My Toronto Open Experience against an 8 year old.
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Please add any constructive criticism you would like. I'm willing to learn. And yes that is a picture of Hikaru Nakamura.
Meh better luck next time, and don't judge by age! Last summer I was at the montreal open and I was sweating against a 6 year old girl sucking her thumb!! I did beat her but dang Its pretty incredible to see those kids good at an early age. And also at that same tournament I lost my first game against an 11 year old. When I get back home and tell my mom that I won, she asks me when who did I play? those kids again? Then I say; no- an old guy with a beard and she feels somewhat reliefed lol that it wasnt a kid. I myself am an older kid;19 now. And I have the same rating range as you, Im rated 1350 or something I think. Well if you come to montreal open next summer we'll probably see eachother
Hey and is anyone going to the world open in may? I think that i might be going
Two things to work on, one noted by yourself: don't be scared, and play with a plan! From your comments you never seem to look beyond the next move, and you don't consider _all_ your opponent's moves (after Bg5 you only thought about Nxg5, after Qh5 you hoped your opponent wouldn't see the simple threat!)
You also seem to know far too much opening theory for your level, coupled with too little understanding of why you're actually making those moves.
If you have 100 chess books, you must be like me, and there are probably only one or two that you've actually _studied_ :-)
Your exercise is to go to a database, find a few games with the position after Black's move 8 where White won within 25 moves, print them out and play through them on an actual chess board. Find at least one real improvement in each, on your own, without using an engine.
Hopefully that will
- give you an idea of what good plans are in this opening,
- what the pieces are supposed to be doing here (same thing really),
- see some examples of aggressive play,-
- and it'll make you actually work instead of perusing books :-)
(I probably seem harsh, that's because I'm actually talking to myself, what _I_ should do about my chess...)
Thanks for the comments so far guys. I'd just like to address a few of them at the moment. First off I wasn't judging the age of my young opponent negatively, just the opposite. I'm actually in awe of their abilities and the way they outplayed me!
As for knowing too much theory for my level, I don't think I know too much. That was part of the reason I felt that I was being outplayed by them. I was the first one to go out of book. I have to say that I did have a plan. Just not too deep as I most likely didn't assess and evaluate the positions entirely correct. I agree that my lack of objectivity didn't help me anticipate my opponents response to all my moves. And I didn't actually see all of my opponents plans. Short sighted of me. And yes, I didn't actually study most of the books that I have gathering dust. But I will take your suggestions about studying. Thank you.
Apr 22, 2009
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#6
When I came back to playing in 2001, after a quarter century sabbatical while raising a family, I noticed quite a few differences. [Stopped playing to, as the US Constitution suggests as its purpose, ensure domestic tranquility. She said, "You can go back to your travel games & tournaments after the children are out of school."
And, summoning up all my masculine strength, (LOL) I said, "Yes dear."]
First, I discovered the names had changed.
Many interesting, historic and descriptive names had become generic. The Ruy Lopez was now the Spanish. The Giuoco Piano was now the Italian. And, the Center Counter, which says exactly what's occurred, had become the Scandinavian. Why? I don't know.
Second, and this took a round to dawn on me. Besides me, most of the gray hair in the room was watching from the sidelines and not at the tables. There were a few sitting down but not many. Quite a difference from my last two in 1976 & '78. And, I spent some time sweating out the games.
So now, before entering, I've started asking tounament organizers if they had a "cry room" at the sites. When they wonder what I'm talking about, I tell them. It's a room where the old guys can go so the kids don't see them crying after they've been slapped around by a 10 year old.
haha lol, good post jpf917!!
I agree, these pre-teen players are getting out of hand. It's kinda strange that a lot of players in the open section are so young as well.
I was a little confused by all your knight maneuvers so early on in the game. You need to stop worrying about all those little positional aspects of your game so early on when you should be activating your pieces. Not to mention I felt your position looked extremely cramped until 15. c5, maybe a pawn trade on d5 followed by exchaning your light-squared bishop for his well placed e4 knight, or even more simply moving your f3-knight to allow your f-pawn to kick his knight from e4 would have been advantageous. Just remember to keep things simple and always have a reason for moving a piece excessively.
I agree with you RoyalFlush1991. I wasted tempo as well with all those knight moves. I did feel terribly cramped in my position which added to the pressure against me. Piece trade?! Never thought of that early in the game I have to admit. I may have been looking at the position with complicated eyes. But that's only because of my cramped position. Hmm, strange kind of synergy happening here.
My point wasn't really all about me not knowing "book" but my 8 year old opponent knowing the "book" so well was surprising. I did have a plan about centralizing after "book". I believe I just didn't really understand what my opponent was really up to. Thus my lack of proper response to his plans.
I sympathise. But look at it from another angle. If Canada has eight-year-olds as good as this, there's a bright future for chess in your country!
Your Queen surely didn't have a place on the A file (33. Qxa6); for superficial material she abandoned her King. Now she is left desperate and wishes there was some path to return, e.g. 36.Qa5?
Hi Saccadic,
I believe I was under the illusion of making a Q trade on c5 at some point but I realize now that my Q needed to stay along the white diagonal for king support.
wow. I just analyzed the whole game and I think it disappeared.
Clearly the products of some evil government progrm gone awry! How else can it be explained? There was an episode of the X Files like that. Well actually, they were all basically like that.
Oh cool, you really got to me Hikaru. You should have asked him for some tips and advice in playing babies.
you needed to assess your position properly after the opening and figure out what your opponent was planning as well. maybe really study some of those chess books you have instead of just collecting them.
I never got to ask Hikaru for any chess advice. I was more interested in finding out where lived. Which was Vancouver B.C. surprisingly, although he recently relocated to New York. But he said he may return up here. I think he liked our igloo hotels and non-watered down beer. If you read his blog on his site he seems to enjoy hanging out late with his northern friends eh.
