Bad Bishop

Simul 8/1/11

2011-08-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here's the final position from my game in yesterday's 11 board simul with NM Nolan Hendrickson. What started out as a Guicco Piano developed into a very closed game, which I somehow managed to tie up for a victory as black. My first win, in any format, against a master.

Racine G/30 Rounds 1 and 2

2011-05-13T11:19:00.001-07:00

Callahagn - Chryst (0-1)

Chryst - Schneider (0-1)

Chryst-Rajendra (the other one)

2011-02-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

Anu, the younger Rajendra troublemaker, beat me here in a nice comeback. Someday I will learn to take kids seriously and squelch counterplay when I have a nice position. Kudos to her for fighting on! I didn't even consider 26....Be3. sigh...

We stopped taking notation here, under four minutes.... but I managed to fritter away the ending, too.

Chryst-Rajendra

2011-02-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

First game of the Kenosha Quad #1, the first rated tournament at the Kenosha Chess Club, and my first as a USCF Tournament Director. A close game with Avinash here, who is strong and getting stronger.

Schneider - Chryst

2010-07-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Scott (1929) had white here in a "Four Pawns Attack". I managed to acheive, what I consider a strategically won game. But I got careless in the end, grabbed a useless pawn, and stumbled into a mating net. Frustrating, because I really could taste it this time... but I let it slip away.

Chryst-Draves

2010-07-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sneaked one by Rodney tonight in the Domsky Swiss Round 2. I was white, and clearly losing for most of the game. But behold the power of a passed pawn!

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be2 e6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d5 7. e5 Ne4 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Rc1 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qe7 11. c5 a6 12. Nd2 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 f5 14. O-O O-O 15. f3 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 Na5 17. Rb1 Nc4 18. Qe2 f4 19. Bf2 Rab8 20. Rb4 b5 21. cxb6 cxb6 22. Rxc4 dxc4 23. Qxc4 b5 24. Qb3 Rbc8 25. Rc1 Rc4 26. Qd1 Rfc8 27.d5 Qd7 28. d6 Qc6 29. Bh4 Qd7 30. a3 h6 31. Be7 Qa7+ 32. Kf1 Rxc3 33. Rxc3 Rxc3 34. d7 Qe3 35. d8=Q+ Kf7 36. Q8d2 *

Neimi-Chryst City Championship Round 5

2010-05-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

After getting to the end of my "book" in the Ruy Lopez, I made some awkward moves which Nicole capitalized on to pressure my game till it cracked. What a frustrating game.

An "Instructive" game from Rick

2010-04-30T07:14:00.001-07:00

Chryst - Callahagn

2010-04-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

I'll have to go back and look at this "Neo-Mieses Scotch" and see where I went wrong. I knew it up to move 6. Not sure about 7.Bd3 though...

Waller-Salvhus

2010-04-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

I had a bye this week, but here's my friend Rick's game against the club bully Matt Waller. Thanks for sharing, Rick!

City Championship 2010

2010-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

G/80, Round 1. I had Black against Rick Salvhus, a very strong player and a member of my congregation! Can you believe he had the nerve to beat me?

Well, I played a passive Philidor, delayed castling for some inexplicable reason, and dropped a pawn early. The rest was a long slow slide toward defeat. I had a couple of good moves - was glad to have found Nb6 on move 17 - but otherwise this game was all Rick's.

Draves Match part 2

2010-03-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Second match game against Rodney Draves. I won this one with the white pieces. A fun Nimzovitch. I made at least 2 obvious mistakes. For one, dropping the pawn early on e6 (just didn't see Qd6 for some reason!). Later, I missed on move 25 that I could just take his pawn on e7. After all that business trying to bung up the pawn... somehow I got fixated on Re6. O well. I managed to win in the endgame, as his structural problems were too great even after all that. An interesting but sloppy win for me, I guess.

Waukesha Memorial Round 3

2010-03-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Again I had a better position and gave back ground. I was on the black side of this Leningrad Dutch (which really seemed to confuse or bother my opponent).

Anyway I won a pawn but then carelessly dropped one back. A surprise pin threat won me a piece near the end, and I was able to convert the point.

Waukesha Memorial Round 2

2010-03-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

I play black here. I lost this one early due to opening trouble - didn't know the Guiocco Piano that well, and fell for a trap, apparently. Then I dropped another piece and it really fell apart.

Waukesha Memorial Round 1

2010-03-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Played in the Waukesha Memorial this Saturday. Took my 8 year old daughter, too, for her first USCF rated tournament. She lost all her games but showed good sportsmanship and will hopefully count it as a learning experience.

For my part I finished with 1.5 out of 3 (we withdrew before the last round - it was getting late!). Anyway here is my draw from the first round, which I played as white. I should have won, but somehow lost the thread and let my opponent start counter-attacking.

Draves Match

2010-03-18T20:15:00.001-07:00

Match play tonight against Rodney Draves. I had black in this G/80 game. Rodney plays the Polish (1.b4) pretty often, so this wasn't a big surprise. I did throw him a little by not playing the d5 line I usually do.

I think the main problem I had in this game was playing Ne4 prematurely. He was able to pile more and more on that square, and I wasn't. Down a pawn, I thought the other knight post would help compensate... but I just couldn't see how to do it. Ended up resigning. We meet again next week!

City Championship

2010-03-05T06:30:00.001-08:00

Just finished up the Racine City Championship (G/80). I lost the first two rounds - not interesting games - and then had to take a couple bye rounds. So in the last round I get paired against John Oberg. I have the white pieces, and we reached this position:

Here I played Qb3, but the right move is Qa6 trapping his queen for the quick win! It works because of the threat Nxe7+, and no matter what he does I end up winning at least a piece.

But why do things the easy way? I'll post the rest of the game later, but I was in good shape right up to the end when he resigned.

Oberg-Chryst

2010-01-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

A nice win on the black side of the Scotch. John lost on time, but he was a couple pawns down by then too.

Schneider - Chryst

2010-01-21T19:33:00.000-08:00

I really struggle against the 4 pawns attack. Here with the black pieces I can't make it out of the opening with a real handle on the game.

City G/30 Round 2

2010-01-14T21:19:00.000-08:00

Played white again, against Nicole Niemi, who specializes in the French. Tried to play the Advance variation, but didn't get it right... and while I had some counterplay, I was behind most of the game.

City G/30 Rounnd 1

2010-01-14T21:08:00.000-08:00

Had the white pieces in this Petroff against Steve Callaghan. From a totally lost position I managed to defend long enough for him to lose on time.

Final Round of Memorial

2009-10-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

Lost with the white pieces to Radasin Markovic, an 1800+ player

Callahagn-Chryst

2009-10-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

I think 25 ... Nc5 was the turning point here, and I should have retreated the Knight. Mental block about that c5 square, I guess, which I REALLY wanted. Once the pawn structure is fractured, he was simply able to exploit it slowly. The rest was just me trying to hang on for a draw...

Peel-Chryst

2009-10-01T20:34:00.001-07:00

Here's my game with Art Peel from tonight, first round of the Walter Tuebner Memorial Tournament. A nice win with the black pieces for me:

Oberg-Chryst

2009-09-11T06:28:00.001-07:00

Agreed to a draw with John when he offered on move 19.

Chryst - Odom

2009-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

From last night's G/30.

Played a miserable game. Should have dropped the Knight in the late opening... Should have lost with a worse pawn structure in the late middle... Josh was in time trouble though, and by the end I managed a won ending. It's ugly but it's a win.

Back to the Club

2009-09-04T08:05:00.001-07:00

After a summer hiatus, back at the club. Here's my G/30 loss to Steve Callahagn. I think I was ok until c6. I had the black pieces here.

Of course I walked into a stupid fork at the end but I think he had the upper hand by then anyway.

HCCIX - Round 3

2009-04-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ends with a whimper... I lost this game as white in a Sicilian Dragon. Felt ok until I was down a pawn, but most of the game revolved around my desperate pawn march, which eventually garnered his rook but left mine unable to defend against his own pawn advances. My opponent was a nice H.S. kid named Tyler Thomas, about 1700.

I ended up skipping the last round of the tournament for family reasons, but I still feel "OK" with my performance here. At least I didn't lose to any 900s like last time around!

HCCIX - Round 2

2009-04-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Won this one with White against Bill Murtaugh, a 1400 player. I think he was winning, but he simply blundered away the rook at the end.

HCCIX - Round 1

2009-04-25T09:26:00.000-07:00

I had black against a 1700 - Tom Ulrich (one of those pesky kids, of course). While I've looked at the Scotch Gambit as White, I am unfamiliar with the Scotch Game as Black. So he isolated a pawn in the opening, and it still seemed like I could hang on for a while.... maybe I should have taken the knight on move 18.

Once he got more force aimed at my pawn it was too late, and I'm sure the endgame wasn't accurate, but I'm also sure it didn't matter much by then. 1-0

Hales Corners Challenge IX Tomorrow

2009-04-24T18:43:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I play in the HC Chall IX, a four round G/60 event. It's about as slow as I can stand on a good day. So one of my goals tomorrow is to take my time and not rush through the moves.

I am playing in the Open section. Since I am rated about 1520, I could play in the under 1600 Reserve section (which I did once before in this tournament and it was ugly). Anyway I am keeping my expectations low, and just want to go do my best.

Chess-Publisher seems to have gone away, and with it, all my games I posted using it. So I will be switching to a new PGN viewer for blogs, ChessFlash, which looks very nice.

I skipped the Racine City Championship tournament (G/80) due to some scheduling conflicts, but hope to get back to regular club attendance in late May. I guess that's all for now.

b4?

2009-02-26T21:19:00.000-08:00

Rodney likes to play this 1.b4 (the Polish, I think?). Anyway I seemed to have a pretty good game and was a pawn up when he resigned with 3 minutes left to my 40.

Tiwari-Chryst

2009-02-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

My opponent here is playing in his first rated tournament, but still puts up a good fight. Things start to go well for me with the tactical sequence around my bishop on the long diagonal.

The Knight or the Pawn?

2009-02-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

In the first round of the 59th Club Championship, my slightly offbeat Sicilian took a turn for the worse, I think, on move 14. I should have taken with the knight instead of the pawn. Later on move 17 I should have taken with the pawn instead of the queen. I may analyze more deeply later, but that seems to be a major goof.

Scotch Gambit Win

2009-01-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

Sprung a Scotch Gambit on Art, who was expecting me to play a Ruy Lopez. Got a good game, and should have won more convincingly and sooner, but managed to finally press the advantage. This game was really fun. I like gambits.

KID - Take with the pawn!

2009-01-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

Played a KID against Scott and would have had a much better game if I took with the pawn instead of the rook on move 17. Live and learn. I played on for a while after dropping the exchange, but couldn't hold the ending and resigned.

g3 Sicilian

2009-01-22T22:28:00.000-08:00

John usually plays this system against me, and I've had some good luck on the black side. I went on to win this one.

Free Queen?

2009-01-22T22:26:00.000-08:00

Young Sagaar benefitted from my blunder at the end of this game. Otherwise, I think I was winning.

Chryst-Larkin

2008-11-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Tough loss tonight. Notes to self: STUDY THE PHILIDOR. Don't start a competing pawn storm when the other guy will get there first. Don't underestimate lower-rated opponents. Get some sleep before you play. Ugh....

Failed Offbeat French

2008-11-14T19:34:00.001-08:00

What do you do against a higher-rated player who specializes in the French? Well, I tried to go out of book (mine anyway) soon, and it didn't work out too well. The game went on for a few moves after this but it was over much sooner. I might have been ok before I moved my knight to d4 but, maybe not.

So Close!

2008-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Game 1 of the 2008 Wally Tuebner Memorial Tournament, I get paired with Scott Schneider, who hovers just under 2000. I felt like I was ahead most of the game, but managed to blow it as usual. I missed an important tactic on move 31... instead of dxc5 I should have gone Qxb5+ and picked up the loose rook on f1. There were some other inaccuracies too. Once I let his knight get to f5 the game was over for me. But it was nice to have played well for most of it anyway:

Work Trumps Chess

2008-10-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Had to un-register from the Hales Corners tournament because of a funeral. I'll catch the next one I guess.

Thursday nights at the club just finished another G/20 tourney, in which my quick rating dropped slightly from 1644 to 1632. Drew an 1800, lost to a 1700, and two experts, and beat a 900. No great shakes there.

Latest News

2008-09-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Today I registered for the Hales Corners Challenge VIII. I decided, with Matt Waller's encouragement, to play in the open section this year. I know it's probably pretty ambitious, but, I want to see how much I have really improved lately. I've been beating 1700 rated players with some frequency, so maybe I can have some success here.

Also, I am getting tired of the chesspublisher website that I have been using, as it keeps messing up the games I post through it. I'm looking for another option for posting my games here so you can click through them. Still searching...

Chryst-Peel

2008-09-18T21:21:00.001-07:00

Another game against Art Peel, another win. An interesting contest between his bishop pair and my material advantage. Ruy Lopez:

At this point I had less than 5 minutes and stopped keeping score. I managed to win on the board while both of us had less than 3 minutes or so.

Chryst-Waller

2008-09-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

Round five, and due to the small number of entries this swiss tourney is more like a round robin. I get paired with our club champion, Matt, who just reached expert and is improving still. He surprised me with Alekhine's defense, which I don't know very well (and it shows). After winning the bishop pair, well, he just won:

Oberg-Chryst

2008-09-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Also round 4 game from tonight.

Should have played maybe 8... e5 here. And 14...Kh8 maybe.

And after I blundered here, managed to win the game anyway as my opponent lost on time (thought he had ten minutes or so left when he did, too!). I stopped keeping score because he was less than 5 minutes at this point, but I played various stalling moves, sacrificing position more and more to slow him down. Anyway it worked out. I felt kinda crummy taking the win on time, but then again, that's part of G/30 isn't it?

City G/30 Champ. Round 3

2008-09-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

I think I played fairly well in this game, with some questions about move 12 and 16.... but I've been tinkering with my openings and Nicole is very strong too. Anyway I lost this one as black.

Chryst-Callaghan

2008-09-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

A nice win tonight on the white side of a fairly positional French.

Chryst-Peel

2008-07-31T20:22:00.001-07:00

Another nice win tonight. Not nice so much by quality of play, just nice to beat another higher-rated player. I figure this tournament should earn me about 60-ish rating points.

Anyway in this Sicilian Najdorf - I managed to stupidly drop a knight early on. But he still had to fend off my kingside attack and didn't do it so accurately. I mainly was trying to just keep opening lines, which he let me do, and then I managed to penetrate his position with my queen. This led to a tactical series in which I could have equalized somewhat- but then he dropped his queen. The rest was just a mop-up.

How to Lose a Won Grob

2008-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

My opponent, who enjoys the offbeat and unusual, played the Grob. Either as a gentleman to give me some concession for being late, or as an attempt to rattle me on top of my pressure to play catch-up on the clock.

What I've learned about playing Black against the Grob is not to be in a hurry to grab the g4 pawn. I think that building my center and concentrating on development helped me greatly here, and I was up a pawn and in command for most of this game.

When my opponent reached 5 minutes on the clock, I stopped writing moves and shifted into "blitz mode", which was probably a bad idea for me. I still had about 10 minutes at that point. I should have played it cool. But I got caught up, and in playing quicker walked into a knight fork, only to lose the game when he had a minute left.

I don't know whether to be frustrating for letting it slip away - or feel good about having a won game before that. I think I'll go with the latter.

Chryst-Draves

2008-07-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

From now on, I am coming to every game late! Well maybe not, but 16 minutes less time didn't stop me from stealing this game from Rodney. A slower opening and a few dropped pawns and I was able to dominate the position.

Post mortem shows he had some good drawing chances from the final position in which he resigned. But he was down and time and it had been a tough game. Can't be too hard on him.

An interesting opening... turns out this reaches, by transposition, the main line of the Robatsch

Quam-Chryst

2008-07-10T22:27:00.001-07:00

Welcomed a new member to the club tonight. He hasn't played chess in some years, and this was his first official USCF tournament game. We agreed his lack of opening knowledge was a major flaw in this game. Still, he seems to have great potential and it was nice to meet a new player.

Lost in the French

2008-07-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight I played Nicole, who specializes in the French. Having no fear, I plunged right in and went astray early. However, I managed to activate my pieces quickly while she was regrouping after a gain of material, and gave her some grief. She finally decided to sack the exchange back and head for a pawn-up endgame, which she won. I think I could have improved in several areas, but the opening stands out. Back to the books if I plan on playing the Advance French against a French specialist again!

King's Gambit Tourney

2008-06-26T21:51:00.001-07:00

Had a theme tourney at the club tonight - all games were King's Gambit (Accepted) and began on move 3.

I had a good showing - with 7 wins out of 9 games. Won a couple on time, but had some good positions too. Most of the players I beat were higher rated - including Scott who hovers around 2000.

The downside is that these were 5-minute games. I have begun appreciating the longer time controls - and with an opening like the KGA, with which I am not familiar, it would have been nice to have more time to think.

Next week starts the G/80 "Domsky Summer Swiss" tournament. I'll post those games as they are played - one a week.

A Chess.com Cochrane Gambit

2008-05-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Fun little Cochrane Gambit I played on Chess.com. My opponent expressed some skepticism at this "unsound" opening. But thanks to a recent lecture from IM Bill Paschall at Chesslecture.com, I thought I would give it a whirl. And whaddayaknow...

I don't think I played it as accurately as I could have, but my opponent certianly didn't either. It struck me that he wasted way too much time trying to artificially make his king safe, when he would have been better finding a way to get all his pieces active. As it was, he just sealed his own rook in, and didn't really help his king that much anyway. Or so it seemed.

Another Poor Sicilian

2008-05-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

I will grant myself the excuse of being tired... which I was. But I wasn't pleased with my passive and inaccurate play here. Oberg plays solid chess, and I continue to play "safe" and quiet moves until I feel desperate, then I go pawn grabbing, but by then I think I was already losing. I think at move 10 I was ahead, then started to slip with poor plans that had little strategic point. Anyway, the game looks much different now that I am not so exhausted. Note to self: take a nap.

Sicilian Pawn Woes

2008-05-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Down a pawn, accidentally, in an open Sicilian. Post-mortem at IHOP showed I wasn't even bad being down a pawn, due to white's more active pieces in these kinds of positions. But I played like I was losing, thinking I was, and well... fought it out for a while. One major leap forward in my chess ability will be when I can sac a pawn and not care so much because I have compensation. This concept, even in an opening where I should know better, eludes me.

Chryst-Larkin

2008-05-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

So because of Ascension Day service, I had to come late to this game (G/80, and I showed about 23 minutes late). So playing rather quickly against a lower rated opponent, it still worked out o.k. His unfamiliarity with the opening began his demise, and after he dropped a couple pieces, blundered the queen too. All told, this took me only about 8 minutes of playing time...

Good Knight, Bad Bishop

2008-04-30T20:41:00.001-07:00

I play a LOT of online games, mostly at Chess.com, where my rating hovers around 1600.

Anyway, most are forgettable, but this one struck me. I was very impressed with myself for assessing the importance of my good knight versus his bad bishop. It started with a contest for the d4 square in some sort of Advance French variation. When the dust settled, and the minor pieces were pared down, I figured if I traded rooks and got my pawns to black squares, I would have the better game. So it was...

How to teach your child to play chess

2008-04-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

I started when my daughter was about 2 - just showing her the pieces and the names. "Where's the bishop?" Etc...

Then at around three, she could set the board up - first by copying me, then on her own. I think it was also then that we practiced taking turns. She could move the pieces however she wanted (and most turns, just took or "ate" something of mine). The last one with any pieces wins, of course. She won a lot.

Around four she learned how the pieces move. Still we didn't introduce concepts of "check" and "checkmate" until a little later.

By 5 she was able to grasp many concpets - including "en passant", "castling" and of course, check and checkmate. Along the way I have been teaching her tips and tricks, tactics and strategy.

Now she's 6 (since December) and recently got a laugh from the adults at the chess club when she showed them how to "make luft". She knows pins, forks, discovered attacks, and even the windmill. She has learned several openings - the sicilian (dragon), the spanish, and the center-counter. She knows about Scholar's Mate (every scholastic player needs to know about this) and how to defend against it.

The main thing I keep working on with her, which I am sure is a universal problem for kids, is to slow down and take her time before moving. "Sit on your hands" is a helpful idea - which I have heard others use.

I also give her a choice when we play - whether I will play "tough" or "easy". She seems to enjoy the challenge at times, but also likes to win once in a while (don't we all?). This way she can also learn from my "bad moves", like when I put a knight on the rim, as well as my good ones.

Anyway just wanted to share the process I used, in a step-by-step way, to get my daughter into chess. I hope others can use the same basic outline, tailored to each child's abilities and desires, to help them learn the game too!

Chryst-Schneider, City Championship 2008

2008-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

I will finish loading this game later... but here's how it started.

Chryst-Chua

2008-04-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

In the final round, I played the 1st-grade state champion, Zachary Chua. Zachary played my daughter in the last round of her first tournament (and beat her quickly!). So I was happy with my "revenge" even if he is only a kid and only 700something rated. The way this tournament was going for me, anything was possible!

I was showing my daughter the game and somehow I seem to have lost the paper it was written on! If I find it I will still upload it here.

I can tell you though, I played the white side of a Ruy Lopez, and he played tough. I managed to pick up a pawn here and there and get into a won endgame. I do recall that he fianchettoed his bishop on g7, which didn't seem to fit the structure of this opening very well.

It was a good game and I can see why he's the champ. I'm sure in a few years he will be far ahead of me.

Found it... here:

White - Chryst

2008-04-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Another underrated opponent. Not that I played that well. Note to self - figure out a better system against an early f4. Some other miscues, but even though I was clearly losing, I hung around for a while in the endgame.

Chryst - Steinborn

2008-04-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

I was pretty happy with this win. I think my opponent just missed the tactics (pins, mostly) concerning the e5 push. I didn't include the whole game, but it did end in mate.

Hall-Reppen - Chryst

2008-04-14T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here's a terrible game in which I continue my struggles against the Smith-Morra Gambit. I think I will start playing 2...d4 against it or something. I think I had a reasonable position until I got passive and let the kingside attack overwhelm my position. Maybe I should have played Ne5 instead of e5.... hmm. Maybe I was lost before that, even.

I'll also note that my opponent was grossly under-rated. He even agreed. 605? Ridiculous.

Anyway....

Chryst-Schneider

2008-03-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Played a strong player - and hung in there for most of the game. The moral of this story is not to resign too early (which I did). Even though a pawn down, post-mordems showed I had several chances to force a draw. Sigh...

My Chessaholic Daughter

2008-03-07T21:38:00.001-08:00

I've enjoyed teaching my daughter to play chess.

We started when she was about 3 with the names and placement of the pieces, then practiced simply taking turns (letting her move the pieces however she wanted).

The next stage, when she was ready, focused on learning how the pieces actually move.

Finally we got to check and checkmate, en passant, castling, and promotion. She's even learned things like pins, forks, skewers, batteries, and some rudimentary opening principles.

Now she's teaching her younger (3 year old) sister to play.

I also started her, last month, playing in Scholastic tournaments. She did surprisingly well for her first time - it's a long day for a 6 year old. But the look on her face when she got her medal says it all.

Now I wonder how long it will be till she's better than dad...

Larkin-Chryst

2008-03-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

Round 4, I had a win, too.

I think my opponent simply was unfamiliar with the Sicilian, and also went awry with his knight early in the game.

Chryst-Castro

2008-03-07T21:29:00.001-08:00

Here's my win from Round 3 (I took a bye in Round 2)

Oberg-Chryst

2008-03-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here's my first game (and loss) from our Racine Chess Club Championship:

On move 14... e6 (a mistake) I should have simply traded down all the minor pieces and won the pawn on c2.

I liked my little answer to the threat on my queen... trading queens and winning the two bishops. But I was still behind, I think, and later when he pushed his kingside pawns I didn't really know how to stop them. I was so engrossed in the central piece-play, trying to get something going, that I missed the rook check on the g-file. By then it was over.

Bad Bishop

2008-03-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Thought I would start a chess blog. Here it is.My current OTB Rating is 1276 with a quick rating of 1543. Strange, I know.

I am returning to chess after a 7 year "hiatus".I began playing seriously in college, when I attended the Bronx-Yonkers chess club. I also lived in St. Louis and played at the Crestwood Chess Club and in Detroit for a year playing at the Troy Chess Club. Then I moved to Racine Wisconsin and started with the Racine Chess Club.

After a disastrous showing at the Chicago Open in 2000, I quit chess altogether. There were other reasons at the time, too, but that's what happened.

Since then, I have had three daughters, and the oldest, now 6 years old, has begun to play chess herself. They started a chess club at her school, and I became the default "coach". This, coupled with the growing interest in chess from a couple of the other dads, provoked my interest in the game again.

In the last few months, I have re-committed to Chess and have cleared my cluttered repetoire of hobbies to focus on it intently. I thought I would start a chess blog to document my games as well as my (hopeful) improvement. Read along if you'd like. I'm sure there's a million chess blogs out there better than mine. But here it is.