This week my rating in chess.com is still fluctuating around 800-900 level, but I stop dipping down to the 700 level. I can easily beat any 500-600 level players and stand a good chance playing against 900-1000 level players if I did not make any blunders. In number of times, I have material lead in mid game but lost a major piece making a obviously stupid move.

I found studying the chess game of Grant Master Kasparov really improve my chess skill. It is an eye opening observing how the grand master plays. I learn a few things in due process. The number one lesson I had learn is when I have material advantage, I should patiently exchange pieces one at a time, don’t rush for checking that will not force a mate or it will end up destroying my formation. Advance the pieces by marching them slowly, make sure every piece is protected by another piece with the chain of defense starts at the King protecting the pawn. Beginner usually thinks an attack is an attack on a piece, but I start thinking attack in terms attacking empty squares to limit how the opponent can move his piece.

I played against a stronger player in this game and I won. Comparing this game to the last game I analyzed, I can see my improvement.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2010.08.14”]
[White “hevangel”]
[Black “ali79”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “832”]
[BlackElo “912”]
[TimeControl “10|0”]
[Termination “hevangel won by checkmate”]
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 f6 3.Nf3 Qb6 4.d4 Qb4 5.a3 Qa5 6.Bd2 Qb6 7.b4 g5 8.Be3 g4 9.Na4 Qc7 10.Nd2 d6
11.Be2 h5 12.f3 b5 13.Nc3 Bh6 14.Bxh6 Rxh6 15.fxg4 hxg4 16.Bxg4 Bxg4 17.Qxg4 Rh8 18.O-O-O Kd8 19.Nb3 Qb7 20.e5 Qa6
21.Kb2 Nh6 22.Qh5 fxe5 23.dxe5 Qc8 24.exd6 Nd7 25.Rhe1 exd6 26.Rxd6 Qc7 27.Rxh6 Nf6 28.Qh4 Rf8 29.Rxf6 Kd7 30.Ref1 Rfe8
31.Rf7+ Re7 32.Rxe7+ Kd6 33.Rxc7 Kxc7 34.Rf7+ Kb6 35.Nc5 a6 36.Qh7 Ra7 37.Rxa7 a5 38.Qb7# 1-0
[/pgn]

1.e4 c6
I always use king-pawn opening. I will master this opening before I try other opening style. Black response with Caro-Kann defense.

2.Nc3 f6
I protect my prawn with queen-side knight. The standard response should be march queen-pawn. He advance the king-bishop-pawn for no reason.

3.Nf3 Qb6
I mobilize the other knight. Black move the queen to add my king-bishop-pawn. After many losses, I think I finally learn how to deal with queen’s attack by setting up traps.

4.d4 Qb4
Advance the queen-pawn to block black queen’s attack and black queen move again to skewer my knight.

5.a3 Qa5
I can’t move the bishop to block the skewer yet or I will leave the b2-pawn defenseless. I need to chase the queen away with the a2-pawn. Queen moves but stay in the diagonal.

6.Bd2 Qb6
I move the bishop to protect the king and prepare for a discover attack. The black queen is being chased around. He is losing tempo keep moving the queens when I slowly develop to castle

7.b4 g5
b2-pawn is under attack, march it forward to get protection from the queen-rook-pawn. Black is developing on the right, I think he wants to mobilize his king-bishop.

8.Be3 g4
I move the bishop to prepare for another discover attack on the queen. Black falls for the trap and march the pawn to threaten my knight. A lone marching is useless.

9.Na4 Qc7
Computer analysis think I should move king-knight to h4, but instead I chase the queen away with the queen-knight.

10.Nd2 d6
I retreat the knight from the pawn. Black advance the queen-pawn and block the queen. Advancing the pawn to d5 is a better move.

11.Be2 h5
I move the bishop to attack the lone pawn. Black back it up with the rook pawn.

12.f3 b5
I throw in the king-bishop-pawn. Black march the queen-knight-pawn to threaten my knight.

13.Nc3 Bh6
I retreat the knight, black wants to exchange the dark-square bishop.

14.Bxh6 Rxh6
Since no piece can protect my bishop, I accept the exchange. Computer analyze suggest march the king-bishop-pawn to protect the bishop, but I am not very convinced. I expect him to develop the knight which will protect the g4 pawn, but he use the rook instead.

15.fxg4 hxg4
Since g4 pawn is under protected, I started the exchange.

16.Bxg4 Bxg4
Continue the exchange.

17.Qxg4 Rh8
I finish the exchange and my queen has an eye on the black knight. Black retreat the rook to protect the knight. It is better to use the king instead. Remember, the king should be at the end of the chain of defense.

18.O-O-O Kd8
I castle to the left and black move the king. I should have move the queen to g7 and take the rook. Black should move the knight to chase my queen instead.

19.Nb3 Qb7
I move the knight to build up the defense for my king. Black move the queen to the left, probably want to attack my king from the left.

20.e5 Qa6
I thought for quite some time to design which pawn to march. I guess I should just take the free knight (or rook) instead.

21.Kb2 Nh6
Move Knight to guard a4 square. King is protected by the two knights. Black finally chase my queen away.

22.Qh5 fxe5
I move my queen to pin his knight against the rook. Black takes my middle pawn

23.dxe5 Qc8
I retake his pawn. Black wants put his queen to use on the right side.

24.exd6 Nd7
I prepare for a discover check, black move a knight to block the way.

25.Rhe1 exd6
Exchange pawn

26.Rxd6 Qc7
Take the pawn with rook. Black queen try to chase my rook with the queen and let me take the unprotected knight.

27.Rxh6 Nf6
Prepare for the rook trade. Black keep chasing my queen with his knight.

28.Qh4 Rf8
I move queen to pin his knight against his king.

29.Rxf6 Kd7
I propose a rook trade. Black move the king

30.Ref1 Rfe8
The black queen is skewered, I should trade the queen instead.

31.Rf7+ Re7
I line up the rook, but I missed a force mate.

32.Rxe7+ Kd6
I took another rook. Black is pretty much done.

33.Rxc7 Kxc7 34.Rf7+ Kb6 35.Nc5 a6 36.Qh7 Ra7 37.Rxa7 a5 38.Qb7# 1-0
The rest of the game is just the painful dead of black. However I missed so many force mate opportunities. I need to work on learn how spot force mates.

Inspired by my friend’s blog, I joined chess.com in Facebook. I played a few blitz games with random people online. I found playing live human is more fun than playing computer because computer does not make blunder moves. My record is straight lost so far, this is the closest game that I have very a good chance to win. I lost the game from a very stupid blunder. I am playing black

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2010.07.25”]
[White “aligray”]
[Black “hevangel”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1002”]
[BlackElo “1058”]
[TimeControl “100|0”]
[Termination “aligray won by resignation”]

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 e5 5.d5 Ne7 6.Nb5 Bd7 7.Be3 c6 8.Nxa7 cxd5 9.Ng5 d4 10.Bc4 Be6
11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bd2 Bxb5 13.Nxb5 h6 14.Nf3 Nxe4 15.Qe2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Qa5 17.Qxa5 Rxa5 18.Nc7+ Kd7 19.b4 Ra8 20.Nb5 Nc6
21.a3 Be7 22.O-O f5 23.Rad1 Bf6 24.c3 g5 25.g3 g4 26.Nh4 Bxh4 27.gxh4 Rhg8 28.c4 f4 29.c5 dxc5 30.bxc5 g3
31.f3 Ke6 32.Nc7+ Kf5 33.Nxa8 Rxa8 34.Ra1 Re8 35.a4 e4 36.a5 e3 37.a6 Na7 38.axb7 e2 39.Rfb1 Nc6 40.Ra8 Rxa8
41.bxa8=Q
[/pgn]

1.e4 Nc6
I did not use the standard response to king pawn opening. Just want to try something new.

2.Nf3 Nf6
White did not push queen pawn as expected. I made a bad move. Knight is exposed to the pawn in f6. If the white pawn push to f5, it will be protected by the Knight

3.Nc3 d6
White develop the other Knight. I moved the queen pawn to clear the way for the bishop

4.d4 e5
White push queen pawn. I push king pawn to invite a gambit.

5.d5 Ne7
White pushed the queen pawn and eying at my Knight. I lost a tempo by retreat the Knight.

6.Nb5 Bd7
White push a lone Knight. I move the Bishop to chase it

7.Be3 c6
White push bishop to target a1. I move pawn to c6 targeting d5. Actually moving b6 to protect against bishop is a better idea

8.Nxa7 cxd5
White take a1 with Knight. I would be in more trouble if he take c6 first or take a1 with a Bishop. His blunder allow me to exchanged a side pawn with a center pawn and his Knight is trapped by my Queen.

9.Ng5 d4
I wonder white try attack with the other Knight or merely put the Knight there to protect the e4 pawn. I should have move Knight to c6 and the white Knight is dead. Instead, I push my center pawn to pressure the white bishop and estimate the center. I think I opened more front line than I can handle.

10.Bc4 Be6
White Bishop attach f7, I protect it with a Bishop

11.Bb5+ Bd7
White Bishop check, I moved the Bishop to defense.

12.Bd2 Bxb5
White retreat the the e2 Bishop, I exchanged a Bishop with a Bishop. I should have exchange the Knights instead and move the side pawn to center.

13.Nxb5 h6
White Knight take my bishop and escaped. I moved h pawn to chase the other Knight away.

14.Nf3 Nxe4
White Knight retreat. I took the unprotected pawn in the middle with my Knight. Looks like I controlled the center board.

15.Qe2 Nxd2
White Queen chase my Knight. I exchanged the Knight with the Bishop.

16.Qxd2 Qa5
White finished the exchange, I initiated Queenexchange

17.Qxa5 Rxa5
White finished the exchange and my Rook is chasing the Knight.

18.Nc7+ Kd7
Knight check. My King moved away.

19.b4 Ra8
White push the Pawn to chase my Rook. I made a Blunder by moving the Rook to a8

20.Nb5 Nc6
White didn’t see my blunder and draw back the Knight. I have leave the Knight wandering around for too long. I should have plan about end game after the Queen exchange. I moved the Knight to threaten the unprotected b pawn.

21.a3 Be7
White move a pawn to protect b pawn. I moved Bishop to bring it to front line.

22.O-O f5
White castled. I moved the f pawn, but I should have moved the bishop to gain tempo.

23.Rad1 Bf6
Fire power is building up at d4

24.c3 g5
White moved the pawn to put more fire power at d4. I can’t exchange the c3 pawn or the Rook will have a check. I tried to match the other pawn to push forward

25.g3 g4
White can’t move away any firepower on d4, so he match the other pawn. I should have move away the King or invite a pawn exchange. But I try to chase away his Knight for no reason. In end game, the leading side should initiate exchange to widen the leadership.

26.Nh4 Bxh4
White seems to make a suicide move and I exchanged a Bishop for a Knight.

27.gxh4 Rhg8
White’s King defense is broken. Looks like I am going to win and I become careless. I wasted a move to use the Rook to pin the white King. I should have moved my King away from White’s Rook pin.

28.c4 f4
Both side matched pawns. Again I should chase away the White Knight.

29.c5 dxc5
White initiated exchange of pawns.

30.bxc5 g3
Finish the exchange and white now has 2 isolated pawns. I pushed the g pawn.

31.f3 Ke6
White push the f pawn pass my g pawn. I should have keep marching the g pawn. The g pawn is safe since it is protected by the Rook. Instead I moving my King and let Black fork my King and Castle. The tide is turned against me.

32.Nc7+ Kf5
White capitalize my blunder. I should have exchanged that Knight a long time ago.

33.Nxa8 Rxa8
Exchange of pieces

34.Ra1 Re8
White want to march the a pawn. I should keep marching the g pawn.

35.a4 e4
Why would I march the e pawn?

36.a5 e3
Keep marching.

37.a6 Na7
I am losing the march.

38.axb7 e2 39.Rfb1 Nc6 40.Ra8 Rxa8 41.bxa8=Q
I accept my fate and resign after the White got a Queen.

Since I have started playing chess, I think my skill had improved a lot over the past year. Although I still cannot beat Andrew, the grand master who had left PMC, I can slaughter Gordon most of the time if I don’t overlook some obvious blunders. What makes me different from a novice player is I no longer eager to exchange pieces, unless the exchange gives me a positional advantage. I learn how to setup traps and avoid the traps setup by the opponent. One thing I would like to improve is the ability to trade equal material with pieces of different values. My end game is still quite weak, many times I gave away my advantage by pushing the pawns too far, without giving them enough support from the king. The use of chess clock makes both Gordon and me play like a pro. He no longer do touch moves, he can even get me sometimes if I don’t pay good attention on the implication of his moves. There is no magic bullet in playing chess, study hard on the tactics, carefully plan your strategy and master mind your opponent is the only way to victory.

Andrew Bell is leaving the company, today is his last day. He is the grand master at work, and he is the person got me interested in playing Chess. He used to played with Jackson alot, Jackson quit playing after his interest faded after a while, but Andrew still play with me quite often. Although I still not able to beat him, I did learn a lot from his moves and strategy. Through him, I can see my weakness in my playing. Today I had my last chess game with him before he left. It’s a close game, and I lost to him in the end-game moves. Playing against Gordon is fun, I don’t think my skill will improve much from his pure responsive moves. In the games I lost to him, either Andrew is the puppet master or I just made plain silly mistakes. Now after Andrew is gone, I think I will cut my chess at work to just once per week.