The Blindness…It Burns!

As I mentioned the other day, it’s really important to analyze your blitz games, at least superficially.

So take this position for instance…

Pretty easy to see what the best move is in the position, right?

So why did I leave the queen hanging for so many moves?  It’s a board vision issue.  I’ve been working on this for a while now, and clearly I still have some work to do.

Here’s the entire game.  While I feel that overall my play was pretty good (especially since I’m horrible at blitz) I also know that I can’t go away thinking I did well here.

Til Next Time,

Chris Wainscott

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Tactics With a Grain of Salt

One thing that I think is important to remember when working on chess is that while things like accuracy do matter, it’s also important to take them with the occasional grain of salt.

For instance, look at this puzzle.

It’s white to move and it’s mate in two.

Now, the correct answer is at the bottom of the page below the Patreon info.  Scroll down when you would like to see it.

Now, when I initially solve the puzzle I solved it as 1.Rb3 g3 2.Rd3 (or lots of other third rank squares) g2 3.Rh3# (For some unknown reason my brain was saying this was a mate in four, not three…who knows why…)

So here’s the thing…technically my answer was “wrong” and would be considered a fail on any tactics app, etc.  But in reality since the entire line was forced it’s important to remember that this solution would work from a practical standpoint in a game.

Til Next Time,

Chris Wainscott

If you like this blog, please consider becoming a Patreon supporter.  Any money I raise will go towards lessons and stronger tournaments.

If you can spare it, please click here and become a supporter.  Even $1 a month can help me achieve my dream.

1.Rb4 g3 2.Kf5#