Fromper's new 2008 improvement thread

[Fromper]

Originally Posted by Najdork

It sounds like your getting a little burned out. Playing in a higher section too often takes the fun out of chess. I tend to get burned out when I lose too many games in a row. I know I learn more from playing higher rated opponents, but sometimes you just need to feel that rush from crushing your opponent to get that fire back inside.

So go ahead and play the lower section and build that fire back.

Not at all. As I said, I'm just not playing or studying much because of other things going on in my life. Bad for my chess, good for the the fact that I have a life besides just chess.

The last time I played in a big tournament divided into sections was at the beginning of January, and I won all 5 games in the U1400 section, which boosted my rating from 1335 to 1468 on my way to my current 1521. But at the local club that I go to on Saturdays, I'm consistently scoring 2 or 2.5 of 4 every tournament, which is respectable, especially given that most of the losses are opponents rated over 1800.

So I'm not burned out at all, but I'm also not improving as much as I'd like. As I said, I just don't know how my current playing strength compares to others in the 1400-1800 range, because I play such opponents so infrequently.

Looking back, I've played 25 USCF tournament games since the start of this year. 12 games were against opponents below 1400 (11 wins and a draw), 8 games were against opponents over 1800 (1 win, 1 draw, 6 losses), only 4 games were against opponents between 1400 and 1600 (1 win, 2 losses, 1 draw), and only 1 game was against an opponent between 1600 and 1800, though he was just barely over 1600, and losing to me knocked him back down below 1600. So I actually have a losing record against opponents in the 1400-1600 range this year and a winning record in the 1600-1800 range! But with so few games, that really doesn't mean much.

But without having played anyone in the high 1600's or 1700's, how can I judge how I compare to them? And even in the 1400 - low 1600's range, I've played two guys rated within 100 points above me and 3 games against one guy rated around 100 points below me.

So I'm thinking of going for the U1800 just for a tougher challenge, and because I know I won't have to do that well to avoid losing rating points.

Because it's a weekend trip where I'll stay at a hotel will make it easier for me to focus while I'm there, too. When I'm home, I get distracted by other things, but at these types of trips, I'm likely to go back to my hotel room (or sit on the beach) and do dozens of chess puzzles from a book to get my mind in shape between games.

--Fromper

[snits]

Sometimes taking a break from studying is a good thing. It allows the mind time to assimilate the new information you have been cramming into it (I won question of the week on Dan Heisman's show this week asking about taking a break in studying ). I have been slacking on the studying as well the last couple of months. I have been playing through some master games, but not much else other than that. I play over the board weekly. Somehow I have managed to jump from 1219 to 1508 since January though. I have been giving some of our class B players some good games and have won a few, plus drew a master last week. I am getting back into more rigorous studying now since other things in life have become less hectic.

My goal is to hit 1600 this year, so I am off to a good start. At least my rating isn't that embarrassing anymore. I started off losing my first 8 rated games last year and had a wonderful 484P8 rating . I managed to climb up to 1200 by the end of the year.

[Fromper]

I think I need to get back to doing tactics puzzles. Right now, it's not specific knowledge I need so much as calculating ability. I seem to be going downhill in that respect.

I just played embarrassingly bad today at the local club. I ended up winning against a guy in the 1300s, despite making quite a few minor blunders, and I lost badly to an opponent over 1800. So my results were normal, and even good enough to gain some rating points, but I just don't think I'm playing up to my knowledge level right now.

Against the 1300 player, I made about 4 or 5 moves in the first 10 moves that I think were downright lousy, but luckily, he didn't know how to take advantage of it, so I managed to come back in the middle game from a vastly inferior position. Creating pressure and attacking chances in the middle game seems to be my specialty right now. I think that's what I learned from playing all those unsound gambits over the last 8 or 9 months.

But I just feel like I'm overlooking things that I should be seeing, and I'm not calculating tactical variations as well as I used to. I really haven't been doing many puzzles lately, and that's probably the one thing I most need to get back into shape. I think I'm going to focus on just that this week, since I should have enough free time to at least try to prepare for the big tourney next weekend.

I've also got two online league games tomorrow at 60 15 speed, so that should be decent practice.

As for taking a study break, I'd say I already did for the last month or more. Now it's time to get back to tactics puzzles, or I'm gonna get clobbered next weekend.

--Fromper

[snits]

Maybe try to make it part of the daily routine, like when you wake up in the morning, before going to bed, or perhaps during your lunch.

Doing problems on a daily basis seems to be more important than doing lots of problems less frequently.

Good luck at the tourney next week!

[JacksonWShowalter]

To keep going over the same things that got you to 1600 won’t get you to 1800 or 2000.

[Fromper]

Originally Posted by JacksonWShowalter

To keep going over the same things that got you to 1600 won’t get you to 1800 or 2000.

I pretty much know what I need to do at this point.

I played lots of unsound gambits in order to force myself to learn how to take advantage of a lead in development. It worked. Now, creating attacking chances in the middle game is pretty much my specialty, even if I've got a positional disadvantage out of the opening. That's how I went from the 1300's to 1500's.

Oddly though, it really didn't improve my tactical calculation ability as much as I'd expected. That's my next focus. I really do need to improve in tactics and endgames more than anything. Doing a ton of tactical and endgame puzzles and just playing a lot should help with that.

And I've already switched back to playing sounder openings... mostly.

--Fromper

You know, just when I had myself convinced that I should play up in the U1800 section this weekend, I realized that I haven't had a good tournament in a U1600 section before. The best I've done in a U1600 section is 50% (2.5 of 5). I just feel like I need to play in an U1600 section and score at least 3/5 to prove I'm good enough to be playing up into the next section.

I'm pre-registered for the U1600 section, but I can change to U1800 when I get there. I'm starting to feel like maybe I should just flip a coin and go with it.

--Fromper

[stormcrow]

so I gained more rating points than predicted. My new rating is 1468, which is 45 points higher than my previous high.

Sweet. grats on reaping the rewards of hard work!

My goal is 1800 by the end of this year (I fluctuate between 1675 and 1750) and it's going to be challenging.

[Ogenki]

Originally Posted by Fromper

I pretty much know what I need to do at this point.

I played lots of unsound gambits in order to force myself to learn how to take advantage of a lead in development. It worked. Now, creating attacking chances in the middle game is pretty much my specialty, even if I've got a positional disadvantage out of the opening. That's how I went from the 1300's to 1500's.

Oddly though, it really didn't improve my tactical calculation ability as much as I'd expected. That's my next focus. I really do need to improve in tactics and endgames more than anything. Doing a ton of tactical and endgame puzzles and just playing a lot should help with that.

And I've already switched back to playing sounder openings... mostly.

--Fromper

You know, just when I had myself convinced that I should play up in the U1800 section this weekend, I realized that I haven't had a good tournament in a U1600 section before. The best I've done in a U1600 section is 50% (2.5 of 5). I just feel like I need to play in an U1600 section and score at least 3/5 to prove I'm good enough to be playing up into the next section.

I'm pre-registered for the U1600 section, but I can change to U1800 when I get there. I'm starting to feel like maybe I should just flip a coin and go with it.

--Fromper

So, how was the tournament?

A question i would like to ask you; as an experienced player of "unsound gambits" , what did u play against the french?

I think I am now where you were a few months (?) back, playing gambits to quickly open up the game and play for the attack. I don't know if it's working for me yet, but I just like to play like this anyway. The french gives me trouble though. I usually play exd5 after 2... d5 but the results aren't that good.

Any advice would be well appreciated!

[Abba]

You could play the Wing Gambit against the French:

1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 d5 3 e5 c5 4 b4 cxb4 5 a3 bxa3 6 Nxa3.

I think Fromper's primary gambit though was the Blackmar Diemer:

1 d4 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 exf3 5 Nxf3.

[Fromper]

The tournament went ok. Not great, but I didn't get completely blown away, either. I ended up playing up in the U1800 section, and I scored 1.5/5, which was enough for my rating to go from 1521 to 1521. That's right - ZERO rating point change.

Getting beaten up that way really helps highlight your weaknesses and shows you what to study. I learned that I mostly need to work on my tactical calculation skills, which I kinda knew. I also need to work on certain openings, but not overly much as long as I'm watching out for the opponent's tactical shots from move one and trying to come up with plans instead of just making random developing moves.

Much to my surprise, my endgame play was terrific in this tournament. Given my aggressive style, I rarely reach endgames, so it was a bit of a surprise to realize that I am improving that much in them. That's where my draw came from, despite being two pawns down from lousy opening play in that game.

The other pleasant surprise is that my long term planning really does seem to be improving. I'm coming up with ideas and plans that make sense, rather than just spending the whole game looking for tactical shots like I used to. This is a step up.

I'll probably post some positions and games later, especially the draw, since I'm not sure if I should have really been able to hold the draw there, or if my opponent just blew what should have been a win for him.

Yes, I used to play the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit primarily, though I played 1. e4 for a while before I started playing the BDG, and I use a related gambit against the French. It's called the Alapin or Alapin-Diemer Gambit, depending on who you ask: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Be3 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3. If you search the chesscafe.com archives for the Gambit Cartel column, there was a really good article in there about this gambit. I think it was the 34th article in that series (since they're numbered with no titles), with the quiz question answered in the following month's article.

The ADG is a fun gambit, even though it's probably unsound. I scored my only win against an 1800+ player this year with that gambit. Even though I'm playing sounder openings now, I still use that against the French maybe half the time, though I've started experimenting with the more mainline moves. I just love playing against the French as white, though - anything but the Exchange variation. Get the book "How to Beat Your Dad at Chess" and realize that the whole Greek Gift Sacrifice section could be called "How to attack in the middle game against the French Defense". Great book, despite the silly title.

--Fromper