HBO Chess Challenge

Yesterday, in Bryant Park, I played a seven round blitz tournament sponsored by HBO called the HBO chess challenge. Stay tuned for my recap!

Walking Away

It's been quite a while, but I've been playing/studying a lot of chess and have learned quite bit in the past week. One of the most important lessons, however, is one that I will highlight in this post. That is: knowing when to walk away. May 19, I had one of my worst tournaments ever. There are probably several explanations. Perhaps I shouldn't have played on an empty stomach (you need energy to compete at the highest level!). Or maybe my mind wasn't in the right place because it was a day before my birthday. In any case, I scored 1.5/4, with 2 losses and a draw to lower rated opponents! What went wrong? I started off with a poorly played first game where I was fortunate enough to escape with a draw, and went on to win my second game. Yet, in the third game, I again made several critical mistakes, and at the very end, I made the last mistake which lost me the game. (It is often said that the winner of a chess game is the one to make the second-to-last mistake.) And suddenly, I had 1.5/3 with one round to go, and no prospects of winning the tournament. In situations where players are not going to finish in the top places, often times you see many people drop out, because they're having a bad tournament and don't want to make any worse. Remember, when you lose your rating goes down (this is bad!).

Here's the catch. I never drop out of tournaments! I guess part of it is me being a Taurus, so naturally I'm stubborn, but another part of it is my determination to play my way out of a slump. Yet, the last game, my tournament came crashing down with a thud. I didn't even put up a fight. I made moves without calculating, a sign of my lackadaisical play. By the end of the tournament, I was near the bottom of the crosstable, and my rating had gone down nearly 30 points!

It was only until the next day when I talked to my dad about the night before. I was in a better mood (it was my birthday!!!) and was willing to talk about what went wrong. Chess players often have short memories, relishing their wins and forgetting their losses. He told me, "If you were playing that badly, why did you continue? You're too stubborn and you paid for it. Know when to walk away son." (I think that was word for word what he said)

I think his words aren't just important in chess, but in life. Sometimes, people need to know when something is not meant to be, and when to walk away. Walking away doesn't mean leaving something forever, it just means taking a break every now and then is ok. I'm not saying I'm gonna drop out every time things aren't going my way, but if I'm smart, I think I'll figure out when I can or can't push the envelope.

Blitz in the Park

Recently, I went to the park (Marcus Garvey Park to be precise) to play some blitz games with the guys I've known in the park for nearly a decade. Once upon a time, I would lose game after game after game. That's how you get better, by playing and learning from your mistakes. Since I never had a coach, I would always play as much as I could in public parks to get playing experience. Over the years, I have come to truly appreciate what the guys in the park have meant to my development not only in chess, but as a person. When I was young, they looked out for me and made sure I was on my way. When I got older (I say that like I'm an old man!) they showed me I had a lot to learn. What can I say, thanks guys!

So what are we looking at in the picture? You're looking at a form of chess called blitz. Blitz is basically chess with a clock (or timer). Normally, players have 5 minutes each on their clock, so one has to calculate far faster usual. Purists say that blitz is bad for your overall chess strength. They say that if you play blitz on a consistent basis, it affects your chess in real games (at longer time controls). However, since I haven't played too much of late, I think blitz keeps me sharp. I can play blitz in the park all day... Well till next time!

The Draw Offer

There are three results in chess: Win, lose, or draw. Today, however, I'm gonna focus on one result: the draw. Over the years, I have grown sick of draws. In this post I'll tell you why.

Draws occur in a few ways. Either the character of the position is completely simplified, or one side has no legal moves and is NOT in checkmate (this is called stalemate). However, too many times, games end prematurely because of the draw offer. In most tournaments, at any point during the game, a player can offer his/her opponent a draw, a peace offering if you will, and split the point. The game ends immediately if the opponent accepts the draw offer, and thats that.

Too many times in big open (cash) tournaments, in the last round, tournament leaders offer each other draws, to preserve their place in the standings. While this does ensure themselves a share of the winnings, it hurts the sporting nature of the royal game. Chess is supposed to be fighting and exciting right to the end. When you have premature draws, you often have the audience asking, "why did it end?" If chess is ever to attract serious corporate sponsorship and universal appeal, most draw offers need to be eliminated.

Draw offers don't just occur in the last round of big tournaments. In most tournaments, there will always be draws. So why do people offer draws? Sometimes, if in serious time trouble, opponents are reluctant to play on even if they have a strategic advantage because they're afraid they'll lose on time or make a critical blunder. In other instances, a player will make a draw because he/she has a lower rating than their opponent, and feels that a draw is a good result.

Here's my question: If one continues to make/accept draws, how will that person ever learn to deal with critical situations like time trouble, tough opponent, etc... If a chess player wants to truly develop their game, they should play out every position. Does a basketball game stop because the score is tied with 5 minutes to go? Perhaps even more appropriately, does a soccer game end because its 0-0 (nil-nil) with 20 minutes left? Even if a game seems to be steering towards a tie/draw, play it out! More often than not, I have actually found that miraculous things happen in dead drawn positions. Moral of story: short draws=bad, playing it out till the end=good.

By the way, this picture is from the World Open in July of 2010. The World Open is one of the strongest open tournaments in the United States. The funny thing is, at this tournament I had four draws from nine games. But guess what? Those draws were hard fought games.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have really tried to find my game. Some things you don't forget- like how the pieces move, simple tactics, endgame ideas... But there are other things you simply don't remember. Chess is constantly evolving, especially with opening theory, and it is a constant struggle to make sure you are up to date. So far, I haven't lost any games because of any critical opening mistakes, but a chess player must always be alert. One move, one mistake, can cost you the game. That's what's different about chess than other games or sports.

Anyways, over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to play in a number of tournaments and try to get my rating up. When I started my comeback (April 10), my rating was 2282. After six tournaments, my rating is now 2330. In later posts I will explain the rating system, but as of now and I am extremely pleased with my progress! Here is a picture of me last week at the Marshall Chess Club, the oldest and most famous chess club in New York (and perhaps the world!) This past weekend, I placed outright second with 4/5 (3 wins 2 draws). Stay posted folks!

Welcome

I've always wanted to create a blog. So much stuff you read, see, and think about is left unsaid, and it would be so great to have it in one place! This blog will largely document one of my greatest passions: chess. I have played chess since I was five, but took a hiatus in high school because I didn't have time to compete at a high level. However, now I'm back! I'm curious to see how my return to chess will turn out...