So a teammate from the FICS and i decided to take up training more serious. Im gonna document my progress in this Thread. My first goal will be reaching the 1800 on the server.

My desired opening repertoire as of now:

as White:
Ruy Lopez
Caro Kann Panov Attack
French advance
closed Sicilian
Scandinavian

as Black:
caro Kann
Nimzo / Queens Indian

besides the study of Openings we will focus on Endgames as well


Since i want to learn the Ruy Lopez as white, we decided to start with a test game in that opening which turned out quite interesting. We chose random colors and i ended up with Black

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2010.03.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "ErnestHemingway"]
[Black "Oppermann"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1605"]
[BlackElo "1656"]
[ECO "C70"]
[TimeControl "20+20"]


Not the best game from both sides, but definately a learning effect. And i migh consider to play Nxe5 myself... we'll see

Hm, I think that 13.Qxf7+ followed by Bg5+ wins a rook by force.
Anyway, as I play the RuyLopez Exchange after a6, i can't really say anything about Nxe5 though I think that instead of 8....Qh4+ a more intersting move would be 8....c5 or the simple 8...Nf6 for black.

thanks for your feedback. i think that white has nothing after Kd8. but ill check with an engine.

here is another training game in the Ruy from yesterday. This time i was white:



by the way, why do i get an error when i have the player infos in my pgn ?

anyway, i decided to sign up at http://chess.emrald.net/ and start to do some tactics training there. I might change my desired openings a bit. For now ill play classical Caro Kann and i still need a way to fight the Petrov Defence...

Comments very appreciated
PS: Im scratching on the 1700 on FICS

Training with a friend is a great way to push yourself!

Against the Petrov, try the Spanish Four Knights, it's similar to the Ruy Lopez.

My rating on the chess tactics server is now 1519 after 12 puzzles.. i hope i can do some more tomorrow

i played a random opponent today and guess what ? a ruy lopez he was 1668 and im now 1695 after this win:



i missed some tactical blows, but overall im very satisfied how i used my opponents weak moves

ok i had a few more games, i want to talk a little about it:



i wasnt satisfied with my handling of the Nimzo Indian. But on the other Hand i didnt learn theory yet, so i guess its ok. It gave me a hard time against a much weaker opponent ( about 150 pts)
Would love to hear some thoughts from Nimzo players !

the 2nd game was another Ruy Lopez. Normally i dont like exchanging my Bishop for the c6 knight, but this time i feel like it was right. Game went pretty decent but still a tough fight for me:



i am really on a winning streak, but that should change soon in fact the next game i played was a draw with an interesting material imbalance in the closed sicilian:



after that draw my rating is 1707. I hope i can maintain the 1700+
i didnt have much more time for chess during the weekend and had no tactics solved on the tactics server. but gonna take that back up tomorrow !

comments and motivation welcome

Hi, I thought I'd take a second and comment, since I play the closed Ruy as both colors. I feel like you are trying to force things too early in the closed Ruy before your pieces are fully activated. This is an opening that leads to a central tension that can last for many moves. There is no hurry to dissolve the center as white, since this usually allows black to equalize fairly easily. In particular the first 2 games you presented, the players played it as if it were a gambit. After Nxe5 I think NxN is fine, and if d4, then some move like Qh4 threatens the e4 pawn etc and black will gain some development edge. The 2nd game was simply an opening blunder. 8. cxd4 was necessary, and e4 is not hanging because of the tempo gained on the bishop. Then simply O-O is fine (Nxe4 Re1 etc) or Bc2. When playing as white in the Ruy, build up the pawn center (d4 and e4) and let it sit as long as is feasible, while getting the pieces activated, only then look to find a way to use the center to your advantage. Early e5s and d5s are usually (not always of course) 2nd class moves in this type of closed Ruy. You want to maintain flexibility in your choice of plans. White can play kingside or queenside or center in the Ruy, based on what black does. But if you move those pawns away or just exchange them off early, then your choice of plans becomes very limited. There's a video on here called 'the first 6 moves of the ruy lopez explained' which is a good starter, also useful is just learning the mainline closed Ruy first 9 moves (which is where it starts to branch a lot more) and understand the logic behind those first 8 moves as white and you'll almost always come out in a good playable position rich in strategic ideas. Of course, every now and again some good player busts out an obscure move and whoops ass with it, so we can't all be perfect LOL Just my thoughts anyways.

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