Additional info:
09 May 2013 @ about 3 AM I broke 1500! worked on that for about 5 months.
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Fear the ZUGZWANG!!!
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Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man. June 8th. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change.
Travis Bickle
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"I don't learn anything from games I win".
Mikhail Tal
I wanted to learn chess as a young lad because of Spock on Star Trek. My mom bought my brothers and I a nice little set actually and I tried to learn the game from our encyclopedia. For a few years my brothers and I played the game with the knights and bishops reversed since we misunderstood the rules. Even now I sometimes mess it up when I set my real board for puzzles are learning from a book.
Years later I bought a Radio Shack chess set (still have one RS computer game I bought years ago that is authorized by Garry Kasparov but never use it now. It is setting a few feet from me now) with magnetized pieces you move on a board. This taught me where the knights and bishops actually go finally as well as what all the actual rules regarding things like pawn promotion, castling and en passant were. I was sure the game was defective when it kept doing en passant all the time.
Never really had too many real games to play with actual humans -of which I am one as well despite rumors- though or anybody teach me anything. I used to do puzzles and tactics from books but found I did not really like playing "real" people too often. Why? Most people I have known were not really the type of chess player who sat back over tea or coffee with a pipe of tobacco and thought over their moves while stroking their goatees. Most were house mates in Seattle who drank bourbon straight and smoked a pipe alright but not filled with tobacco. The rules seemed to change from player to player and not one person knew what the hell an en passant was and I decided a week in intensive care was not worth pushing the issue over.
It was not until I discovered Internet chess about a mere four years ago that I really began playing chess in my life, sadly at nearly the half century mark. Due to this late start I think I have lost some passing crucial learning phase that I needed to do about 30 years ago, but I seem to have a knack for it at a certain hobbiest level I suppose.
I live and work and deal with the universe and its questions from inside China now and again have not really played any real humans since coming here. I have a nice board I got in Seattle before coming here. One of those type you roll up and has lite green square and I believe is of tournament size and quality. But really never get to use it. Recently a friend found who said he liked chess and we played a few games and for the first time I saw that I had gained an idea of what was going on. I sort of killed him and that was that, he never asked to play again though I offered to him strengthen his game. I sort of felt bad even.
Sadly -for me at least- in China people play Chinese chess, called xiangqi 象棋 (I can play but am not interested in it too much and Chinese people are hard to learn from, the teaching method being "I teach you nothing and crush you over and over and win and gloat until you get your act together!". Sure there are probably players I could play on a real board with -I really want to- if I searched but I have found a chess home here at Gameknot and as long as my Chinese Internet is up -another story- I typically always have a game to play or puzzle to solve.
Not a consistent player and my mind wanders. Move too fast and move too many games at once. Working on changing some of those bad habits and changing the way I think about moves and the board. Not as passive a player as I appear and have some predatory instincts. What looks like me sitting back doing nothing may be me waiting to home in on a weakness if I spot it, the way a leopard sits back and waits to see the limping Thompson gazelle that sits it apart from the herd. While overall a pretty conservative in style I am not afraid to try things as unorthodox as the Latvian Gambit. So there you go. I do think I change in increments.
Would like to find people interested in unrated and experimental games. Done this a few time here and lose of course and suddenly the other guy is ready for the rated game and therefore the rating boost. Anybody wanting to play unrated games please challenge me. I want to try new things without pressure of the ratings gain or loss.
I have always been a late bloomer and learning new things late in life is not something I say is beyond me (unless it is learning to speak fluent Chinese). I do not believe old dogs can't learn new tricks.
Thanks
Bill D. Courtney
<(O_O)>
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Chess Quotes:
Chess is a contributor to net human unhappiness, since the pleasure of victory is greatly exceeded by the pain of defeat.
>Bill Hartston
He who has a slight disadvantage plays more attentively, inventively and more boldly than his antagonist who either takes it easy or aspires after too much. Thus a slight disadvantage is very frequently seen to convert into a good, solid advantage.
>Emanuel Lasker
There is no doubt that the reason for my awful oversight was over-confidence that sapped my sense of danger. So that is where to look for the cause of bad blunders - in the exulting feeling of self-congratulation.
>Alexander Kotov
Of course, errors are not good for a chess game, but errors are unavoidable and in any case, a game without any errors, or as they say 'flawless game' is colorless.
>Mikhail Tal
Few things are as psychologically brutal as chess.
>Garry Kasparov
The passed Pawn is a criminal, who should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance are not sufficient.
>Aaron Nimzowitsch
Winning isn't everything … but losing is nothing.
>Edmar Mednis
Analysis, if it is really carried out with a complete concentration of his powers, forms and completes a chess player.
>Lev Polugaevsky
It is not possible to become a great player without having learned how to analyse deeply and accurately.
>Mark Dvoretsky
Psychology is the most important factor in chess.
>Alexander Alekhine
You must not let your opponent know how you feel.
>Alexander Kotov
All that matters on the chessboard is good moves.
>Bobby Fischer
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Quick List of Chess Strategies:
* Avoid Moving a Chess Piece Twice During the Opening is a good chess strategy.
* It is Better Chess Strategy to Develop the Knights before Their Respective Bishops.
* A good chess strategy is to Develop Both Knights before the Queen’s Bishop.
* A good chess strategy is Do Not Develop your Chess Pieces Exclusively on One Side.
* A good chess strategy is as a Rule Do Not Play a Piece beyond Your Own Side of the Board in the Opening.
* A good chess strategy is if You Have Castled Do Not Permit the Opponent to Open a File on Your King.
* A good chess strategy is to Avoid Pinning the Opponent’s King’s Knight before He has Castled, Especially When You Have Yourself Castled on the King’s Side.
* A good chess strategy is to Avoid Making Exchanges which Develop Another Piece for the Opponent.
* A good chess strategy is to Avoid Exchanging Bishops for Knights Early in the Game.
* A good chess strategy is to Avoid Premature Attacks.
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7 Novice Chess Mistakes (NOT WRITTEN BY ME/Bill)
Here is a list of 7 mistakes most commonly seen on amateur level. Many chess players just do not realize why they keep losing these games. The answer is simple. These players keep making the same mistakes over and over again, in every single game they play. How many games could have been won by avoiding these simple mistakes most people make? Take a look at the list and you will avoid these blunders!
Mistake #7 Neglecting the development and sudden queen strike is what tend to be very often classified as an opening mistake. It is hardly ever seen on Masters level. But it seems like every player at the initial stage of his chess career does it. Why is it bad to give a quick queen check in a first few moves of the game? Well, first of all it usually allows an opponent to interpose with a pawn, knight or a bishop, gaining a golden tempo by making the queen to retreat. Secondly, since queen is such a strong piece players usually are uncertain about where it should be placed, so they tend to delay any queen moves to a better time (called a middle game). Of course there are plenty of exceptions for what I just said. For example in positions where it is possible to win some material it is surely the best to make a queen move.Always remember that the opening is for developing chess pieces and not for hunting down opponent’s unprotected rook and knight pawns, sacrificing the development whatsoever. Getting too greedy in the opening can cost you a game.
Mistake # 6 Neglecting pins is another very common characteristics for novice chess players. It is always a good practice to get rid of all pin or to “un-pin” your pieces even if you don’t see the immediate danger. How many times novices lose pinned pieces when just a few moves ago they just ignored the pin? Millions of Knights, Bishops and even Rooks were killed like that.
Mistake #5 Creating weak pawns is probably second most favorite hobby of novice players after the unnecessary queen moves. They either push pawns so deeply into the enemy’s territory so there is no way to protect it (overextended pawns), or in opposite create weak “backward” pawns and struggle in the endgame. Always think twice before the pawn move, pawns do not go back.
Mistake #4 Even more deadly chess habit is to ignore pawns completely. I saw many novice players myself who just completely ignore pawns. For some unknown reason they think that since a pawn is the least valuable solder in chess army it is not important to save it. I saw many endgames when one party had 6 pawns and other one had 2. It is not very hard to figure out who won. The lesson is to save the pawns; otherwise you will lose your endgame right in the middle game .
Mistake #3 Unnecessary piece moves is also very common mistake chess premature players make. Remember that all the moves in chess are to be made on purpose and for a reason. If you do not know what your move is for, don’t make it. It’s that simple, just look for another one.
Mistake #2 Ignoring king safety can be very dangerous strategy, just like in #7 many ganes were lost beacause of unprotected king was quickly checkmated. The thing that many chess players very often forget: checkmate wins the game, not the extra pawn you got right before your king was checkmated while you made 3 moves with a queen to get that pawn. Remember that and you’ll be the “checkmater” one.
Mistake #1 Believe it or not, but not being focused loses a lot more games that all the previous mistakes combined. Novice player are just do not have enough chess experience and confidence in order to be focused the whole game. At some point novices drop a pawn. Later on – a piece. Afterwards, they lose rather quickly. The lesson is a simple – keep an eye on all your pieces and pawns and you’ll be fine in your game. By simply not losing material you will be able to hold against a much stronger player.
Rated online chess games (updated nightly)
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