Six More Lessons From My First Chess Tournament

[@JerryCricketGaming]

Part one reflection of the tournament here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fn3Cg35vrtyDhpo

[@RangerKs0adandchess]

I play the King's Gambit in tournaments. )

[@JerryCricketGaming]

Thats awesome! We should take a look at some of your games! I recently started playing latvian gambit as black. The KG and LG are just too fun not to play!

[@EponaDreams-AmbientDreamscapes]

Hey Jerry, I'm not great at chess, but one thing that might appeal to your martial arts background, and you may not agree, but this is how I think in chess and fighting... rather than thinking of techniques, think targets. A good boxer is looking for spaces to attack. They might use deception or work an area to create a weakness. They might target the liver, and look for openings and patterns where it is exposed. The same can be done in chess. So before you get to the board try to recognise a handful of common targets such as the pawns at the back of a pawn structure/island where you can build up a combo of pieces to attack it. And when you have more in attack than they have guarding it, you strike. This will also cause your opponent to abandon their ideas to defend against your attack. Look for undefended pieces and areas where they don't communicate, and vacant squares you can control where it's difficult for you to be moved away, or their structure must be weakened to defend. You go to the board actively looking for these targets. In my experience, there are two key moments where all players blunder, even at up to 2,000 elo... moves 12 to 14, and 16 to 20. If you have time take extra care here, and be extra watchful for these targets. Players rarely recover from these blunders.