GM Max Illingworth posted an interesting video on YouTube, telling us what he did to reach the 2300 ELO level and thus becoming a FIDE Master (FM). Let's take a look at his list.

1. His opening repertoire was too narrow so he changed from the King's Indian to the Nimzo and Bogo Indian defenses. He also started playing main lines, not just side lines. 
Narrow opening repertoire means that strong players can prepare for you easily.

2. He continued working on tactics, something I also recommend.

3. He worked with a GM coach which is very nice but also pricey.

4. He did a lot of endgame work.

5. He also changed his mindset. He stopped forcing play when his opponents made mistakes. He continued playing good moves and stopped trying to prove things as correct or incorrect.

6. During tournaments he stuck to the same routine to eliminate decision fatigue and thus save energy for his 
games. 

His very first win over a grandmaster pushed him over the required 2300 FIDE ELO threshold. You only have to reach it once in your life. Of course, Illingworth became a GM and Australian champion.  Follow him online,; he has a lot of great content.

My personal and humble goal is to reach the 2200 level and get the Candidate Master (CM) title. 

What's your goal?

Still looking for last-minute stocking stuffers? Check out the new website www.tricitychess.com for software that would make a great last-minute stocking stuffer. You can get it delivered if you're in the Tri-cities area.

​Below is my recommendation: GM Anand, former world champion, shows you games and stories from his early career. This is great training. 

Merry Christmas!!
from Vas at Tricity Chess Enterprises, the owner of this website and www.tricitychess.com.

It's rare to pull off a double exchange sacrifice (rook for a minor piece) in a game. I did it in a correspondence game where I had no clue how to continue. My opponent declined my draw offer so we played it out. And I'm glad we did. 

After each exchange sacrifice, stop to consider White's compensation. Sacrifices only make sense when there is compensation. In this game White's compensation is the connected passed pawns which ultimately triumph.

​

[Event "3CSP/7VEN/GF1 (VEN)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2020.01.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sladek, Vaclav"]
[Black "Grabowski, Benedykt"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D06"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Bf5 3. Nf3 e6 4. Qb3 Nc6 5. Bd2 Rb8 6. e3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. a3
Bxc3 9. Bxc3 O-O 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Qxc4 Be4 12. O-O Bd5 13. Qd3 Be4 14. Qd1 Nd5
15. Rc1 Qe7 16. Nd2 Bg6 17. Bf3 Rfd8 18. Qb3 Bd3 19. Rfd1 f5 20. Nc4 Bxc4 21.
Qxc4 a6 22. g3 Qf7 23. Bg2 Rd7 24. Qb3 Na7 25. Bd2 Rd6 26. Qc2 Nc6 27. Qb3 Nce7
28. Ba5 Nc6 29. Bd2 Nce7 30. Ba5 Rd7 31. f3 c6 32. Rd3 Re8 33. e4 Nf6 34. Rf1
h5 35. h4 Kh7 36. Bd2 Qg6 37. Qxe6 c5 38. Bg5 fxe4 39. fxe4 Nc6 40. Rxf6 ! (1)
Rxe6 41. Rxg6 Rxg6 42. d5 c4 43. Rf3 Ne5 44. Rf5 Nf7 45. e5 Rxg5 46. hxg5 g6
47. Rxf7+ ! (2) Rxf7 48. d6 Kg7 49. e6 c3 50. bxc3 Kf8 51. exf7 Kxf7 52. Bxb7 Ke6
53. Bxa6 Kxd6 54. Bd3 Kd5 55. a4 1-0

With COVID-19 shutting things down, some players have switched to playing webserver-based correspondence chess. The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) has many big events and some can earn you norms towards titles.
But with databases and strong engines available, it's like swimming with sharks. You've been warned. In one game, as we reached the middlegame, my Indian opponent announced that I was losing a piece by force and he would chase down my extra pawns. I doubt he labored over the position in his chess lab. Most likely he just fed it to his chess engine.

The game presented here is my 16-move crush of a Slovak opponent who proudly announced that he doesn't use engines. Of course, this is great for his chess improvement but not for his ICCF rating. He should stick to online chess.

[Event "3MAB20/VEN/13S1 (VEN)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2020.07.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sladek, Vaclav"]
[Black "Kopcok, Michal"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D44"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 h6 7. Bxf6 gxf6 8.Bxc4 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Qd6 11. d5 (open up lines to the enemy king while you can) b4 12. e5! fxe5 13. Ne4 (Qxd5? 14. Nf6+ +-) Qd8 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. Qb3 Kf7 16. Nxe5+ and Black gets mated 1-0

I like to play on ICC (Internet chess club) in the league4545. You get to play long games, 45 minutes with 45 second increments, you play on a team against humans and the games are checked for cheating.

This morning I played Black and with my team down 1.5-0.5 my lower-rated opponent offered me a draw. So I declined which can be psychologically annoying for the person making the offer. And in this game, that might have been the case.

As soon as White exchanges bishops on b6, my knight can enter the f4 square and form a mating net. 

So, keep playing, you never know.

[Event "Team 45 45 League T86"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2020.10.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "cadmiumorange"]
[Black "NCM Vas Sladek"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "1783"]
[BlackElo "1976"]
[Annotator "Sladek,Vas"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e5 7. Qe1 Bc5 8. e4
dxe4 9. dxe4 O-O 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. Be3 Re8 13. Nh4 Qc7 14. g4 Bg6 15.
Nxg6 hxg6 16. Rd1 {Draw offered but I declined with my team down 1.5-0.5 in
the match.} Rad8 17. Bf3 Nf8 18. g5 Nh5 19. Bxh5 gxh5 20. Qe2 g6 21. Rd2 Rxd2
22. Nxd2 Ne6 23. Nf3 Rd8 24. c3 Qd6 25. Bxb6 axb6 26. h4 Nf4 +- 19 27. Qe3 Qe6
28. Nh2 Rd3 0-1 (After Qh3 White gets mated.)

Black to move. Can you find the killer combination? Step one, eliminate defenders and step two, force mate!

​

Solution: 

1. ....Bxe5 2. Bxe5 Nxf3+ 3.exf3 so far this is all forced. Now what? 
3. ...Bg2!! and White can't avoid mate. 
If 3. Kxg2 Qh3+ 4.Kg1 and Qh1 # or if 3. Bxh8 Qh3 and we still mate on h1.

This game shows how beautiful and slightly violent chess is. 

Today I played my round 5 game in the team 45 45 league on Internet Chess Club (ICC). See affiliate links on this website!) My team was in the lead 2-1 so I just needed a draw but I had the Black pieces.
On move 12, the server had an outage and when I reconnected, we couldn't get the game back. So, we played a new one and followed the same opening until..... My opponent deviated on the last move, instead of following the book with Nxd4 sacrificing a pawn, he chose Nd6+ which got me out of the book. From here I had to do the work myself and I actually managed to play a good move in the position below.

What would you play here and how far can you see?

​BLACK TO MOVE

 
1. ... Be4!! (My engine gave me the !!) threatening mate on d1. 2. h4 Rd1+ 3.Kh2 Bxf3 4.Kg3 Bc6 and White gets mated after Rxg2+ and Rh1. 

Black wasn't happy with the pin on his Queen so he played 1. ...Qe8.
Homework:
What other factors are in play other than pins? Was this a good move?

Coach Vas doesn't miss a beat here. 2. Bxf6 gxf6 3. cxd5 exd5. Here White is positionally rocking it because Black's pawns are all broken up. I won easily.

​

Lesson: take good care of your pawns!

I'm following the official order to stay home and part of my daily routine is online play at ICC. This morning I won a 3 round 15 0 event and the position below is from the final. 

Black to play!

1. ...Nxd4! (Of course!) 2.exd4 Qxd4+ 3.Re3 f4 4.Bf2 fxe3 5. Bxe3 Qe5 (Threatening Qxh2+ and Bg3#) 6.g3 Rc3 7.Kf2 Qxe3+ 0-1

Always stay on the lookout for tactics and stay active with the Black pieces.

 Note: I'm available for online rapid games at $15/hour with e-mailed notes.

Black to play.

Black wins quickly with one shot: 1. ...h4+ deflecting the King so the e3 pawn can promote on e1. 2. Kxh4 or Kh2 both lose to e2 and e1=Q. (NCM Vas Sladek vs IM Mladen Vucic, ICC 3 0, March 2020)