In The Past – The Elusive 1000

Leave a Comment / In The Past, Junior Chess /

Growing up playing junior chess tournaments in NSW was something that I really enjoyed. The top juniors in NSW had ratings over 1000 (different rating system to adult chess). My goal was to crack the 1000 mark and I came extremely close (from memory I managed to reach 969), but I never managed to cross 1000, even though I managed to score some wins against higher rated players. I can remember the first time I beat a 1000+ rated player and I was stoked! it felt like such an accomplishment. Years after I still remembered the type of position I won. I found my old scoresheet for the game and thought I would share it with you. Looking back over the game my opponent and I both made a number of errors, but I managed to hold on and found a winning move to turn the game around in an instant.

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Day 15

Leave a Comment / Climb To 2000 /

Rating 1791

Puzzle Rush Score 31

Today I played a few extra games than I would normally play. I had an even score and finished the day with a slightly higher rating then when I started, so that was good. I am still making a few too many blunders, but I am starting to see puzzle rush ideas show up in games, which has been helping me to find tactics that little bit quicker. Below is one of the games I enjoyed.

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Blitz Game

Leave a Comment / Blitz, Ruy Lopez /

This game had a few instructive lessons for me. The biggest one being the importance of making the pawn break at the right time. In this game I failed to develop a piece and just pushed ahead too quickly, leaving holes in my position that made it much harder to hold on.

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Day 14

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Rating 1794

Puzzle Rush Score 36

Today I enjoyed catching up on the chess.com Pro Chess League. You can learn more about it here.

I also analysed a few of my blitz games to post on the blog. It has been really instructive analysing my own games as I revise the ideas I was thinking about during the game, as well as finding new ideas that I missed. I have been feeling confident in the games I have been playing and have made steady progress playing a couple of games each day. I expect at some point that the climb will stagnate and the grind will really begin, but so far so good. I have still been focused on putting into practice the current things I have been learning. I have moved to playing the Caro-Kann instead of my usual Sicilian reply to e4, as I learn new lines, to help me become more familiar with the types of positions that can arise.

 

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