I rarely play online but when I do, I play blitz on Gameknot. But tonight
I was bored and for some reason I thought I'd visit Yahoo. To my horror, I
lost 4 games against 1200(Yahoo) players. :_( I just started playing this
year, but I hoped I was better than that! I beat the U1400 county champion
in a rapid at the club last week! This was my last Yahoo game (I'm black):

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 {I call this opening the "Yahoo attack"} 2...Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
4. Qf3 Nd4 5. Qd3 Nxb5 6. Qxb5 Be7 7. Qxe5 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Qg3 Re8 10. Bh6
g6 11. Nf3 Ng4 {Dang it, I missed 11...Nh5!} 12. Bd2 c6 13. h3 Nf6 14. Bh6
Nh5 15. Qh2 d5 16. O-O Bd6 17. Qh1 Qc7 {I noticed 17...Qb6 right after I
moved DOH!} 18. Nbd2 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 20. e5 Qb6 21. d4 Bxd2 22. Nxd2 Qxd4
23. Nf3 Qxb2 24. Qh2 Bf5 25. Qf4 Qxc2 26. Qh6 f6?? 27. exf6 Rf8?? {with
0:00 on my clock} 28. Qg7# 1-0

Ok, it was a blitz and I had a Silver Bullet in me, but after that loss I
felt really discouraged. I played with the dogs for a bit and headed to
the kitchen for another Bullet, but my little 12" analysis set was on the
kitchen table with my Excalibur Talking LCD Chess handheld next to it, so I
fire it up for one more 10-min game.

I was practicing an endgame earlier, and forgot that I left it on "Hard"
level. AFAIKT, that's around 1700 USCF, but somehow I came back from being
two pawns down and drew the game. Whaa? Talking LCD gives you a 10-sec
increment to compensate for move entry, so maybe the extra time helped me
dramatically, but as I cracked open my second bullet I started feeling even
more discouraged.

Why should I like chess so much, but have no talent for it? Why should I
be so inconsistant? It's just not right. I know I need to do some tactics
drills, so I ordered "Sharpen Your Tactics" last week and plan to do the
easy probs several times and go from there (like Heisman recommends), but
I'm still feeling down about this. Can anybody cheer me up? Jeez, I'm
going to get another bullet.

why should you like chess so much but have no talent for it?

Maybe because chess, for most of us, is a long and difficult but still
enjoyable struggle.

A lot of people take up chess, expect instant rewards, ie to become very
good very quickly. They don't so they give up and go and play Doom 3 or
something.

If you love the game and keep plugging away you will develop your talent.



"fs" wrote in message news:fPr5d.3699$8H1.874@trnddc08...
I rarely play online but when I do, I play blitz on Gameknot. But tonight
I was bored and for some reason I thought I'd visit Yahoo. To my horror,
I
lost 4 games against 1200(Yahoo) players. :_( I just started playing
this
year, but I hoped I was better than that! I beat the U1400 county
champion
in a rapid at the club last week! This was my last Yahoo game (I'm
black):

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 {I call this opening the "Yahoo attack"} 2...Nc6 3. Bb5
Nf6
4. Qf3 Nd4 5. Qd3 Nxb5 6. Qxb5 Be7 7. Qxe5 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Qg3 Re8 10. Bh6
g6 11. Nf3 Ng4 {Dang it, I missed 11...Nh5!} 12. Bd2 c6 13. h3 Nf6 14. Bh6
Nh5 15. Qh2 d5 16. O-O Bd6 17. Qh1 Qc7 {I noticed 17...Qb6 right after I
moved DOH!} 18. Nbd2 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Bxf4 20. e5 Qb6 21. d4 Bxd2 22. Nxd2
Qxd4
23. Nf3 Qxb2 24. Qh2 Bf5 25. Qf4 Qxc2 26. Qh6 f6?? 27. exf6 Rf8?? {with
0:00 on my clock} 28. Qg7# 1-0

Ok, it was a blitz and I had a Silver Bullet in me, but after that loss I
felt really discouraged. I played with the dogs for a bit and headed to
the kitchen for another Bullet, but my little 12" analysis set was on the
kitchen table with my Excalibur Talking LCD Chess handheld next to it, so
I
fire it up for one more 10-min game.

I was practicing an endgame earlier, and forgot that I left it on "Hard"
level. AFAIKT, that's around 1700 USCF, but somehow I came back from
being
two pawns down and drew the game. Whaa? Talking LCD gives you a 10-sec
increment to compensate for move entry, so maybe the extra time helped me
dramatically, but as I cracked open my second bullet I started feeling
even
more discouraged.

Why should I like chess so much, but have no talent for it? Why should I
be so inconsistant? It's just not right. I know I need to do some
tactics
drills, so I ordered "Sharpen Your Tactics" last week and plan to do the
easy probs several times and go from there (like Heisman recommends), but
I'm still feeling down about this. Can anybody cheer me up? Jeez, I'm
going to get another bullet.

"fs" wrote in message news:fPr5d.3699$8H1.874@trnddc08...
I rarely play online but when I do, I play blitz on Gameknot. But tonight
I was bored and for some reason I thought I'd visit Yahoo. To my horror,
I
lost 4 games against 1200(Yahoo) players. :_( I just started playing
this
year, but I hoped I was better than that! I beat the U1400 county
champion
in a rapid at the club last week! This was my last Yahoo game (I'm
black):

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 {I call this opening the "Yahoo attack"} 2...Nc6 3. Bb5
Nf6
4. Qf3 Nd4 5. Qd3 Nxb5 6. Qxb5 Be7 7. Qxe5 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Qg3 Re8 10. Bh6
g6 [...]

Judging from the blitz above you are really a beginner. I advise you not to
play blitz but concentrate on long games without time control. Sure you must
learn some basic principles of how to play in openings and you should solve
many tactical positions. Don`t forget about basic endings.

Good luck

Jerzy

For the time being, forget blitz, forget internet, and forget chess
computers. Join USCF and play in a real OTB tournament (game/60 or slower).
The importance of such experience is far greater than you realize.

Bill Smythe

"fs" wrote:
.... Dang it, I missed 11...Nh5! ....

11...Nh5 wasn't all that great anyway, because of 12. Qf3.

Despite your dropping a pawn in the opening, you still ended up with a
superior position eventually. When your queen was on c2 and he moved Qh6,
your queen should have made a beeline for f8 (via c5) to end all of his
nonsense, then you could proceed to the winning endgame where you would have
been 2 pawns up.

Bill Smythe

On 2004-09-26, fs wrote:

Why should I like chess so much, but have no talent for it? Why should I
be so inconsistant? It's just not right. I know I need to do some tactics

I have a great love for chess and checkers, and I'm bad at both. But if
in a sense you compete with yourself - and define 'winning' as learning
and improving, no matter how many games you objectively lose - you can
have a great time.

There is a good sports analogy. I also love cycling but I know I will
never be a racer let alone a race winner. But I still derive pleasure,
healthful exercise, and the satisfaction of steady improvement.

(I would also suggest that the 'silver bullets' *are* however
inconsistent with the goal of improvement!)

"Neil Coward" wrote in message
...
why should you like chess so much but have no talent for it?

Maybe because chess, for most of us, is a long and difficult but still
enjoyable struggle.

A lot of people take up chess, expect instant rewards, ie to become very
good very quickly. They don't so they give up and go and play Doom 3 or
something.



Thanks Neil, I really appreciate it. I never thought I would become an
expert in a year or two (or ever), but I had hoped for more progress than
I've made so far this year.

If you love the game and keep plugging away you will develop your talent.

I love the game, it's my opponents that ruin my joy! Thanks again, I'll do
just what you suggest.

- fs

"Bill Smythe" wrote in message
...
"fs" wrote:
.... Dang it, I missed 11...Nh5! ....

11...Nh5 wasn't all that great anyway, because of 12. Qf3.


He didn't have that because of 11.Nf3, so there was nowhere for the queen
to go.

Despite your dropping a pawn in the opening, you still ended up with a
superior position eventually. When your queen was on c2 and he moved
Qh6,
your queen should have made a beeline for f8 (via c5) to end all of his
nonsense, then you could proceed to the winning endgame where you would
have
been 2 pawns up.

After 26... Qh5 27. Ng5! There's no time for Qf8, but if your point is that
I need to pay more attention to defence, I'll agree with you. I missed a
typical mating pattern, which is one of the reasons I've ordered "Sharpen
Your Tactics." Nearly every game I play is decided by tactics

"Jerzy" wrote in message
...
"fs" wrote in message news:fPr5d.3699$8H1.874@trnddc08...
I rarely play online but when I do, I play blitz on Gameknot. But
tonight
I was bored and for some reason I thought I'd visit Yahoo. To my
horror,
I
lost 4 games against 1200(Yahoo) players. :_( I just started playing
this
year, but I hoped I was better than that! I beat the U1400 county
champion
in a rapid at the club last week! This was my last Yahoo game (I'm
black):

1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 {I call this opening the "Yahoo attack"} 2...Nc6 3. Bb5
Nf6
4. Qf3 Nd4 5. Qd3 Nxb5 6. Qxb5 Be7 7. Qxe5 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Qg3 Re8 10.
Bh6
g6 [...]

Judging from the blitz above you are really a beginner. I advise you not
to
play blitz but concentrate on long games without time control. Sure you
must
learn some basic principles of how to play in openings and you should
solve
many tactical positions. Don`t forget about basic endings.

Good luck

Jerzy



Thanks for the advice Jerzy.

"Bill Smythe" wrote in message
...
For the time being, forget blitz, forget internet, and forget chess
computers. Join USCF and play in a real OTB tournament (game/60 or
slower).
The importance of such experience is far greater than you realize.

Bill Smythe


As I said, I rarely play online but I do use my handheld computer. I trek
about 40 miles to the nearest club almost every week, and I agree with you
that OTB play is far better. At home, I usually use my handheld but do use
it with a real board. I'll take your advice of playing longer games
though. When I play at the club it's usually without a clock, but at about
a G/20 pace. Playing tournaments would surely be a great experience, but
it's hard to get away for an entire weekend to play chess. What do you
think about playing on sites like Gameknot or Chessmaniac? Truth is, I
really don't like to play chess on the computer. I prefer a real opponent
across a real board from me.