300 mark

I've now played over 300 standard time control games on FICS. Quite a milestone. :) I got some more training in today, plus two games, along with a soccer game (which we tied, 0 to 0, by the way). The soccer field was an hour away. That took a big 5 hour chunk out of my day, because we had to get there early too for warming up. Well, I got some homework done in the car anyways. I got a job teaching chess to kids for 6 successive thursdays. Pretty fun, and well paying: $19 an hour! So life is pretty good right now. I really think that some of the PCT training is really sinking in, and I feel like I'm playing better chess. My rating isn't fluctuating as much, and I don't go on any cold or dry spells, any winning or losing streaks. So, that's good and bad news. I'm not improving, but I'm also not deproving :).

Fun Wins!

Some victories on several fronts. Today I took the SAT, a 3 hours and 45 minute long ordeal which was, overall, not bad. For those of you who don't know what the SAT is, it's a test that many US students take in order to get to college. The test, graded on a scale of 2400 with 3 800-point sections, is a key factor in a college application. I took the test last year, and got a 2230 out of 2400, which is a good score. However, as many colleges will take your best score on each section, I hoped to improve on one of my poorer section scores. So, I'll post my results when I get them.

On the chess front, I crushed a 1740 player handily. The training is going very well, as I breeze through the PCT units. I've done 9 units now in the tactics and 2 in the endgame. Overall, really good day.

And on another, completely unrelated note, I saw The Matador, with Pierce Brosnan, today. It was really good.

Training

Well, I've done a total of 7 tactics modules of the first unit, and one endgame module of the first unit. I pulled off a miracle draw today at FICS after going down two pawns, then regaining one, and then sacrificed my bishop for the draw with my advanced pawn. Sort of fun, since I usually lose my engames. Here it is:

[Event "FICS rated standard game"]
[Site "FICS, San Jose, California USA"]
[Date "2006.01.26"]
[Time "22:02:56"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Haotu"]
[Black "generalkaia"]
[WhiteElo "1771"]
[BlackElo "1681"]
[TimeControl "900+0"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 e5
2. f4 Nc6
3. Nf3 f5
4. fxe5 Nxe5
5. exf5 Qe7
6. Nxe5 Qxe5+
7. Qe2 Qxe2+
8. Bxe2 d5
9. g4 Nf6
10. h3 Bd6
11. Nc3 O-O
12. O-O c6
13. d3 g6
14. fxg6 hxg6
15. Bg5 Kg7
16. Rae1 Bg3
17. Rd1 Bd7
18. Kg2 Be5
19. Rf3 Rae8
20. d4 Bd6
21. Rdf1 Re6
22. Bd3 c5
23. dxc5 Bxc5
24. Bxf6+ Rfxf6
25. Rxf6 Rxf6
26. Rxf6 Kxf6
27. Nxd5+ Ke5
28. Nc3 Bc6+
29. Kg3 g5
30. h4 gxh4+
31. Kxh4 Bf2+
32. Kh5 Be8+
33. Kh6 Be3+
34. g5 a6
35. Ne4 Bf7
36. Kg7 Bxa2
37. g6 Bd5
38. Nf6 Bh6+
39. Kxh6 Kxf6
40. Kh7 b5
41. g7 a5
42. b3 a4
43. bxa4 bxa4
44. g8=Q Bxg8+
45. Kxg8 Ke5
46. Bc4 Kd4
47. Ba2 Kc3
48. Kf7 Kb2
49. Be6 Kxc2
50. Bd5 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Quick Update

Well, I went ahead and bought the Personal Chess Trainer for $40.00. I think that it was a good investment, especially with the endgame modules. I'm looking forward to the training!

I lost the teamchess game. Yeah, it was pretty disappointing. I just hope that I didn't hurt the team's chances. I'm glad I was sat out for the next round. I just have a teamchess jinx thus far.

I had two cool games on fics last night. I played three. One was a loss against a 1800 player, but we played another game and I beat him in the opening, the one that I have been studying up, the Italian Gambit. Pretty cool. I'll print it here:

[Event "FICS rated standard game"]
[Site "FICS, San Jose, California USA"]
[Date "2006.01.23"]
[Time "21:31:47"]
[Round "-"]
[White "generalkaia"]
[Black "freesok"]
[WhiteElo "1675"]
[BlackElo "1804"]
[TimeControl "1800+15"]
[Mode "ICS"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5
4. d4 Bxd4
5. Nxd4 Nxd4
6. O-O Nf6
7. f4 d6
8. c3 Ne6
9. f5 Nc5
10. Nd2 Ncxe4
11. Nxe4 Nxe4
12. Qd5 {Black resigns} 1-0

Fun to play the opening I have studied. Comment if you have any thoughts. Thanks.

Teamchess

My record on teamchess is, well, shall we say, crap. I don't think that I have won a single game for our teams that needs to change. I'll make sure to take my time on this game. Plus, this guy doesn't seem to maintain a high rating by beating players of his own rating, he just seems to play much lower rated opponents. Well, can't underestimate him. But hopefully all will go well.

I'm going to buy Personal Chess Trainer. I'm really looking forward to using it. Hopefully it will live up to its name.

Frustrating

Now I'm going back into a temporary ratings dip. But that's not why I am frustrated. I'm frustrated because I don't have enough time to play chess. I could sit all day in front of my computer and play chess, but that isn't possible. And it's not healthy. But it would be really fun. So, I have to sneak in a game when I can. Really hard to get any training done. That's why I think that the Personal Chess Trainer is what I'm looking for. It doesn't take too much time and it drills positions into your head. Then I can do chess, do homework, and get som sleep. Heck, I have finals this upcoming week too. Yippee!

Hmmm. Endgames anyone?

I was looking at endgame books to buy. I have Basic Chess Endgames, by Fine, but it is in the old notation, which is tedious to use. I am thinking of getting Fundamental Chess Endgames, by Muller and Lembrandt. If anyone has it and has any input, let me know. And if there are any other recommendations, let me know.

I just joined the chess ladder at my school chess club, which decides who goes to the state tournament. I look forward to playing, because I haven't played there since over a year ago. I think that I have improved since then, and should give the players there a bit of a scare. :) Should be fun.

Alright

These sort of win streaks are what are most encouraging to a player such as myself, enticing me to do more studying and more work. Heck, I have won at least the past 6 standard games I have played. I'm feeling pretty good right about now. I talked to Qxh7#, and he mentioned that CPT is really good. Does anyone else have any opinion. I was specifically wondering whether it included endgame positions, along with the tactics problems. I am interested in buying it if anyone can let me know a little bit more.

Winning Streakkkkkk!

Got to love those winning streaks. I have actually been doing some work at chess (shock!). I have been doing some pawn endgames against the computer (crafty) on babaschess/fics and practicing the K+B+N vs. K endgame. Sort of fun, actually. Nice to see how the pieces work together. I talked to a 2000 chess player and he said my endgame technique was absolutely terrible. So, that's where I'm working.

I'm teaching chess at three places right now. It's interesting, we all say we wish we had done more of this or that when we were starting to learn the beautiful game, but what really matters at first is whether or not the game is fun. So all we can do now is try to fix the mistakes we made in the beginning of our chess training (darn).

Darn

Sorry team, I lost the game. I have bad luck with these 45 45 games on teamchess. I haven't won one yet. :( But, I'm working on endgame positions. Hopefully that will help in general. Hope we win the final game. Good luck superselector!

Fun Tournament

Well, I haven't posted in a while, but a lot has happened. I haven't made any progress on the 2-2-2 plan since I last posted, which is disappointing but understandable. Two AP classes and an honors class will take up a lot of time. I am applying for a chess scholarship, which will be difficult because the past winners were usually at least Experts. So I'm wishing for the best. I played in the Friday Night 20 5 Tournament at FICS last night. It was very fun, and instructional because I was able to talk to a 2000 player and he gave me some tips. He recommends working on the endgame, and on tactic (hehe). Well, I hope everyone else is doing well. And Happy New Year!