Some Chess Experiences Acquired over the Past Week (21-26 Oct)

I had no choice but to hold back this post due to work commitments (have been sleeping only 3-5 hours daily in the past busy week). I have combine the experiences I had at Siglap South CC (Sundays, 3pm) on 21 Oct and Thomson CC (Fridays, 7:30pm) on 26 Oct. Other than being lazy (it takes less time to write 1 post as compared to 2), another reason arises from my critical nature of my post, as you will see.

Games reviewed by myself first, checked with engine / database

This, to me, is still the ideal way to try and review one's own games. Look back at the game and explain all the thoughts, why I chose to play this move instead of another move, and then see how off I had been when checked against the engines, and try to identify the reason for making a right/wrong decision.

Game 1

Thoughts and Learning Points

• My handling against White's 7.c5 was bad. I must attack this attempted lockdown by attacking the front of the chain (when there's no clear way to attack the base of the chain).

Game 2

Thoughts and Learning Points

• My play was bad in that I did no realise I should do the simple and good 9...Bxa3 10.bxa3 and just enjoy a position with nothing to worry about as Black while White suffers from all the weaknesses. 

However, I have everything to criticise about my opponent's etiquette. Surely, he is not "new in chess" to point out all the "newbie" mistakes I made. So 1...c6 is a mistake if not a blunder in his eyes =) No, not about that, everyone was young once, and I personally criticised the French Defense in my youth days a lot before I liked it and played it myself in my adult days. 

It's his overall mannerisms (showing off the "big" threat he is plotting), treating his opponent, that's me, like a "newbie" that pisses me off. And then when he realise his is dead lost in the final position, just snap a "resign" and walk off. 

Yes, kids will be kids. But this really pales in comparison to Kiddo #1 (I love it when chess parents are around to teach their kids the right things -- Frankly, this is why I enjoy sharing more post-game tips with Kiddo #1after the game.) With Kiddo 2 snapping off, I'm not even given a chance to tell him what his main problems were (mainly, a huge attitude problem). And I personally have a growing concern because this is not the only kid misbehaving. 

No wonder there are a number of adult players I know, who did not want to play in any local open / challengers tournaments. Why would any adult player, who is serious enough about chess to take leave from work, want to put themselves in such a torturous situation? There are many well-behaved, mature kids of course. Unfortunately, the misbehaving ones really ruin it for everyone.

To conclude my criticisms towards misbehaving chess kids, I think I cannot assume they will just improve in age and tell them off tactfully. Hopefully their parents buy the importance of proper behaviour too, and not just care about their playing strength.

Meanwhile, for adults who prefer to avoid playing with kids, consider playing the unrated QCD Adults Team Chess League instead! So far, we had 2 seasons of the league in years 2017 and 2018. The format is roughly as follows:

• Each team may have up to 8 players. Each team shall send 4 players to play each round;
• The round takes place on Friday evenings, 7:30pm sharp;
• Teams may have different lineups for each round. The lineups that are submitted an hour before each round shall be final for that round. Players may be arranged in any order (i.e. there is NO NEED for Board #1 to be the strongest / highest rated and for Board #4 to be the lowest rated)
• Format of play is 30+30 (30 minutes of initial time plus 30 seconds increment with each move).
• Standard laws of chess apply, but our house rules remove the need for players to record moves. However, claims like "3-fold repetition", or draws after 50 moves with no captures, no pawn advancement cannot be made if moves are not recorded. Players may start recording moves anytime in the midst of the game for this claiming purpose
• Games are unrated (Players need NOT have a FIDE ID to join the league).

Adults interested should consider checking out the details of the rules and format applied in 2018, and start sourcing your own team mates as early as possible! This year, there were a couple of players who "registered" their interest with me too late, and there were no teams keen to accept them in the midst of the tournament. 

Games reviewed with the "lazy, one-click checks" by Engines

It was the first time I tried out this feature of Chessbase 14, and I gotta say I love it. Of course, it is not ideal to do (Doing one's own analysis followed by checking where I got it wrong is still ideal.), but it is very useful when one does not have the luxury of time. Chessbase 14 is not free, but it has so many useful features I don't even know where to start. I'm glad I got introduced to it. For those familiar with using the freely available resources (chess.com, lichess), you should be able to see the difference.

For these 3 games I played, I shall not point out additional learning points, since I only slept 3 hours when these games were played. While it was an unpleasant experience to be sleep deprived, I'd say its good stamina training for the upcoming SG Amateurs 2018 event =) Honestly, the schedule looks really demanding, if not "insane".

I only hope eating is allowed during the games -- It's not meant to distract the opponent, but I can't imagine being tired and hungry throughout 5 days of chess!

Game 1


Game 2


Game 3

Games Captured on DGT @ Siglap South CC (21 Oct 2018)

Last but not least, as a service to Siglap South CC players, here are the list of games captured by my DGT Board. The players themselves should be able to identify their own games and review it on their own using their own preferred means. Just want to say that thanks to everyone's co-operation by putting the Kings in the middle of the Board to indicate the results of the game, more games were captured this time round (in past weeks when the results were not inputted, the recording of moves continue. The DGT Board can only record up to 500 moves (newest games override earliest games), so some games played earlier were lost.

As always, I'm super happy that the set is being utilised a lot. Even when it comes to the day when the Board / pieces becomes unusable, I'd just buy the replacement component(s), or just keep the pieces as a weighted set. Maximise value! I'm still very happy with my purchase, and I'm looking forward to my next big purchase already (have to weight for their free shipping discount).


Game 1

Game 2



Game 3



Game 4



Game 5



Game 6



Game 7



That's all for now. Thank you again for your time.


Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing
a.k.a. newbie_learner
(maybe I should add "etiquette police" as part of my alias too)