Overdue post! Matches vs Numpty

Posted on July 28th, 2011 by Richard

Well it appears quite sometime since my last post!
I have still been playing chess since my last post with mixed success.
I am disappointed my 5 min blitz rating still remains lower than I want.
My opening play is generally reasonable though there are parts that still need study but I feel it is my middle and endgame I have to do better with and also I need to play more quickly!

Anyway I will try & put more effort into understanding the mid & end games. Meanwhile I keep sparring away with my favourite & great chess engine Numpty. When I play the Scotch opening Numpty often plays the Malanuik variation Bb4+. This can then transpose into other variations depending how play goes. I still haven’t mastered this opening variation as white & usually Numpty beats me in this variation.

My favourite white opening against Numpty remains the g4 Bayonet variation of the Advance CaroKann. I have found some areas that Numpty doesn’t like in this variation & it has been interesting playing this against Numpty.

Here then are x2 recent games vs Numpty. First a win for me in the CaroKann g4 Bayonet var & then a win for Numpty in the Scotch Malanuik variation (transposed to Tartakower var). Enjoy…

Game1: RPD vs Numpty CaroKann adv g4 bayonet var 1-0

Game 2: Scotch Malanuik var (transposed to Tartakower var) 0-1

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Mixed post:-Rapidplay and SCID software!!

Posted on November 25th, 2010 by Richard

I have played 2 rapidplay club matches over the last week.
Format is G30 as White & Black against the same opponent.
I quite enjoy that format overall in contrast to other players who seem to prefer longer play games.

Results? In the first match I lost both games & in the second match I won both games! All very topsy turvy!!!
Here below I show 1 loss and 1 win. The games were definitely not good with many poor moves and missed opportunities for both sides but especially from my side! I have room for considerable improvement and I will try and learn from my mistakes & so try to improve!

Game 1-Colle vs English defence opening!
I am black and should have played 16…. Nxg3 but I didn’t and then the White bishops were strong and I made a blunder with my knight at the end & I resigned!

Next game: French Defence (I am black and make a big mistake at the start but White does not finish me off and later I get a chance and white makes a blunder giving mate!)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

SCID chess database & game play software

I have mainly done my computing on PC’s running MSWindows (XP or Vista) and a long while ago I installed SCID chess database. I didn’t really use it much as I also had Fritz9 and ChessBase Light and found these easier to use.

However I recently added Ubuntu10.04 to my son’s old Vista computer which now dual boots. I am enjoying the Linux type computing with Ubuntu and I added SCID to Ubuntu to try it again but I cannot get it to play a game with any installed engine (Stockfish Toga or Crafty).

Does anyone know how I can play against an engine using SCID? I will continue to try to do this but I am most grateful for any helpful instruction (of course I have followed a few links from Google search but no post has solved this for me yet). Does anyone reading this post use SCID? If so please let me know how to play against an engine with SCID-thanks!!

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I am now aiming to get my FICS 5 min blitz rating to over 1400 by Christmas! (Currently my FICS 5 min rating is around 1200 and I feel if I can play more I can get it to over 1400-here goes….)

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BSE Chess Congress 2010

Posted on November 1st, 2010 by Richard

Last weekend (30/31 Oct 2010) was the Bury St Edmunds Chess Congress in the

new  Apex function hall. There was a large entry of over 170 chess players.

BSE Chess Congress 2010 in the new Apex building

Anyway I played badly in my 4 matches in the Minor section only acheiving a draw with 3 losses so finishing with 1/5!

This was very disappointing to me. I played several openings:- French Exchange (as black)/Alekhines’s defence (as white)/Bird’s Opening (as black)/Nimzowitch defence (as white) and my favourite Scotch (as white).

There was a joint winner in the Open section-a tie between GM M Turner and GM N Pert

 Open Section

 Here is my only half reasonable reult-the draw I made in round2:

Alekhine’s defence-Draw agreed

I was very disappointed with my play and results-in all games except round2 draw I blundered away good positions I had achieved. The only thing I can do with this is put it down to experience and try & learn some lessons from it and play better in my next matches! I do need to do 2 specific things:

1. Do not spend too much time on moves and then try to play too quickly to get to the time control.

2. Do not move too quickly and make blunders!

These are almost mutually dependant actions and overall I need to think more carefully about how I play each move and the whole game.

So I still have a lot to learn and a lot to improve to achieve my aim to play good chess and improve my rating!

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Must improve my ratings-Blitz & OTB

Posted on October 28th, 2010 by Richard

My 2 current chess goals are to improve my Blitz rating and my OTB rating.

I want to get my 5min blitz rating to over 1400(currently is 1200) and my OTB BCF rating to over 100. Both should be possible if I can spend some time playing and studying!

Here is a blitz game I won today.

Alekhine defence B02-I am playing White:

I enjoyed the successful kingside attack finishing with mate!

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Catalan BogoIndian opening…pardon?!

Posted on October 4th, 2010 by Richard

I lost my last OTB game last week. I was black and white played 1.d4.
My main reply is 1….e6 and from then on there are a myriad of possibilities of openings depending on the next moves. I have had some coaching recently in the English opening but have not yet played it enough to know the variations.

In this game I lost and when I analysed the game with the computer engine (Crafty) it told me the opening was the Catalan BogoIndian.
The what???
The Catalan BogoIndian! (ever heard of it-ever played it?!).

Well I lost the game-I kept losing position gradually & somewhat lost interest in the game. Eventually I made a really poor move but I wasn’t really interested in playing by then!
Why don’t White players just stick to 1.e4? It would make life so much easier & a whole lot more fun! 1.d4 and 1.c4 should be banned (along with everything else except 1.e4!)!!

Now I am going to check out the Catalan BogoIndian defence & find out how this opening should be played!

Here is the game:

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Thetford RapidPlay 18/09/10

Posted on September 22nd, 2010 by Richard

Thetford RapidPlay chess

The tournament was a great success and enjoyable for all chess players even those who were a little disappointed with their results.

I played in the Minor u125 section ending with 4/6. This section was won by Richard Donahue. My son Chris played in the strong Open section and he finished with 3/6 and overall this section was won by Stephen Orton.

Unfortunately although I scored all my games I made some errors in the scoring & did not complete any one scoresheet & I cannot show my games! I must improve at scoring while playing to ensure I do not miss out moves but record all accurately & quickly.

Chris & I had a good time and we hosted Steyn & Jarno who did well too! Thanks Kevin for all your work!

Thetford RapidPlay Chess 18/09/120

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Written by: Richard