Rd. 5 Reno CC Ch. Qualifier, Bayati-Pearson 1-0

I was defeated by Arkia Bayati last night in the final round of the Reno CC Ch. Qualifier and thereby missed qualifying for the championship matches. I will apparently advance my rating by about four points to approximately 1612, as a result of the tournament.

This was a very encouraging game in some ways, but given the competitive stakes and the way it went down the outcome was also very disappointing. A. Bayati was the 2005 club champion, was rated well over 2000 USCF until recently (currently listed 1953) and according to this even has a FIDE rating of 2113. Yet through good, careful play as Black I was able to match him for the first 30 moves and obtain a perfectly even ending with two bishops and six symmetrical pawns for each side...then with minimal calculation I moved my King toward the center and allowed a short tactical sequence that completely wrecked my position. It went something like "Well he has this check, but I just go Ke8, continuing toward the center, and I'm fine," but then he had a check with the other Bishop, driving my King further from the Kingside pawns, which dropped off.

So I'm not pleased with the result, but I'm encouraged that I can play with anybody around here if I just play "Real" Chess (Dan Heisman) EVERY move, and not just 97 percent of the time. In this game I played 30 consecutive "Real" moves and then 1 "Hope Chess" move, and that was it. It's extremely tough to keep it up, move after move for an entire five hours if necessary, but I know I can do it, and I will. (h/t Secrets of Grandpatzer Chess - see this post of his for more valuable thoughts on this topic).

I think I have good positional knowledge, and enough calculating ability and pattern recognition, to go a long way up the ratings ladder if I'm able to be really, truly consistent, each move through every game, no matter how tired, the atmosphere, the opponent's rating or anything. No human, not even a grandmaster, can truly do it 100.00 percent of the time but I gotta move from the 97 percent of last night to about 99.8 (about one loose, sleepwalking blunder every 10 games. I don't know if more than that is humanly possible).

I'll get the game posted within a day or two.

BTW, I'm starting a new Label called "Real Chess" as it's what I need to focus on more than anything else!

Reno CC. Ch. Qualifier, Brandt-Pearson Rd. 4, 0-1

Here is the game from Sunday night where I win my way into contention for the Club Championship--all I have to do now is defeat a former champ on Thursday, then win three matches! (See my previous post).

The thing I like about the game from my side is that I didn't do anything too wild and blunderful--just tried to play solidly in the opening, though I don't think my opening was that great; 6. Qb3 seems better, and on the ninth move White shouldn't relieve the tension with Nxg6, and in either case I think White is better. After 10. ... Bd6 it felt like Black had the initiative. Barry was kind enough to review the game with me and these are mostly his suggestions.

After my 32. ... c4 I thought I was going to win, but put that thought away and just concentrated on playing good moves and not "Wanting" (as J. Rowson put it in Seven Deadly Chess Sins). So, not a brilliant or beautiful game in some ways, but I'm starting to get the idea that wins without any big fireworks can be beautiful in their own way.

Reader comments would be much appreciated.

[Event "Reno CC Ch. Qualifier"]
[Site "Reno, NV"]
[Date "2007.05.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Brandt, B."]
[Black "Pearson, R."]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nf3 Bf5 4. Nbd2 e6 5. c3 Nbd7 6. b4 Be7 7. Nh4 Bg6 8. e3 c6 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. a4 Bd6 11. f4 Qc7 12. h3 Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Qg4 Nf6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Be2 f5 17. Qg3 Be7 18. Qf2 a5 19. b5 c5 20. O-O Bh4 21. g3 Be7 22. b6 Qxb6 23. Rab1 Qc7 24. Bb5+ Kf8 25. h4 Bf6 26. Kg2 Ke7 27. Rbd1 Rag8 28. d5 exd5 29. Rxd5 Rd8 30. c4 Rxd5 31. cxd5 Kd6 32. Rh1 c4 33. Qa2 c3 34. Rd1 Qc5 35. Qf2 Rc8 36. g4 c2 37. Rc1 Bb2 38. Rxc2 Qxc2 39. Be2 Qd2 0-1

We Now Resume Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

And so, after a vacation and various technical difficulties, we now resume our quest for chess blogging excellence with the news that:

I WON my game last night in the Reno CC Championship qualifier and the only thing standing between me and the championship match round is...another win Thursday against the 2005 club champion Arkia Bayati.

Last night's game, postponed due to my being in Arizona for a few days, was against Barry Brandt (1900), who was the first Expert (over 2000) that I ever defeated, back in 1985. I was 1698, he was 2040, and I still remember the excitement of winning against someone I considered to be a really strong player. Neither of us is rated as high now as we were then but this was still the best win for me, in terms of rating, since I returned to tournament chess 18 months ago.

I'll get the game score posted tomorrow; as Black against his Trompowsky (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5) I chose 2. ... d5 because I was pretty sure he knew more about the theoretical line 2. ... Ne4 than I, didn't blunder any material (the big key) and with Queen, Rook and opposite Bishops was able to blockade his passed d-pawn while my c-pawn ran to glory, costing him a Rook. He resigned on move 40.

So I feel pretty good about the game not just because I won but because I felt that I saw more than I have recently, was careful and calm, and seemed to concentrate more easily and for longer periods than is usual lately. I think that counted for more than doing a few hundred tactical exercises the day before the game (though I think those are important , too).

More tomorrow.

The Coruscating Brilliance of Chessloser, Again

I've always wanted to use the word "coruscating" in a post but the chance never came--until now.

I mentioned chessloser in terms of laughter a couple of weeks ago, but now he's reached the level of art, of prose/poetry so ravishingly beautiful that lachrymosity is a real possibility.

Chess is fun again.

I'm feeling the bonds of worry over my silly USCF rating weakening, fear of making a blunder receding. A great joy has been restored; I'm seeing the chess world with new eyes, like a babe born at the beginning of the universe, the big bang, which obviously contained the seed of chess within the original constants of nature...otherwise it wouldn't be here. In plain language, chessloser has confirmed the Strong Anthropic Principle for me, somehow, not directly but through the humor, the kind of playfulness G-d showed when He created the Knight, en passant and Nimzovich's Threat stronger than his Execution.

Enough, here's the stuff of genius from today's post:

yesterday i became a real chessman. yesterday, the postman delivered the one thing that makes me a bona fide chessplayer. yesterday, i got my chessclock. that’s like a surfer getting his surfboard, or a postal worker getting his high powered rifle with the scope. anyone can play chess, but only those who are commited (or should be, ha ha) have a chess clock. it is black and sleek, hand crafted out of only the finest in cheap plastic, lovingly and carefully assembled by the skilled artisinal hands of cheap chinese labor. that’s right, just like a lambourghini or fine wine, i have an IMPORT. i have an IMPORTED chess clock. how classy is that?

Tell it, man, tell it...

i think my role in the chess world is to set up challenging situations for people to work out, get out of, then turn the tables and send me and my brand new chess clock home with nothing to show for my efforts.

No my friend, your role is to make men happy...

i will flaunt my cool chess clock pretentiously, like the dorks who sit around in public, “reading” a thomas pynchon novel. (pardon me, i hope my reading “the crying of lot 49″ isn’t getting in your way, is it?”)

(...)

i need to stay mentally alert in the tournament. when i lose, i can’t let it affect my next games. this could be a problem. i’m italian, and so i get passionate. sadly, i’ve become passionate about something i suck at.

at least i have a cool chess clock though.

That was so damn beautiful. Especially the Tom Pynchon reference. I would've used Gravity's Rainbow, though. It's a lot thicker.

A Good Article

The Kenilworthian points out this Slate piece by Ann Hulbert on American youth chess and why the game is hot among the younger set:

It has an allure that motivates kids to do the hard work of honing basic skills and then discovering their own styles, goaded ever onward by a rating system that can show them every increment of improvement. Ruthless standards and dizzying freedom, all in one package: That is a rarity. And it is a recipe for what experts call "effortful study," or the process of indefatigably tackling ever harder challenges, which many believe is the secret to successfully pursuing excellence in anything. Except, that is, when the fervent focus itself becomes too all-consuming a distraction.

Exactly. As I've argued elsewhere (see comments) chess doesn't necessarily train you for success in business, school or life in general, but it does help with patience, focus and long-term planning and goal seeking. All of which may aid high achievement in other fields--if applied to those fields, and not just to chess.

I have a good deal to say about chess as a profession, chess for money and related subjects, but that will have to wait for the next post.