Why I'll never reach 1400

Game 7306040

What a great game! Horrifying yet compulsive viewing. 😲

Quick tip - if you develop all of your pieces before you attack you'll find you'll do much better. Try to not move the same piece twice in the opening. If you follow that principle you'll definitely reach 1400.

Close the diagonal! 28 . ... Nd4

Pretty good game with just one tragic miscalculation. 🙂

Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromfics
Close the diagonal! 28 . ... Nd4

Pretty good game with just one tragic miscalculation. 🙂

23... Nd4! and white has to give up the queen to avoid 24... Qa6 mate.

Yep, pretty horrifying! I've been watching my rating fall over the last 24 hours but thought I had this one in the bag.

Shame I missed 23... Nd4!

I find the N + Q combo terrifying from a defensive point of view. Those horses are downright sneaky.

"In chess you only have yourself to blame." - Bent Larsen

I`m wondering if you maybe noticed the queen checkmating on g7 but not on h8.



If that is the case then you are already on your way to noticing the mate on h8 as well as g7 next time.

Practicing tactics like Fred Reinfeld`s 1001 checkmates or polgars giant mate in 1 2 and 3 book or some other tactics training in a similar vein does more than just train you in the ability to calculate I go here you go there.

It also develops positional instincts like a spider man since like for example when dark squares near your king are invadable you sense the danger long b4 you calculate any I go here you go there kinda calculating.

This reminds of something more or less that Robbie Carrobie kinda said.
This isn`t a quote by Robbie but it was something like positional and tactical are interconnected.

I definately agree that positional and tactical are intrinsically linked.

13...O-O??

Hi Chris

Too many games in progress at your level.

Bring it down to down to about 10.

Looked at a few games. Some are very entertaining.

Game 7305630 You won it, but should have lost it.

Missing 20...Bg4+ telle me you are moving far to fast and your tactical
play is grim to say to the least.

Take your time, stop messing about in the opening, develop your bits and
get castled. CHECK ALL CHECKS and if you can, get a book on basic
chess tactics. (The Library,ebay,2nd hand shops...) You will crack 1400
by avoiding silly blunders and simple tactical know how. It's easy.

Also resign if all hope is gone, players spend more time looking at and trying
to save totally lost games than they do the games that are still in the balance.

This is wasted effort that affects the games that are not lost.

Buy a cheap tactics book like Reinfeld's 1001 checkmates and solve the positions when you are on the crapper. You'll be 1400 in no time.

Whether you're 1400 or 2400, you're still not immune to the occasional brain lock-up:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1003221

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Also resign if all hope is gone, players spend more time looking at and trying
to save totally lost games than they do the games that are still in the balance.

This is wasted effort that affects the games that are not lost.

Originally posted by National Master Dale
I`m wondering if you maybe noticed the queen checkmating on g7 but not on h8.

You are 100% correct. I'd dismissed it because I had it covered with a knight and the h8 was a total blind spot!