The 2021 ACT Lightning Championship is being this Tuesday, 2nd February at the Eastlake Club, Hinder St, Gungahlin ACT. It will be a 9 round event with a time limit of G/5m. Entry fee is $10 ($ junior players), plus a requirement to be a member of the ACTCA (NB 2020 ACTCA Members have had their membership extended to the end of 2021). The tournament begins at 7:15pm, with registration from 6:45pm. Prizes are dependant upon entries, but a field of 30+ players is expected.
Saturday, 30 January 2021
Friday, 29 January 2021
2021 O2C Doeberl Cup Update
The 2021 O2C Doeberl Cup is only 2 months away, and entries have been coming in at a nice rate. There are 72 entries so far, with the majority in the Minor (Under 1600). The Open is a little light on at the moment, with IM Ari Dale the current top seed (and therefore favourite for the $5000 first prize). As mentioned in an earlier post, international travel restrictions mean the the tournament will be missing the usual influx of overseas players, but this does mean that local players (and locally resident OS players) now have a greater chance of taking home the prizes.
More details are available at www.doeberlcup.com.au You can find out about the new accommodation deals on offer, as well as entering your particular event (and guaranteeing a spot even if your rating changes).
(*** I am the Chief Organiser this year ***)
Thursday, 28 January 2021
The new Giri
Anish Giri has always copped a bit of stick about his drawish tendencies. And yet here he is, currently out in front of the Tata Steel Masters. He is currently on 7/10, and leads by half a point over Esipenko, Caruana and Firouzja. The big obstacle in his way is Magnus Carlsen, who he plays in the next round. Carlsen is one and a half points behind, and so this is what football commentators call a 6 point game (eg the gap closes or blows out, depending upon the result).
Last night Giri had a bit of luck at the end, when his opponent blundered into a mate, from what was possibly a drawn position.
Tata Steel Masters chess24.com (10.5), 27.01.2021
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. Qb3 Qc8 8. h3 Bh5 9. Be2 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Qd1 Nd7 12. Re1 Qd8 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 Nd7 15. a3 Nb6 16. Rc1 f6 17. e4 e5 18. Be3 Bf7 19. Bxb6 axb6 20. exd5 Bxd5 21. a4 f5 22. b5 e4 23. bxc6 exf3 24. Bxf3 bxc6 25. Bxd5+ cxd5 26. Nf3 Bf6 27. Re6 Kh8 28. Qb3 Qd7 29. Rxb6 Rxa4 30. Rd1 Raa8 31. Rxd5 Qc7 32. g3 Qxc3 33. Qxc3 Bxc3 34. h4 Kg8 35. Rb7 Rad8 36. Rc5 Rc8 37. Rd5 Rcd8 38. Rdb5 Rd6 39. Rc7 Ba1 40. Kg2 Ra6 41. h5 Ra2 42. Rd5 Ra6 43. Nh4 g6 44. h6 f4 45. g4 f3+ 46. Kg3 Rb6 47. Rcd7 Rb3 48. g5 Bb2 49. Rxh7 1-0
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Triple pawns against two bishops
"Chess is 99% tactics" is a quote attributed to Richard Teichmann. Of course as with any such proclamation, your mileage may vary, depending on the road you travel. But I can't help showing the following game where a player with isolated tripled pawns beats a player with the bishop pair (and in this case, consisting of 2 extra bishops!).
Tata Steel Masters chess24.com (9.4), 26.01.2021
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Bg4 8. Be3 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 exd4 10. Bxd4 Nc6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. Rad1 Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Qf6 15. Qc1 Nc5 16. Qb1 Qe6 17. Rfe1 Qxc4 18. b3 Qc3 19. Bd2 Qf6 20. Bc1 h5 21. Bb2 Ne5 22. Be2 h4 23. Qc1 g5 24. Bb5 Re7 25. Re3 Qg6 26. Be2 Rae8 27. Qc2 Ne6 28. f3 Nf4 29. Bf1 c6 30. Qf2 Re6 31. Rc3 d5 32. g3 hxg3 33. hxg3 dxe4 34. gxf4 gxf4+ 35. Qg2 exf3 36. Qxg6+ Rxg6+ 37. Kh1 f2 38. Bh3 Nc4 39. Rxc4 Re1+ 0-1
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Beat them while they're young
Magnus Carlsen suffered a spectacular loss to Andrey Esipenko in Round 8 of the Tata Steel Masters. Carlsen played a risky line of the Sicilian, and then missed a tactical trick which won Esipenko a pawn. Despite Carlsen's attempts to complicate the position, the 18 year old GM had enough of an advantage to covert on move 39. This was the first time they had played, which makes the win even more meritorious.
In the aftermath of the game, a picture began circulating of an 11 year old Esipenko with Carlsen, at a tournament in Russia. Seeing the picture I can't help wondering if Carlsen missed a trick of his own. He should have suggested they play a few blitz games together, and then crushed Esipenko enough times, so that in any future meetings, Carlsen would already have the advantage!
Esipenko,Andrey (2677) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [B84]83rd Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee NED (8.1), 24.01.2021
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. g4 b5 9. g5 Nfd7 10. a3 Bxg5 11. Qd2 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 Qh4 13. Rg1 g6 14. O-O-O Qe7 15. f4 Bb7 16. Kb1 Nc6 17. Ncxb5 axb5 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Qc3 O-O 20. Qxc6 d5 21. exd5 Rfc8 22. d6 Qd8 23. Qxb5 Rcb8 24. Qc4 Rxa3 25. Qc7 Qe8 26. Rg5 Ra4 27. Ra5 Rab4 28. b3 R4b7 29. Qc3 Qd8 30. Bf3 Rb4 31. Qc7 Qf6 32. Ra8 Rxa8 33. Bxa8 Qf5 34. Kb2 Rb5 35. Qxd7 Rc5 36. Rc1 Qxf4 37. Qe8+ Kg7 38. d7 1-0
Sunday, 24 January 2021
Smash and grab (and smash)
One of the highlights from round 3 of the ACTJCL Summer Swiss was the quick crush by Lachlan Ho against Tim Pearce. When I asked Tim after the game what happened, he simply said "I though I could win a piece. I did, but I shouldn't have"
ACTJCL Sunday Summer Tournament Canberra AUS (3), 24.01.2021
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bb4 7. a3 Ba5 8. b4 Bc7 9. c5 O-O 10. b5 e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bb2 Re8 14. Be2 d4 15. exd4 Qxd4 16. Na4 Qf4 17. g3 Qg5 18. f4 Bxf4 19. gxf4 Qh4+ 20. Kd1 Qxf4 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Nb2 Bf5 23. Qc1 Rad8+ 24. Bd3 Bxd3 25. Nxd3 Rxd3+ 26. Kc2 Rc3+ 0-1
Saturday, 23 January 2021
Englund's other gambit
The Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5) is one of those openings you want to work, even when you know it won't. Lots of tricks for the unwary, some nice tactics to show your friends, and most importantly some very quick checkmates. Unfortunately, the refutation isn't that hard to spot, and after that you have nothing to show for the pawn.
Instead you would be better off playing like Englund did in this game.
Stackholm Stackholm, 1942
1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exf4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Nxd5 6. c4 Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 Ne3 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 Qe7 10. Kf2 Nd1+ 11. Kg1 Nc3 12. h3 Ba4 0-1
Friday, 22 January 2021
Criminalising good moves
There is a proposal from the FIDE Fair Play Commission (FPL) that would automatically find a player guilty of breaching fair play regulations if their Z-score (based on computer move matching and centi-pawn loss) is above 4.25.
The full wording is
4. Assumed cheating
i) A player may be assumed to have been cheating if the z-score of his play amounts to 4.25 or higher, unless the player can prove on the balance of probabilities that he/she was playing fairly;
This kind of idea has been around since FIDE started looking at Anti-Cheating methods, and so far has been rejected every time it has been brought up. Most notably, it was explicitly rejected in the first version of the regulations (in 2014), on the grounds that it was a very bad idea (I was one of the members of the committee who wrote those rules).
Fortunately FIDE have asked for comment on this proposal, and at least two bodies that I am a member of (one a commission, the other a national federation) have spoke out against this proposal. Whether those concerns will see this regulation rejected remains to be seen.
Thursday, 21 January 2021
The tournament bulletin
With the rise of the chess database, the tournament bulletin has fallen by the wayside. I spent a lot of time in the 1980's, 90's and 00's producing them for tournaments I organised (ie Doeberl Cup, ACT Championships, Australian Juniors) but haven't really made them in the last decade. As a throw back to earlier times, I decided to put some together for the ACTJCL Summer Swiss that is currently running. They look a bit different from when I previously wrote them (in part due to advances in technology), and they are in electronic rather than paper form, but otherwise there isn't a lot of difference. If you want to check them out, click on the above link and then download them at your leisure.
Tuesday, 19 January 2021
More castling with check
The latest instalment in this long running series comes from a just completed CC game.
2020/AUS/5249 (AUS) ICCF, 31.08.2020
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Bf4 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. e4 a6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Qb3 Qc7 11. e5 dxe5 12. Bxe5 Qc8 13. Bd6 b5 14. Nxb5 axb5 15. Qe3+ Be6 16. Bxb5+ Kd8 17. dxe6 Qxe6 18. Be5 Ng4 19. O-O-O+ Nd7 20. Qe4 Ra7 21. Rxd7+ Rxd7 22. Bxd7 Qxd7 23. Bxg7 Rg8 24. Ne5 Re8 25. Qa8+ Ke7 26. Qf3 Nxe5 27. Qf6# 1-0
Monday, 18 January 2021
ACTJCL Summer Swiss Rd 2
The second round of the 2021 ACTJCL Summer Swiss saw wins for the top seeds, and Fred Litchfield, Harry Press and Miles Patterson share the lead on 2/2. Further down there were a few upsets (and semi upsets), the most notable being a win by Erin Milne over Paul Dunn.
One of the more interesting games was between Miles Patterson and Lee Forace. On move 19 Forace (as Black) played g6, and Patterson immediately played Bg7. While this is normal if the pawn on g6 and the bishop are of the same colour, but I'm not sure I have ever seen a player fianchetto his bishop on the opponents side of the board!
ACTJCL Sunday Summer Tournament Canberra AUS (2), 17.01.2021
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c6 4. b3 Nf6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Bb2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. d4 Ne4 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Nf6 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 b6 14. Qf3 Bb7 15. Rac1 Rab8 16. d5 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 exd5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Qg4 g6 20. Bg7 Qd6 21. Bxf8 Bxf8 22. Rfd1 Rd8 23. Qa4 a5 24. Qb5 Bg7 25. Rc2 h5 26. Bxd5 1-0
Saturday, 16 January 2021
Tata Steel 2021
The first big event of 2021 is about the get underway. Tata Steel 2021 is starting in a few minutes (Canberra time) with a field of 14 players. The field was somewhat restricted due to Covid restrictions, and was further affected with Dubov having to withdraw at the last minute. Nonetheless it is a strong field (Carlsen, Caruana, MVL), and marks a welcome return to OTB chess for the worlds elite.
There are a number of sites doing live coverage, including Chess24. The link to their coverage is here.
Friday, 15 January 2021
ACT Chess 2021
The 2021 Chess Season in Canberra is kicking off, and here are the details of the clubs where you can get your fix for 2021
- Tuggeranong Chess Club - Monday 7:00pm, Vikings Club Erindale (Starts 18 January)
- Eastlake Gungahlin Chess Club - Tuesday 7:00pm, Eastlake Club Gungahlin (Starts 2 February)
- Canberra Chess Club - Wednesday 7:00pm, Canberra Academy of Chess, Dundas Court, Phillip (Starts 20 January)
- Street Chess - Saturday 11am, King O'Malley's, City Walk, Canberra City (Runs every Saturday)
Thursday, 14 January 2021
Bootcamp!
The ACT Junior Chess League is holding its first Bootcamp of 2021, starting on Monday 18th January. The camp runs over 4 days, although juniors can take their pick of which days and events they want to play. Day 1 sees a morning coaching session followed by an afternoon blitz. Day 2 is a full day of Rapid chess, while days 3&4 are a 6 round long time control event.
It is open to all junior players in the ACT and nearby areas, nd full details can be found at the ACT Junior Chess League website.
A player ahead of his time
One of my early opponents at the junior level was Gary Wilson. He had some interesting opening choices, including one that at the time (around 1983), I simply thought was bad. He often played (as white) 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nb5 with the idea of Nxc7. Of course this is now a very fashionable opening, the Jobava London. Sadly, the games in which he played this opening are now lost to the ages, and all I can find was a game in which the opening wasn't played. It is also a loss (against me), but here it is anyway.
ACT Junior Championship, 27.11.1983
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. O-O d6 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 g6 8. d4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Rg8 11. a4 Bd7 12. Bf4 Bg7 13. Qe3 Be5 14. Bxe5 dxe5 15. f4 f6 16. fxe5 fxe5 17. Qf3 Be6 18. Qf6 Qd6 19. axb5 Bc4 20. Qxd6 cxd6 21. Rf6 Bxb5 22. Rxd6 Rf8 23. Bd3 Bxd3 24. Rxd3 g5 25. Rd6 Rd8 26. Rxd8+ Kxd8 27. Rxa6 Ng6 28. Ra8+ Kd7 29. Rxf8 Nxf8 30. Kf2 Ne6 31. b4 Kc6 32. Na3 g4 33. h3 gxh3 34. gxh3 Ng5 35. Ke3 Nxh3 36. c4 Nf4 37. Nc2 h5 38. Ne1 h4 39. Nf3 h3 40. Nxe5+ Kd6 41. Nf3 Ne6 42. e5+ Kc6 43. Ke4 Kb6 44. Nh2 Kc6 45. Kd3 Nf4+ 46. Ke3 Ne6 47. Ke4 Ng5+ 48. Kf5 Nf7 49. Kf6 Nd8 50. e6 Nxe6 51. Kxe6 Kb6 52. Kd5 Kc7 53. c5 Kb7 54. b5 Kc7 55. b6+ Kb7 56. Kd6 Kb8 57. c6 Ka8 58. Kd7 Kb8 59. c7+ Kb7 60. c8Q+ Kxb6 61. Qc4 Kb7 62. Qb5+ Ka8 63. Kc7 1-0
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Dude, I can see the tricks.
While there are some gambits that look fun to play, they often aren't actually that fun to play. This is because (a) they are unsound and (b) the threats are just too obvious. As an example here is a game from the lower boards of the 1992 Chess Olympiad, showcasing the Stafford Gambit (3 ... Nc6). Black surrenders a pawn, not so much for actual compensation, but simply in the hope that White goes wrong somewhere. Not only does White see most of the tricks, he actually kept all 8 pawns on the board until he exchanged one in return for a forced mate!
Manila ol (Men) 30th Manila (13.2), 22.06.1992
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. c3 Re6 9. Nd2 b5 10. Nf3 h6 11. Re1 Bb7 12. Bf1 Qe7 13. Be3 Rd8 14. Bxc5 Qxc5 15. d4 Qh5 16. e5 Nd5 17. g3 Rg6 18. Bg2 Bc8 19. Nh4 Bg4 20. f3 Bh3 21. Nxg6 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Qxg6 23. Re4 Re8 24. Qe2 Re6 25. Kh1 Qh7 26. Re1 h5 27. f4 Ne7 28. c4 a6 29. b3 Nf5 30. d5 Rg6 31. e6 h4 32. exf7+ Kxf7 33. Re7+ Kf8 34. Rf7+ Kxf7 35. Qe8+ 1-0
Monday, 11 January 2021
ACTJCL Summer Swiss
The ACT Junior Chess League has just started a new event, designed to provide more serious competition for up and coming juniors (and adults). The ACTJCL Summer Swiss is a 7 week invitational event, which is being held at Campbell High. The 28 player field consists of 14 junior players and 14 adult players. Although the adult players are generally seeded towards the top of the event, the field is actually quite 'graduated', with 2 or 3 players in each 100 point rating band.
Today saw the first round played, and although most of the top seeds eventually won, there were a lot of hard fought games. Probably the most interesting game was the biggest upset of the round, with bottom seed Hunter Sanchez beating the current ACT Junior Champion, Dexuan Kong.
ACTJCL Sunday Summer Tournament Canberra AUS (1), 10.01.2021
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 exf4 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Ne7 6. d4 Ng6 7. Bd3 c6 8. Bxg6 hxg6 9. Bxf4 Bb4 10. Qd3 b6 11. a3 Be7 12. Qe3 a5 13. Ne4 f6 14. exf6 gxf6 15. Nxf6+ Kf7 16. Ng5+ Kg7 17. Ng4 d6 18. Ne6+ Bxe6 19. Bh6+ Kf7 20. O-O+ Bf5 21. Rae1 Ra7 ( 21... Qd7 22. Qb3+ ) 22. Qe6+ Ke8 23. Nf6# 1-0
Sunday, 10 January 2021
Is this drawn?
I had a curious situation at Street Chess today. After a very up and down game between two relatively new players, one player resigned the game. However, the player who resigned had a K+P on the board, while the other player only had a K. Of course I was only half paying attention, and initially assumed it was the other way round, and commented that the player who resigned could have drawn the ending. It was then pointed out that the player who resigned could not possibly have lost the position, as they were the one with the pawn.
Why did the player resign? Simply because he thought his opponent had played well enough to earnt he full point. But after further discussion (and and an explanation of the rules), the game was recorded as a draw. Now while this was the correct decision from a practical point of view, was it the correct decision from a legal point of view?
Friday, 8 January 2021
Hastings Online
The Hastings International Chess Congress for 2020/21 isn't being held (for obvious reasons), but instead has been replaced by a somewhat stronger event. The Caplin Hastings All-Play-All has is a 12 player round robin, and has attracted most of England's top GM's. Played online with a time limit of G15m+10s, the event is being held this Saturday and Sunday, and has a prize pool of 7,000 GBP. As with most UK events the timing isn't great for Australian spectators, but you may be able to catch the last few rounds of the day if you wake up early enough. Click on the above link for further details, including live commentary of the games.
Thursday, 7 January 2021
What is this trickery?
Fred Litchfield has just passed on to me a curious tale of chess brilliance combined with chess ignorance. Playing an online game, he was being outplayed by a lower rated opponent (who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons) and was soon down a piece. His king was then caught in a mating net and after 42.g4+ it looked like he had been checkmated. But that pesky en passant rule game to the rescue and Fred avoided instant death with 42. ... fxg3 ep
It was at this point his opponent (who had completely outplayed a 2300) asked "what trickery had just been conjured up" (NB The server even added a button to the move to explain the en passant rule). No doubt shocked by such magic, the immediate recapture of the pawn by White allowed Fred to sacrifice both rooks to leave himself stalemated!
Online, 06.01.2021
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 Nxb3 8. axb3 Bb7 9. b4 cxb4 10. Ne2 d5 11. e5 a5 12. Kf1 Ne7 13. Ned4 Nc6 14. Nxb5 Ba6 15. Nbd4 Qb6 16. Nxc6 Qxc6 17. Be3 Rc8 18. Rxa5 Be7 19. Nd4 Qb6 20. Qa1 Ra8 21. Qa4+ Kf8 22. Nb3 Qb7 23. Nc5 Bxc5 24. Bxc5+ Kg8 25. Qxb4 Qxb4 26. Bxb4 h6 27. Ke2 Kh7 28. Rha1 Rhb8 29. Bd6 Rxb2 30. Rxa6 Rxc2+ 31. Kf3 Rac8 32. R6a2 R2c3 33. Ke3 R8c4 34. Ra7 Kg6 35. Rb1 d4+ 36. Ke4 Rc6 37. Rbb7 f5+ 38. Kxd4 Rc2 39. Rxg7+ Kh5 40. f3 Rb6 41. Be7 f4 42. g4+ fxg3 43. hxg3 Rb4+ 44. Ke3 Re2+ 45. Kxe2 Re4+ 46. Kd2 Re2+ 47. Kc3 Rc2+ 48. Kb3 Rc3+ 49. Kb4 Rc4+ 50. Kb5 Rc5+ 51. Kb6 Rc6+ 52. Kb7 Rc7+ 53. Kb6 Rc6+ 54. Kxc6 1/2-1/2
Wednesday, 6 January 2021
Shaun with a W
When I began playing competition chess back in 1982, one excellent resource was the Canberra Times chess column, which in those days was written by Dr George Stern. While George was an average club player, he was both a highly regarded writer, and quite adept at convincing the newspaper to give him as much space as he needed. As a result a typical chess column (which appeared twice week), carried at least one game, international news, and a round up of all the happenings at the local clubs.
My first appearance in the column occurred towards the end of 1982, when I played the ACT Junior Championships, and then the Australian Junior in early 1983. Looking back at the columns (which can be found at trove.nla.gov.au) I realised that at least for the early part of my career, he spelled my first name as Shawn! Fortunately as I progressed, George worked out the correct spelling, including in the game given in this column.
Inter-Schools, 04.07.1983
1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bc4 Bb4 5. d5 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nge2 O-O 9. a3 Be7 10. O-O Re8 11. Qd4 c5 12. Qxf6 Bxf6 13. Rfe1 a6 14. a4 exd5 15. exd5 d6 16. Rad1 Nd7 17. f3 Re7 18. Ne4 Be5 19. c3 Nf6 20. Nxf6+ Bxf6 21. Nf4 Rae8 22. Rxe7 Rxe7 23. Kf2 1/2-1/2
Monday, 4 January 2021
Online chess regulations
After six months of work* FIDE have published the official Online Chess Regulations. They cover online supervised events (where players play from home, and are supervised online), and hybrid chess events (where players play online but are supervised in person). For now the intention is to provide a set of standard rules that tournament organisers can use for their online events, but there is a push to allow certain FIDE events to be run as 'hybrid' events.
The FIDE announcement and rules can be found here.
* I was part of the team that produced these regulations.
Sunday, 3 January 2021
2021 New Zealand Championship
While most National Championships were upended by 2020, the New Zealand Championship has managed to keep going. Last years event happened before Covid-19 restrictions began to take place, while the 2021 is happening in a post-covid NZ. The major change is the championship, which normally attracts a lot of players from overseas, is a NZ resident event this year. Nonetheless it looks to be pretty competitive, with 24 players in the top section.
Two rounds have been played so far, and the results to the championships and other events can be found at https://newzealandchess.co.nz/ There is also a link to a live broadcast of the top 4 games.
Friday, 1 January 2021
50/50 Tactics
Having passed the age of 50 I am certainly aware that my chess 'reflexes' are starting to go. So for the last week I'm back solving tactics, in part to prepare for a couple of upcoming events.
To manage my time and energy I've decided on the following training regime. I either solve enough positions to increase my tactical rating by 50 points (on chess24.com) or stop when I have tried 50 puzzles. This way I have a definite goal, but also a definite stopping point if it as all going wrong.
So far I have been able to cut my sessions short on all but one occasion. As the puzzles get harder, it usually takes around 25 positions to gain 50 points but on the one day it went wrong, I dropped 13 points from 50 positions!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)