Adventures in the Anti-Sicilians

I've recently started playing the Sicilian again, since I got really discouraged trying to find a good answer to the Lopez (especially the exchange variation; even though black is mostly ok I just don't like that sort of chess game, and at my Class B level I get it a lot more than anything else).

In any case, I've been analyzing positions that arise from the Alapin (2.c3) Sicilian, and I found an interesting one that arises from one of the main lines:



It's white's move, and it seems that white can win a pawn with Bxd5 exd5 Qxd5, but there are a number of interesting lines that arise following Nb4, so I think that black has sufficient compensation. I haven't Fritzed this position yet, I'm curious what the computer will think. The game (Rybenko-Ciuskyte 2004) continued 11.Bd3 f5 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.Qe2 Qa5, with black eventually winning after some nice tactical shots.

I have to admit a level of discouragement, as after the game I got on ICC and almost immediately played 2-3 games in the Alapin, and I think I lost each one. None reached the diagrammed position as white chose an early exchange on d5 entering a dual IQP position, which I haven't really analyzed all that much (though you'd think I'd know how to play an IQP considering how many I enter as white). Still, it was a little frustrating. I did win a pretty game in the exchange QGD earlier in the day against a much higher rated opponent, which felt nice as this is one of my favorite systems.

The next round of the Team4545 league starts this week, and I have a game on Sunday against a player ~300 points higher rated than me. I will post that game after I finish it. This should be fun.

Correspondence chess

What is the value anymore of corr chess? I don't ask this frivolously, as I've just finished my second corr tournament (+3 =2 -1, 2nd place) and am unsure as to whether I should start another one. They are fun in a sense, but there is no practical way to stop cheating and I can't help but feel in some of my games that I'm playing against a computer. As much as I like the analytical practice and the use of very sharp lines, it's very disheartening to think I may be playing Rybka. Since we have the anonymity of the internet, has anyone ever cheated at a corr game, and would you be willing to cop to it? I'm just trying to get a feel for how many people play fair.

Adventures in Chess

Welcome to Chessgasm, this blog will be devoted to my obsession with chess. Nothing has the power to elate and infuriate me like chess; I'm sure you can sympathize. The title of this blog is indicative of the emotional power chess has, though nothing the least bit racy will ever be posted (not even 'Chessbase' girls). In any case, this blog will contain my observations, trials, and tribulations as I try to reach expert before I get bored and quit. I intend to review books (I buy a lot of chess books), discuss my games (hopefully get comments from well meaning readers), and discuss the frustrations and joys of being a class player in the USCF.

Perhaps you noticed I said expert. Unlike many chess players, I don't really expect to be a master. I think I can reach expert within 5 years, which is about how long I expect to be really interested in chess (I tend to get bored with things after 5-6 years, I've found). Chess may prove an exception however... I can't ever get enough, especially ICC.

I don't have a system for improving. I study often, mostly analyzing early middlegame positions from openings I play. I used to do a lot of tactics, but once I got to about 1600 I found that they didn't really seem to help so much as they used to. I think studying openings is not as overrated as everyone says, and since everyone good spends a lot of time on it they should stop telling everyone below them to give it up. How else am I supposed to learn about positions? Positions come from specific openings, and usually the positional (and even tactical) motifs that recur repeatedly in games in those openings are defined very early by the initial moves each player makes. For example, you could say that the King's Indian defense is a terribly complicated and theoretical opening that class players shouldn't spend a lot of time learning the theory of. However, if I want to play the KID, I better learn that black usually strives for an f5 break, while white will often play for c5 and invasion on the open c-file. I should know that if white plays an early f3 and goes into the Samisch, then he may castle queenside and attack on the kingside and that my best response may well be a gambit. I should know that in some positions Na6 planning to come to c5 after a d5 push is a good way of playing. I should know that against some setups going into a Benoni type position with c5 may be best. These are all opening concepts which will define the strategies of both sides for the middlegame, and studying openings seems to the best way to learn about them. Whew. There's my rant for the day.