Saturday, July 29, 2006

Shit happens, still... After all this time.


My first IECG server based tournament game just ended in a loss. And what a loss. Check out the final position;


I resigned immediately after. It is hard to recover from losses like these. Makes me want to give up this game called chess all together. After all this time i invested into it, and much more... Sh*t like this still happens.

Friday, July 28, 2006

IECG takes it to the web

As a big fan of server based correspondence type chess play, i was pleased to find out that IECG has now taken it to the web, giving members the oppurtunity to play through a server.

A little info about IECG;

The IECG: With over 10,000 members the International E-mail Chess Group comes is the #2 largest (unofficial) CC club, next to the (officially reckognized) ICCF, and operates as a 100% volunteer-based organization and does not charge fees of any kind. The IECG features tournaments such as “class” events, 2-game matches, Quads and Thematic Tournaments. A “Thematic” tournament involves nothing more than a series of pre-arranged moves to which all players agree. The “real” game starts at the end of this sequence. Thematic events, as the name implies, illustrate some particular opening. All players should know that these clubs do not “teach you to play chess”. You must already know the rules of the game beforehand.


When it comes to correspondence chess via E-mail, IECG is one of the most esteemed servers with 8 years of experience and a rapid increase in the number of members each year. IECG provides Internet users with the opportunity to play rated email chess games with people all over the world for free. Joining IECG is easy, all you need to do is to log on the website and fill in some details. Then an experienced tutor from tutorials office will train you in a friendly atmosphere and when he/she makes sure that you are ready to play, you get your IECG ID to join any IECG event any time during the year.


Anyway, i have been a member of IECG (of which i think you should be a member of if you are anywhere near serious about correspondence type chess play) for quite some time now, and received numerous invitations to participate in events/tournaments played via E-mail. The way IECG intended it to be. But i never participated in any of them. I would have eventually, but at the time submitting moves and playing the game strictly by way of E-mail seemed too much of a hassle, and i was secretly hoping they would turn server based. And now they have :-)
I'm playing my first IECG server based (open) tournament as we speak.

This post should also be of interest to Knight Errant J'adoube, who (since he also became somewhat of a correspondence type chess play fan) mentioned somewhere he would like to expose himself to different levels of opposition, particularly stronger levels. And in that case, i would like to recommend registering at IECG. IECG houses players like John C. Knudsen, Simon Webb, Jorge Rodriguez and Dieter Gutsche, to name a few. Ofcourse it's not very likely you will face these players, but the fact is IECG houses the more serious correspondence chess player, assuring strong competition.

A few impressions;








As you can see, these are impressions from the tournament i enrolled in + my current ranking. Though my current ranking doesn't say much since i haven't completed any games yet. But i have to say i am very pleased with the way thing's look/feel/work.

Anyway, if you're interested in playing correspondence type chess on a more serious note, make sure not to pass up on IECG.

Untill next post ;-)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Finished tactics unit 6 (module 2)

Monday, July 24, 2006

Finished tactics unit 4 & 5 (module 2)

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Finished tactics unit 3 (module 2)

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Finished tactics unit 2 (module 2)

Learn from E's mistakes (Prt.1)

As far as i know, it is very rare that people show off games they lost due to blunders/mistakes they made. Hey, i do ;-)
And why shouldn't you? The blunders/mistakes are usually painfull enough to not want to be reminded of ever again. But the fact that blunders/mistakes can be instructional made me come up with the idea to start a series of posts dedicated to them, called "Learn from E's mistakes". To kick off with a
recent blunder which will show you that leaving your King exposed, might come back to haunt you. It also goes to show you, that i can play just as bad as i can play good (whatever that means). The game is annotated for your enjoyment.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Finished tactics unit 1 (module 2)


I've recovered somewhat and started working on the 2nd tactics module.

Monday, July 10, 2006

A lifetime (or two)

as i was adding this post to my notebook, i realized i probably have enough training/study material to keep me busy atleast a lifetime (or two). And i didn't even include everything...

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Finished tactics module 1 (sigh)


It took me a while, but i finally pulled trough. I might wrap up (and publish) a few more posts i have in the making today (or maybe tommorow), and then i'll probably give everything a rest for a while. I need rest. I'm not doing so good for a while now. My back is troubling me again amongst other thing's.