Smack my bishop (into shape!) - The training log

Lucena

My undeserved win against IJ II:

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/improving-junior-ii---lucenas-undeserved-revenge

Lucena

My deserved win against IJ III. (The superfluous h3 game)

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/improving-junior-iii---lucenas-deserved-revenge

I think I was a little lucky that she slipped up in the opening, as other than that she had quite a good tournament, finishing above me and gaining 50 rating points in the process.

She also finished above me in a rapidplay event last weekend, so definitely another unrated junior!

Lucena

My round 5 win against the 2000 guy (not a junior!)

Unfortunately I've mucked up the notation after move 43 so I can't show the moves after that. :mad:
Which is a pity as I remember playing the endgame really well. I was in time trouble though, which generally isn't conducive to writing down the moves correctly.

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/giant-over-2000-killing

Lucena

Well, I was going to post up my disastrous sixth-round draw against a 1905, throwing away a win in an overwhelmingly winning position. But apparently I'm rubbish at noting my moves, as I can't figure out the moves beyond move 18 or so.

New objective for my next tournament: Write legibly, don't skip moves.

I'm so annoyed at myself, I played a winning bishop sac on h7, but didn't follow up correctly, and now I can't study it. ***ANGER***

Lucena

7th and last round defeat in the tournament.

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/making-it-up-in-the-opening---and-paying-the-price

Didn't have anything prepared against the Scandinavian, so tried to go out of book with some half-remembered opening system recommended by Andrew Martin (I think). Had I known the opening better, there was less chance of me making the silly b4 push, but even without knowing the opening, it's an obvious tactical error.

So overall in the tournament I had a 1783 performance, gained 11 rating points, and I felt that overall my play is improving. I'm definitely looking a more possibilities, thanks to Yusupov I'd imagine. I'm still being let down horribly by tactics, so I need to work on that area. I also need to start a tournament refreshed, it might help avoid my early defeats. Considering that I also came up against three improving juniors who were underrated and that I gained points from the tournament is also quite positive.

Fide rating March 2015: 1725 (+14)

Valmont

Lucena wrote: »

My undeserved win against IJ II:

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/improving-junior-ii---lucenas-undeserved-revenge

Great game, I liked that you both sacrificed a bishop to open the king up. Regarding the end-game. All black needed to play on move 41 was Ke7 or Kd7, right? Then when you pushed Kd4 to try to get into his camp he would play Kd6 with the opposition. I suppose it's not an intuitive move which is maybe why he missed it but even I can tell d4 is a howler - although it's easy saying that here with no clock having just had some coffee. I think you showed good composure to play 42. c4 as immediately snatching the pawn gives him the opposition to push your king back and the outcome is not as clear.

Valmont

Lucena wrote: »

My deserved win against IJ III. (The superfluous h3 game)

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/improving-junior-iii---lucenas-deserved-revenge

I often note when an opponent plays a superfluous move in the opening (or worry when I do myself) but knowing how to take the initiative and punish it is another story! Why did you play 12....Qa5? My reasoning tells me it's dangerous to get the queen out so far with all the pieces on the board, and she is just pointing at c3 which is defended. I know it all came together but what was the rationale at the time?

Lucena

Bit slow replying, I've had a mad two weeks (arbiting, meetings, preparing grant applications, the non-playing side of chess). So back to the little wooden things.

Why 12...Qa5. ?

I can't remember what was going through my head when I played it, but this is probably what I was thinking:

Qa5 clears the d-file, allowing one of the rooks to come to d8, possibly gaining a tempo if the white queen is still on d1. a5 isn't a bad square for the queen, as it'll be difficult to attact, it can always swing over to the kingside quickly if needed, and white will need to be alert to a possible bishop sacrifice on c3, although for the moment it's not a possibility. I also played it because it's a 'typical' move in the Accelerated Dragon, one of those moves you play more or less automatically, even though that's not necessarily a good way to play.

So basically development and vague threats!


After a two-week break from chess, I'm going to try to get back to Yusupov today. I can't even remember what the chapter I'm currently studying is about!!!

Lucena

Well, managed to finish Chapter 21: Pawn Combinations and do half of the problems, which I was happy with. My brain is definitely a bit rusty, even after a mere two-week break.

I was quite pleased with myself on the problems, as in one of them, as well as getting it right, I also found a better continuation than that played by the grandmaster in the game. In another problem, only one solution was given as correct, but I managed to find a different one which wasn't given by Yusupov (computer checked of course). Will stick them up tomorrow, maybe!

Lucena

After a difficult week for me outside of chess, on Saturday I managed to play a nice tight game against a similarly rated player to myself. He made a small error in the opening, leaving himself with a weak pawn. I managed to pile up on it, avoid giving my opponent counterplay, liquidate the pawn and go into the endgame with a linked passed pawn. There was still knight and bishop on the board for both sides, but my opponent compliantly swapped knights. Maybe he had no choice, I haven't looked at the game properly yet. Won in the endgame. I have to say, it's my favourite type of game: a small advantage nursed all the way through the middlegame and into the endgame. Will post when I get time.

Finished Chapter 22 (The Wrong Bishop) today, so making headway. Only two more chapters to go! Then I'll go over the chapters where I failed the final test and then hit the Final Test!

Lucena

Did chapter 23 today (forget the exact title, it's about that smothered mate with knight and queen) and most of the problems. The end is getting nearer. Seemed nearly impossible when I started out. I'm going to try and finish by the end of April, meaning:

- Finish the last chapter
- Repeat all the problems in the chapters I failed
- Save all the different endgame positions in a database, as I feel the endgames will be quickly forgotten if I don't have a handy way of going over them every now and again.
- Then the final test, the final boss! Victory will be mine!

Valmont

Will you get straight onto boost your chess 1? Maybe you should reward yourself with a 'best games' collection of some grandmaster?

Lucena

@Valmont

What I'll probably do is read one of the books from my backlog, probably 'How to be lucky in chess' which I picked up for a fiver a couple of years back. Having flicked through it, it seems like an interesting book, and it seems to be focused on how to play in bad positions, making things difficult for the opponent, looking for counterplay.

It also has lots of positions from amateur games, with a discussion of typical psychological errors. Should be a nice break from Yusupov!

Lucena

Aaaarrrgghhhh! Bloody real life getting in the way of chess again!

In the last week, I've made very little progress on the final Yusupov chapter (Gambits), having just done the examples but none of the problems so far. I've a feeling this will be one of the chapters I fail badly on, as the theme of how to play, and play against gambits, is too broad to teach in one chapter. We'll see.

I will finish the book correctly by the end of April, meaning I'll go back on the problems from the chapters I failed, make a Chessbase file of all the endgame positions for easier future study, and then hit the final test.

I have a 7-round tournament coming up at the end of May, so I'm going to try and get into shape for that, in every sense of the word. My trainer feels that physical fitness plays a huge part in improving tournament performance (stamina), so I'm going to get my bike out of the shed and hit the road, especially now that the evenings are a lot longer. Maybe some running as well. Another thing I need to sort out is the time I waste on the internet and not getting enough sleep. I really need to be getting my eight hours a night. Anyone who's read this log will know I've been turning up to tournaments tired, I really need to stop that. :rolleyes:

Valmont

I've finally cracked Yusupov open again after a busy spell. Working with some king and pawn end game puzzles from another book really helped. I've also found that playing the end-games where there is a theoretical draw or win against Shredder set to 2600 level really hammers home the idea of 'the opposition'.

When you say trainer, do you have a real-life coach who gives you homework etc? Does it make a difference? I've got a new job and thought maybe it might be worthwhile to get some lessons.

Lucena

@Valmont

Sorry about being slow to answer, just back from holidays in an internet desert.

Yes, I work with a real-life trainer, I guy I took lessons with a few years back in real life, and now we work through Skype. We mostly work on my games, looking at the different tactical and positional motifs, as well as working on openings and a small amount of endgame work. To be honest, I'm not sure if it makes a difference, my rating hasn't budged in the 2 years I've been working with him. I feel I'm a stronger player, but until my rating improves, it's only a feeling.

Lucena

Regarding my work on Yusupov, I'm going over the chapters I failed first time around. Getting hammered on the problems in Chapter 6 (again!), having got the first three I've done so far completely wrong. I'll just have to accept that I'm rubbish at positional themes and work on that, or that Yusupov over-estimated the level for the positional themes in the book.

I've created Chessbase files for two of the four endgame chapters, and I now feel I've got a good handle of simple pawn endgames and the opposition. Even just entering the positions and solutions into the computer was very beneficial.

Not looking likely I'll finish the book by the end of the month (unless I start pulling all-nighters! :cool:)

Lucena

Well, it's been a busy month away from chess, hence the lack of an update. Still managed to do some chess though!

I managed to pull back an early deficit on Chapter 6 by getting the last nine problems in a row correct. Maybe I'm not too bad at positional themes after all!

Chapter 8: Centralizing the Pieces, I managed to pass this time, with an ok 14/27, as opposed to the original 4/27. Based on these two chapters, I think I'm getting better at positional play. Positions that had me scratching my head the last time, this time I knew what to look for, what was important in the position. I don't think it was a case of remembering them from six months ago.

Chapter 10: The Opposition, 18 out of 26. I feel I have a fairly good grasp of this, but I'm worried that when I do eventually get to an K v K + P endgame, my time trouble will negate any knowledge of endgame opposition. So I've now passed all the chapters I failed the first time round. YES!!!

I've also put all the endgame problems into a chessbase file, so I can have a quick look through them every few months or so.

All that's left now is the Final Boss, or final test as Yusupov calls it. 24 problems to work through. Will our hero prove his worth? Or will he go down in flames? Tune in next week to find out!

Valmont

Lucena wrote: »

Chapter 10: The Opposition, 18 out of 26. I feel I have a fairly good grasp of this, but I'm worried that when I do eventually get to an K v K + P endgame, my time trouble will negate any knowledge of endgame opposition.

I'm having that problem. I've been making a concerted effort to play the opening and middlegame faster and to try to push my games into the endgame as soon as possible so I can have the opportunity to use some of my Yusupov endgame knowledge in practice.

Good luck with the final test!

Lucena

Well, I finished Yusupov with flying colours a couple of weeks back, got something like 37 out of 45, and haven't updated here 'cos I've been on the lock celebrating! No, only joking, although I did feel elated when I finished. Great feeling, knowing that stuff you studied up to six months ago actually stuck.

Some of the problems were very beautiful, and when you work hard on the problem and suddenly you find the solution, not only are you happy to find the answer, but there's a feeling of "wow" at getting a glimpse at the beauty and complexity of the game.

I've been working on Martin Weteschnik's 'Understanding Chess Tactics' for the last two weeks. The idea of the book is that instead of just making the reader solve a heap of problems and hoping something sticks, the author lifts the bonnet on the different tactical motifs, showing how and why they arise, how to recognise potential tactics and how to create them. It's ok so far, but glancing through the entire book, it seems the author mostly shows the nuts and bolts of each type of tactic, and then they all come together in the final chapter called 'Status Examination' where more complex positions are dissected using the different tactical tools from earlier chapters. I'll let you all know if I become a tactical genius at the end!

I've also been hitting Chesstempo big time, taking my time on each problem. I've managed to get my rating up to around 1850, stabilising occasionally at 1870 before coming back down. It's going to take a lot of work to get past 1870 I feel, it's not just spotting tactics, but sometimes it's having to analyse different positions at the end of each tactical sequence and comparing them to see which is better, which isn't always easy.

Lucena

*** THE LONG OVERDUE UPDATE ***

Took a long break over the summer, went on a three-week holiday with no chess books, decided I'd just do 30 minutes of Chesstempo every day to keep me sharp. The lack of internet in my holiday destination put paid to those plans!

So start of September, exactly one year after starting this training log, how much progress did I make, having eaten and digested one out of nine of the Yusupov books?

Sept 2014 rating: 1723
Sept 2015 rating: 1718

Yeah! Five points down! Hard work pays off!

In September, I played in two weekend tournaments (5 rounds each)

First tournament results:

1. Loss against a 1957
2. Undeserved win against a 1412
3. Win against a 1010
4. Loss against a 1997
5. 5-move win against a 1391

Very unsatisfactory tournament for lots of reasons. Firstly not a single opponent within 200 points of me either way, making for unsatisfying games. Secondly, tactically I was as rusty as hell (summer break didn't help). And lastly lost 2 points, which I guess is ok.

Lucena

For the second tournament two weeks later, I really hit the tactics, both Chesstempo and solving positions by putting them on the board. I think it paid dividends as I didn't commit any tactical howlers over the five games, or at least none that I noticed anyway!

Second tournament results:

1. Loss against an 1853 (45 moves)
2. Draw (threw away the win about fifty times in this game!) against a 1605 (76 moves)
3. Draw against an 1875. Was happy about this result as I was a bit demoralised after round 2. (82 moves)
4. Loss against a 1761 (54 moves)
5. Draw against a 1736. (78 moves) I got a lot of satisfaction from this result, as during the tournament I was getting recognised as the guy whose games went on forever, and in this instance my game was the last to finish out of the three Opens (A, B and C)! Always nice having lots of people looking!

Lost about 7 or 8 points (hasn't been rated yet) but not too bothered, friendly tournament, chatted to lots of different people and enjoyed myself.

Played two games in October:

Local championship: Lost to 1850 guy with black.
Coupe de France (four-player team match): Lost to 1660

So looking at losing another 20 points.

Edit:

Just calculated my results since the start of the season, I've scored 3.5 out of 11 (not counting that 1010 player) against 1739 average opponents, with a 1593 performance. Not great, but certainly not disastrous. I'd imagined my perforance would be in the mid 1400s!

Lucena

So regarding study, where am I up to?

Currently working on 2nd last chapter of 'Understanding Chess Tactics'. It's ok, but not as satisfying as Yusupov. It's supposed to explain the workings of tactics as opposed to just presenting a heap of problems. I'll see how I feel when I've finished.

Going to order the next Yusupov books from Quality Chess tonight, I feel the last few months I have wandered from the righteous path of Yusupovian salvation!

Will also stick up a few of the games, lightly annotated. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to seeing my five-move victory!

Valmont

Good to have you back, Lucena. I've been in two tournaments myself recently but the games weren't much to write home about!

Lucena

Well, I'm after getting stuck into the 2nd Yusupov book, two chapters down, was going to start the 3rd but after a player in the local individual championship failed to win a knight and bishop v king ending last weekend, I was chatting with a club mate and said I'd try to learn it over the week and I'd try to win any position with this configuration of pieces in under five minutes. I said this knowing there's a chapter on this subject in the Yusupov book, thinking to myself "I'll learn that handy enough".

MY HEAD IS MELTING!!!!

Why Yusupov thinks this is under 1500 material is beyond me. I'm going to try and stick with it though, but by heck is it tough going!

mikhail

Lucena wrote: »

Well, I'm after getting stuck into the 2nd Yusupov book, two chapters down, was going to start the 3rd but after a player in the local individual championship failed to win a knight and bishop v king ending last weekend, I was chatting with a club mate and said I'd try to learn it over the week and I'd try to win any position with this configuration of pieces in under five minutes. I said this knowing there's a chapter on this subject in the Yusupov book, thinking to myself "I'll learn that handy enough".

MY HEAD IS MELTING!!!!

Why Yusupov thinks this is under 1500 material is beyond me. I'm going to try and stick with it though, but by heck is it tough going!

If it's wrecking your head, try just learning the sequence from when the king is trapped in the wrong corner. There's only really one tricky bit, where it seems you are letting him escape for a moment.

Lucena

mikhail wrote: »

If it's wrecking your head, try just learning the sequence from when the king is trapped in the wrong corner. There's only really one tricky bit, where it seems you are letting him escape for a moment.

I am trying!

Although as a wise man once said "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

So I'm going to try to not just try.

Interestingly enough the end of chapter problems are a good mix, with the king needing to be cornered on different parts of the board, sometimes with in a black squared corner, sometimes a white one.

must have a jest

Lucena wrote: »

I am trying!

Although as a wise man once said "Do. Or do not. There is no try."

So I'm going to try to not just try.

Interestingly enough the end of chapter problems are a good mix, with the king needing to be cornered on different parts of the board, sometimes with in a black squared corner, sometimes a white one.

If this ending is melting your brain more than other study material, it means you've stumbled on a weakness in your calculation, so it should be more beneficial to work on than deconstructing tactics.

Valmont

I watched a few youtube videos on this last year and I tried to learn it. Needless to say I gave up after realising how bloody difficult it is.

macinalli

I used to know the B&N ending, but to be honest I've been playing chess on/off for over 30 years now and have never had to play that ending! My personal opinion would be to forget about it and focus on things like rook endings, from both attack and defence. They'll be far more common and are surprisingly complex but can pay back very quickly.

Lucena

@macinalli

Well, I've started working through the end of chapter problems, so I'll finish them and then move on to the rest of the book, and then come back to that chapter again once the book is finished. If it hasn't stuck by then, so be it.

It's strange though, working through the problems, I'm not sure if B + N is just incredibly complex, or there's something that I just don't 'get'.

cdeb

macinalli wrote: »

I used to know the B&N ending, but to be honest I've been playing chess on/off for over 30 years now and have never had to play that ending!

I've had two games where I've threatened to swap off into the ending; both times, my opponents admitted after they didn't know how to win the ending, and one accepted a draw rather than go in for it.

So yeah, it's not very common, but it'll turn half points into full points.

Though I'll admit I don't know it...

Valmont

I think I should probably learn two bishops and king versus king before I even think about the knight and bishop.

Lucena

That's probably wise, Valmont.

I took the night off, so to speak, by ploughing into back rank mates (Chapter 3). Fairly easy in comparison!

Lucena

Last game of the year tonight. We were supposed to play this Saturday but my opponent has an arbiter training course that day, so I've accepted to play tonight. So it'll be straight out of work and over to the guy's house (no club rooms available). I was on the phone to him twice to see what time, what address etc, and he kept saying "Oh, I'd better clean up before you come over". Hopefully I won't be playing in a pig-sty with weird smells and unidentified stains.

I've white against him and he's a mere 1850 or so, so I've a decent chance of getting a result (as they say in football). Also had a look at the guy's repertoire against e4, he plays only the Sicilian which I feel prepared against. Also the games of his that I looked through contain a lot of tactical errors, so if I'm alert the chances are there. Hopefully the game won't go on too long (it's 1h30 + 30secs/move, plus 30mins after 40 moves), don't want to arrive home at midnight!

Prediction: Lucena 1 - 0 Dirty House Guy

Just for fun, here's a game I played in the last round of a weekender in September, when I was already out of the running for any prizes. See if you can follow the entire game in your head!

1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6
3. c3 Nf6
4. Be2 Nxe4
5. Qa4+
1-0

My prize for winning this game was getting to go home early!

Lucena

Lost the game. I had a good attack that petered out after a few piece exchanges and ended up in a losing endgame.

Lucena

A recent game of mine (last weekend):

http://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/fighting-chess

I felt like Tal, at least until Fritz had a look at it!

Valmont

I like that, I think I'll try it next time I face 2.c3 in the sicilian (which is quite common)

Lucena

Yeah, it's an interesting line, and despite playing the c3 from the white side for many years, I never knew what to play with Black before this. Your opponent's barely just got settled into his seat and straight away you're attacking him, taking him out of his comfort zone. Of course, it's not without risk for Black, but at least Black will have prepared beforehand and be aware of the pit-falls, whereas for White, he'll just have to work it out over the board!

cdeb

I think white's general plan is Nd2, Bc4 and Be3 (threatening to take the pawn).

It was played against me recently in Kilkenny; got a draw out of it although I played Be2, which is just weak.

I thought black had gone wrong in the opening to be honest (Bg4 is more common); didn't realise it was a new line.

sinbad68

reunion wrote: »

Reviewing games can be good but I find it time consuming with little practical value (plus I typically try to go over my game with my opponent after it's played).

@reunion. I always considered this statement to be the most ignorant statement you've ever made. Reviewing and analyzing a game afterwards is very important , so you can learn from your & opponent mistakes and become a better player.Anyway, good news for both of us is that once I start posting on my facebook account in 2-3 weeks , we won't have to see much of each other here, if at all

Lucena

I've hit an four-year low, dropping down to 1682 after some poor results. Funnily enough, I feel my play has improved, but it just takes a while to show up. A bit like when a new manager comes into a football team (à la Klopp), things improve on the pitch without the results coming straight away. Hopefully I'm not being delusional! I've been doing at least one chapter of Yusupov every week, and feel my calculation is better and my play more dynamic.

Doing a 7-round tournament over 4 days starting tomorrow morning, so I'll soon find out!

A recent game where I blundered on move 16, see if you can spot the tactic:

https://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/give-it-away-give-it-away-give-it-away-now

Lucena

Round 1: Had the black pieces against a 2436-rated opponent, so the result was never in doubt! Still I didn't hang any any pieces and managed to defend for about 30 moves before cracking, so happy enough.

Lucena

Waaaayy! Win with White against a 1441 in an opening variation I'd revised only yesterday. I love it when a plan comes together!

https://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/capablance-v-adams-1909

Lucena

Black against a 1950 this morning. Only found one game of his online, so not much to work with there! Probably end up in another anti-Sicilian that I haven't worked on.:o

Lucena

Lost! Not surprising considering the rating difference, but I just mucked up the opening (didn't know what I was doing) and my pieces weren't developped. Managed to drag it out for a bit, or defend well, I'm not sure which!

Lucena

Well, tournament long over, and I had the unfortunate experience of yo-yoing between very strong and very weak opponents all the way through. I also had the black pieces against the strong opponents, and white against the weak opponents!

Round 1: Lost against 2450
R 2: Win (1440)
R 3: Loss (1960)
R 4: Win (1566)
R 5: Loss (2000)
R 6: Win (1401)
R 7: Win (1849)

So 4 out of 7, a 1810 performance and around 25 rating points heading to my account!

The last-round win really made the difference, as otherwise I would have felt that I'd participated for nothing as the results were foregone conclusions. I 'should' have lost as I had a bad position in the game for a long time, but I managed to defend long enough for my opponent to hang a piece with no compensation, leaving me a piece up in the endgame. The rest was just a matter of technique, as they say! :cool:

I suppose I should be happy as well about beating the lower-rated opponents, as this proves I'm solid against weaker players.

Overall, I felt I was calculating better, and I generally was able to anticipate what my opponent was up to, even if I wasn't always able to stop it! Thank you, Mr. Yusupov!

Lucena

Here's my last-round win that left me a happy camper!

https://www.chess.com/blog/Binouzenours/miraculous-win

Valmont

Great game, Lucena! I tried to find a way to play the freeing ...c5 several times but it just never worked. You exhibited some great patience in the face of a powerful attack and by then I'd forgotten that ...c5 was on the table again after the dust had settled with Rc2. I'm not sure what white was thinking sacrificing that knight - I can only assume he got carried away looking for mate and neglected the basics!

Lucena

Thanks Valmont, I was fairly pleased with myself. I was fairly curious myself as to why he left the knight en prise, and I wanted to ask him during the post-mortem, but his mate was leaving and he had to go, so I never found out. He felt the major error was taking with the rook on move 24, but I said to him that I thought he still had time to bring his two rooks around, I was still in a cramped position, and he still had lots of space to manoeuvre.