Chess

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January 03, 2010

You Can't Beat Me

I came to this realization sadly, but found great humor and comfort. Not even the GMs can say this - but currently I can: You can't beat me.

Before you waste your time looking for a gauntlet to throw down in challenge -- you can't beat me because I beat myself before you can get the opportunity. My openings stink. My middle game strategy amounts to 'oh, I hope they don't see that'... not exactly a tactic to write books about. And my endgame consists of why-don't-you-just-kill-me-and-stop-the-torture.

So why do I play? Why would I want to go back to that? Because I know I can do better.

As an update, I still don't have a MonRoi. I could never justify the money given my current playing ability. I do actually have Fritz on the computer. Unfortunately, at this point, I can't make it do what I want to make it useful. But, it's a computer program. That means there exists a nice little Help file. A little bit of RTFM will solve that.

So where do I start? Well, my best guess is that I should study the openings. If you've opened yourself up for disaster before your 3rd move, everything else is a moot point. I know my openings stink. But now I have to figure out -why- my openings stink.

For the most part, the openings have all been played before. When you move your first piece (as white), there are only 10 pieces you can move (the 8 pawns and the 2 knights). Granted, some moves are more likely than others. However, there are only so many 'book' first moves. And then again, there are only so many 'book' responses by black to that first move. If I make the move I know - and black makes the response I expect, I can get to the end of the opening. However, if black's first move is not something I've seen - I have no clue how to respond.

Take for instance, 1.e4. If this is followed by 1. ... e5, then I continue with 2. Nf3. It's almost automatic and I know I'm not yet screwed. But if 1. e4 is followed by 1. ... c6, well...what the heck do I do now? Well, the first thing I *should* do is recognize it as the Caro-Kann opening. Once I can do that, I might be able to remember that my next best (book) move would be:
a) d4 [Advance Variation/Bornstein-Larsen System/Classical System/Exchange Variation, etc]
b) c4 [Anti-Caro-Kann]
c) d3 [Closed Variation]

The day that those moves are made and I remember what follows is the day that I make it out of the opening alive and at least survive until the middle game. However, that is not today. Today I would play 2. Nc3 to protect the pawn. Why? Because there's a pawn out there and it neeeeeds my help and protection. [Oh, does it really?]

So, having said that, I realize that the only way to improve is to improve my opening. Since the Ruy Lopez is the most familiar to me, that's where I will start. Let's see how far this can go...

Posted by BlueWolf on January 3, 2010 11:40 AM