to have to change.
I went to a tournament a while ago and went 2 - 2 , losing around 4 rating points. No big deal, but it showed that I am very rusty.
Now, I've been dropped dead center of the placement tournament of which I am seeded second. I am not well practiced as of late, so I'm in a bit of a bind as far as board goes. I'm currently 3-0, with a win against a 1050, a 700 and an 1170. As well as it seems to be going, I still have two 1150s and a 1400 remaining to play.
And I haven't been doing any tactics training.

So I post to inform you that I am not dead and at this point resuming my studies.

Wish me luck.

Lazy Lazy Lazy!

2009-08-29T18:09:00.004-07:00

Haven't done anything in a while! Not good. However, I've started doing my circles again. Like really this time. Halfway through circle 2 now.

I really need to step it up, season starts in as little as a week from now. Aiming for 1600 at the end of this year. That's about 400 points. I think I can pull it off with a lot of work.

Also, a favor. Does anyone have any good openings that can be achieved with very little study? I'm not looking to study much, just say move 5-ish?

I am alive.

2009-06-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

I've been busy lately, so didn't have much time to update. So here's the condensed version.

My laptop is slowly dying and its becoming difficult to use it, thus the inability to study and update.
Placed 2nd at a local tournament with 4 wins and 1 loss to a 1300, team winning 1st place
Graduated, now officially a freshman. Summer break has started, so I'll be finishing my circles soon.
Went and returned from Washington DC. 52 sicknesses followed (including me) with about 5 confirmed cases of swine flu. Freaky.
Managed to get a copy of Winning Chess Tactics, along with other assorted books.
Still on section 5, Circle 2

I have a pretty good track record

2009-05-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

This is data from 01-01-1991 to 05-19-2009

Current Official rating is 1098 Current UnOfficial rating is 1185
Best Unofficial rating = 1185 Best Official rating = 1104 Lowest rating on record = 343
88 Opponents Total Rated Games = 101 ---> 51 Wins 16 Draws 34 Losses

Best Upset = 471 points -- WILLIAM BARTLING -- 1207 CHEESE MONKEY QUADS 08-29-2008
Worst Loss = -268 points -- CASEY LAU -- 323 2006 NJ K-12 GRADE CHAMPIONSHI 11-19-2006

Highest Rated Opponent Win = WILLIAM BARTLING -- 1207 CHEESE MONKEY QUADS 08-29-2008
Lowest Rated Opponent Loss to = ADAM FERRARA -- 315 2005 NJ GRADE SCHOOL CHAMPIONS 11-20-2005

Most Recent Wins in a row = 5 ending on 12-02-2008 at SPARTA MS CHAMPIONSHIP
Most Recent Draws in a row = 2 ending on 03-08-2009 at NJ JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPION
Most Recent Losses in a row = 4 ending on 01-27-2008 at 42ND GREATER NY SCHOLASTICS!

Results against 47 higher rated players: Wins = 11 Draws = 9 Losses = 27
Results against 2 equally rated players: Wins = 1 Draws = 1 Losses = 0
Results against 52 lower rated players: Wins = 39 Draws = 6 Losses = 7

Results against 37 players rated + 100 : Wins = 6 Draws = 6 Losses = 25
Results against 18 players rated +/-100: Wins = 8 Draws = 5 Losses = 5
Results against 46 players rated - 100 : Wins = 37 Draws = 5 Losses = 4

A Testament to My Progress

2009-05-16T10:23:00.001-07:00

The Chess Club Pasta dinner was two days ago, and they gave out the annual awards. I was given the award for "Most Improved". It was a giant knight. Appropriate, right?

I was also given the trophy for our team at the nationals. We got twelfth place and the trophy is waist high. Waist high for 12th! It was pretty awesome.

Polly, I used the picture you took of the youngest player falling asleep at nashville in my documentary. Hope you don't mind. :)

Also, I'm doing circles again.

Three week chess break? Yeah right.

2009-04-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Remember my three-week-long break from chess? I must be pretty weak when it comes to willpower. Every single day I was "taking a break" I ended up playing an hour of blitz or playing Fritz 11 or intensively reading chess-related websites. Its almost sad, this game has absorbed me and now I can't get out. I've finally come to my senses and given up this long streak of boredom. Note to self: Do not start smoking.

BAM!

2009-04-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Lets see now... I was in a U1200 section among the highschoolers with mostly people 4-5 years older than me, I faced two people below me and 5 people above me rating-wise, and I ended up with 4.5 out of 7.

Whoa.

That's right, I had two upset wins (an 1140 and an 1180) and an upset draw, (a 1328!!) bringing my rating up a whole 88 points. My only losses were to people that placed individually, and I got a win against the 18th place player. Our team placed 12th place overall, beating Christian Brothers Academy, the high school's arch rivals, by one place. Chris, a guy on our team, scored 6 wins out of 7, landing 7th place. Since he got that trophy, the team trophy was given to the second highest score on our team.

Me.

Frankly, I'm pretty satisfied. My rating went up a little bit over 450 points in a single year. I'm not even done with the first phase of my training and I've already shot above my expectations. This really does work.

However.

I am ridiculously glad I studied that endgame book for a few days before this. Both my upset wins were the result of a marginally won endgame (I.E. one pawn). While tactics certainly helps, in a four-hour game you can't expect your opponent to make a tactical mistake. My first loss was a result of me trying too hard to keep the queens on the board and that led to my losing a rook.

Now that all my goals are complete, I move on to the goals set by my coach and peers.

1 - Achieve second board as a freshman
2 - Overtake Scotty, Junior rated 1400, as first board
3 - Reach 1623, highest rating achieved by our program, by senior year

Sadly, one of the Sophomores playing in the U1200 had a bad tournament, scoring 1.5/7. Had he done better, we may have been 2nd as opposed to 12th, realistically, but it happens to everyone.

Another thing I didn't like was that godawful blitz tournament. The rounds took no longer than 20 minutes and the pairings took nearly 30 minutes to print out and be put on the board. Not to mention the mob of people who thought it was a great idea to riot to see their pairings first. Add that to the delay added from a tornado evacuation (!!!) and the tournament director adding on another round. Now add THAT to ruined plans for sushi due to it closing moments after said tournament ends. Awful. I did end up beating a 1700 though, but that was about it.

All in all, a fun trip. No more major tournaments for the rest of the season, until summer, possibly. I am in line for middle school MVP, and middle school most improved. I doubt they'll give me both, but I'm definitely going to get one of the two.

Other team successes included...

Austin, who won most improved last year, got an individual trophy in the U750 (He was rated 800-ish). The ironic thing is that he gained virtually no rating points the entire year.

Lizzie, a little girl, won an individual trophy in the K-6 U800 section going in as a 300 and winning 5 (!!!)

Chris, a 1200 who played with the U1200 and won 7th place and the signed book from Kasparov for best overall score.

Alex, a 900 who played with the U1200 and won 3, beating 300 1100's, winning the signed book for most upset points and gaining 107 rating points. (The book came down to a coin flip between him and Brice Bartling, who was 1500 going in and beat a 1800 and a 1900. I personally believed the book should've been his, but nonetheless Alex did do amazingly well.)

AJ, an 800 playing for the U750 who won 5.5 games an an individual trophy. (which surprised everyone, since he normally hovers at below or at a plus score.)

And the high school Varsity, who played up from the U1600 to the open and did amazingly well in that section, while they could've all scored easy 7's in the U1600.

As a group we did very well, and many of us got trophies despite us going around 2.5/27 in the last round as a group. Now I'm off to take a much needed break from chess, considering the club will not meet for two weeks and there are no tournaments, I see no reason why not to. Games with analysis will come soon.

So much for that

2009-04-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm back down to 1098. Went to a tournament saturday and was highest rated in the open section. I hung my queen against my brother, and just to add insult to injury I had an in-plain-sight mate in 3, but moved to the wrong square. Managed to get a draw, though. I got kinda demoralizied, so I lost the next match and drew the next one. Got second place. lost 6 points. Not too bad.

Edit: Strike that, I was second highest rated. The person I got a draw against was a 1200, which means I'm shaping up good for the nationals. The one I lost against was a 1073 at the time, but is now a 1220. Not so bad, in all.

I am flying.

2009-03-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

My rating went from 1045 to 1104 as a result of the last tournament. That's 59 points. I may do well in nationals yet!

Also, that puts me at 2nd highest rating ever achieved by my age. Once I become a freshman and all the seniors graduate, I will be the 2nd highest rated in the club, ahead of all the Sophomores and Juniors. The highest rated hasn't gained more than 100 points in the last four years.

Section 4 Circles 2, 3, 4, 5

2009-03-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Section 5

Just to let you all know, I am desperately trying to do all of these. I'm averaging about 360 problems a day. Today I did 720. My eyes are starting to hurt, but I'm seeing massive improvement. Only a few days remain until nationals. Can I do it? Who knows.

Thinking like a grandmaster

2009-03-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "Think Like a Grandmaster". Very interesting approach to chess, in my opinion, and it really made me realize something.

I don't really think when I play chess.

All of the principles outlined in that book seemed like common sense to me until I realized that I didn't actually go by them. Things like "consider all promising moves" and "focus on one variation at a time". In my play I generally just played what seemed like logical moves until tactics appeared. Those games where people outplayed me strategically were the ones that killed me, since I had no idea what to do until a tactic surfaced. I've really got to step it up if I want to do well in Nashville.

Time remaining:
2 weeks, 3 days.

Tactics to complete:
Section 4 Circles 2,3,4,5
Section 5 Circles 2,3,4,5
Final Circle of all sections

Books to read:
My System
Chess Praxis
Art of Attack in Chess
Silman's Complete Ending Course

Mental Status:
In a severe state of stress and dementia

Section 3 Circle 5

2009-03-10T16:46:00.001-07:00

Moving on to section 4 now.

Awful, Just awful

2009-03-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

I am exhausted. I spent friday and saturday doing practically nothing except for tactic puzzles. 600 puzzles over the course of two days. . If you haven't, read my freaked out post.

My quota is 170 problems a day. I've done exactly 300 a day Friday and Saturday. I have one more circle of this section remaining. Then I can move onto Section four about a day ahead of schedule. This is tiring, and it gets to a point where my head gets fuzzy and difficult. It's hard, but necessary if I want to do this. Better to burn out at Rutgers than at Nashville.

Today we went to Rutgers. That was one heck of a tiring tournament. I would play until both sides had mere seconds on the clock remaining, battling it out to the death. Then as soon as I left the playing area the next round started, almost instantly.

Boy, was it fun.

I ended up with. 4 points, undefeated. 3 wins and two draws. I even drew a 1300! Our team ended up winning first place, and I led them to victory. I won ninth place, and got me a very nice looking trophy. This has gotten me comments like “We can finally accept that you're out team captain.”

I don't know, team captain of the number one Junior High team in the state sounds pretty good to me.

My results:

Demolishing what once was and still remains

2009-03-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Alright folks, its crunch time. I have about four weeks to the nationals. 27 days, to be exact. I am in the U1250 and as such will probably be among the lowest rated people in the division.

If I don't step it up I will be screwed.

I have 27 days to do 4587 problems. That translates into about 170 problems a day every day until then. Gotta move. While I was on my lazy behind watching anime and listening to audiobooks and music nashville has crept up on me and is now glaring at me.

Another thing - I NEED to get either a 6/7 or a huge upset. My coach is giving away two copies of an autographed book by the legendary Garry Kasparov. I WANT ONE. One book goes to biggest upset and another goes to best overall score. I am very far in the running for either, as all my co-players are under 1000 and are in a much less difficult division. I need to match double, no, triple their effort in order to be on a level playing field with them.

It won't be easy, but I've got to try.

Oh, and I've got a tournament on sunday at Rutgers. Maybe if I get lucky my rating will drop to 999, haha.

EDIT:
RIGHT. We're doing a tournament on blindfold chess in our club. I am currently in first place with 4 wins and one loss. None of my games have lasted longer than twelve moves, win or lose. Good visualization practice though.

Not Dead!

2009-02-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

yeah, sorry folks. just been too busy to update the blog. So I'll give a quick summary about what's been going on in my chess life...

nothing.

No new tournaments, no new openings, no circles progress. I'm just being lazy as Nashville inches closer and closer. Stupid stupid stupid.

Haven't really been all that busy either. I've been watching lots of anime recently (Lucky Star, mainly) and accomplishing basically nothing.

So, sorry! Hopefully I'll get back on track soon! Keep checking for updates, they'll come soon enough.

my new reason for studying

2008-12-14T11:15:00.000-08:00

2nd Goal Complete!

2008-12-06T06:05:00.001-08:00

The local tournament just got rated, and I'm now rated 1045. That means all I have remaining in terms of goals is doing good at the nationals.

New England Chess Championship: Day two

2008-11-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

And now for the not-so thrilling conclusion.

In short, I fell apart. I got 4th place when I was in direct running for second, and had a very easy shot at third. I started off with a performance rating of 1290, and ended at about 1000.)

The first game of today was against dylan, a kid from our club. He plays a very drawish french defense, and I was playing very off. I chased his knight into a good position instead of taking a free pawn and creating a passer. The game ended in a draw.

The second game of the day was against my own brother, then a half a point ahead of me. We played twenty moves and agreed to a draw.

The third game was very frustrating. I played a 1000 rated player with a 700 performance rating. (Mine was about 1100 at the time.) He played the sicilian, allowing me to play the morra. I traded two pawns for his right to castle, which must've not been the line, because the attack was no longer there. I ended up down three pawns down for nothing and lost. This was my only true loss in the last two tournaments if you don't count the 2020.

Hopefully when the ratings get posted i'll have a rating over 1000. If not, maybe next time.

Games will come tomorrow, I need to finish typing them up.

New England Chess Championship: Day one

2008-11-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today was the beginning of the Tournament in Vermont. I was expecting a pseudo-nationals atmosphere, but only 11 people showed up from my section.

What REALLY ticks me off is that some 2020 rated kid is playing in a division with only one person over 1000. This kid should've played in the open section with the 1600-2200 people, but he decided to guarantee a win in a pathetic section. Forsaking progress for profit.

Anyways, on to my day one results.

My first match was against a 530. He matched me blow for blow, but I won a pawn and beat him in the endgame.

My second match was against a 770. I got into a complicated postition and came up with a beautiful attack, winning a rook. I went on cruise control from there.

My third match was against the 2020. I don't think I need to tell you how that went.

My fourth match was against a 900. Despite his higher rating, he was definitely the weakest of my opponents. He hung a bishop, then a knight, then a rook, then another rook. He finally resigned once I got him in a mating net. It was almost dissappointing: I wanted a good match, but won in 15 minutes.

That was the end of the regular tournament's day one. I went to the heated pool, I took a nap, and then we went to the bughouse tournament.

I LOVE BUGHOUSE. I was the club champion of bughouse last year, and I was really excited for the tournament. I easily won the first three rounds. Fourth round I faced none other than the team of the 2020 kid. I decided to face his partner, Rob, rated 1100. I figured that our only chance was me beating him faster than the expert beating my brother. I must've been right, because our team won that match. The kid was in pieces, and he went around begging the teams to beat us. We ended up winning every round.

I, however, did not enjoy our fifth round game. we faced a bunch of five year olds, really good. My opponent kept explaining the rules to me, and I told him "I'm not stupid, I know the rules" and the little brat told me "I doubt that". His partner kept making up rules, like "Pawns can't be dropped on the 7th rank" and "You can't drop checkmate". It was very satisfying to beat them, but my coach got mad at me because I lost my temper. Grr.

Tomorrow we have three rounds to play. Hopefully I will win each of them and place second. (This is realistic, I don't have much opposition.)

I'll post the games after the conclusion of the tournament.

Tournament Win!

2008-10-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

I won the local tournament!

That makes me the very first two-time champion of the tournament!

It's too bad that I forgot to take notation, because I won in a textbook tactical style. I pinned his bishop to his rook, so he couldn't move or his bishop would die. Then I forced his bishop away, then I forked his king and rook. From there I was able to trade down two rooks for a rook and a knight, leaving him with no pieces and me with three easily promoted outside passed pawns. I creamed him. It was awesome!

I would never have won if it hadn't been for my training (or current lack thereof =P). One goal down, two to go.

An excuse for being distracted

2008-10-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Alright, I've been inactive. I'm still training, but lately I've been captivated by the local tournament. I think I posted my goals, but I'll give a refresher.

1: get to 1000
2: win the local tournament
3: do good in the nationals. (it's in Nashville, Hooray!)

I am currently first place in this tournament, and I'm the favorite, being the highest rated. It goes as follows: I need to face everyone in the club; Adam, Austin, Ian, Dillon, Tim, A.J, Dylan, and Colin. These are MY results thus far.

Austin: Win
Adam: Win
Dillon: Win
Tim: Draw
A.J: Win
Dylan: Win
Ian: To Be Played
Colin: To Be Played

I am winning by one half point, in front of Ian. This was a surprise to me, because I didn't consider him much of a threat. He has a loss to my draw. That doesn't really help in my judging of strength because he lost to someone I pummeled, but he won against the person I drew. Both were the result of a stupid blunder.

(I hung a knight, he hung his queen.)

This is going to be big. My training boils down to one match. I am facing Ian this Friday, and if I win, I Clinch. Even if I draw, I need to only face the weakest member of the club, Colin, and win. The odds are in my favor, but I am not going in there overconfident.

Well, I'm sorry for the nonsensical ramble. I needed to post, and this is very important. The next day immediately after the tournament ends we all fly off to Vermont for a tournament. This could make or break my confidence.

In other news, my new blog has been launched. 100 hobbies. It has nothing to do with my chess improvement, so don't worry, I'll continue to post.

What? Circles Again?

2008-09-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

That's right! I finally caught up with my life and found some time for the circles. Here's Section 3, Circle 2.

I will defeat you, Oh persistent Circles!!

Cheese Monkey Quads: Top Quad

2008-09-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

I was moved up a quad despite being one of the lower rated club members and not "the best player in the middle school" (the title my coach gives to my brother.) after a heated struggle, I came out with a win against william bartling, a 1206. It wasn't like he had a bad fight against me, It was a tough battle, in which I came out on top. I faced Bryce Bartling, who destroyed me, and I faced Kyle Bay. That match was... interesting. I won a pawn and we simplified way down. I then thought I could trap a bishop, but realized I just lost 3 pawns. Then he won my bishop. but I was able to trap his bishop again. He couldn't find the defense, so I captured it and simplified into a drawn endgame. I won against someone rated 500 points above me, and drew someone 100 points above me. I gained 119 points in 4 games. I am that much closer to reaching 1000.

My game vs. Bill Bartling was the best game I have ever played. I Gained a space advantage in the opening, aligned my pieces for a kingside attack, I used a discovered check to win a rook for a knight, I used another discovered check to force the king out and win the rook, and it ultimately came down to a mate in 3.

Conclusion?

TACTICS.

Complemented by a Master

2008-08-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I'm alive and kicking.

I was playing at the local club and a master has begun frequently appearing. I played a few blitz games with him. after losing a lot, he played a phildor's defence. seems relatively passive until he choked me to death and stormed all his pawns at me, where I ultimately fell into a mating net. Despite of it, he complimented me, saying "You played very well that game" My coach has also said that "I am finally learning to play"

I also played a casual game with my brother and spotted this awesome tactic in a flash.

Answer: 1.Qg6+! Qf7 (1... Kf8 Rd8#) 2.Rd8+! 1-0

Cool! All this training is paying off!

A Quick Correspondence game

2008-07-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Correspondence vs. Dad game 1.PGN

A pretty nice game I played vs. my dad over red hot pawn. I tried to add music in the background, but all my music was over 1MB =(

Have the knights fallen?

2008-07-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

Most of the chess blogs that are connected to the knight's errant in some way, shape or form have stopped posting! The only notable exceptions are blunderprone, who is actively analyzing games, Haunted knight, who has been analyzing more than usual, and tacticus maximus, who is posting daily tactics. likesforests and chessaholic haven't posted in a good week or so, while retired pawn, sparfy and augusto haven't posted in almost a month!

Is everyone on vacation?

Section 2, Circle 5

2008-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Finally, I can move on to section 3. This circle I only missed 2 or 3, with a lot of 100%'s. Ahh, so satisfying. I'll be taking a 1 week break from CTB, but i'll keep training.

Section 2, Circle 4

2008-07-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Almost done with section 2! A couple highlights: 100% on gain a queen and 99% on queen sacrifice! Wow!

Section 2, Circle 3 + Progress Reflection

2008-07-17T09:26:00.000-07:00

Progress is slow. My percentage has raised to 97. It's satisfying seeing all those 90's instead of 80's.

Though training in tactics is crucial, I think that if you are a patzer (Like me), than you need to devote some time to your thought progress. It's a good thing everyone suggested postmortems, because I am a blunder magnet. I've substantially reduced my tactical blunders (walking into a combination leaving me down a rook) and my heavy en prise (Leaving the queen for free), but my problem is that I substantially undervalue pawns. I leave pawn after pawn hanging until i'm stuck in an endgame where my opponent has three outside passed pawns. Then I lose.

Bottom line: Don't Hang Pawns. Save them.

Section 2, Circle 2

2008-07-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I didn't quit! I was away from my home computer and I couldn't track my progress, so I was at a standstill for a week. Anyways, I finished a full 5% higher than my first circle.

At a side note: I love this section. It's my favorite.

Insane Unstoppable Blundertastic Attack

2008-07-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

I was losing a lot on FICS, and I played against a 1400. I was losing terribly, then came out with this insane attack.

I made a huge blunder at 14.Qf3, and I was doomed, but I thought, "Might as well attack on my last leg".

He resigned in the face of 29... Kxb7 30.Rxa8 Qh1+ 31. Kf2 Qxa1 32. Kxg3 and my passed pawn is pretty much unstoppable.

Great tool for chess vision

2008-07-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

This tool may not only help in-game, but while studing! Basically, they give you a diagram and a list of moves. You invision the moves on the board, than find all legal captures and checks. Pretty tough to get used to, but very useful. Trains you to see up to 10 moves ahead.

http://chessville.com/instruction/chessvision.htm

Check it out!

The Most Instructive Master Games Ever Played: Game 2

2008-07-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is the second instalment of The most Instructive Master Games Ever Played. Adolf Anderssen, an attacking genius who's high notes include the immortal game and the evergreen game. This is a beautiful game that I annotated myself. (So it's probably wrong, but whatever.)

Enjoy!

The Most Instructive Master Games Ever Played: Game 1

2008-07-07T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm making my own internet series, and I'll see how far It can go. This next game is a flawless example of basic strategic elements, as well as tactical. Nimzovich wins this game by getting 3 different mates going at the same time!

Enjoy!

Well, What Do You Know!

2008-07-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

I really am absorbing tactics! I was playing a few games against my dad (Who I must say is amazingly strong for a casual player), and beat him in a beautiful combination that involved hanging a knight... for a skewer on his king to his rook! Then I beat him by seizing seventh rank absolute with both rooks, than getting a mate in 2.

And here I was thinking it wasn't transferring into my OTB play!

(I don't have the games recorded, they were casual)

Section 1, Circle 5

2008-07-04T09:19:00.001-07:00

I got 100% on this run. Finally. Now I can progress onto section 2. I would've put a line graph for my problems on this run, but it really is only 98-99-99-99-100, so it's not really worth it.

Section 1, Circle 4

2008-07-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

I missed one this time

Section 1, Circle 3

2008-07-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

I am an official mortal enemy of the number 2. I always misclick on two little problems. not much to say here.

Circle 2, Section 1

2008-07-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is my ELO from last time, so I can track it. I got a 99% this time. GRR! Two misses! TWO!

Now I'm off to do section 1 three more times.

Yes!

2008-07-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

I finished the first circle! (The mistakes in the KP endgames are aggravating)

Grade: F

Beginning Circle 2.1

I'm going to reapproach solving tactics

2008-07-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Because I am less than 100 problems from my first circle, I think there is a better way to burn images into my mind. I'll run multiple circles at once, then repeat the section over and over again, so I finish most circles at the same time and efficiently burn patterns into my mind, then complete a follow-up circle in one day.

Errors in Chess Tactics for Beginners

2008-07-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is a list of all the errors in chess tactics for beginners (Thanks, Blue Devil Knight)

Phase 2
180 Also correct 1. Qd6
275 Also correct 1. Ne7+ Kh8, 2. Ng6#
353 Also correct 1. Qe8+ Nxe8, 2. Nf7#
379 Also correct 1. Rh5+ gxh5, 2. Qg7#, Qb7# not listed as an alternative
389 - Rh2+ is a blunder pure and simple.

Phase 3
430 - Also correct in first sideline is 2. Bf7#.
519 - Ne7# not listed as an alternative
632 Also correct 1. Qxf5 Kd5 2. Nc5+

Phase 4
838 Also correct 1. Bc6+ Qxc6, 2. Qxe7#
1013 Also correct 5. Kd3 or 5. Kd1

Phase 5
1108 Also correct 1. Nc8 Ka8, 2. Nc6 c1=Q, 3. Nc6#
1110 Also correct 1. Bxf5 g2 2. Bc8 g1=Q 3. Bxb7#
1126 Also correct 1. Rh8+ Kg6, 2. Rxh6+ gxh6 3. Qh5+ Kh7 4. Qxf7#
1159 3 Qf1# is also correct.
1160 - 3...Kb8 4. Nd7+ Ka8 6. Rh6 seems like an interesting line to include
1163 - 1. Qe3 is also good.
1185 Side variation 3. *. That is, pretty much any move works. Just need to stop that pawn from castling, and king doesn't even need to move to do that!
1194 1. Qe3 also works.
1196 Refutation 1 Qg4 Qc6
1202 Major error in variation: 2. Qxh7# is overlooked to gain a Knight!?? Perhaps black is supposed to have a rook at h8.
1211 Refutation 1. Qb4 Rb3
1219 3...Qxd2 is better.
1236 In variation, 2 Qe8# isn't given credit!
1245 2. Qc3 also works.
1249 First subvariation 3. Nxf7+ is also good (probably better than their Nf5). Note that 1. Qe5 is refuted by 1...Qxe5+ (in between check), so the first move of the program is the best.
1254 1 c4 is fine.
1258 - 1. Bg8+ Kh8 2. Be6! seems like it should be included.
1259 - 10 g5 is fine.
1260 Better and correct is 6. Kf5 (mate in 9 instead of 10)
1262: every single move for white is a win! Not just 1. c7+, Moves after that have too many alternatives to list.
1264 - Kc4 should be listed as an alternative.
1268 Tons of alternative good first moves.Any forward move of any piece works, but it only gives credit for 1 Kg4. True for most of the moves in this problem. Awful.
1269 2. K*, where * is any legal King move, also wins. 3. Ka3 or Kc3 also work! 4. K* again. I'm not gonna bother listing any more in this problem which is a breach of contract between teacher and student.
1271 Sideline 5 Qa8+ also works.
1272 Move 3.Ke5 works, and 3. Ke4 also wins, but not as quickly; 4: Kd5 works, but not as quickly.
1277 - 6. Kg6 also works.
1278 In both main and side variation, any move by the K wins, not just Kd2.
1286 3. Ke6 also works in main line. Probably other mistakes.
1289 - Kc7 should not be listed as an alternative because it loses in any reasonable line.
1290 - there is no draw for black. he loses.
1292 1. h4 also works for draw.
1296 6. Many other K moves work (e.g., Kf3 or Kh3).
1299 1. Kd5 also works. 2. Ke5 also works.
1302 1. Ke5 and 1. Ke6 are also fine. 2. b5 also works, as does 3. Kxg5.
1309 Any queen check works here on move 3, not just 3. Qg2+
1312 2. Kc3 mates next move, so it really isn't bad.

I personally got very angry at problem 1159, where I got everything perfect until I chose the "wrong" checkmate.

I'm updating my Game plan

2008-07-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

That's right! I am changing my plan. My original plan was:

1st: develop a basic system

2nd: go through "Solitaire Chess" by Bruce Bandolfini

3rd: go through "My System" and "Chess Praxis" by Nimzovich

4th: use a 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1 circle system for tactic problems (6000 problems)

5th: Study Endgames

6th: do 34,000 Tactic problems (long term goal) (totaling 40,000 problems)

Well I am totally reforming this. This plan was just for getting to 1000. Now I am looking beyond 1000, because (so i've read) It isn't all that high.

My new plan is:

1: Develop a repritiore (Complete)
2: Do six circles through Chess Tactics for Beginners (~7000 problems)
3: Read "My system"
4: Read "Chess praxis"
5: Read "Silman's complete endgame course"
6: Make flashcards of test sections in above book and do 2 circles of those

This should get me around 1000

7: Do six circles of Chess Tactics for Intermediate Players
8: Get my FICS rating to 1500 and save the PGN files for all rated games
9: Analyze my games, Make flashcards of key positions, do two circles with them.

This should get me to 1500

10: Do six circles with CT-ART
11: Do two circles with Mate Studies
12: Complete Studies 2.0
13: Complete Strategy 2.0

And possibly raise me to 1800. However, all this could take a while. A Long while. However, I may finish the first part (1-6) by the end of the summer.

My personal definition of the circles has changed as well. If I try to do a 64 or 32 day circle, I will do 20 or so problems a day, then just stop, when I have the time and energy to do much more, Like today, when I did 100 problems. (I am 194 problems from completion of my first circle.) My new definition of circles is several completions, with the final completion being in one day. That's a good, flexible definition.

I also have a question. I've checked out the Convekta website. Is Studies 2.0 or Strategy 2.0 any good? They seem like ideal partners for CT-ART.

If anyone thinks that I am running headfirst into a brick wall, please tell me. until then, this is my training program.

Circle 1: Section 4

2008-06-30T14:06:00.001-07:00

Ouch, I did terrible. Section 3 I got B's and C's (Which is pretty bad for an A student), but here I got C's, D's, and one F! From 79% to 51%. My estimated ELO dropped 106 points. 106! and section 5 is coming up. Oh boy...

Game Vs. Michael Khodarkovsky

2008-06-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I played in a Simul vs. Michael Khodarkovsky at my school. Michael is a retired master, now a teacher, who played second board to Garry Kasparov in the world championship! He wrote a book on the grunfeld, but I forget what it is called.

This was actually a pretty nice game. I was actually up a pawn for quite some time until he forked my rooks. (Ouch)

Enjoy!

Circle 1: Section 3

2008-06-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

Eh, not so good this time around. My success rating dropped to 83%, and my estimated ELO rose to 1786. I have gone through about one section per day, so I may finish my 32 day circle 27 days early. =)

Fail Moment at Chess Club Quads

2008-06-28T15:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the club surprised me with a quad tournament. There was an incorrect amount of players, so I ended up in a three-player-round-robin with my brother and a kid named Alex, a good, underrated 800 player.

The First round went heavily in my favor, With a win against my brother and a draw against Alex. My brother defeated Alex, so I was leading the quad by .5. The second round I lost both games, and My brother won both, which ties me with Alex.

I am expecting to lose rating points. Me and Alex lost to Adam, the lowest rated player in the quad. I beat him once, and Alex did not beat him. I drew the highest rated player in the quad, but he will lose points for losing twice to Adam, Which will make me lose points for losing to him. My only hope is that Adam's rating rises enough for my win against him to give me more points.

Okay. That was a major paradox moment.

Circle 1: Section 2

2008-06-27T16:14:00.001-07:00

I finished section 2 of CTB. My total progress so far is at 90%. I just did 418 problems in one day!

Circle 1: Section 1: Mate-in-one 98%

2008-06-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

Today I finished section 1 of chess tactics for beginners. It was very easy, but I have a notorious bad habit of dragging the piece to the wrong square. Thus I got a few wrong. All in all, a pretty good performance.

It amuses me that my estimated ELO is at 1425. All I did was solve mate-in-ones!

Initiate Torture!

2008-06-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Chess Tactics for Beginners has arrived. I am starting my circles now!

Analysis of the week: Hyper-Austrian attack

2008-06-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

I loved this game. When I played it, I felt amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't realize he could get out, and I missed a mate-in-5. I still won though, so Enjoy!

(note: The PGN file got messed up, I did not play myself. I played my brother, Adam)

Oh, and who can resist a little self advertisement?

Aw, Crap

2008-06-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I just ordered CTB and was planning on using it in a few days, but it's on backorder, so now I'm stuck here waiting for wholesale chess to reorder it. Grr...

Chess club potluck dinner

2008-06-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I was just posting coming back from my chess club's potluck dinner. I played a few casual games with the powerhouses of the club, notably a kid named Dylan and Austin. Dylan is the type of person that is a chess book, and knows several openings but is weak in tactical combinations, While Austin is a kid who is very good at blitz and knows the blackmar-deimer gambit well.

I played them both, and I gotta say: I have good chances for the championship next year. No player has gotten two championship titles, but I won the title two years ago, and might next year. That is my second goal, after 1000 elo.

Now i'll post my thoughts on the top players of the club.

Me:

Plus record in the nationals
knows an agressive opening well
slightly more tactically powerful than austin.
most experienced player in the club (oldest)
Voted "Rook-ie of the year" of 2006
Club Champion of 2007
Club Bughouse Champion of 2008
Major contender for club champion
Prone to blunders

Austin:

Plus record in the nationals
Knows an agressive, alebit unsound, opening
Tactically strong
Voted "Most improved player" of 2008
Major contender for club champion
not prone to blunders, prone to falling into weak position

Dylan:

Less-than-impressive performance in the nationals (missed mate-in-one back rank mate)
Knows many openings very well
Tactically adequate
Very good reputation
Major contender for club champion
prone to falling into losing endgames

Adam:

My own little brother
Plus record in the nationals
plays a defensive opening well (pirc)
Tactically strong
Voted most valuable player of 2008
Major contender for club champion
Prone to being shredded into bits by the hyper-austrian attack.

Ian:

Tactically adequate
Contender for club champion
I am unsure of his strengths or his weaknesses
Rare appearances

That's pretty much everyone, unless sasha returns, but in case:

Sasha:

Tactically decent
Doesn't realize his rating is lower than mine
Tries to insult my rating
Big ego
no opening strategy
older than me

and that's that. I'll post any progress on this.

Strange game

2008-06-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just won a game against a 2105... in 14 moves...

[Event "ICS Unrated Chess Match"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.06.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "GuestCBKR"]
[Black "JigsawChris"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[TimeControl "900+0"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 d6 5. Bc4 e6 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. O-O a6
8. Bg5 Be7 9. e5 Nfd7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Qxd6 Qxd6 12. exd6 Nb6 13. b3 Nxc4
14. bxc4 b5
{JigsawChris resigns} 1-0

Okay, can someone tell my what just happened?

Endgame textbook and analyzation has arrived!

2008-06-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I was just posting to let you all know that my copy of chessmaster 9000 and Silman's endgame Course has arrived. My copy of the chesscafe puzzle book also came too.

oddly enough, Michael de la Maza is metioned in the introduction!

Analysis of the week: JH nationals, round 7

2008-05-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is the game I SHOULD have won at round 7. Complete with analysis. I was playing black in this game.

1.d4 d5
2.nf3 nc6
3.e3 nf6
4.c4 pxc4
5.Bxc4 Bc4

Better is 5... e6 which opens up the dark-square bishop's diagonal and doesn't double my pawns

6.bxe6 pxe6
7.Nc3 Nd5
8.0-0

8.e4 is a strong move as well

8...NxNc3
9. pxc3 Qd7
10.Ba3 0-0-0

It is at this point that Be6 instead of e6 is being felt, as my bishop cannot leave it's starting square at f8, making it difficult to complete development and connect my rooks.

11.Qd2 e5

A strong move, as white continue his attack easily. I win my development back with 12.pxe5 qxd2 12.nxqd2 nxe5, leading to e6

12.Rad1 Pxd4
13.exd4 e5

Continuing the counter-attack. This plans for an early trade with 14.bxf8 Rhxf8 15.exd5 qxd2 16.Rxd2 Rxd2 17.Nxd2 Nxe5.

14.bxf8 Rxf8
15.Rdb1?

This removes pressure from the d4 square

15... pxd4
16.Qb2

Threatening mate at b7. Now I am up two pawns.

16... b6
17.pxd4 Qf7?

A more solid move was 18...Nxd4, winning a pawn

18.Rfd1 Qf6
19.Rc1 Rfe8

Too bad I missed taking the pawn, it's impossible now

20.Qc2 Re6??
21.d5

Oof

21...Red6
22.Nd4

man, this guy isn't happy with just a free knight. He wants mate, and he can taste my blood.

22...Rxd5
23.Nxc6 RxRd1!

Surprise!

24.Nxd8

Oops, apparently I didn't see this, and rightly so, since it's an illegal move. Even more appalling is my response. No, it's not Rxc1

24... Qxd8??

Wait, WHAT? I HUNG A ROOK!?!?

25.g3??

Wait, WHAT?

25... Rd2
26.Qxh7 Rd1+

That was a waste of a move and a pawn.

27.Rxd1 Qxd1+
28.Kg2 Qd5+
29.f3 Qxa2+
30.kh3 Qe6+
31.g4 Qf7
32.Qg5 Qxf3+
33.kh4 Qf4+
34.Kh5 Qxh2+
35.Kg6 Qd6+

Wait, wait, wait! Qxh7 wins for me!!! The game should go:

35... Qxh7
36.kxh7 a5
37.kxg7 a4
38.g6 a3
39.Kh7 a2
40.g7 a1=Q
41.g8=Q+

and black can just move out of the way. he has no worries, he can just trade queens and run his pawns! bonus if the king moves to h8 on move 39, then white can just sac his new queen for the pawn, allowing his either of his pawns to run!, but no! I just blunder it away.

35... Qd6+ Kxg7

Now black can't take h7 and win. A basic summary of the game is as follows.

36-63. Endless checking
64. Black blunders his draw away (White didn't take the draw)
black resigns

I should've won that game. I did win that game. Once I did 29.RxRd1, It was over. But I lost. What a waste. I was the last one out of the playing area, and if I won that, or even drew, our team would've reached around 3rd (5.5 + 5 + 5 + 4, team score of 19.5/28)

Looking back, this game proves only one thing: I really need to pay more attention. some of those moves were terrible. I was under a lot of pressure, and I cracked. But I really put up some sort of fight.

My Progress on an Opening System

2008-04-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

My White System:

For 1...e5
-Scotch Gambit
-Classical Petrov's (Need to Study)

For 1...c5
-Smith Morra Gambit

For 1...d6
-Pirc Defence: Byrne Variation

For 1...c6
-Panov-botvinnik attack

For 1...d4
-Albin Counter-gambit
-For anything other than QG, just develop logically

My Black System:

For 1.e4
Scandinavian with 2... Nf3

For 1.d4
-Develop logically, nothing fancy

For 1.c4
-English Four Knights

For 1.d6
-Pirc Defence: Byrne Variation

My Game Plan

2008-04-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hey,

I am a 729 rated scholastic player. I recently went to the National Junior High Chess Championship in Dallas, Texas. These were my results:

1st round - Miscalculation in a pawn run, ended in a draw.
2nd round - Win
3rd round - Win
4th round - lost in 45 minutes (4 hour time control, I rushed)
5th round - Win
6th round - Win
7th round - Loss (I Chased his pawn instead of running mine. I was up three pawns.)

I scored 4.5/7

I should've scored at least 6/7

I could've scored 7/7 in this tournament. At the very least I could've gotten 5.5.

Which is why I'll get better.

Next year I plan to be much better at tactics, MUCH better.

Here's my plan.

1st: I'll develop a basic system

2nd: I'll go through "Solitaire Chess" by Bruce Bandolfini

3rd: I'll go through "My System" and "Chess Praxis" by Nimzovich

4th: I'll use a 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 1 circle system for tactic problems (6000 problems)

5th: I'll Study Endgames

6th: I'll do 34,000 Tactic problems (long term goal) (totaling 40,000 problems)

If I can get through this, considering i'm still scholastic, I expect to get to 1000, I'd be happy to hit 1100, I'd thoroughly enjoy hitting 1200, I'd love to hit 1300, and I'd be surprised to get to 1400. My primary focus is to hit 1000.

More on the circles:

The Seven Circles, a tactical training system invented by Michael de la Maza, is what I will try to endure to increase my tactical ability. The first step in the cycle is to do 1000 problems in 32 days. Which translates into a solid 31-32 per day. I should spend around one minute per problem, and if i cannot find the solution, I'll read through the solution and then move on. At the end of the first circle, I'll go through 1000 more problems, however, i'll need to double the amount of problems. This time i'll have 16 days to go through 1000 problems. Then i'll have to do it again in 8 days. During the 8 day cycle I should be able to pass through the problems in 30 seconds. By the 4-day cycle i'll be doing 250 problems a day. Then the 2-day cycle at 500 per day, then all 1000 in one day. At 30 seconds each, this would take me 8 hours and 20 minutes. (Ouch). If I can indure that, i'll be unstoppable.

I have a book of 50 solitaire chess games. I'll go through those first. The coach of my club recommended this book to me, and it seems to be helping. I also recently recieved "My System" and "Chess Praxis". My coach has referred to these as "the bibles" of chess, and that this will get me to 1000 in "The snap of a hat".

Wish me Luck!