The Chess Blues

Leave a Comment / Blitz /
Heya all!
Sorry for the delay between posts.
I have been pretty busy lately and haven’t had as much time to play chess and blog as I would like too.
Without playing much this last month I have noticed my brain seems to be sizzled and the few games I have played online have been rather miserable!
So I have the chess blues.
I think this is something that is quite easy to get in chess and other sports when you feel your letting yourself down, after falling victim to a few defeats. I do however think it is important to put those blues aside and get back to enjoying the game and learning from the mistakes you made, even if they are very obvious ones.
The following game shows how easily it is to drop the ball after securing a solid advantage by falling into a back rank mate.

This next game shows the unpredictable nature of blitz as I drop my Rook by accident only to realise that by doing so I have trapped the opponents King and I am able to force mate.
It was nice to have a bit of luck with this one as it came after a few losses!

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Blitz Games

Leave a Comment / Blitz, Traxler Counter Gambit /
Here are some more Blitz games for you!

These two games are both games where I score wins with the Traxler Counter Gambit. I have done a few posts on the Traxler Counter Gambit and find it a really fun one to use in Blitz as it can often catch people by surprise. It is clearly just a Blitz opening though as it is very aggressive and with correct play white can avoid the attacks and steer the game into different variations that are more favourable.
The following games both show one of the key ideas in the Traxler Counter Gambit being the push of the d5 pawn on the 7th move. A while back I was researching the opening and this was one of the key ideas to maintain the attack and was present in most of the winning games I studied. The move opens the lines for the light squared Bishop as well as setting a simple trap. If 8.Bxd5 then 8…Bg4 wins the Queen so therefore 8.exd5 is the best move for white.

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Blitz Games

Leave a Comment / Blitz /
Here are a few blitz games for you to enjoy!
In the first game I get absolutely blitzed and lose the game after allowing an opening attack on the f7 pawn (Yes I should know better! Even in blitz). I make quite a few mistakes and miss going up a minor piece at one point in the game (possibly a mouse slip – I cant remember!?)
My opponent pulls out a really nice fork on the King and Queen and finishes the game in style with a cute little mate!
In the second game I manage to come away with the win after missing an easy advantage in the opening and then going on to play an unsound opening that luckily did not get pulled apart by my opponent.
The following two games were played on Chesscube with a 3 minute time limit. Generally most of the Blitz games I post are either 3 or 5 minute games. Occasionally I play some bullet chess on the site (1 minute games) but I find it difficult not to lose on time in these games.



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Newcastle Open – Round 6

Leave a Comment / Albin Counter Gambit, Newcastle Open 2012 /
In my final round of the Newcastle open I was up against Toby Coates from Newcastle. Toby is a strong player and a great guy so I was glad to play him in the last round of the tournament.
I opened with the Albin Counter Gambit but found myself struggling to gain anything from the opening and had to tread very carefully as I watched my clock go down very quickly.
I have found it hard to stay focused during my last round games at recent tournaments. I get quite tired by the end of a tournament and I am ready for a break and tend to try for more aggressive lines to finish the game quickly but I have not had much success yet!
I did learn a lot from this game though as it showed some obvious holes in my opening theory.

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