Trying hard to retain...

Ever have one of those subjects that just doesn't want to stick in your head?  For me, right now, it's the rooks section of Reasssess Your Chess.  I see the ideas and I understand them, but when I look at the position after a few minutes away I completely forget the ideas of the position. 
  I need to practice patience during my games.  Recent games have shown some major oversights of positional ideas and factors.  I am going to try and play one serious game a week from now until I feel like I'm patient enough.  If my chess is going to improve I need to take each game seriously.  I'll keep you up to date...

Soo...tired....

Well I have hit that point in my chess study where my brain has stopped accepting applications for new memories.  I am glad that the weeks of opening study are over with.  While they have been really beneficial, I am ready for the rest and Gestalt that comes with it.  I played an online game with a friend of mine.  He set up a very basic discovered attack on my queen and I completely overlooked it and had to resign the next move.  I am going to limit my study this week to 4 nights and no more.  Silman's Reasses and that will be enough for me each night.  Now if you'll excuse me I am going to lay my head on my keyboard and try not to short circuit the computer as I drool on the computer.

  sjgrmnvbrte;mjvs;erfht,vjse;knnhbtemjnvbtfe;kmvbs

I am getting really lucky lately!

Well, so far each week I have studied an opening that I have never played before and each time the opening gets used in a tournament game right away!  Here is my recent win using the Bayonet Attack against the KID.  My opponent made some strategic mistakes and I made some huge tactical ones.  Some less than accurate play from my opponent after he equalized and I was able to bring home the point.  Here is the game with some diagrams inserted. 

[Event "Team 45 45 League T54"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2012.09.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "maestrogaffney"]
[Black "Warpdrive"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1717"]
[BlackElo "1612"]
[Opening "King's Indian: orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov, bayonet attack"]
[ECO "E97"]
[Time "22:03:07"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

 

 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4

The now popular Bayonet Attack. Kramnik has brought this line back to popular use by beating Kasparov with this line. Causing Kasparov to give up one of his favorite weapons as black is saying something for the white ideas here. 9...a6? First positional mistake. I have no desire to play b5. I want to open the c-file for invasion by my rook. This also wastes time by not getting a kingside attack going. [9...Nh5 10.Re1! Kramnik's move that revived this line. 10...f5 (10...Nf4 11.Bf1 f5 12.Bxf4 exf4 13.e5) 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3] 10.c5 This is one of the points of the b4 line. 10...b5?! 11.a4??

 And now my first tactical oversight. My opponent was playing very slow. I already had a 15 minute lead on time here. I just got impatient already. Not a good sign. 11...bxa4?? [11...dxc5! 12.bxc5 b4] 12.Rxa4 dxc5? Still ignoring his kingside. He needs to get something rolling or else I'm gonna roll him on the queenside. 13.bxc5 Bg4 14.h3 [14.Bxa6 Qe8 15.Bb5 Qb8 16.Rxa8 Qxa8 17.Qa4 And the black minor pieces are looking a little sad.] 14...Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Qb8 16.Ba3?! [16.Be3 Qe8 17.Qa1 Qc8 18.Be2] 16...Re8 17.Qc2 Qc8 18.Rd1?! The beginning of a faulty tactical plan. 18...Nd7 19.d6 cxd6 20.cxd6 Nc6 21.Rc4??

And here is the masterstroke of that faulty plan. [21.Nd5! Right away is much better. I looked at this line, but not seriously enough. This was screaming at me to be played and I ignored it thinking that I had some clever move instead. 21...Nd4 22.Qxc8 Rexc8 23.Ne7+ Kf8 24.Nxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxa6] 21...Nd4 22.Rxc8 [22.Qd3 Nxf3+ 23.gxf3] 22...Nxc2 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Bc1 Nd4 25.Nd5 Nxf3+ 26.gxf3 Bf8 27.Ba3 a5?! Another positional slip up. [27...Kg7 28.Rc1 Rd8 29.Rc6 a5 I have an advantage though it will still take accurate play to realize it. 30.Kg2 ] 28.Rc1 Kg7 29.Rc7 Rd8 30.f4!

 Clearance sacrifice. The best option is to accept it! 30...f6?? 31.Nb6 Black resigns.

　

Bayonet Attack

Well I've started learning the dangerous Bayonet Attack against the KID.  This is the opening that caused Kasparov to practically give up the KID!!  Even though is it extremely complex, I am finding it simple in a way.  It seems to have a straightforward approach which makes it easier to read and remember the variations and, more importantly, the reasons behind the variations. 
  I recently listened to some friends at my local chess club talking about what kind of KID is the best.  They all agreed that the a5 KID is the best.  I sat and listened quietly until they asked what I thought.  I told them that a5 doesn't necessarily lead to any great advantage and showed them a game where black got creamed and showed them why their variations were not enough to hold.  Being able to answer questions on the fly like that makes me feel more comfortable in this opening.  Still have a long way to go but I feel like I've got a good start.

A recent Najdorf Victory!

(1) Andrew6 (1592) - maestrogaffney (1721) [B92]

ICC Internet Chess Club, 06.09.2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

Can you believe it!? I get to play a Najdorf in tournament play! 6.Be2 The Karpov System. I have been reading up on this and was way more prepared than I expected for this game. I had no idea what opening to expect from this guy. I couldn't find any recent games by him to prepare with. I got lucky I guess. 6...e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.f4 a5!

 While the normal move in the Karpov system is to get b5 in, I decided to try this move to stop his eventual a5. This move was to keep his queenside ideas to a minimum.  He wanted to launch a kingside pawn storm, but I thought that with his knights on the queenside and his bishops not yet fully developed I need to hurry with my plans and fire away at the queenside. 11.a4 Nb4 12.Be3 Be6 This move was perfect here, I thought. 13.Nd2?! [13.f5 Bxb3 14.cxb3 d5 15.Nxd5 Nbxd5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Bc4 Qxd1= I thought there was more but at least I'm not worse.] 13...exf4 [13...d5 14.fxe5 d4 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.e5 dxe3 (16...Bxe5? 17.Nf3 dxe3 18.Nxe5) 17.exf6 Qxd2 18.Qxd2 exd2 19.Rad1 This was just way too messy for me to want to go into so I decided on the move in the game instead.] 14.Rxf4?! [14.Bxf4 Rc8 15.Rc1 d5 16.e5 Nd7 17.Nf3 Nc5 18.Nd4 Both the knights have good outposts.] 14...d5 15.exd5? Nfxd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Rf3 Bg4 [17...Nxe3 18.Rxe3 Bg5 19.Rd3 Qb6 20.b3 Bf5 21.Rf3 Qc5 Might've been better, but I was happy with what I chose. It led to threats against the white king that had to be dealt with and I wasn't sure if he would find all the perfect moves.] 18.Rg3 Bd6 19.Bg5? Qxg5 20.Rxg4 Qh6 [20...Qh5?? 21.Rxg7+! Kxg7 22.Bxh5 I'm guessing this was what he was hoping for with Bg5.] 21.Nf1 Ne3 These are some of my favorite moves in chess. It can be captured for free. It would just cost him his king. 22.Rxg7+?? This told me my opponent was feeling kinda desperate. The more I looked though, I still had to be careful. 22...Kxg7! The right capture. [22...Qxg7 23.Nxe3 Bxh2 24.Bd3 Qg5 25.Qf3 Rae8 26.Qh3 h5 There's just too much space around my king for my liking here.] 23.Qd4+ Kg8 And not... [23...Qf6?? 24.Qxf6+ Kxf6 25.Nxe3] 24.Qxe3 Qxe3 25.Nxe3 Rae8 26.Nf5 Rxe2 27.Nxd6 b6! Killing some of his counterplay. 28.Kg1?! Trying to eliminate backrank problems, but more care needs to be on the queenside. [28.Nc4 Rxc2 29.Nxb6 Rb8 30.Nd5 Rbxb2 31.Rg1 Rc4 And I'm crushing.] 28...Rxc2 29.Ra3? This seems more of a scare tactic than a real threat. I think he knew he was lost and was just trying for a blunder on my part. I've tried really hard through the years to not relax in a won position. Hardest thing to win is the won position, right? 29...Rd8! 30.Rg3+ Kf8 [30...Kh8?? 31.Nxf7#] 31.Rd3 Rc6 32.Nxf7 Rxd3 33.Ne5 Rc1+ {Game 352 (Andrew6 vs. maestrogaffney) Andrew6 resigns The finish might have been. 34.Kf2 Rc2+ 35.Ke1 Re3+ 36.Kd1 Rxb2 37.Nc4 Rd3+ 38.Kc1 Rxg2 39.Nb2 Rc3+ 40.Kb1 Rb3 41.Ka2 Rgxb2+ 42.Ka1 Re2 43.h3 Rxh3 44.Kb1 Rh1# 0–1

5...a6

10...a5!

13.Nd2?!

14.Rxf4?

19.Bg5?

22.Rxg7??

33...Rc1+
White Resigns

　

Alright it's time to work hard on more openings!  Having won some great games with the Najdorf, I got my backside whooped a lot in a variation I hadn't studied yet.  Ah the neverending pursuit of opening prep! 
My next project is to look at the Bayonet Attack in the KID.

  Many of the moves that were confusing to me before are now making much more sense.  I feel like I'm getting a handle on opening logic and ideas with less fear than before. 

I will also be looking at the Benko Gambit from the white side. 

I might play it a few times as black just to see some of the ideas from the other side of the board.  I'll see what comes of it and give updates in the coming days on my progress. 

Next week will be the Catalan and that is an opening I would love to get a better handle on.

 While I have had some neat wins with it, I would like to feel more comfortable when black goes into a non-Catalan setup like a KID.  Never have I been this excited about opening preparation before.  I am feeling that I was too intimidated with all the advanced concepts behind some of these openings.  Now my strength has achieved a sufficient level that I am grasping more of the ideas than ever before!  This is gonna be great!!

Finding my way

Today I changed game plans on how I approach my chess reading.  I decided to concentrate on the most often seen variations of the Najdorf that I see.  This may seem obvious and it is.  Chess books are often written for the better player.  Those looking to break into master rating range and so the books gives deep analysis of lines that those players will face.  The other 90% of us are still in Patzer class and would like something that acts like a bridge from the mortals to the upper echelon.  I see the Fischer approach to the Najdorf a bunch and see the English attack a lot.  These are pretty far down the line as far as analysis goes in some books.
But I will fight on learning these lines and be better for it in the end. 

Brain....hurts....

Alright so the post title might be a little dramatic but I am having a hard time learning the ins and outs of the Najdorf.  I know it's very complex but still when I play online NOBODY wants to play into it!  I'm thinking of jumping straight to the chapter covering the variation of the opening that I see the most OTB.  The Karpov approach, while being very solid and forcing black to know what he's doing, is not something I have ever seen by players under 2000.  The 6.Bg5 or 6.Be3 lines are gonna be my main points of study for the rest of the week and hopefully some of the material will seem familiar as I have seen it at least in my own games.  Wish me luck...