More Rapid Games

From May 8th to May 14th, I've played Rapid Chess (10 minutes with a 5 second increment) every day on lichess.org and I've managed to increase my rating each day. I've achieved six wins, two draws and one loss. The loss came as a result of time trouble and I'm learning to manage my time better and also avoid taking unnecessary risks. I've only been playing one game a day if I win but in the case of my one loss I immediately played another game, winning it and more than compensating for my loss. I should play more games I suppose but at least I'm getting one game in a day.

I should perhaps make use of another account, such as the one I have on chess.com, to play more frequently and to not worry about my rating on that platform. There is the opportunity to analyse my games as well and I should take more advantage of this. I've been watching some of Remote Chess Academy's videos on YouTube and I've previously mentioned Journey to Grandmaster. These videos are especially useful in setting opening traps in order to gain an early initiative.

For a long while I've watched the games of the top chess players but not really played much chess, mainly because I didn't enjoy the pressure of time controls imposed on online games. I still find the Blitz games too quick for me but the ten minute rapid format is tolerable. I worry that longer time formats would encourage players to use chess engines to help them. I should perhaps consider a dedicated blog just for chess matters.

Second Rapid Game

My second rapid game (10 minutes with a 5 second increment) ended disastrously but I had a dominant position until I ran into time trouble. Figure 1 shows the situation before I lost my rook. I only six seconds remaining.

Figure 1

As can be seen, I'm a rook up but two pawns down. All I needed to do was to protect my rook but when seconds remain you do silly things. My opponent had the luxury of 2 minutes and 27 seconds and that made all the difference. This loss cost me a hefty 119 rating points, which seems rather excessive. and took me down to 1608 which is embarassing but it shouldn't be too hard to work my way back up provided a learn to manage my time better.

My response to White's initial e4 was the Pirc Defense characterised by d6. I quite like this response but need to research it further. The YouTube channel Journey to Grandmaster is promoting it heavily via a playlist of 11 videos. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

Chess Puzzle

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted anything on this blog. In fact it was July 23rd of this year when I posted about a new image file format. Today I was presented with a chess puzzle that took me a few minutes to work out. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: White to move and mate in 2

The key to the problem is Black's lack of mobility. Only the rook or the pawn on a7 can move. White must make a move so that, whether Black moves the pawn or the rook, mate must follow. The necessary move is Qd5, obvious enough once you see it.

Recently I started solving some of the puzzles on lichess.org as an alternative to playing full games which I usually lose (playing on Fairy-Stockfish 14 level 6). See Figure 2. I always play classical chess with an unlimited time control as I don't enjoy the stress of timed games. I've tried playing 5 minute games against online opponents but found that too tense. I only play against the computer nowadays. For this reason I don't have a rating as it's only games played against online opponents under time controls that count.

Figure 2

My current level in solving puzzles is 1967 and in general I hover around the 2000 mark, sometimes a little above and sometimes a little below.

 
Figure 3

It's a relaxing alternative to playing full games and I should do it more frequently as one means of keeping my brain active.