Winter Marathon tactics

achja

Usolando

nice shots achja!

xXDaveXx

I thought berserk bonus was literally x2 at first

not 3 pts instead of 2 for winning

and 5 pts instead of 4 for winning on 3rd game and beyond in a streak

I ended up berserking like 90% of my games i think LOL

Games played 173
Win rate 27%
Berserk rate 84%
Average opponent 2011

didn't get to play much brillancies due to my berserking spree :/

http://en.lichess.org/vQsZDBPh7uix

Although my immortal game is nice
Or better to say, evergreen game :P

http://en.lichess.org/fpML9aZuRcSQ

Also a nice game

Both of those aren't berserk games though

weakwithwords

@achja,

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm smart enough chess-wise to (fully) appreciate the game links you posted. ^,^'

This was my first tournament in lichess. I think I got paired with three or more 2000+ rated players (which was also a first for me) and not surprisingly I lost those games. I have watched a few bullet games (here) before, but it's dreadfully awesome to have actually played against those. Those were (emotional) learning experiences. >,<

I'm generally awful at blitz, not that I'm really that much better at classical. (I win around 2 for every 3 classical games. I lose around 2 for every 3 blitz games. Likely worse.) Even if I weren't somewhat burdened with a rather quirky, sometimes unreliable net connection, it wouldn't change my tendency to be a slow thinker. Sometimes, I forget that I'm playing a non-increment classical and time out of those, too. Time flies when you're having fun. =,=

I tried a different approach of treating the blitz games like classical ones. With that mindset, instead of panicking due to time trouble, I suppose I was able to play some decent games (for me, anyway) in contrast to the the messy blitz I often produce. (Some of my earliest blitz games were just misclicks. I was trying to join classical games and didn't know about filters!)

I lost some. I lost some more. I think I drew once. Won a few once in a while. Then, I lost access. Got that afternoon tea pic with lichess-chan and bot-kun. I went to sleep. When I woke up, the winter tourney was over. Apparently, it got terminated early. Hmm, might have been when that maintenance prompt appeared then.

It's weird how my blitz rating rose by 200+ points. I attribute that to my opponents being more careless than usual, being tired (perhaps having already played many consecutive games), and/or playing during unholy/inconvenient hours. (I suspect my rating will deflate back to its less than mediocre level when I play more non-tournament rated games later ... mostly by next year, hahaha.) I was playing a few games in between doing the laundry, cooking my meals, and reading some manga so I didn't really run myself haggard like I would in a footrace marathon.

Basically, overall, winter15 was great! :3

P.S. I used the word "blitz" seven times in this post. ;)

P.P.S. Get well soon.

ImKurD

nice games thanks

RiddlesMcFiddles

@xXDaveXx

I actually liked your second game much more, not only was it a splendid game but i love the fact you berserked someone 500 points above you and got away with it XD

xXDaveXx

Lol i just checked spectator room

and i indeed did go berserk! wow haha

1st game had a cool ending but 2nd game was best overall i guess haha

achja

@xXDaveXx #3

Hi Dave, nice that you played in the marathon as well :)

Your 2nd game had a great finish, excellent !

I like your idea to use the exposed white kingside for the g file, although it looked risky for white.

I actually finished 61st in the Marathon, playing 78 games, against average 2011.

I didn't beserk, and I actually start to appreciate increment more and more. I love it that Lichess now has 3+2 scheduled tourneys as well. Since I do not use premove it gives me more chance to win won positions against premovers, but also gives more time to play better chess.

achja

@weakwithwords #4

Thanks for sharing your thoughts in a broad comment !

Tactics are important in chess, not only in the opening and middlegame, but also in the endgame.
The great positional player, and famous endgame player Capablanca (who actually played some great attacking games with King's Gambit when he was young) was kind of known for his "petite combinations", small tactics.

You didn't write how long you play chess, but I am sure that you will grasp tactics better when you get more experienced in playing, and after studying a bit of chess and doing tactic puzzles every day.
See e.g. my method for working on tactics :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja/improving-tactical-skills-ndash-my-approach
and here :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja/getting-better-at-tactics
and you might get inspired by IM Manuel Bosboom, winning against ... Garry Kasparov in blitz :
http://www.chess.com/blog/achja/a-tribute-to-im-manuel-bosboom--manuel-and-the-queen-sacrifice (A translation from dutch in english I did with help from some other people).

Here's some fresh games :

I was so tempted by a queen sac that I wanted to try it, but failed, and in the end my opponent played very well and had a nice pawn checkmate.
My idea was actually to play 25.Rxe8+ Kxe8 26.f6xg7 but ... Qd1+ and Qd6+ and Qg6 prevents the g7 pawn promotion, and the remaining white knight has no forking options.

http://en.lichess.org/Hwth1X6lqpvt

Here a very short game, with basic tactics that you must know, or must work on. Too much fun to not learn this yourself :
http://en.lichess.org/EhvSdFcX6lr0

And here, a derivate of the Damiano defense, also a must known :
http://en.lichess.org/4PMJaxqYMiOA

Have fun with your chess !

We can play a casual correspondence chess game if you like, or see you in the next tourney :)

achja

#10

This queen sac with a bit of an unusual checkmate might be more difficult to grasp and encounter :

http://en.lichess.org/BKXT6jLEA8Xr

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