In praise of MatoJelic… Fried is fried by Schlechter

Posted on September 25th, 2014 by Richard

Here is a chess video of mine in praise of MatoJelic.
It shows the Birds opening From Gambit Mestel variation between Fried and Schlechter 0-1..enjoy.
Mato is a fine chess commentator..check out his YouTube Videos…

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Written by: Richard

FICS Server problems

Posted on August 3rd, 2014 by Richard

Presently I play most of my chess online at FICS as 5 minute blitz games which I generally enjoy.

There is a problem though I face regularly with this and this is when the FICS server loses connection to my computer. I play with Babas Chess GUI interface and there is no way to know the FICS server has lost connection except that the opponent is making no move!

This is a pain as FICS has a policy of forfeit games if a player manually disconnects from the server. So very often I find myself waiting for a reconnection to the FICS sever that never comes and I am forced to either disconnect via the Babas Chess menu and try and reconnect or just close the Babas Chess program and restart. Usually I will also need to reboot my computer as the problem can be persistent.

Often I lose rating points and the whole business is a frustrating waste of time for me and my opponent.
I wish there was a way for FICS to recognise when the FICS chess server stops of it’s own accord rather than being manually stopped deliberately by myself or any player for whatever reason!

FICS lost server connection-example 1

The above screenshot shows this lost connection to FICS in Babas Chess with the opponent’s time showing as negative! Below is another example and this can happen repeatedly when I try and play FICS chess!

FICS no play connection lost_minus 30 secs_030814 example 2

(NB to see the screenshots larger click on the images and use the browser zoom function {often ctrl+} to enlarge).

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Written by: Richard

My chess game of the week video series no.3

Posted on June 16th, 2014 by Richard

Here is my next video in my chess game of the week YouTube series.
It is a win for me as White in 2.c3 e6 Alapin Sicilian opening variation.
I haven’t played many games during the week and this was not a good game as I made a blunder to lose a pawn but my opponent then blundered a rook! That proved fatal as it gave me an easy win.

The Alapin Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.c3) is my standard defence against the Sicilian defence. It is arguably a boring response to 1….c5 but it can lead to exciting positions. WGM Alisa Melekhina recommends it (see her YouTube videos about it). In this game it virtually transposed to an advanced French defence position for black and that is not good for the black Sicilian player trying to use his pet Sicilian defence!

Sadly over the week I have not played very well and my rating has not improved. So I still want to get my rating between 1400-1600 consistently in 5 minute blitz. My real downfall is frittering away good opening positions with less sound mid-game play and taking too long in the mid and endgame and getting in time trouble.

This is my continual weakness that I have had over the last few years of my chess play and I want to change this, and I need to do this to win more games and get my rating to 1400-1600. On the positive side, I now have a reasonable knowledge of my preferred White and Black openings and defences and I can build on that. I need now to seriously try and eliminate my slow play and improve my mid and endgame play and this should be perfectly possible with practice and patience!

So I am going to try to learn to play more solidly and more quickly in the mid and endgame and this should mean I will win more games, I hope!

I look forward then to playing more and better games through next week and having a better game of the week video to showcase!

I also hope my videos are of some help to other low rated players who are like me trying to improve their rating. Happy chess play everyone 🙂

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Written by: Richard

My chess game of the week (week 2).

Posted on June 9th, 2014 by Richard

I haven’t played many games over the week and my rating remains just below 1300.

Here is my next video on my rpdatutube chess channel showing My chess game of the week playlist and week 2 video:

As a bonus for week 2 I feature x2 games! Both are good wins for me. The first is a win in the French Exchange as black against a 1600 rated opponent. The second is a quick win for me as white in the Philidor defence (opponent rated 1300).

I hope to get time to play more games over the next week and get more material for the next week 3.
Meanwhile I hope you enjoy this video series! Thanks for watching and I hope you can learn something from my games and analysis! 🙂

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Written by: Richard

My new chess video series/playlist at YouTube..”My game of the week”

Posted on June 1st, 2014 by Richard

My game of the week

I have created a new YouTube chess video playlist at my rpdatutube YouTube chess account. It is called “My game of the week” and the first video shows a French Advanced Wade variation win for me as black. The video is shown below:

I like the French defence as both White and Black. Notable GM’s that have played the French defence are GM Nimzovitch, GM Korchnoi, GM Botvinnik, GM Morozevich, GM Akobian, GM Uhlmann to name just a few!

Bobby Fischer did not play the French defence as black. He preferred the Sicilian defence as black. With white against the French he almost always played 3.Nc3 leading to the Classical or Winawer variations but he did not have his normal success rate against the French as in his other openings.

Rating increase based on the French

Many of my games are French defence ones and as I have to improve my rating, I need to play the French defence better! So I look forward to great games with the French defence and even the French Exchange (which I vow not to play as White if I possibly can! It is the most dull variation in the rich French defence system!).

Enjoy your chess over this next week and I hope to have another chess video next week….

Tags: Chess game, Chess Openings, my chess games
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Life of a King (2013)

Posted on May 19th, 2014 by Richard

I recently watched this film ” Life of a King (2013)” on my Sky TV and enjoyed it. Cuba Gooding plays ex felon Mr Eugene Brown who has been converted to chess by a fellow prison inmate during his 20 year incarceration. He struggles to find a job after release from prison and ends up forming a chess club and he helps troubled youngsters through the ideals of chess play applied to life.

Here is a clip from YouTube:

This apparently was based on a real story and despite early problems, the chess club is successful and others are founded elsewhere. This club is a million miles away from the sedate chess club of Bury St Edmunds and the local junior chess club. However both Mr Brown and Mr Jones (of Bury St Edmunds CC & JCC UK)are both passionate about chess and helping youngsters learn the game!

In tribute to this film I show one of my recent games:

ENJOY 🙂

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Written by: Richard