Yep- buy a DG board. Expensive ($600+) but you can play online while looking at a real board. Not great for blitz however as you lose time making the opponent's move. So really, you may as well play slow chess online just with a regular board- not much real difference. For blitz, you are pretty much stuck with a GUI unless you don't mind the time deficit.

I have a DG board precisely for the reason that JWhis was talking about- 2D and 3D are completely different animals! After playing online only for a few years, the first tournament I played OTB, I just kinda stared blankly at the pretty 3D sculptured pieces and feeling like I'd forgotten to play chess.

I don't think a DGT board would be necessary. Just looking at the position on a normal board and then making your moves in the FICS interface would work just as well I'd think.

JWhis, it sounds like you're just a bit rusty with OTB play. There's a big difference between a 15 or 20 minute game online and a 90 minute to 2 hour game OTB. This idea of playing long games online with a real board could help. How long are the time controls you're thinking of.

I think just like 60 60 or so would work. I am going to do a test run tonite at 11 pm for my teamleague game, which is 45 45. However, I will just be using my analysis board for the time being, since I can keep it on my computer desk in front of me, I just got home from work, and I'm too tired to screw around with moving the table around and setting up my tourney set. I think the effect will be the same really. It should be interesting. Maybe I'll set my camera on it, and skype the movie live LOL!

Been playing my TL games on a real board. Also, in addition to increasing my tactics practice (as much as is practically possible given my work schedule), I ordered Life and Games of Tal. I aim to improve my attacking skills.

Long time no post! I took a hiatus from chess for the past few months, and am getting my mojo back bit by bit now. Hit up chesstempo the past 2 days and after a really really rough start (-100 in two problems anyone??) starting to calculate clearly again. Maybe my study of Tal's games has paid off in some way, as I'm seeing the motifs very quickly in most cases, the fails have all been move order errors, or just missed defensive resources. I think it would be good for my chess to get out of my 'safe opening repertoire' type thing, not that I really have an opening repertoire, but I tend to play the same shit over and over, like lopez, etc and I might just start winging some openings, like Nf3, c4, b3 whatever, and play for complications. I sort of have this urge in my chess lately, to go for complete chaos on the board, which is almost 100% opposite of my traditional method of play (solid, strategic). Maybe it is just a reflection of my stage in life as well, a bit bored with things, and I just moved and have a new place and am making some big changes in my personal life as far as organization, financial planning and such goes. So chess can be my outlet for disorder for a while. Haven't played a tourney since a long time, and want to compete again, but my chess is in shambles lately. Hope to get it back together again soon. Also, no internet at home so I can't do any videos for a while Maybe if I can find a quiet room in the library or something, I can talk to myself without the looks LOL and make a few we shall see. At any rate, I'm due for another massive stretch of tactics training, and a bit of positional stuff thrown in too. I've pretty much 'gotten' what they mean by positional and tactical being the same thing, and I feel a bit silly separating the two, but there is a bit of a divide when working on specific positions, so there it is. Until next time, hopefully not a 6 month period with no journal posts, but we shall see

Spent 2 weeks learning lines of the open and closed French Tarrasch, hit up CT a few times. I'm much more patient on the tactics trainer than I used to be. Did ok, I'm sitting at like 1930, still lower than my high of 2005, but not a bad rating. I was stuck around 1960 for a long time. But I am finding myself using a lot more time, not cause i am slower, but because I am seeing many more possibilities. I think it bodes well for my chess.

Despite my apparent sink back into the realms of chess idiocy, I had a really satisfying win at the club meeting last week. I sort of half on purpose, half accidentally sacked 2 pawns for 4 tempos, and then sacked a N on g4 in a kingside attack, eventually forcing a mate against our top expert, giving me my first 'real' (excluding blitz) win against him. This game was 15 5. But the fun of it, was going into a somewhat murky sacrifice leaving an incredibly complicated position, and coming out on top. Really beautiful game. But I don't have a score. This is a really really vague memory of the position just after I played Ng4?! But anyway, I ended up with a B on f3 and a Q on h4 with a forced mate on h1 at some point. It was really bizarre. again, this isn't the exact position, but similar

Well, that surely can't be the position you're thinking of because of 1. Nxg5!

Quick post. Still no home internet so no videos I am thinking of buying CT art or something to compensate for my inability to do CT like I used to. Any good recommendations on offline tactics software? I am thinking something with like 10 or 20 thousand problems should be sufficient. My over the board play has been very strong lately. I consider myself 2nd strongest at this point in the local club, and have an ongoing duel with the expert in the French. I have been playing Nd2 for the past 2 months against him, but I am going to surprise him this week with the Winawer ! I have noticed in my club games, that although my openings and middlegames might not be the strongest, I am definitely playing above my level at endgames, and almost always feel comfortable with the transition. I spent a lot of time the past 2 years on endings, never having really noticed an effect on practical play, but I am starting to realize that this is an area that I excel compared to my clubmates, who tend to focus strictly on memorizing opening lines. I am working through Tal's Life and Games again, I think this makes probably the 6th or so read/study through, and I remember all the !! type moves he makes in the key positions in every game in the book. Although, I do not see nearly enough of the side variations. I want to play a tournament so bad it hurts, it has been since last October that I even played a rated game, I must travel at least 2 hours to get a tourney game in, and I just can't afford time off work, and the expense, thus I am considering getting a USCF club TD thing, and running a local monthly event for our club. The downside is, they are all sissies and scared to play rated games because they all want to protect whatever rating they have, which I find perplexing. Such is life... Also, I approached the Middle School about volunteering as their chess coach and starting a program, but they showed no interest. I would really enjoying teaching some kids, and put an ad out offering lessons, but no response

The tactics units inChessimo are pretty good.

With your determined attitude, it can be only a small matter of time before you jump to Class A. Good luck!

Still working on my lengthy exploration of Tal's life and games, now approaching like 5 or 6 months I've been on this book. There is something missing in my assessment of certain positions. All these GMs, make a move in the opening usually once in each game, where they develop a piece to a square, or move a piece twice or whatever, that I just don't get. I feel like there is some basic principle that I am missing or something. Sometimes, I see the move and think, wow that Be2 isn't very active, why didn't he go to c4? Or vice versa, wow, with half the queenside untouched he goes Ng5, I don't get it? Can't even trade it for the bishop... or something like that. In my club games, after 10 moves, I seldom come out equal, I am either much much better, or much worse. So, something is up with that. Playing kinda sharp still, but not danish gambit sharp, I tend to give the pawn in the middlegame more often than out of the opening like a gambit. And I've learned about myself that I would rather give up a pawn for a lasting persistent initiative, than for attacking chances that are strong but short lived. And rocking the endgames! I drew last week against a guy 100 pts higher than me, when I had a pawn for a knight, in an ending 5 pawns and 2 knights for white, vs 6 pawns and a knight for black (me!) by creating a kingside passer with my king for support, he had to stick a knight on the kingside to defend that, meanwhile, the pawn structure queenside allowed me to romp with my other knight eventually trading off all the queenside pawns and securing the draw. Of course, all this would have been unnecessary if I hadn't just hung a piece like a total idiot when I was up 2 pawns for nothing (the classic Nxf2(Nxf7 for white) trick in the QGD) and totally winning LOL. But I got distracted by someone standing behind me.

Here is a game where our clubs top player (expert) blundered in the opening and I miniaturized him (G/15)!

Lost again to player in previous post, but this time in a time scramble He had less than 10 seconds left when I flagged (no increment or delay). We've had a french battle going on for a while, so he prepared some new line with ...c4 for me this time. Now I have more studying to do LOL



My other big game of the night was the najdorf posted in the game replays forum.

hey, you appear to be interested in getting better with your chess. If I can be of help please feel free: http://chesstrainingschool.com/

my contact info is there, any questions I will answer them.

Charles

Picked up the book by Israel Gelfer called 'Positional Chess Handbook - 495 positions' at the local bookstore for 10 bucks, and have been really happy with the examples. It would have been nicer to have complete game scores, but overall, this is a great book for just perusing on the couch, since you can do the majority of the examples blindfold. There are some longer endgames, but those I've done over the board. Read the book twice this week, just absorbing the ideas, and now I remember all the 'first moves' and ideas, although not on the longer problems. Highly recommend it.