What's next ?

I finally finished my last loop through levels 2 and 3. I'm quite happy with my score (98,0% for level 2, 97,8% for level 3), so now it's time to start with level 4 ! I think I will do my first loop very slow (10 problems each day), so there will be some time left for other chess related things :

• Opening repertoire (Kings Gambit, GPA, Nf6 Scandinavian, Dutch Defense).
• Study master games
• Endgames (Silman's Complete Endgame Course + Polgars Endgame Brick)
• Positional play (reassess your chess)
• play chess (FICS + FICGS) and analyze my games
• Last but not least, reading the blogs of the other knights. Especially Tempo's research on the thinking / learning process is very interesting.

Mate

The position below is from a game I played on FICS last week (I played the black pieces, black to move and win). I eventually won the game but I missed a nice mate:


Solution : 22 ... Qf2! 23 Rg1 Rd1 24 Rxd1 Qxg2#

Tactics Update

I finished my third circle on level 3 (296 problems) today :

Level 3, circle 1 : 84,5%
Level 3, circle 2 : 90,9%
Level 3, circle 3 : 96,0%

So what's next ?
I'm gonna do one more loop through level 2 & level 3, when that's finished I'm finally gonna start with level 4...

Tactics Rule

I won my OTB game (club championship) yesterday. I won a piece with a tactic (which I'm a bit proud of ;-) ) :

Black to move (I play the black pieces).

I wanted to bring my rook to e2, so I first looked at the Bh5 - Bg6 manoeuvre to exchange the white bishop on d3. I realised this plan was too slow and suddenly noticed that I could bring my rook to e2 directly ! I spent a lot of time calculation all the variations, the final conclusion : white will lose a piece.

So I played Re2. My opponent gave me a strange look, had a long think, and finally played Qf1. I played Rxd2, my opponent immediately answered with Bc1 (he looked at me like "you made a big mistake, I'm winning your rook"). My heart stopped beating for a few seconds (his bishop pins my rook on my queen, I missed this move in my calculations). After a few seconds I realised his move was not as dangerous as it looked, I just had to exchange the rooks and move my queen away. So I did, I played Rxd1, he played Qxd1, I moved my queen to f6, and I was a piece up... .

Tactics Update

I finished my first circle on level 3 today. Compared to level 2, the problems become trickier (I scored 84,5%). An example (white to move) :


I immediately saw the discovered check which allows me to exchange my bishop for the black queen. My two options were Rd5+ and Rb7+. I couldn't find a difference between the two moves, so I thought both of them would be correct (Rd5+/Rb7+, Qxd7, Rxd7).

As you probably guessed by now, Rd5+ / Rb7+ is not correct. I totally missed Rf5+, Kd4, Rf4+ (winning the black queen, keeping the bishop).

I'll keep repeating it : When you see a good move, look for a better one... .

Chess Efficiency

This position is taken from a game I played in an OTB tournament yesterday (I play the black pieces, white played 27 Qxf3) :

I played 27 ... Be4, winning his queen. My opponent didn't resign and it took me 30 more minutes to win the game. After the game a guy from my club showed me a missed mate in 4 on move 27 :

27 ... h3+ whatever white tries, he will be mated.

So I won the game, but I didn't finish him off in the most efficient way. I had to play 14 more moves (exchanging rooks & missing a few more matting possibilities) until he resigned.

So it's true after all : when you see a good move, look for a better one !

Opening Repertoire For White

Behold my current opening repertoire with white :

• 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 The Bishops opening (main line 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nc6 3 d3)

• 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 The Closed Sicilian

• 1 e4 e6/c6/d5/... Improvise ;-) (since 95% of my opponents play e5 or c5 I'm concentrating on these lines only)

I play these openings for a year now, and I realised that this is the wrong repertoire for me to play. The bishops opening and the closed sicilian often lead me to closed / positional games while I'm actually looking for open / tactical games.

So I think it's time for a change. These are the lines I have in mind :

• 1 e4 e5 2 f4 The Kings Gambit

• 1 e4 c5
• 2 f4 The Grand Prix Attack
• 2 d4 The Morra Gambit

I'm pretty sure about the Kings Gambit, I think this opening will always offer me a tactical game. I still have to choose between the GPA and the Morra Gambit. I think both lines will give me a tactical game with attacking chances.

Is there anyone out there with practical experience with the GPA or the Morra Gambit ? I'm still looking for a good book or internet resource on the Kings Gambit / GPA / Morra Gambit, any suggestions ?