Day 421: Playing chess every day until I reach a 2000 rating

Watch out Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen! I'm coming for you!
This is another day in my quest for a 2000 rating on chess.com.
Scotch Game
Join our discord to chat about my journey and see others chat about theirs: / discord
#chess

[@mdhustle6106]

At this point it's "Descent into Madness with Patrick".

[@chesswithpatrick]

I’m fine… seriously guys… I’m fine… don’t worry about me… I can handle this just fine. Seriously. I’m ok… seriously. This is ok. I’ll be alright.

[@LikeACosmicGumbo]

Hang tough!

[@aezakmi2232]

I was your opponent in this game, and I found your channel by the link in your account My nickname is AEZAKMI, but someone already took it, so I had to put some changes and put 4 instead of A Well played by the way

[@XinYell]

Played a rapid game ✅ Made chess openings PowerPoint slides ✅ Played 38 blitz/bullet games after this 💀

[@tannerjmewborn7470]

Yeah I’m curious what Patrick means when he says he doesn’t have time to study the game when he plays way more blitz compared to rapid almost every day

[@Marcelo-rv7rn]

@@tannerjmewborn7470 I had a coworker like this. He'd say he didn't have time for stuff but he was making cringe TikToks in his 40s

[@danielward7008]

Yeah, methinks all this "I'm too busy for chess" is just an excuse not to listen to people's advice about studying the game...

[@frictitiousclimbing4991]

The trap we all fall into haha

[@tannerjmewborn7470]

@@frictitiousclimbing4991 the instant gratification of just starting a new blitz game is so hard to beat lol

[@stephenwestland942]

I really thought you had that one Patrick. You played well throughout until the very end. At 30:54 something happened that happens a lot in your games. You are always focused on mate. So the idea of pushing the king forward to get to, say, g6 to allow mate is really nice. To be honest, when I was watching your game I didn't even consider it. So kudos to you!! What I was looking at was seeing if I could win the e6 pawn. Your plan, though clever, was never going to work because black always has moves like Nf4 to check the king away from g6 (if it gets there) or Rxg2+ (of course). But what I notice in these cases is you get an idea - such as pushing the king to g6 for mate - and you completely forget about the rest of the board. You become just single minded. So much so that you don't even notice the obvious Rxg2+ straight away. I don't know if this helps. And I don't know what you can do about it, if anything. But I mention it because I have seen the same thing happen loads of times. ps. Being in the UK I watch your games normally first thing, in bed with a cup of coffee. It is a great way to start the day!! It makes me feel that some of your zen-like calmness can rub off on me.

[@ibiwisi]

I always appreciate your insights, Stephen. But I'll push back on one point. Of course there's something Patrick can do to address the single-mindedness issue: develop the strong habit of doing a blunder-check before committing to a candidate move. Patrick's tactical vision is strong. At 25:45, there's no way he would miss ...Rxg2+ after Kg4 if he took a moment to look for it. My humble advice (to Patrick and also to myself!) is to practice this thought process on every move, until it becomes a natural reflex. Your thoughts?

[@stephenwestland942]

@@ibiwisi well, I agree. When I play I know that I should check for captures and checks before each move. It’s a no brainer. But for some reason I struggle to have the discipline to do it. I guess that is one reason why I am not a GM :)

[@HunterHunter-tr3it]

Happens to all of us. Don’t get down.

[@NelsonChan-pm5fk]

kudos to you for putting yourself out here for our "entertainment". looking forward to your climb back

[@pandafragrance]

This wasn’t a horrible game. Same two issues I’ve noticed over every game: thinking only on your time and poor board vision. You have a 2500 puzzle rating, so you clearly can solve even harder problems when you know there is a solution. You just need practice at causing and recognizing those problems on both sides of the board in a real game. People on here keep dogging you and telling you a lot of random advice but you have some skill here. Probably just below an average club player for now. You need better positional awareness, or the ability to answer “WHY is my opponent moving his pieces there and HOW can i exploit this or defend it?” Don’t get bogged down by the hate!

[@aries2764]

Patrick doesn't seem to listen to the advice posted here, so, to anyone in the same quest for 2000, STAY AWAY FROM BULLET AND BLITZ i am rated 2100 and got there without touching a single game of bullet or blitz. When i started playing faster time controls, my rapid rating took a dive as i was focusing on not getting flagged rather than playing chess. i put aside bullet and blitz and my rating went back up to normal again bullet is pure poison

[@steve.k4735]

You 100% do NOT need to study openings it’s not why you are losing You need tactics and board vision, you don’t realise you are not defending the a2 pawn by moving the rook as it’s twice attacked, nor do you see that the rook you choose to move is the piece threatening that mate You need positional play and understanding initiative, you don’t realise that pawn f4 gives you the initiative as he must move his queen reacting to your threat whilst bishop c4 attacks nothing and he can do what he want, good chess players prize the initiative a LOT

[@Marcelo-rv7rn]

people have telling him this but he doesn't listen

[@sleep99PS3]

This x 1000

[@user-te3ti9tp9w]

Well stated

[@canefan17]

bingo

[@stephenwestland942]

I also agree with this. It’s not openings. His knowledge of openings is better than mine, but I am higher rated.

[@leonelrocha1024]

I would stop worry about what everyone else is thinks! If drinking coffee relaxes you while your playing chess then drink your coffee. They can be them and you be you.

[@Patrizsche]

Ah yes, nature's natural relaxant. Caffeine.

[@stephenwells1559]

Sad blunder at the end, but thats par for the course when youre on a losing streak. Dont beat yourself up on that one, happens to us all. The game wasnt too bad. Id be happy to see you play more games like that going forward. Positional tip for the future: when rooks are connected after castling decide where you want BOTH rooks to be, before you move one to the centre. In this game i liked your Rook on f1 as it may have been good to push the f pawn at various points during the game where as the a pawn wasnt doinv much, so i would have moved the a rook to e1 not the f rook. If i wanted rooks on d1 and e1 then moving the f rook first might be ok as long as i moved it to e1 and not d1. So always think where do you want the other rook to end up before you decide. Keep trying. All slumps have a bottom and are the best teachers

[@MrDanielfff777]

Pretty nice checkmate at the end! Gg

[@qbb01]

18:00 take the pawn first with bishop and check. At least you're winning a pawn for doubling your pawns.

[@JuanManuelMunozBetancur]

He even mentioned this and then he didn't do it...

[@mattjacobs4817]

The computer analysis is a powerful tool but humans don’t think like computers. Here are some things the engine is not telling you: 8 Qc3 - e5 or c3 are more aggressive (which equals more fun) 9 Bd3 - Not a bad move if you plan to play d5 but if you are just defending a pawn that is not being attacked then e2 or c4 would be more active squares for the bishop. 11 Bc4 - The reason f4 is so good is because it not only threatens the queen but gives you control of key central squares. Your concerns about a weak king are unfounded. An open king is not weak if your opponent has no way to attack it. 23 Ra1 - Nice job spotting black’s back rank problems in your analysis. Next time you will see this idea sooner. Hope you find this helpful. Good luck.

[@sergei-s]

you should have taken on f7+ with your bishop... sadly you did not even consider this move

[@MrDanielfff777]

He did consider it but he did not play it for some reason, I think patrick forgets his ideas often

[@boblester1726]

Focusing on openings is the classic beginner/intermediate mistake.

[@canefan17]

100%. Came here to post this. It's a waste of his time.

[@jamesmcavoy5440]

Not researching openings is a classic way to stay beginner /intermediate.

[@arikgershon]

17:48 After Qxc3, you could have won a pawn with Bxf7+ and then capture the queen on the next move

[@montagdp]

You played well until the end. It happens. I'll repeat my advice to switch to 15+10. You'll have more time to not make as many one-move blunders in the endgame.

[@GummyPounder]

Does Patrick follow any advice in the comments? Serious question, I don't watch all of these

[@montagdp]

@@GummyPounder I'm not going to say never, but not too often. I get the impression he likes to just play a 10-minute rapid game a day and a bunch of blitz. That's fine if he enjoys it, but he's not going to reach his goal of 2000 that way.

[@sealcraft4353]

damn that’s such a brutal way to get checkmated, but i recommend not playing lower rated players.

[@12345678910111213858]

He loses to higher rated players, too.

[@sealcraft4353]

@@12345678910111213858 yeah but you atleast don’t lose as much.

[@andreasnigl72]

If you cant beat lower rated players, why should you beat higher rated? That does not make any sence.

[@sealcraft4353]

@@andreasnigl72 100 elo differences aren’t actually big at this level, and you can easily lose to lower rated players by making mistakes, another reason for losing to lower rated players is because they sometimes play bad or weird moves which can catch you off guard.

[@andreasnigl72]

@@sealcraft4353 I myself am at a rating of 2250 in rapid and i have a better score against better players, but that does not mean that i avoid lower rated ones. If i play 1500 there is nothing to win for me, but i play tournaments,so even that can happen. There are good reasons why you should win against lower rated , if you cant do that , you are overrated.

[@stephenwells1559]

Oh, and if youre tryinv to get back to basics remember checks captures and attacks. Especially checks! As others have mentioned regarding the queen trade

[@ApexChesss]

After nc6 on move 1, i just play nc3 and try to transpose back into the vienna game. Works sometimes but maybe something to consider next time you see it since you play the vienna

[@plechaim]

I used to enjoy watching you enjoy your morning coffee, anyway good start of the game but i think when you started panicking about time you began rushing and making your mistakes. I look forward to the next game!

[@stephanfrion2805]

oh no... that's a bummer .

[@MadM1sha]

As it happens often you have made one critical mistake at the end and lost the game. It was easy draw or you could even try to win this one. Hope you will continue your journey. Keep punching!

[@jamesmcavoy5440]

I think it is a good idea to study openings. You need to do it in a way that you consider why each piece goes on a particular square and what each side plans to do for the middle game. That way you are thinking about tactics and positional pkay as well as openings. I believe the best way to do it is either buy an openings book or use a search engine with notes for each move and note it on a notebook. Even better to do both. Buy a chess board to do the moves physically. I think you memorise and visualise it better this way. Master the Karo Kann for white and black as you already have some knowledge of this but also learn basic concepts for the most common openings.

[@golfdoc1950]

In your analyses you see a move you overlooked, then in your mind you make it and assume your opponent isn’t going to make the best counter play. Unless your move forces mate, that’s a mistake. Better to not give up a game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth because you changed pitchers and the other manager put in a pinch hitter .

[@elias5658]

I suggest watching some great players. There are many videos of Magnus and Hikaru. Check how they think and move. Get their ideas and adjust them to your game. 20-30 minutes per day is more than enough.

[@user-te3ti9tp9w]

Patrick… with all due respect… your words pan to memorize these openings and okay theory isn’t going to happen once the opponent makes non theoretical moves. Unless you’re Rosen I doubt you memorize all the lines ;) Good luck! Will be watching your progress!

[@davidyoung3452]

Alkaline's Defence ? Not aware of that one.....

[@ibiwisi]

Haha, I caught that, too! I guess this must be a "basic" opening, eh?

[@scottniu8297]

​@@ibiwisibrilliant 🤣

[@paultharp4626]

Patrick, it seems to me that you know your openings just fine.. but, like me, you struggle with the 'now what' question after you get thru them. When this happens, I find myself just 'moving pieces' rather than formulating and then executing a middle game plan. Just some thoughts...

[@Stayawayfrommyname]

Hey Patrick! Dinomaaaaaaan from the discord here. I can try hooking you up with my coach if you want. It'll be super cheap for American standards, for sure, and he could do a trial session with you to see whether you like him. Let me know! :)

[@danielward7008]

With all due respect Patrick making opening tables is a waste of time as it's not the opening that is costing you games. You lost this one because you got tunnel vision and didn't take your opponent's threats seriously until it was too late.

[@87Mrdoki]

🤦🏻‍♂️ Maybe listen to people here and play some bullet games? It sometimes takes you too much time to do the right move

[@pandafragrance]

Why would bullet help him? He has poor board vision and positional understanding. Reducing the amount of time to think by 90% will just ingrain even worse habits. Blitz and bullet are fun and can be good for players who already have good fundamentals. Patrick needs fundamentals.

[@ChessAscension]

You don’t get better at chess by playing bullet. It’s actually worse.

[@evanolivas5035]

Bullet is the last thing to recommend

[@sackwhacker]

For your rating's sake, I would dissuade you from playing against opponents who are ~100 points lower.

[@stephenwestland942]

I get your point but I am not sure I totally agree. Yes, if you lose to someone 100 points lower rated you lose more points. But only if you lose. You are much less likely to lose to someone 100 points lower rated than if you play someone 100 points higher rated.

[@ambluewinner6929]

@@stephenwestland942 for me it is the exact opposite. If I play someone lower rated than me I feel the pressure to beat them more, which negatively affects my play.

[@al87221]

@@ambluewinner6929They can easily be underrated which’s common in this site so you wont necessarily be losing to worse player

[@stephenwestland942]

@@ambluewinner6929 True, that could also be a factor.

[@iratemetsfan]

If he can't be lower rated players maybe he's overrated 😂

[@Roberto-bd9fq]

Why not just push the pawn instead of retreating the queen, then at least you get something out of the opening. I would never watch just prior to going to bed, too great a chance for nightmares, as in why did he do that? Don't even consider moving the same piece twice in the opening. I and others have continually said that though you continuously ignore that advice. Why, do you think you are better than the people offering that advice. Don't think that way. Also stop forgetting the correct move you already thought of like the Nf6 in the last game, i.e. when he takes your queen you play Bxf7+. but in game you just snap the queen, your goldfish brain again. You keep forgetting things you already saw, and one movers. So, look for forced moves, moves like check that your opponent must respond too. Technical it's called an intermezzo, (in between move) a musical term which you understand, music that is, chess, not so much. Also more commonly called a: (zwischenzug is a chess tactic in which a player, instead of playing the expected move (commonly a recapture), first interposes another move posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer, and only then plays the expected move). You missed it in analysis too, saying that taking back the queen was the best move. Will you explain why not winning a pawn with Bxf7+ is inferior? In the ending, in a winning position, you just gave the game away.

[@TheAmazingest]

I was once up into the 1500s and then went on a skid where I lost like 20 in a row and was eventually losing to 1200s. It made no sense. So I got an MRI and turns out I had poop in my skull. My body got confused and was sending it the wrong way.