A little Chess update before I get into the game, last Tuesday I went to the local Chess club and played over the board with random but serious people for the first time in my life. I played some blitz against at 1900 nearly 2000 level player, I lost but some games were close. Blitz is fun but I don’t take it seriously, it’s more about memorization and knowing openings than the essence of Chess, it still drove home the point it was time to get more serious than I have ever been. I watched some of the people who were in the weekly Tuesday tournament and decided that this is going to be the place every week, 7-12. They play G30/5d which is a 30 minute clock for each player and a 5 second delay, longer than I usually play but not too long to get used to quickly.
The last few days I’ve been balancing a full school schedule of Math, Chem and honors English while trying to spend every other moment looking over something Chess related. Today I finished my test in math, hit the gym and sat down to play a few 15+15 games where I went 4-0 against 1400-1600 rated opponents, never really having been in trouble in any of the games. I expected things to go good seeing as I’ve spent countless hours the last week physically playing and mentally going over positions and tactics. The last game of the series really seemed to bring everything I’ve been working on up to this point together. I was out of my prep on move 1 as my opponent played the Mikenas Defense which is 1.d4 Nc5 but having played the game so well without having any set lines and being in a place I haven’t seen allowed the pure chess ability come out rather than preparation. That being said, I think this is the best game I’ve ever played. I’m coming for the people at the club.
A Journey of 64 Squares 