Tag: Piece Trade

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Missed Blocking Tactic

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Lately, I’ve been playing blitz games against MadChess 3.3 (not yet released) to get a feel for how strongly it plays when weakened to my patzer Elo level. Sparring against MadChess helps me calibrate its limit-strength parameters and perhaps glean ideas for classifying more unreasonable inferior moves. My most recent game begins 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Bb5 a5 6.Be3 d5 7.e5 Ng4 8.Qd2 Nxe3 9.Qxe3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qd7 11.O-O f5 12.e6 Qd6 13.Nxf5 Qxe6 14.Qxe6 Bxe6 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Rad1 g6 17.a4 Nb4 18.Rfe1 h5 19.Rd2 b6. So far I’ve played well enough for a player of… Continue Reading

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Thought Process

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Dana Mackenzie suggests before moving, ask the following questions. What are the pawn breaks? What are my and my opponent’s best and worst placed pieces? What pieces are targeted and vulnerable? What are the possible trades, and which ones benefit me? Where are the best squares for my pieces? Who would be winning the endgame? Who has the safer king? On which side of the board should I play? Continue Reading