I believe the new stuff is good. Its always good to learn all the systems, it helps you to have a better total understanding of chess. It has never hurt anyone to learn new themes and new tricks.

I can certainly relate more to sucking. It hurts the self-confidence to lose too much though. I'd say sometimes you have to take a step back for a step forwards, but only you can decide that. For myself I like to play what comes naturally, even if others don't agree. (translation: not qualified for an opinion here lol).

I think you should play what you feel like playing. In the end I think you will loose motivation to play if you do not.

Quite terrible game reminds me of when I play..fun to watch however..=))

You could play both your old and new openings? I guess you're right at the sucking part perhaps, but hey, don't we all. We're still learning from you!

Hard luck curtains.I think ontop of not knowing the positions confidence and moving slow cause problems with new openings. You seem to be second guessing yourself here and then sticking with original move. Anyho i think your new understanding of different positions will spark a 20 game winning streak soon

I don't know what the ratings would predict, but I think I can beat you on average the same rate that you blunder your queen away per game. The probability is lower than a snakes gonads. Anyway, to steal a line from Dumb and Dumber: "So ur telling me there's a chance".

I completely agree. Learning all the chess openings seems like a daunting task, but it looks like you're up to the challenge!

First of all, I'd like to thank you for the live commentary on these games. I've watched them all, in order to L236, over the past couple of months. They've motivated me to start playing chess again, and I've improved signifigantly. In particular, my study habits have improved - and I've become both a better chess player and a better poker player.

As far as learing a new opening is concerned, I think you will probably do well to focus on just a few openings at a time. The switch from 1. c4 to 1.e4 is huge, because you can usually play a "system" with 1.c4 (like the Catalan), but with 1.e4, you have to learn a bunch of theory. You might consider instead of switching to the Slav - stick to the Nimzo/Bogo setup against 1.d4 and of course the Hyper-Acc Dragon vs. 1.e4. Once you are comfortable with a variety of 1.e4 openings as White, open it up with Black a bit.

I'll post more often, with diagrams - since I've had lots of questions before and will have lots of questions later - but haven't been sufficiently motivated to register before now.

Cheers.