Today I’d like to talk about improvement, and how it is possible. For all of us. Not only is it possible, but, especially in chess, there are measurable results. Not only in terms of rating, as is clear, but in terms of tangible performance in games against the same opponents. I’d like to examine four games to discuss how I improved from one to another, and what yardsticks we may use to determine whether we feel success has been achieved. To that end, here is the first– it started with a Two Knights, but I’ve skipped a little ways in, as the opening wasn’t anything special. I played this opponent when he was six, one of the best in the U. S. for his age, I believe.
HikaruShindo–L. F-Y. Anderson CK 2014
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4rk1/p1q2pp1/2p4p/n7/3P4/5B1P/PPP3PK/RNBQ1n2 w - - 0 1"]
20. Kg1 {Forced– it’s double check, and Kh1 would be immediately mated with Qh2#.} Qh2+ {This is the bad move that follows it– I encourage him to take my knight instead of retreating it safely, perhaps believing that his king would then be vulnerable.} 21. Kxf1 Rae8 {I try to bring more attacking pieces into the mix, but there his king is safe, and he soon consolidates.} 22. Kf2 Re6 23. Be3 {He simply develops, returning the favor, as the move creates a target. Along with 22. Kf2, this wastes two tempi, which gets me back into the game again.} Rfe8 24. Bd2 Nc4 {Now, of course, there is no attack, but I do have a great development advantage. My pieces eye the targets, including the b-pawn.} 25. b3 {Back in it, I attempt to exploit my advantage in development.} Nd6 {This, in a roundabout way, attacks the weak kingside squares.} 26. Nc3 Nf5 27. Qh1 {And this is bad. Nearly a blunder. Once the d-pawn falls, Black will have an advantage.} Qg3+ 28. Kg1 Nxd4 29. Kf1 {Rf1 was the best try at defense– protecting the bishop and hoping to hold on for a possible queen trade.} Nxc2 {This reinforces the attack down the e-file by attacking e1, building up a Re1+ threat, as well as attacking the rook.} 30. Ne2 {Rxe2, then Qe5 wins.} Nxa1 {And this is a horrific blunder.} 31. Nxg3 {After a few stumbles, he wins, eventually queening a pawn. …1-0.}
I played him again, nearly a year later, in February 2015, in a six-game tournament (in round two, having lost the first game.) He was rated 1773, and, (again, I think) the best 7-year old in the country. Interestingly enough, the tournament fell very near my birthday.
HikaruShindo–L. F.-Y. NY Schol. Champ. 2015 (J.H. Var.)
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 {White sacrifices a pawn in exchange for a large developmental advantage and two readily accessible open files.} Nc6 {Black chooses sensible options, hoping to develop himself.} 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Bb4 {The point of getting the bishop out first is that a potential Bg5 pin would then be useless– it wouldn’t prevent Black from castling.} 7. 0-0 Nge7 8. Qc2 {This seems like a strange move. However, I believe it to be best, and here’s why: it takes control of the c-file, protects the e-pawn, connects the rooks, and allows White to have a great retreat square with Bd3, which would aim at the kingside.} Bxc3 9. bxc3 {Instead of taking with the queen to keep the pawns intact, I decide to shut down Black's knight and open up the a3-f8 diagonal for my bishop.} 0-0 {Black castles before I can stop him with 10. Ba3.} 10. e5 {I play this to fix the d-pawn and open up the b1-h7 diagonal for my bishop.} Ng6 11. Re1 Qc7 12. Bd3 {This retreat indirectly protects the pawn; if Black took, after the resultant trades I would take on h7.} Kh8 {A potential bishop capture on h7 has been mostly stopped, as now it would not come with check, so g6, trapping, would be a possibility.} 13. Ba3 Rd8 14. Bd6 Qa5 15. h4 {This aims to push the knight away and either take on h7, or push on to h6.} h6 {Black chooses a bad move, hoping to avoid an attack, but instead only provokes one.} 16. Bxg6 fxg6 17. Qxg6 Qxc3 18. Rac1 Qb2 19. Rc2 {Instead, 19. Rc4!–g4 would ice the game, but this served to chase the annoying queen away.} Qb5 20. Re3 {I hit upon the right idea, hoping to lift the rook, though with slightly strange execution.} b6 21. Ng5 {White threatens mate, so Black must take the knight.} hxg5 22. hxg5 Qb1+ 23. Kh2 Qxc2 24. Rh3+ {I finally exploit the open h-file.} Kg8 25. Qxc2 Kf7 26. Qh7 {1-0 (Time.)}
I remember being particularly proud, because the win on time was in a dead won position anyway, with mate coming in several moves– and that the time control was 60 minutes with a ten-second delay, long by my standards at the time, but I had 50:10 left at the finish to his 0:00. The reason I was proud of this was both because I thought it was funny, but because my moves had been fairly effortless. I had won without using much time because I had managed to think during his, and my moves had then been obvious. I won the third game of the day without much incident, and moved on to Sunday.
But what changed from the first game we played to the second?
First of all, I was better prepared out of the opening. I was able to get a position in which I felt comfortable and work from it without memorizing too much theory (if any.) Secondly, my tactics were superior– I didn’t blunder any pieces in this game, at least, and was able to manage a few less straightforward moves (Bd3, Ng5.) And thirdly, I looked for my opponent’s ideas, and then tried to stop them. Fairly basic, but these three concepts marked an improvement in my game which I have still not revisited. And now to Sunday.
I lost both round four and round five on Sunday, leaving me with ⅖ going into the sixth and final round. I chose the opening I was most familiar with again, the Morra Gambit, against his Sicilian, and managed to get a good position.
HikaruShindo–F. H. NY Schol. Champ. 2015 (J.H. Var.)
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e5 {This is already not a very good move because it opens up the line to the f7-square, which can then be easily attacked.} 5. Nf3 d6 {Again, this might be fine later in the game, but right now Black needs to develop.} 6. Bc4 h6 {Black had done nothing seriously wrong until now, but this opens up the h5-e8 diagonal, which could prove deadly.} 7. 0-0 {Though White continues to develop, I have been too prosaic here. 7. Bxf7+ would end the game– Kxf7 8. Nxe5+ is deadly.} Nf6 8. Qe2 {Again, this isn’t a terrible move, but I don’t exploit the specific weaknesses created–Qb3 puts a finger on the vulnerable Black f7.} Be7 9. Rd1 Nbd7 {Nc6 may be better, as it isn’t so congested and doesn’t block the bishop.} 10. Be3 0-0 11. Nh4 {The best response to this move, which aims to get to f5, is Nb6, which lets the bishop defend f5, and opens up the center for Black development.} Nxe4 {This move loses the d-pawn, though.} 12. Nxe4 Bxh4 13. Rxd6 Be7 14. Rad1 {This, along with Bxf7, are perhaps my two worst moves in the game. 14. Bxh6 wins, but I choose instead to sac the Exchange and bring out the a-rook.} Bxd6 15. Rxd6 Qc7 {Qh4 is best, covering the queenside and remaining active. This loses.} 16. Bxh6 {Wins on the spot. The position gets better the longer you look at it.} Nc5 17. Rg6 Kh7 {From here, mate in five is forced.} 18. Rxg7+ Kxh6 19. Qe3+ Kxg7 20. Qg5+ Kh7 21. Nf6+ Kh8 22. Qh6# {1-0.}
I finished with a 3-3 score, though against opponents rated 239.5 (math!) points higher on average. A record high (I think) 89 points gained from this tournament, caused by the preparedness I had. And this was caused by persistence,like last week. Even when I missed a move which would put the game away, I made sure to keep setting problems for my opponents. And to close the blog out, I then played them again three months later in April. By then, the gap in ratings had shrunk from 238 points behind to 48 points, and it was an interesting, balanced game.
F. H.–HikaruShindo Marshall Open 2015
1. c4 f5 2. g3 e5 {I use lessons I’ve learned in the past game to exploit a specific deficiency in White’s move– it lets me play e5 immediately instead of using two moves with e6-d6-e5.} 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. e3 Be7 5. Ne2 d6 {Now it is apparent that Black has saved a tempo. However, with White gearing up to play d4, the fight for the center will be difficult.} 6. Nbc3 0-0 7. 0-0 Qe8 {This is a fairly typical move– the queen can move to h5, becoming an attacker, while also reinforcing the e-pawn.} 8. d4 Nbd7 9. a3 {White prepares to expand on the queenside.} c6 {This was intended to perhaps support d5, but also blunt the White bishop.} 10. b4 Qh5 {Nb6 might put the finger on c4, a surprisingly weak pawn, or perhaps after 11. c4, Nc4.} 11. f3 e4 {While this is committal, if Black doesn’t do something on the opposite side, he will be steamrolled on the queenside.} 12. Nf4 {An interesting possibility, instead, is 12. g4 fxg4 13. fxe4, leaving White with a strong center.} Qf7 {If 13. fxe4 Qxc4.} 13. c5 exf3 14. Bxf3 d5 {Now Black has a nice hole to occupy on e4, and a weak pawn on e3.} 15. b5 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 {fxe4 was better, opening up the useful f-file.} 17. Be2 Nf6 18. a4 {White has a better position, now, mostly due to the useless Black bishops. However, 18. Bxc6 capitalizes, and creates a weakness to attack.} Bd7 {I realize this, and enable myself to recapture with the bishop.} 19. Bb2 Be8 20. Rc1 g5 {Bxc4 is now best, freeing the e2-square for the knight.} 21. Nh5 Nd5 22. Qd2 Kh8 {Black clears the g-file for further use in attack.} 23. g4 f4 24. exf4 e3 {gxf4 was better, keeping the dynamism in the pawns– here they may be blockaded.} 25. Qd3 gxf4 26. Bf3 Qg8 {Black threatens the knight, and clears the path to g6 for the bishop.} 27. Kh1 Bg6 28. Qe2 Rae8 {All the Black pieces are now at the party– and the two connected passed pawns give me an advantage, as the blockade can easily be shattered.} 29. Rg1 Bg5 30. Qe1 Be4 31. Bxe4 Rxe4 {Now it is a simple matter of advancing the pawns.} 32. h4 f3 33. Qg3 f2 34. Rgf1 Bf4 {The final blow. When 35. Qg2 or Qe3, e2 simply promotes.} 35. Nxf4 Rfxf4 {Now the attack evolves into mating threats.} 36. Ra1 Rxg4 37. Qf3 Rxh4+ 38. Qh3 Rxh3# {1-0.}
This post is to inspire improvement, and to illustrate how there are more ways than Elo to measure improvement– opening preparation, performance against the same opponents, and sticking to the same planned mental model: one that allows for persistence, creating threats, not blundering, That if you feel like you’re getting better, though your rating doesn’t show it, you’re still a better player. And to reassure myself of these things– my rating is slightly worse OTB than it was a year and a half ago, when that last game was played. But if we keep drilling the fundamentals, and practicing, we improve our chances in games, and for it to all come together.
–HikaruShindo
No post next week (Sorry– I’ll be on holiday and won’t be able to use a computer.)
Discussion thread:
Thread 169695
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