New answers tagged theory
5
You are correct that 18.Bd6? is, indeed, not the best move (the simple Re1! threatens Nc7-a8 winning on material). Bd6 has widely been considered a mistake for many years now. Black holds with 18...Qxa1+ 19.Ke2 Qb2! 20.Bc5 Qc2 21.Kf1 Qc5 22.Qf4 and black has several moves that are equal, but in the last few moves, it is white that has to find the only moves ...
0
No.
Entering tournaments to make money is a fools errand.
There is much cheating that occurs in them. And plenty of us 1900 players (real 1900 federation rated not the fake online ratings) also deviate from the book to befuddle those who only know the book and think that the book is always right.
And since we do know theory and have good tactics ...
1
If you want to improve focus on ONE opening, don't try to learn many of them, especially if totally different styles.
You need to learn how to play endgames and tactics as well.
If you get over an 1800 FIDE rating add advanced things like pawn structures and positional play.
1
play because chess is fun. You will lose more money than you gain in chess unless you are very strong.
1
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned the problem after ..b6 of developing Black’s Queen. One point of ..c5 is to give her effective development suares at c7, b6 and a5. 2..b6 takes away two of those options and severely limits Black’s possilities for counterattack.
5
As a partial answer that I started as a comment to the (now-accepted) answer: Prepare yourself mentally that you may lose against somebody much weaker, purely due to the stress of the new. When walking up to a tournament area --- whether game table, dojo, ring, field, or other, --- you find out how you deal with that stress...
Just having to write down ...
1
Recently I had a memorable position where Black could win White's bishop with a fork:
[White "Ben Cassidy"]
[Black "furrykef"]
[FEN "8/p1p1k3/1p3pK1/1P1nP3/7P/3B4/8/8 b - - 1 46"]
1...Nf4+ 2.Kg7 Nxd3?? 3.exf6+
...and suddenly Black is in deep trouble, because White's pawn on f6 is unstoppable and it will become a queen. It's almost always correct to win a ...
7
You should play because you want to play, not for the money.
At 1900, you might win some money here or there, but it will not be a lot, and will likely only offset your costs just a little as you are much more likely to spend more on entry fees, books, online subscriptions, etc. There is a lot of competition at any level, so you may win some money sometimes,...
14
Would it be a good idea for me to enter a tournament with an entry
fee?
Absolutely! Playing over-the-board chess tournaments is a lot of fun. There is social interaction which is almost completely absent in online play and it will be good for you to compare your level of play with other players in "real" chess. You can also learn a lot in post-game ...
32
There is nothing wrong in entering a tournament if you have the time and if you can afford the entry fee.
However, I think you should really consider your first tournament as a discovery experience and enjoy the pleasure of chess and the atmosphere of the tournament rather than worry at once about winning prize money.
Whether you can win something depends ...
0
vs e4 play the sicilian and you are are essentially playing the same opening reversed that you play with white. Find the variations you are comfortable with and go from there. The Kan is a very safe variation that scores pretty well.
vs. d4 I would play the Tarrasch which is essentially a queen's gambit reversed. If not, you should look at how you develop ...
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