phorku's chess blog

Monday, October 17, 2005

In a slump

Have been playing poorly lately. Lost a game to moving too quickly during the opening phase and one due to a miscaculation. I think my all time high rating on FICS were inflated as I got it playing 45 45 games were I was matched against weaker opponents. One problem with this tactical training is I have not been playing that many games and my mental discipline is suffering. Plus I was always trying to play stronger players when I would get games on my own. After I complete circle 0.3 I will probably go into the full 7 circles. I should have more time since my move to my girlfriend's house will be completed and winter will be here. Also the G90 games end after next Tuesday and the club will go back to G30 quads. I won't feel too bad if I miss some club night quads to complete the circles. I have a feeling the circles will not improve my rating too much till I start playing more games on a regular basis. I also feel that these tactical training programs would be more beneficial if there were postions with no tactical strikes and you had to recognize them. I also think this tactical training inflames my over aggressiveness. I am ready to get the circles over with so I can mix more play in with my tactical training. Oh well back to CT-ART.

posted by phorku at 7:34 PM

8 Comments:

  • Thx for attending me to the Halasz gambit. It's not an alternative for the Smith-Morra, which is an answer for the Sicilian, but it is interesting enough. Especially as surprise weapon for all those opponents who know I play the King's gambit for years.

    By Blogger Temposchlucker, at 11:07 PM  

  • Actually there is a Sicilian variation. I was unaware of the other. I learned about it in Schillers gambit book for white.
    1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd5 3. f4...
    If you go to the chessbase site and search this sequence you will find 140 games.

    http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1270344

    http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz39.txt
    Strictly speaking, the name Halasz Gambit is not right since why
    give the name of a modern Hungarian postal player to a gambit that
    has been around since the 1840s, if not earlier? However, no name
    seems previously to have stuck to this bizarre idea 3 f4, and Hal sz
    has played numerous games with it over the past few decades, and
    has even experimented with an analogous idea against the Sicilian
    Defence1 e4 c5 2 d4 exd4 3 f4!?.

    By Blogger phorku, at 7:35 AM  

  • Don't worry about slumps, Phorku. Work through them, and you'll get stronger.

    By Blogger CelticDeath, at 8:31 AM  

  • Thanks for your interesting insights into the program. I was especially interested in your comments on how your mental discipline suffered. DH also recommends positions with no tactical themes in them.

    PS

    By Blogger Pawnsensei, at 1:21 PM  

  • Made a mistake in my post. Should be 2. ...cxd4

    By Blogger phorku, at 3:25 PM  

  • Almost everybody on the web says it's a weird gambit. But actually it doesn't look bad at all to me. I have played stranger gambits with succes. For instance the Hartlaub-Bloodgood gambit and the Bellon gambit. I will try it as a surprise weapon in friendly games. Thx.
    Have you tried it yourself?

    By Blogger Temposchlucker, at 5:16 PM  

  • I've been finding the Chess Tactics Server/Trainer puzzles to be really good for "positions with no tactical strikes", which are generally simple recapture problems and/or defensive problems. While these problems only occur infrequently, their presence keeps me on my toes.

    To be honest, I tend to get these problems wrong more often than I should, but it's preferable I am overaggressive now rather than when I'm playing in tournament games. I have posted about this also.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:48 PM  

  • Good reading your post

    By Anonymous Richard Rowan, at 4:20 AM  

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