I’ve heard another blogger use the term “chess blind”. I am afflicted with this disease. Here is an example:

It's My Turn Playing Black

I’ll admit that I have a long way to go to become a decent chess player. However, when playing online chess you do have the opportunity to take a few days to make a move and presumably consider your options. There were a number of moves I could have made here but only one really disastrous move.

After I finish a game I generally run it through an analysis program. One is available on Chess.com or I can use Shredder. (For those who might be wondering …. NO, I never use Shredder to help me decide my moves. It’s just for after-the-fact analysis.) At this point in the game we were even on material and Shredder even gave me a decided advantage on positioning. When I replayed the game Shredder recommended that I make the following move 19 … Qh3. Indeed that was a pretty good move.

I've lost the Queen ... and the game

In fact the move seemed rather obvious …. with the benefit of hindsight. I guess I could say that I got it half right if you were to believe that moving half way there get’s you half the benefit. But unfortunately chess doesn’t work that way. I decided for reasons I don’t even remember to counter with 19 … Qf5 which of course was followed by 20 Ne7+ and I promptly lost my Queen and shortly thereafter the game.

One of my challenges playing online chess (as opposed to live chess where you are playing and not leaving the computer) is to make sure I get my head back into the game when I’ve been away for perhaps a day or so. Hopefully I can learn. During this game I sent a note to my opponent saying I couldn’t believe I had made such a stupid move. He graciously responded by saying that he’d made that mistake many times. A classy response to be sure but I didn’t feel much better.

Some good advice by Shelby Lyman.

Even between top grandmasters, a game often has

to be retrieved or won numerous times as the advantage shifts, however slightly, from move to move.

Chess teaches us that, in everyday life, there is always a chance to regroup rather than admit premature defeat.

I’ll have to keep that in mind.

Something I can related to. If you are working on improving your play or starting play at a chess club it can be intimidating playing against more experienced players. A solution …. play a chess computer, a lot! Of course, you need to do the other things too …. study, practice, do drills etc … but playing against a benign computer is one way to put yourself into game situations without the usual stress. Check out this article in The Columbus Dispatch.

Preparation, familiarity and objectivity are bulwarks against fear.

The more chess you play and learn, the more familiar you are with game situations in which everything is on the line; and the greater the subtlety with which you study your own psychology, the more immune you will be to crippling fear.

Internet chess offers a shining opportunity for vanquishing jitters.

It provides a readily available venue where you can play in highly contested situations.

Later, you can review key positions, recall your emotional responses and modify them where appropriate.

I haven’t played much chess lately. I had been doing a decent job of playing one or two games a day even if it was only against the Shredder Chess computer. It wasn’t the same as playing a human but the Shredder doesn’t trash talk and I don’t have to hear about past losses or blunders. That being said, Shredder does have an annoying habit of making it’s moves in a split second. I have literally blinked and missed it’s move.

Anyways, I really need to make a better effort of finding making the time to play. I won’t improve while I’m not playing and I’m likely getting worse or at least pretty rusty.

Over at Hardcore Pawnography the author describes how I often feel …. just much more creatively than I ever could. And in reading this I discover a new favorite word!

i just didn’t see it. why?!?!?!?!? i was chessblind.

this makes no sense, how could i not see the move? all the pieces are right there on the board, nothing is hidden.

it’s as if my mind refused to acknowledge that little pawn could or should move. it’s like my mind only looks for good moves, blatant and bold moves, big piece moves. master games are filled with “quiet moves” that mean a lot, and my not recognizing small moves means i’m not playing with my whole army, and also it shows how crappy a chess player i really am. ouch, my ego.

not seeing every possible move also severely limits creativity, and to me, creativity is not just the fun part of chess, but an important part. its what makes you sac your bishop for no apparent reason, when 4 moves later your opponent has to resign or face mate because of what you saw and did.

Chessblind … yep, that just about sums it up.

I’m beginning to realize that good eyesight doesn’t necessarily mean you see everything that’s going on during a chess game. As I attempt to improve my game I’m somewhat annoyed (too early to be concerned) by the big mistakes I continue to make. I’m giving up pieces too easily and it’s mostly carelessness. I’ve been playing against Shredder Chess online. It’s a nice low stress way to get in some practice. But I do make some dumb moves.

There’s only sixty-four squares and the board doesn’t occupy a lot of real-estate on the screen. You’d think that I could see all the threats but I’m missing some fairly obvious ones. In games against Shredder my opponent will often offer up a fianchetto. I dutifully take note of it and then about 6 or 7 moves later black’s bishop comes sailing across the board and captures my undefended knight. Dumb.

In the reading I’ve done I have noticed that experience players see the board differently then us other hackers. I understand that conceptually but I’m not sure exactly what that means. I just gotta keep playing and studying.

I had written earlier that I wanted to put together a plan that, if executed, would lead me down the path of improvement. Well, I don’t have what I would consider a plan but I’ve done some research and have started to do a few things.

• Located the nearest chess club
• Purchased a copy of “Chess for Dummies”
• Have begun reading Chess Tactics
• Have begun playing some online chess

As I said earlier, this isn’t a plan …. it’s just doing stuff. A real plan would have some organized steps alongside some objectives. The objectives would be measurable.

Here’s some other constraints that I have to deal with.

• My work is a zoo - I’m putting in about 60 hours a week
• I often travel during the week which would make regular attendance at a chess club somewhat difficult
• I have three kids …. 19, 17 and 11 and the youngest has a soccer schedule that takes up most of my weekends

But somehow I think I can make this work. I think I can improve my game. Since I’m probably a poor player (I say probably because I don’t have a chess rating, but I’m pretty sure it’s not great) improvement wouldn’t be that difficult. The real question is how much improvement should I expect?

In case anyone is thinking, I’m not a complete novice. I have purchased “Chess for Dummies” because I do believe that I need a decent foundation. I know the rules and I can beat most people I play but I don’t play anyone that is really serious at the game. In addition, when I go about learning something I really like to start from the basics even if there’s an argument to be made that I already have the basics. In reading through the first few chapters of “Chess for Dummies” I’ve come to know that I do lack that foundation.

I’m also reading a few chess blogs. There are a number of blogs that have chronicled their own journeys and they have been and will continue to be helpful and inspiring.

Right now, I think the first step for me is to establish my baseline. What exactly is my chess rating and what is a reasonable objective for improvement over what time frame? Is 1400-1500 a reasonable objective? I don’t know. But my objective over the next 60 days or so (or less) is to find out.

In the meantime, if anyone has any more advice for a 51 year old father of three who’s trying to improve their chess game, please let me know

Quickly becoming one of my favorite chess blogs is “Confessions of a Chess Novice”. Here’s a great post about some of the thought processes of someone working to improve their game

One thing I notice about good players is the immediacy of their recognition that something isn’t safe. When showing them a move that overlooks basic safety they immediately scowl and ask “Why didn’t you just take?” or “Doesn’t that just leave this hanging?” The better the player, the faster and more visceral this reaction is, and the more complex the tactics that they immediately see. When I went over games with an IM, he was like that with complicated tactics involving multiple captures.