Chess Motivation

I have 2 posts in my viruswitch blog about chess. I wrote them last january when I hadn't started this chessblog yet. In fact what I describe in them has been the seed of my chess motivation that grew into my little addiction. I feel as if there is something missing without these 2 posts from this blog, so I am going to republish them here.

Chess at the Speed of Light

Sunday, January 29, 2006 // posted by viruswitch at 01:21

Today was one those rare days that will remain unforgetable to me. It was the first time I saw a grand master of chess (national and european champion, 3rd medal worldwide) in action. Needless to say that I was taken aback with surprize, shock and admiration. I have never seen anything similar in my entire life! The chessmaster was very friendly and funny, doing jokes all the time while playing against us in a speed, comparable almost to that of light.

The clock was set at 5 minutes for the opponent and ONLY 35 seconds for the chessmaster! 35 seconds are normally not even enough to perform all the game-moves of the pieces along the board. But his fingers were moving so fast, still much slower than his mind, which foresaw the next moves and made combinations that beat all of his opponents within seconds. At the end of the evening, he analysed some games and taught us several things.

I am very happy that I had the honour of getting a great interview from him. The interview will be published in one of my sites and and in the local newspaper. Tomorrow is the official simultane game and even though I know I will loose, I am looking forward to it because I remember his words:

"What matters is the knowledge one gains out of a game and not victory or loss. That is why one should not get dissapointed but keep on playing and learning from ones experiences."

Almost a draw with a GM

The draw was right in front of me in move no 39. I saw it, I knew it, but I didnt believe in it. Thats why I lost it. The game was amazing, although I have to say that the grand master gave me 2 extra rounds to think. In the end not many people were left playing and he was returning much quicker to my board. The truth though is that I have much more to learn in chess. By no means would a draw mean that I have the level of the grand master. So maybe I shouldnt even think about it and return to the "earth". Its just frustrating because I saw it but I didnt play the correct move.

Here is the game:

Grand Master - Viruswitch

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nf3 Bb4
4. Bd2 B:d2
5. Q:d2 o-o
6. Nc3 Re8
7. e3 b6
8. Be2 Bb7
9. o-o Ne4
10. N:e4 B:e4
11. Ne1 c5
12. f3 Bf5
13. e4 Bg6
14. d5 e5
15. Nc2 d6
16. Ne3 Nd7
17. Bd1 Nb9
18. Ba4 Rf8
19. a3 a5
20. Bb5 Ra7
21. b4 Na6
22. B:a6 R:a6
23. b:c5 b:c5
24. Rb1 a4
25. Rb7 f5
26. e:f5 B:f5
27. N:f5 R:f5
28. Rb1 Ra8
29. Qb2 Rf8
30. Re1 Qh4
31. Re4 Qh6
32. h3 Rf4
33. R:f4 Q:f4
34. Rb8+ R:b8
35. Q:b8+ Qf8
36. Q:f8 K:f8
37. Kf2 g5
38. Ke3 Kg7
39. Ke4 h5 ?????????
40. Kf5 black resigns

The original postings can be found here.