4th Annual CivFanatics Chess Tournament
- Thread starter Narz
- Start date
Narz
keeping it real
Personally I'm playing 4-coorespondence games right now & I really don't enjoy them. I don't know why I just loathe to look at the games or makes moves in them. I guess OTB play spoils me. If I were to play I'd rather play live, maybe 60 minute games with 30 second increments. I'd support a ladder system as long as someone else runs it.
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
I'd like to play, although I suck but I enjoy it. 
I'm the same name over at chess.com, feel free to challenge me. The only request I have is that the games be minimum of 5 days per turn.
Narz
keeping it real
Wally Cribb won, not so surprising. He offered a draw in our last game which I accepted even though it gave him the win for the match because I didn't think I had any advantage, I wanted to play 17. g5 but I didn't think it worked.
Congrats! And thanks to everyone who played.
This may be the last one unless someone else wants to run it, I'm not really enjoying correspondence chess so much these days, even regular chess is pretty frustrating lately, its nice to win of course but very often I find myself at a loss strategically, falling short on time, making tactical oversights, the usual & I am not finding the time/patience to improve & am slipping from my previous level (from 2000's to 1900's USCF). So I think it's time to either go big or go home & for now I am choosing the latter until I find the hunger to go for the former.
None of my whining should detract from Wally Cribb's victory. ![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
The first game he totally smashed me.
Congrats! And thanks to everyone who played.
This may be the last one unless someone else wants to run it, I'm not really enjoying correspondence chess so much these days, even regular chess is pretty frustrating lately, its nice to win of course but very often I find myself at a loss strategically, falling short on time, making tactical oversights, the usual & I am not finding the time/patience to improve & am slipping from my previous level (from 2000's to 1900's USCF). So I think it's time to either go big or go home & for now I am choosing the latter until I find the hunger to go for the former.
None of my whining should detract from Wally Cribb's victory.
The first game he totally smashed me.
Richard Cribb
He does monologues
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2003
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- 4,291
Thanks, Narz. I am not particulary satisfied with my play, nowithstanding that I retired from competitive chess last summer and due to some serious health issues haven't had much time for this.
As far as I can see, I didn't play any really good games. A cute mate in one of them after a pseudosacrifice of the queen, otherwise I just profited on other people's mistake.
Regarding the two games we played, the first might have been interesting. 6...Ne4, which I believe was first played in Portisch - Kramnik, Biel 1994, is a good attempt to avoid the typical positional squeeze which Black often is subjected to in this variation (A good example on this is Bobotsov - Pomar, Skopje 1972). 9.c4 was an attempt to complicate the game since more normal continuations are drawish. I knew about 9...e5 - I even analyzed it some ten years ago, but I had forgotten all about it - and I think it is quite good. Interestingly enough it is not even mentioned by Kramnik in his notes in Informator to the above-mentioned game...
However, 12...Bb4+ was a mistake, since the bishop is left hanging after the king moves so that you don't have time to capture on c4. Instead 12..Qa5+ would have led to a double-edged position here Black should be fine. At this moment I will not dare to conclude who is better. Then you made some more inaccuracies. I should have liked to annotate this game more thoroughly, but that will have to wait until things are improving.
In the second game you played a rather passive variation, and 10.Nd1 was rather artificial. I had expected 10.0-0-0 with the prospects of a real fight. After 13...d4 I think I am a little better, and 16.g4 is surely a mistake. You should play 16.f5 before you advance your g-pawn, with sufficient counterplay. You are then right that 17.g5 is bad; after 17...Nd5 I should be winning. Also in the position where a draw was agreed I have a clear advantage, and I wouldn't have offered a draw if it wasn't for the tournament position. I have space, the e5-square and best structure.
I don't really know what advice I should give you regarding your chess, except that you shouldn't worry to much about tactical oversights, that happens to everybody. Judging from what I know, I think you should cultivate your tactical abilities which are formidable. Leave it to old people like myself to emulate Botvinnik and Petrosian.
As far as I can see, I didn't play any really good games. A cute mate in one of them after a pseudosacrifice of the queen, otherwise I just profited on other people's mistake.
Regarding the two games we played, the first might have been interesting. 6...Ne4, which I believe was first played in Portisch - Kramnik, Biel 1994, is a good attempt to avoid the typical positional squeeze which Black often is subjected to in this variation (A good example on this is Bobotsov - Pomar, Skopje 1972). 9.c4 was an attempt to complicate the game since more normal continuations are drawish. I knew about 9...e5 - I even analyzed it some ten years ago, but I had forgotten all about it - and I think it is quite good. Interestingly enough it is not even mentioned by Kramnik in his notes in Informator to the above-mentioned game...
However, 12...Bb4+ was a mistake, since the bishop is left hanging after the king moves so that you don't have time to capture on c4. Instead 12..Qa5+ would have led to a double-edged position here Black should be fine. At this moment I will not dare to conclude who is better. Then you made some more inaccuracies. I should have liked to annotate this game more thoroughly, but that will have to wait until things are improving.
In the second game you played a rather passive variation, and 10.Nd1 was rather artificial. I had expected 10.0-0-0 with the prospects of a real fight. After 13...d4 I think I am a little better, and 16.g4 is surely a mistake. You should play 16.f5 before you advance your g-pawn, with sufficient counterplay. You are then right that 17.g5 is bad; after 17...Nd5 I should be winning. Also in the position where a draw was agreed I have a clear advantage, and I wouldn't have offered a draw if it wasn't for the tournament position. I have space, the e5-square and best structure.
I don't really know what advice I should give you regarding your chess, except that you shouldn't worry to much about tactical oversights, that happens to everybody. Judging from what I know, I think you should cultivate your tactical abilities which are formidable. Leave it to old people like myself to emulate Botvinnik and Petrosian.
Narz
keeping it real
Thanks Mr Cribb. Yes, 12...Bb4+ in the first game was poor, I'd just seen a video on that line & our game was my first time testing it out. After that I sort of fell apart.
I hope your health issues improve. Life is sort of unfair in that having health issues makes you reflect on life which would probably make you better at the art of living than those without such suffering but the issue of regaining it fully is a problem.
I hope your health issues improve. Life is sort of unfair in that having health issues makes you reflect on life which would probably make you better at the art of living than those without such suffering but the issue of regaining it fully is a problem.
Richard Cribb
He does monologues
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2003
- Messages
- 4,291
Is that video available online? I would like to see it.
As for the rest, wise words. Unfortunately my future looks gloomy in that my condition will only worsen.
As for the rest, wise words. Unfortunately my future looks gloomy in that my condition will only worsen.
Narz
keeping it real
I sent you a PM about the video. Also, of course I hope you manage to beat the odds regarding your condition (for whatever thats worth)!
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