How to improve?

[Gavin Strachan]

I have been told my dress sense is awful, can you help?
Of course you can't, you need a picture of me and my awful dress sense.

Well there are some pictures:

Summer dress


Winter dress

Rangers v Celtic match

Note: An Irishman, A Frenchman and an American.

[IM Jack Rudd]

My advice would be to play some games with 1.e4 and some with 1.d4 and see which suits your style more. (I play both, as it happens.)

[John Sargent]

My advice would be to play some games with 1.e4 and some with 1.d4 and see which suits your style more. (I play both, as it happens.)

Don't forget the mandatory 10. g4.

P.S. Jack, you popping round Saturday?

[Justin Hadi]

*deleted

[IM Jack Rudd]

My advice would be to play some games with 1.e4 and some with 1.d4 and see which suits your style more. (I play both, as it happens.)

Don't forget the mandatory 10. g4.

You'll be pleased to know I played an early g4 as White on Saturday and an early g5 as black on Sunday.

P.S. Jack, you popping round Saturday?

No; I have better things to do. As it were.

[Nicky Chorley]

Since several people have commented about tactics, I'll respond to that now:

I've got a copy of "Learn Chess Tactics" by John Nunn, so I'll get back to working through that. Also, I've tried Chess Tactics Server, but I find the time control there a bit difficult to cope with right now. I've also tried the tactics training at Chess Tempo and I like that much better, as there's no time in which the problems have to be solved.

Here's one of my games from the league this season, where I had the white pieces and my opponent was graded 97. It was the last game I played this season (so February/March time).

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 a6 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 Bg4 7. O-O Nf6 8. e4 d5 9. e5 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Qxd4 13. Bf4 Bxe5 14. Bxe5 Qxe5 15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nc3 Qxe2 17. Nxe2 Nd7 18. b3 e5 19. f4 O-O-O 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Nf4 Rd2 22. Rf2 Rxf2 23. Kxf2 Rd8 24. Re1 Nd3+ 25. Nxd3 Rxd3 26. Re8+ Kd7 27. Re3 Rd2+ 28. Re2 Rxe2+ 29. Kxe2 Ke6 30. g3 Ke5 31. Kd3 g5 32. a4 c5 33. Kd2 h5 34. h4 gxh4 35. gxh4 Kf4 36. Kc3 Kg4 37. b4 cxb4+ 38. Kxb4 f4 39. c5 f3 40. Ka5 f2 41. Kb6 f1=Q 42. Kxb7 Kxh4 43. c6 Qf3 44. a5 Kg4 45. Kb6 Qf6 46. Kb7 h4 47. c7 Qe7 48. Kb8 Qxc7 49. Kxc7 h3 50. Kb6 h2 51. Kxa6 h1=Q 52. Kb6 Qa8 53. a6 Kf5 54. a7 Ke5 55. Ka6 Kd6 56. Kb6 Qc6+ 57. Ka5 Kc5

I think I made a mistake trading rooks and I think I should have used mine to try and win that pawn back.

I'll post a few more games later on, as well as respond to other posts in this thread if they appear to require it.

Thanks!

[Nicky Chorley]

Joey - thanks for that. I'll be moving back to London in the next month or so and there are several clubs that seem easy to get to, so I'll see if any of them are still having club nights over the summer.

I don't really know any in depth, but am playing 1. d4 as a club player suggested it might suit my style of play more.

He told you wrong. I think as Blackburn indicated over a century ago, a beginning player should always play 1.e4. The foundation of King's Gambit, Guioco Piano, Evans Gambit, Scotch Game and Gambit is what you will develop your chess on: open games of cut-and-thrust, slash-and-burn. One good book may be The Alterman Gambit Guide, by Boris Alterman, published by Quality Chess. I liked it, though I've read negative reviews.

When you become an old-to-elderly nincompoop like myself, who can't remember the first twenty moves in sharp lines of the Najdorf and Sveshnikov, or French Winawer, and get regularly trounced by young punks who can, then you can switch to 1.d4 (and then get trounced in equally sharp lines of the Grunfeld, Benko, and King's Indian).

I'm not really sure how to respond to this (and the debate around it in this thread), but thanks. I'll check out that book, too.

I have been told that my main problem is tactics ...

Try doing http://www.shredderchess.com/weekly-chess-problems.html every day.

I hadn't seen that site before, so I'll look at that too. Thanks.

My advice would be to play some games with 1.e4 and some with 1.d4 and see which suits your style more. (I play both, as it happens.)

Thanks also. I'm playing in a rapid tournament at the weekend, so I may try both e4 and d4 there and see what happens.

[Nicky Chorley]

The first thing to be learned about chess is, what a cultural asset it is when taught to the very young, start in the nursery, chess shaped nursery toys and such.
...

I wasn't too sure what your reply really meant (I'm not trying to be rude), but thanks. Also, I guess I should probably state that I'm 26 years old.

As requested by Geoff, here are a few more of my games:

White, played in January:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 b6 9.O-O Bb7 10.Qe2 d6 11.e4 Nbd7 12.b3 c5 13.d5 e5 14.Rad1 Nh7 15.Bg3 Bc8 16.h3 Ng5 17.Nxg5 Bxg5 18.Bc2 Nf6 19.Rd3 Bd7 20.Nd1 Ne8 21.Ne3 Nc7 22.Rdd1 b5 23.Nf5 bxc4 24.Nxd6 cxb3 25.Bxb3 Qf6 26.Nc4 Bb5 27.d6 Ne6 28.Qc2 Nd4 29.Qb2 Bf4 30.a4 Bxc4 31.Bxc4 Qxd6 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.f3 Rab8 34.Qc3 Qc6 35.a5 Rb4 36.Rfe1 Qf6 37.Bd3 Ne2+

Black, played in February:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Bf5 6.d3 Bg4 7.dxe4 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nc6 9.Bc4 Ne5 10.Qb3 Qe7 11.Nd2 O-O-O 12.Nf3 h6 13.O-O Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 f6 15.Rd1 g5 16.Bd3 Kb8 17.b4 Rg8 18.Bb2 Bg7 19.Bc4 Rh8 20.a4 f5 21.Bxg7 Qxg7 22.Qxf5 Qc3 23.Qd5 c6 24.Qd3 Qf6 25.f3 h5 26.Rab1 g4 27.Rf1 gxf3 28.Rxf3

Thanks again.

[Roger de Coverly]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Bf5 6.d3 .

This is a case that even at the sub-100 level, you either have to know your theory ( 5 .. Qe7) or instantly spot the threat to win a piece with 6 d3 and find Qe7 as the "only move". Evidently you knew that 3 .. Nxe4 has a reputation of not working very well.

[Peter Sowray]

Since several people have commented about tactics, I'll respond to that now:

I've got a copy of "Learn Chess Tactics" by John Nunn, so I'll get back to working through that. Also, I've tried Chess Tactics Server, but I find the time control there a bit difficult to cope with right now. I've also tried the tactics training at Chess Tempo and I like that much better, as there's no time in which the problems have to be solved.

Here's one of my games from the league this season, where I had the white pieces and my opponent was graded 97. It was the last game I played this season (so February/March time).

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 a6 5. e3 d6 6. Be2 Bg4 7. O-O Nf6 8. e4 d5 9. e5 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Qxd4 13. Bf4 Bxe5 14. Bxe5 Qxe5 15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nc3 Qxe2 17. Nxe2 Nd7 18. b3 e5 19. f4 O-O-O 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Nf4 Rd2 22. Rf2 Rxf2 23. Kxf2 Rd8 24. Re1 Nd3+ 25. Nxd3 Rxd3 26. Re8+ Kd7 27. Re3 Rd2+ 28. Re2 Rxe2+ 29. Kxe2 Ke6 30. g3 Ke5 31. Kd3 g5 32. a4 c5 33. Kd2 h5 34. h4 gxh4 35. gxh4 Kf4 36. Kc3 Kg4 37. b4 cxb4+ 38. Kxb4 f4 39. c5 f3 40. Ka5 f2 41. Kb6 f1=Q 42. Kxb7 Kxh4 43. c6 Qf3 44. a5 Kg4 45. Kb6 Qf6 46. Kb7 h4 47. c7 Qe7 48. Kb8 Qxc7 49. Kxc7 h3 50. Kb6 h2 51. Kxa6 h1=Q 52. Kb6 Qa8 53. a6 Kf5 54. a7 Ke5 55. Ka6 Kd6 56. Kb6 Qc6+ 57. Ka5 Kc5

I think I made a mistake trading rooks and I think I should have used mine to try and win that pawn back.

I'll post a few more games later on, as well as respond to other posts in this thread if they appear to require it.

Thanks!

Hello Nicky,

Thanks for posting this game. I found it interesting to play through and it's given me some useful teaching material

You've been given some really good advice already on this thread, but I'm going to suggest some more specifics.

Have a look at position number 8 on page 100 of your Learn Chess Tactics book. Can you solve it? Great! It's a standard tactic - sacrifice the rook to place the opponent's king on a square where you can then fork it. I dare say that anyone graded over 100 would be able to solve this puzzle (but that's not to say that they would necessarily notice it if it occurred in their own game!)

Now that you're armed with this tactical knowledge, think about the moves from 11 to 15 in the game you posted. By move 15 you had a very difficult, probably lost position pawn down for nothing. But you missed a good move on move 13 and then your opponent blundered and you missed a win (I think, but it's a bit complicated) the following move. I hope I'm right in this ... I haven't checked it with a computer! See if you can figure out what's going on.

By the way, you're absolutely right - you mustn't exchange down into a pawn ending.

On other stuff, do not worry about choosing an opening to fit your 'style'. To have a style, you must be able to recognise two moves of roughly equal merit and then choose the one that fits best with your personal preferences. I think you need to be about 150 strength for stylistic considerations to become at all relevant. When you're weaker than that any attempt to play in a certain style will simply mean that you try to avoid areas of the game where you are weak, and you will never improve.

I wouldn't worry too much about specific openings at this stage - but do not chop and change.

Study the Tactics book (the one you have is perfect).
Find a book on endings. Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky is a wonderful book, but I'm not sure it's still in print. Also Leonard Barden wrote a very nice introduction to endings ... you may be able to find a copy somewhere.
Play through many well-annotated games ... this will give you more of a 'feel' for the game. Bobby Fischer's 60 Memorable Games is excellent, but there are many other great books.

Just a few random thoughts ... but I hope it helps. Good luck!

Peter

[Matt Fletcher]

Hi there Nicky, I've been lurking on here a while but this is my first post.

I've also had a look through that first game, and there are definitely tactics around moves 13 and 14 - have a good look through and let us know what you find! By move 17 you're a solid pawn down (although I always feel that if you play actively in a R+P endgame you've got reasonable drawing chances).

Looking a bit earlier, at move 5 I noticed your opponent isn't really trying to occupy the centre. Why not occupy it yourself? 5.e4 looks pretty solid to me - you played it at move 8 anyway!

Also, it may just be a style point, but I think I'd have played 6. Bd3 rather than Be2 - just feels more "active".

Agree with the others that tactics and endgames are probably the way forward at this point - plus a general feel in the opening that controlling the centre is important.

Matt

[Matt Fletcher]

Apologies for the double post but I felt it warranted a second one.

I've looked over game 2 as well - the end was pretty messy! In my view, you played well up to about move 28 - Rd5 instead of Qc2 looks pretty unpleasant for Black. My only significant comment is that 12. b3 seems a bit aimless? One suggestion I might make is to go back through some of your games, and think about what you were planning to do, particularly shortly after the opening - doesn't have to be anything particularly concrete but just "to control the open file" or "to push the e5 pawn". I find that sometimes when I go through games I've lost (and I'll post a few later) one reason is that I didn't really have much of a plan...

Also, look out for some nice tactics for you around moves 35-36...

[PeterTurland]

The first thing to be learned about chess is, what a cultural asset it is when taught to the very young, start in the nursery, chess shaped nursery toys and such.
...

I wasn't too sure what your reply really meant (I'm not trying to be rude), but thanks. Also, I guess I should probably state that I'm 26 years old.

Heh don't mind me, like Arshad I'm too old for e4, and am inclined to waffle on a bit. But it does annoy me that chess is not on the curriculum in state schools. I suppose what I was doing was trying to give you a bit of encouragement in terms of the value of chess in a cultural context.

Basically as far as I can see e4, is more tactical and d4 is more positional. I'm a better middle game player, than end game player, the end game is mathematical, if you are good at math, then maybe you should play e4. If you are the more artistic player and like pawn patterns and a closed position then maybe d4 is more suitable.

A good website for learning openings is here.

http://www.365chess.com/opening.php

The thing about chess is, it drains energy and if you know the main line, you do not have to waste energy calculating your next move, if you know what to do.

Knowing your openings is paying respect to your ancestors.

Some opening lines are very sharp, almost like threading a path through a swamp full of pools of quick sand, if you know a sharp line and your opponent goes down that line, if they step off that line, they are taking more of a risk, than you are.

Two sharp lines that come to mind, are the Dragon Sicilian and the Marshall line in the Lopez.

BTW I'm 61.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Joey - thanks for that. I'll be moving back to London in the next month or so and there are several clubs that seem easy to get to, so I'll see if any of them are still having club nights over the summer.

There might not be as much club action as you'd hope in London over the summer. Depending on where you are, you might be able to enter an Individual Tournament though. E.g. Surrey County Chess Association is running one and I believe Middlesex and no doubt other places too.

I can also highly recommend Adam Raoof's Golders Green one-day rapidplay tournaments - they're held monthly. I also played at Richmond one time. The venue is very good and I'd happily go back although the dates always seem to clash with something else I'm doing. Possibly because they're held on Sundays while Golders Green events are on Saturdays.

[Arshad Ali]

I can also highly recommend Adam Raoof's Golders Green one-day rapidplay tournaments - they're held monthly.

If you're a young punk with tons of stamina, these work out fine. For an old geezer like myself, the standard of play plummets in the fifth and sixth game, I'm gasping for breath and blue in the face. The leisurely evening club game with a pint by my side for solace works better. Also, the slower time controls allow me to play my brand of chess: since I can't calculate much of anything anymore, I win games by boring my opponent to death in arid technical positions. Sorry to digress (a failing of the old) but perhaps a point to be made is there are different ways of improving. One way is to master the technical aspects of the middlegame and resulting endgame: arid positional play based on pawn weaknesses and slow manoeuvring. This is the kind explained in Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy. Or Mednis' From the Opening to the Endgame. Or Nesis' Exchanging to Win in the Endgame. Or Reinfeld's Reinfeld on the Endgame in Chess. Few things give as much pleasure as circumventing a young punk's desire for a tactical melee (where he will obviously prevail) by exchanging most of the pieces and then positionally outplaying him to victory.