The everything CHESS thread

[TheIronMaiden]

nm

[mrkajz44]

Just signed up to be in again - I can't kick my addiction.

Thought I'd give my side of the final game, though I was extremely disappointed with how it turned out.

I was very happy with how the opening played out, and even though I had stacked pawns on the f file, I ended up with two pawns controlling the e5 square, which I thought would be helpful in the midgame.

As with some of my other games, I think I hurt myself early by trying to be too aggressive and going for the kill too fast. After 13. Ng6 I saw I could either: grab the d5 pawn for free OR try to set up mate with Qb3. If my opponent had left d5 undefended after my queen move I could have grabbed d5 with my knight setting up a discovered check with my queen. In retrospect, it was a really dumb plan as it was likely very obvious what I was doing and it cost me picking up the pawn for free early.

Later in the game I looked through what I thought was every permutation to make sure if my queen took the b7 pawn that I was able to get out alive. I figured I could do it and was able to gobble up the queenside pawns and then get out without getting captured. Only problem was my retreat (26.Qb4) allowed the x-ray attack pretty much nullifying all my good work to that point.

My other major error came almost immediately after and I think I was still kicking myself for the queen x-ray error as I missed a very obvious and easy move. Black played 29...Qa5, and a simple 30. Rf1 an easy response, leaving all my key pieces safe, but I instead moved 30. Nc3. Things just tumbled downhill after that as I figured I was pretty much cooked and tried to make a few desperate plays.

My key takeaways:

1) Assume your opponent will always play the right move after your play, so don't get too cute. Take the obvious edges that are presented, even if they are small, as the big edges never seem to materialize

2) Don't be afraid to play a passive position. If all your pieces can stand protected after a move, then that is fine. You don't need some great follow-up attack. Sometimes you need to play defence and wait for that right opportunity to open up

Still having a ton of fun and looking forward to the next tournament!

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by ah123

I wouldn’t mind joining

Doesn't look like you're in there. Are you having trouble joining?

[TheIronMaiden]

Should we hang tight for a few hours to see if we can't get two more folks to join?

9 really is the ideal number.


https://www.chess.com/tournament/cal...iv/join/fe3273

[mrkajz44]

I'd be willing to wait and see. Would be nice to bring more people into the fold if possible.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

I'd be willing to wait and see. Would be nice to bring more people into the fold if possible.

We can hang tight until tomorrow.

[FireGilbert]

How am I supposed to get through a day at work without multiple chess games to play at once?

No worries waiting for one or ideally two more participants.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

How am I supposed to get through a day at work without multiple chess games to play at once?

No worries waiting for one or ideally two more participants.

Hit me up and I’ll play!

(Same goes for others here on chess.com!). I prefer to play with a day for a move or something, because I get busy and don’t always have a chance to play straight through games. Realistically, I never seem to play straight through, unless I get crushed quickly!

[TheIronMaiden]

I started up. GL everyone.

[mrkajz44]

Man, I wish the WCC was being played in a time zone that allowed me to follow along live as the games are occurring. It sounds like the matches are pretty interesting, but already knowing the outcome before you even start looking at the game isn't as fun. Reading the analysis is sometime like reading a different language. For example, in game 6 the players have equal material but the commentators are just praising white's position. I looked at the board and thought, yeah white looks to be in better shape I guess, but truly could not understand why it was so superior.

(In other news, I forgot that pawns can capture on diagonals and find myself way behind in my tournament game).

I read that the 4 "decisions" (as opposed to draws) in this WCC is already more than the last two combined and we are only half way through. Not sure why, but I'm pulling for Ding. He seems more down to earth for some reason.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Man, I wish the WCC was being played in a time zone that allowed me to follow along live as the games are occurring. It sounds like the matches are pretty interesting, but already knowing the outcome before you even start looking at the game isn't as fun. Reading the analysis is sometime like reading a different language. For example, in game 6 the players have equal material but the commentators are just praising white's position. I looked at the board and thought, yeah white looks to be in better shape I guess, but truly could not understand why it was so superior.

(In other news, I forgot that pawns can capture on diagonals and find myself way behind in my tournament game).

I read that the 4 "decisions" (as opposed to draws) in this WCC is already more than the last two combined and we are only half way through. Not sure why, but I'm pulling for Ding. He seems more down to earth for some reason.

I think the favourite thing I do to myself, is move past a bishop occasionally and think it's a pawn. Then after my opponent makes a move and I go back in, I'm momentarily stunned to realise that their "pawn" could just move backward and take my piece!

[FireGilbert]

I was going to make a joke about the CP chess tournament being more exciting than the world chess championship but actually the WCC has been amazing.

In game 5 Nepo finds an exchange sack that gives him a dominate position a few moves later then in Game 6 Ding finds an obscure pawn move that leads to a queen sacrifice mate. Just brilliant stuff that is completely beyond my feeble chess brain.

[FireGilbert]

Another decisive game! The clock was more important than any moves. Poor Ding blowing a winning position.

[FireGilbert]

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

LOL. I feel seen.

[TheIronMaiden]

Ding heading into game 9 a game back and using the black pieces.

Does Nepo go for the throat or try make drawish positions until the contest is over?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Ding heading into game 9 a game back and using the black pieces.

Does Nepo go for the throat or try make drawish positions until the contest is over?

Today’s game was a draw but had some insane drama nonetheless.

My guess is Nepo tries to draw the next few games, but if he’s going to play for a win it’ll be with the white pieces—so games 9 and 11 I suppose.

[TheIronMaiden]

I just hit 1000 in blitz! woohooo. I may never play again. Swindled the same guy twice in a row to pull it off too.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I just hit 1000 in blitz! woohooo. I may never play again. Swindled the same guy twice in a row to pull it off too.

Nice! That’s huge—chess.com is such a jungle.

We should really try to do a blitz or rapid tournament some time. Hard part is co-ordinating schedules I guess. The chess is probably less accurate overall, but the games would be wilder and more fun!

Maybe I just think that because I’m continually having my butt handed to me by our top players in correspondence…..

[FireGilbert]

Well done IM! I am so bad at blitz compared to rapid and classical.

I'd be up for a hour or two rapid or blitz arena sometime. Would need a few more players and yeah will be tough to schedule. Could plan on a public holiday or to start after a playoff game ends.

Another interesting WCC game last night. Found myself yelling at Ding again as he made his 40th move with seconds to spare. There is a big contrast between the two players. Nepo is confident and aggressive so is better with the clock but prone to blunders, while Ding is less confident and more patient so finds some amazing moves but runs into time trouble. Nepo definitely in the driver's seat now but don't see him playing it safe and expect more decisive games. Ding, needing at least 3.5 points in 6 games to stay alive, will likely need to win one game as black to have a chance.