Rating...

If I have a choice, I'd rather have my rating stay at 1700 - 1800. Much easier and comfortable for me to play the game and I don't have to bogged down my mind thinking of a good move.

Stronger opponents sometimes makes my brain getting sober. Even when you are about to sleep, your mind is still racing wondering whether you had made the correct move or what would be your opponent's next move.

Anyway, it is also a good learning experience for me as it forces me to think deeper even though I'm not ready to face a stronger opponent yet.

Well, I guess that's what chess is all about... Have fun.

Are you familiar with the concept of a personal blog?

Personal blog...not much idea.

My Comfort Zone is playing those within my rating. It is easier that way. Whoever makes a wrong move, another person will capitalize on it - quite a fair deal. But against a much stronger opponent, they are thinking too far ahead. As for me, I could only think about 5 and maybe at most 7 moves ahead in one particular line.

Your point is right Dave

In my recent game, I blundered against a much stronger player. A simple blunder and lost my Queen of which I didn't noticed, not only after I've made my move.

See what I mean, I was trying so hard to think of a good line of play; thinking too far ahead that I've forgotten about the immediate threat.

In the diagram below, I've just lost my Queen..and now my Rooks are being forked. What a game...

Actually to me, looking many moves ahead is not so vital. In some position, it is possible to look many moves ahead specially if the moves are forced. In some position where there are no possible forcing variation, it is hard to find any  continous moves that you or your opponent might paly in some variation. I think a better way to handle this position is to analyse the position and find ways to improve it.   

(But what do I know I'm just a newbie chess player)

I saw the danger at first...but after trying to analyse where would be the best move for my Queen, out of absent mindedness, I saw that there was a better move and had forgotten all together that my Queen was being threatened. The moment I made my move, only then I realized that I had totally forgotten about my Queen.

During this game, I've got more than 100 on line games still pending (By average, I need to clear off about 30 move/games per day). I guess a person's mind just couldn't handle too many games at one time...

I here you. That is why I handle my game about, say, 5-10 games per day. That's way I'm not too stress out and easy victory always seems to surpirse me.

knights cannot pin but they can certainly fork... black's weakest square is f7... white's weakest square is c2... so you really have to be careful...

Thare's an old saying, Öld habit die hard".

Now, temptation to play more game has just came over me and I started to accept more matches that I could handle. Almost back to simultaneous chess play that I did once before. Maybe the only difference is, now I'm trying to experiment with certain move/line and see how well I could get off the hook.

Anyway, winning or losing is not a big issue to me as long as I could enjoy the game. Funny thing is, lately I've won several games when my opponents' time is out or when they resigned in the middle game.

Funny, isn't it ?

All Games

hi dave! i suggest that everytime you make your next move is to think the basic first the immediate threat of that move then you go to the next level of thinking, your plan, tactics and this way you have to think 3-5 moves ahead or more and this will take longer time and thats fine because chess really needs thinking and do this with constant practrice and later on you will be used of it and will not forget the basic chess and thinking deeper makes chess more challenging and makes more fun isn't it? 

goodluck to your other games..

Yes, I agrees with you, Gay. Always go back to basics !!!

Lately, I think I'm having some difficulty in maintaining my rating.

Mostly because some players are just too good for me. But some of my games, it was my own fault as well. I don't have the leisure to think deeper and rushed through my games without giving it much thinking.

One good example, I had planned the pitfall earlier but few days later I had entirely forgotten about it. At last, I fell into my own trap.

Depending how strong your local chess club is and the calibre of opponents in the OTB tournaments you enter, 1800 is middle of the pack, give or take. Some people like it or hate it for the same reason ... for the first round pairings, you're either playing the newbie around 1300 or maybe unrated, or else you're playing the top guy, perhaps a GM.

I do not wish to boast but during my younger days - in the 1990's I was at one time 1st runner-up for Sarawak Open Championship. The Champ was my friend Dick Yeo (his handle name at chess.com is jovialdick).

In those days, my repertoire was considered as very sharp. It is not easy for those guys to win over me as I was a very defensive player. I studied the GM games and went though their notations. Though during that time our chess club didn't have a proper coaching clinic, we spent hours analysing the games together and I believe, everyone learned from it.

As far as I'm concerned, there is a clear dinstinction between OTB game and On Line game.

OTB game, you could have full concentraton right from the opening move until endgame. With a proper game plan, you are able to play your game with confidence; you know what you are doing all the way. Even after the game has finished, you could easily rehearsed the game lines at the back of your mind.

On the other hand, On Line game - when you come back to your game the next day or few days later, you have forgotten about your game plan as you have so many other games in hand. Even if you are trying to replay your lines and trying to study the position, sometimes you may be wondering why you had made that move earlier. The easy way out is, to play a simultaneous style of chess play - play based on logics. Once you start to play your On Line game in this manner, surely the quality of your game has been compromised. Well, this is how I feel right now...

That a player can be much stronger than you because they "think" further ahead is a common misconception.

I prefer playing against all skill levels. I can teach a new opening variation to beginners and have fun doing it. I can challenge myself when going against masters.

Rating is just a number anyway. I've lost to guys <1400 yet beat guys >2000.