Approaching 900!

Normally I reserve these entries for the weekend reviews, but things have been so exciting over the last few days that I could not wait to share. As most of you know, the primary purpose of this blog is for me to document my chess studies, improvements, and interests. Yes, I am probably one of the lowest rated people you will meet that maintains a regular chess blog, but that is the beauty of the game! *Everyone* starts somewhere and improvement is part of *everyone’s* game strategy, even Magnus Carlsen or Bobby Fischer. Since June, my blitz ELO has hovered between 700 and 850 and my win/loss ratio overall has consistently stayed at a 25 to 30 game deficit. However, things began to change earlier this week:

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.10.14”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “878”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “851”]
[BlackElo “878”]
[PlyCount “32”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “5”]

{This first game was very challenging for me and although Black blundered
horribly on move 16, it was still a close call.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Nc6
4. Nc3 f6 5. O-O Nge7 6. d3 Ng6 {[#] I was very interested to find that this
particular board pattern occured in this game and the game that followed with
a completely different player.} 7. Be3 Bd7 8. Qd2 Be7 9. Rae1 {At this point,
White is a little bit better in tempo, but both sides are mostly equal in
position. 9.Rae1 was simply a patient move to reinforce the dark squared
Bishop on e3.} a6 10. Bd5 {Black’s next move was apparent (10…b5) and
threatened my light squared Bishop, so I decided to put some pressure on his
Knight.} b5 11. a4 b4 12. Na2 {Not willing to sacrifice my Knight just yet.} a5
{Black closes off any chance for me to advance the a-pawn.} 13. c3 Rb8 14. cxb4
Nxb4 15. Nxb4 {This was a risky move because Black could have played 15…axb4
or 15…Rxb4. In any case, I was well aware that re-capturing with my Queen
would be a meaningless sacrifice. Therefore, I considered 15.Nxb4 to be a
“decent” move, but realized that I had utlimately give away my Knight.} Rxb4
16. Qc2 {My intention was to play Bc6, pinning Black’s light-squared Bishop to
his King with the ability to re-capture with my Queen if necessary.} Rb7 {The
head of my enemy on a silver platter! A devastating blunder and Black
resigned.} 1-0
[/pgn]

The game above is just one example of the wins I have managed to crank out against opponents of varying strengths and playing styles. As of writing this post, I have destroyed my previous blitz winning streak of 6 and replaced it with a current streak of 11 games in a row, now sitting on a blitz ELO of 887. My hope is that sometime tonight or tomorrow, I will be able to break through my next barrier and proceed into the 900s. For many seasoned chess players, this may not seem like much, but to a man who spends much of his time studying, researching, and playing the game, any milestone is another milestone crossed off the list.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.10.14”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Wesley Surber”]
[Black “851”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “851”]
[BlackElo “877”]
[PlyCount “75”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “5”]

{This next game was one of two that I played in which some of the same
positions and situations from the previous game appeared. This opponent was
far more challenging than my previous opponent, but the outcome was much the
same.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f6 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 Bd7 6. Be3 Be7 {[#] A
configuration that is nearly identical to my previous game.} 7. O-O f5 8. Nd5 {
I was being more cautious in this game and did not want to haphazardly engage
Black’s pawn structure.} f4 9. Bd2 Nf6 {Black starts adding pressure to my e4
pawn.} 10. Nb4 g5 11. Nxg5 {A opportunity to add control to the f7 square and
put pressure on Black’s King.} Bg4 12. f3 Bh5 13. Ne6 {Although 877 was
playing very well, I had to take the chance that he would miss the Queen
attack…no such luck.} Qd7 14. Ng7+ {Not much to go on with this fork, but at
least I can eliminate the light-squared Bishop and reduce the pressure on my
pieces attacking the f7 square.} Kf8 15. Nxh5 Nxh5 16. g4 Nf6 17. Qe1 Nxb4 18.
Bxb4 c5 19. Qh4 cxb4 {A noble sacrifice by my dark-squared Bishop so that I
could begin working toward some forced moves.} 20. Qh6+ Ke8 21. Qg7 Rf8 22. g5
Nh5 23. Qxh7 Nf6 {Black’s Knight is really annoying. I want it to go away,
but cannot seem to swing that at the moment.} 24. Qg6+ Rf7 {A surprising
blunder by Black. His Rook is history because my c4 Bishop controls the line
to the f7 square.} 25. Qxf7+ Kd8 26. gxf6 {Black is down another Knight and
the pressure is mounting on his King.} d5 27. Bxd5 {Black has no real moves
available to stop the advancing Bishop/Queen combination.} Bc5+ 28. d4 Qh3 {I
am not certain of the intentions behind this move beyond trying to intimidate
me with a Queen close to the Kingside. The Bishop is no threat if Bxd4
because my Rook provides an easy cover.} 29. Qf8+ {My biggest blunder in the
game. The better move was Qg8, but I let my confidence get the best of me.}
Bxf8 30. Kh1 {I saw the writing on the wall and decided to pull my King to
safety.} Kc7 31. Rg1 {An attempt to go after Black’s King with a Rook
combination.} Rd8 32. Bc4 Qxf3+ 33. Rg2 Rxd4 34. Rag1 Rxc4 35. h3 {Giving
myself an escape route if I become trapped by Black’s growing attack.} Rxe4 36.
Kh2 {Eliminating the pin on the g2 Rook.} Kd7 37. Rd2+ Ke6 38. Rg6 {Black
resigned.} 1-0
[/pgn]