Annotated Game #268: When a winning advantage evaporates
Path to Chess Mastery
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2d ago
In my next "comeback" tournament, I blundered early (move 8) in my first round game after having a distracting morning, which was not worth analyzing beyond remembering the obvious lesson of avoiding that particular blunder again. We'll therefore start with the second round game, which helped highlight the previous theme of Annotated Game #267: How openings are really learned, as it featured a dubious variation from Black in an English Four Knights. I had faced it before twice in my tournament career, but did not recall the previous games at the time. After looking at this one, I should rememb ..read more
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Video completed: The 4...Nf6 Caro-Kann by Nigel Davies
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
  I recently completed the FritzTrainer The 4...Nf6 Caro-Kann by GM Nigel Davies, which was published in 2016. It covers lines in both the Bronstein-Larsen (5...gxf6) and Tartakower (5...exf6) variations for Black, which is unusual, since Caro-Kann opening resources normally focus on one or the other, because of their major structural differences. The content description is copied below; there are also 16 quiz positions at the end, mostly from the Bronstein-Larsen side. In each of the lines, a full game is presented as the baseline, although certain sub-variations or ideas are demonstrat ..read more
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The learning cycle articulated
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
In Annotated Game #267 ("How openings are really learned") I highlighted the cycle for acquiring deeper understanding of openings and their early middlegame plans: play consistently, analyze your games, and you will inevitably expand your understanding of them step by step. Separate but closely related to that, I recently ran across what I thought was a well-articulated (and simple) version of the broader learning cycle at Chessmood: https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-get-better-at-chess The full article addresses other things like the importance of mindset, but below is how they present the cy ..read more
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Annotated Game #267: How openings are really learned
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
This final-round game illustrates several useful themes, including recent ones highlighted like the importance of playing an idea at the right time and the power (and necessity) of simple development. The mutual "??" moment on move 32 shows how time trouble was affecting my game, as I had a chance to turn things around, and played the correct move one tempo too late.  This game is also a perfect example of a broader theme of how openings really get learned - namely, the hard way. During the game it was clear that my opponent as White was out of his personal experience in the opening ..read more
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Annotated Game #266: The importance of playing an idea at the right time
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
I happened to get two Whites in a row and I was not unhappy, given the previous result, that this game paralleled Annotated Game #265's Symmetrical English until move 8. Black's asymmetric reaction in the center with ...e5 created an imbalance in the position which I could have reacted to with the idea of Bg5, looking to trade the now "bad" bishop off. However, I pass up several early opportunities, only to play it at a much worse time later in the game, which nearly gets the bishop trapped. A similar theme applies to my light-square bishop's back-and-forth maneuvers. The game overall was mor ..read more
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Annotated Game #265: The importance of a sense of danger
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
This second game from the tournament featured a Symmetrical English, which had a great deal of symmetry indeed, only varying on move 9. If one chooses to play as White in this way, then patience is the key to success, rather than an ability (or desire) to pursue an attacking, imbalanced game. It can be annoying when Black clearly has no experience with the opening, but can still get a good position simply by mimicking moves. However, sometimes the patient approach pays off, as in this game after Black gets impatient and presses too hard with his queen, at a time when a sense of danger was nece ..read more
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Annotated Game #264: Lessons learned from an Exchange Caro-Kann
Path to Chess Mastery
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1M ago
This next game started off my second "comeback" OTB tournament last year. My opponent was comparable in strength and we came out of the Exchange Caro-Kann opening in an equal but positionally dynamic situation. The variation I chose (6...g6) results in a structural imbalance, which in this case ended up with Black having an isolated queen pawn (IQP) position in favorable middlegame circumstances. That said, my planless and overly optimistic early middlegame play allowed White to gain a small advantage, but I hung close and eventually she was essentially forced into going for a three-time repet ..read more
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Book completed: My Best Games by Victor Korchnoi (2011 edition)
Path to Chess Mastery
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2M ago
  I recently completed My Best Games (2011 edition) by Victor Korchnoi, which I originally started in late 2022. It took that long for me to go through the 110 games (half as White, half as Black) at a fairly regular pace, with around 20-30 minutes to review each with a physical board. As part of my training process, I normally have an annotated games collection in the study mix, ideally one that includes a player's own comments and considerations, which provides special firsthand insight into the thinking process. This collection did not disappoint in that regard, as Korchnoi offers a n ..read more
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Annotated Game #263: A lucky draw
Path to Chess Mastery
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2M ago
I'm not a big believer in luck in chess, although in practical terms it does apply in a sense to what your opponent decides to do, since that is out of your control. In this last-round game I was attempting to break the downward trend of this comeback tournament (win-draw-loss) and did well enough out of the opening, a Symmetrical English. My opponent varied the symmetry on move 7 and I entered a line where after a number of exchanges the engine shows that it is a drawn game, which was a little disappointing for me. In addition, my opponent maintained a space advantage and some psychological p ..read more
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Annotated Game #261: Let's be realistic
Path to Chess Mastery
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2M ago
The next tournament game following my return to OTB chess last year had me faced with a completely new response by Black (to me) in the English Four Knights (4...g6). I responded reasonably well and found (a bit late) the key to the position, which was advancing d4-d5 before Black blocked it. By move 10 I have a pleasant positional plus as a result. However, by move 22 this is gone and the game is completely level, with Black having some initiative.  It's worth looking at how that happened in the analysis, but another main takeaway from this game is that I was properly realistic abou ..read more
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