Chess Thread

[Benoni]

Completely forgot that I started this thread years ago, happy to see that there are quite some players on the forum. Started playing more online during the past lockdown months, currently 1900+ blitz and reached a 2500 puzzle rating on chess.com. Haven't really studied any chess up to this point, hoping to put in some hours/days this summer and start playing over-the-board chess again.

 

[rockviper]

My OTB club suspended play in Feb/Mar, but I still play ICCF correspondence and have hit 2400 there and VERY close to the IM title.

OTB-wise, I get tired after 9:30 and often lose when play continues close to 10pm, so my rating has slipped to below 2000.

 

[bray144k]

Wow you guys are way better than I am. My peak rating is about 1600 and I felt pretty good about that lol.

 

[rockviper]

Nothing wrong with 1600; I think I'll be there (again) in a few more years. As long as you are having fun and getting competitive games in your section, that's all that really matters.

 

[Benoni]

My OTB club suspended play in Feb/Mar, but I still play ICCF correspondence and have hit 2400 there and VERY close to the IM title.

OTB-wise, I get tired after 9:30 and often lose when play continues close to 10pm, so my rating has slipped to below 2000.

Would you say correspondence chess helps your regular chess? I feel pretty comfortable tactics-wise, but have absolutely zero knowledge of opening theory and only average endgame skills. (with the black pieces I reply to both e4/d4 with a gambit..)

Any flexible openings you'd recommend? As a d4-player, I'm thinking about studying the London system.

Best of luck in reaching that IM-title!

 

[rockviper]

@Benoni , Yesteryear's correspondence (studying ECO and Informants back in the early '90s and earlier) was a BIG help to my OTB play, especially in King's Indian play. Today, correspondence is a great deal about being able to "steer the engine" more than about an individual's strength. Heck, the latest StockFish is around 3900 and would CRUSH Carlsen. So in my opinion, correspondence is a very different game than OTB, even though they use the same pieces, same board and same basic rules.

The theory and play of London has changed greatly over the past 4-5 years, with white facing some difficulties dealing with enhanced Kings' Indian / Grunfeld type setups by black. Also early d5/c5/Qb6 often ends up taking white out of his preferred "routine" setup.

If you're looking for sub-2100 solidity with attacking chances by white, have a peek at the Colle-Zukertort. Summerscale's "A killer chess opening repertoire" in either edition (1st-red cover, a wonderful book IMO ... or 2nd-black cover, tweaks to 1st edition) is worth picking up. It has provided me with a chunk of wins. I would avoid Rudd's "Zuke 'em" books as he really is presenting an overoptimistic view which only works against lower rater folks.

 

[Graydog]

Sam is that rating Celsius or Fahrenheit?

 

[Alacrity59]

Kelvin?

 

[rockviper]

Here's a correspondence game I recently played against another IM (he gained the IM title after the tnmt started). Well worth a peek as I give up my Q for a R+B very early on in the game.

IM rockviper (2410) - IM Iermito (2424)
TNMT: Valer Vasile Demian Memorial B
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 g6 5.h4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.h5 c5 8.Qa4+ Qd7 9.Qc4 b6 10.Ng5 e6 11.Qh4 Qe7 12.hxg6 hxg6

13.Qxh8+ Bxh8 14.Rxh8+ Kd7 15.d4 Nc6 16.Rh7 Nd8 17.Nf3 cxd4 18.cxd4 Kc7 19.Bg5 Qb4+ 20.Bd2 Qa4 21.Ne5 Kb7 22.Rc1 Rb8 23.Rh3 Ka8 24.Nc4 Bb7 25.Ra3 Qb5 26.Nd6 Qd7 27.Bf4 Nc6 28.e3 e5 29.dxe5 Rh8 30.Rac3 Rh1 31.Kd2 a6

32.Bxa6 Bxa6 33.Rxh1 Qe6 34.Ra3 Na5 35.Kc2 g5 36.Bg3 Qg4 37.Rc1 Bb7 38.Rd3 Ba6 39.Rc3 Nb7 40.Nxb7 Kxb7 41.Kb2 Bb5 42.Ka1 Qe4 43.f3 Qd5 44.e6 fxe6 45.Rb3 Bc6 46.Rb2 g4 47.e4 Qg5 48.f4 Qg7 49.e5 b5 50.Bf2 g3 51.Be3 Qh7 52.Rbc2 Be4 53.Rc5 Qd7

54.a4 bxa4 55.Ka2 Kb8 56.Ka3 Bb7 57.R5c4 Qd3+ 58.R1c3 Qf1 59.f5 Qa1+ 60.Kb4 Qb2+ 61.Kxa4 Qa1+ 62.Kb4 Qb1+ 63.Rb3 Qe1+ 64.Rcc3 Bd5 65.Rb2 exf5 66.e6 Bxe6 67.Kc5+ Kc7 68.Ra3 f4 69.Ra7+ Kd8 70.Kd6 Bc8 71.Rf7 Ke8 72.Re7+ Kf8 73.Bc5

73...Qxe7+ 74.Kd5 Be6+ 75.Kd4 1-0

Here's a link to the game on the ICCF which has a built-in player:

ICCF Game

www.iccf.com

 

[bluesman 7]

Cool game. I saw a position or two I want to look at again when I have more time.

 

[rockviper]

My 15 minutes of fame.....

Spending two years per game is not unusual in this form of tournament chess

According to Sam Sharpe, postal chess is the best way to master the board

www.theglobeandmail.com

The newspaper did a thorough job of chopping down about an hour interview into a few paragraphs.

 

[ajkel64]

I could not find it until I searched your name on the newspapers search function. Nice read all the same Sam.