likesforests

How can a chess coach help me at the 1500-level? I'm late-20s and began playing in May. Now I'm 1525 at 15+10 time controls and 1125 at 2+12 time controls. I'm mediocre--but not hopeless--at every phase of the game. I'm focusing on rook endings--I figure that helps with endings and with calculation. I'm also continuing my daily diet of tactical puzzles. Is this a reasonable approach? A couple recent, self-annotated games: [Event "rated standard match"] [site "freechess.org"] [Date "2006.10.08"] [Round "?"] [White "likesforests"] [black "humblerook"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "1531"] [blackElo "1591"] [TimeControl "900+10"] threatening e5, and simultaneously unpinning my kngiht.} Nac7 16. Ne2 {Swapping the bishops is... something? It feels wrong.} Bxb2 17. Qxb2 d5 18. cxd5 exd5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Rfe1 {I still have a bishop, on an open board now, but I want to swap my knight for his well-posted knight.} Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Nef6 22. Rac1 Qb6 23. Nc3 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 {I eliminated his first knight, but the second is on its way.} 24...Ng4 {Argh!! How do I stop Nf2+ Kg1 Ne4+ Kh1 Nxc3 -/+. I can't defend f2... I don't have any minor pieces to cover that square.} 25. Qc5 {Aha! Swap queens to avoid the tactic. A few seconds after making the move I realize the rooks will end up in a forkable pattern... losing the exchange. Rats!} 25...Qxc5 26. Rxc5 Nf2+ 27. Kg1 Nd3 28. Rcc1 Nxc1 29. Rxc1 Rd2 30. a3 {I'm down the exchange, but I often draw such positions, so play on!} 30...Rfd8 31. Bf1 Rd1 32. Rxd1 Rxd1 33. Kg2 b6 34. Bc4+ Kg7 35. a4 Kf6 36. Bg8 h6 37. Bc4 Rc1 38. Ba6 Rc2+ 39. Kg1 Rb2 40. Bc4 c5 41. Bg8 g5 42.fxg5+ hxg5 43. Bc4 Ke5 44. Bg8 Ke4 45. Bc4 {This position is defensible... unless Black sacrifices his rook for my bishop, then I'm lost. :: crossing fingers ::. I should have played h4, getting the kingside pawns rolling. It's better than random bishop moves.} 45...Kd4 46. Bg8 Kc3 47. Bc4 Rxb3 48. Bxb3 Kxb3 {The game is hopeless.} 49. a5 c4 50. axb6 axb6 51. h4 gxh4 52. gxh4 c3 53. h5 c2 54. h6 c1=Q+ 55. Kf2 Qxh6 0-1 ' margin=0 width=584 height=399 marginwidth=1 marginheight=1 name=pgnboard scrolling=no border=0 frameborder=0> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> [Event "rated standard match"] [site "freechess.org"] [Date "2006.10.08"] [Round "?"] [White "coolaa"] [black "likesforests"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "1543"] [blackElo "1519"] [TimeControl "900+10"] 30. b3 Bxb3 31. Rxb5 Bc4 32. Ra5 Rf1 33. Kg3 h5 34. h4 Ra1 35. Kf3 Ra2 36. Kg3 Kf8 37. Ra7 Ke8 38. Kf3 Kf8 39. Kg3 Bb5 {This position looks drawn, but I have the lead so I must try something. If he lets me get my bishop to e7 or exchange my e-pawn for his a-pawn I think I can win.} 40.Ra5 Bc6 41. Rc5 Be8 42. Ra5 Bd7 {A blunder, hangs my pawn.}43. Rxd5 Be8 44. Ra5 Kg7 45. Ra7 Kf6 46. e4 Kg7 47. e5 Rd2 48. a4 Rxd4 49. a5 Rg4+ 50. Kf3 Rxh4 {He advances his pawns, and I win a few. I might have enough lead again for winning chances.}51. g3 Rb4 52. Re7 Bc6+ 53. Ke3 Bd5 54. f4 Rb3+ 55. Kd4 Be6 56. Kc5 Rxg3 {This is looking very promising, but my bishop's tied down preventing an e-pawn advance.}57. a6 Ra3 58. a7 Bh3 59. Kb4 Ra1 60. Kc5 Kf8 61. Rb7 h4 {Yikes! This is a bad blunder. I allowed my opponent to promote his pawn?! I shouldn't played h4 a few turns earlier, but not now.} 62. Rb8+ Kg7 63. a8=Q Rxa8 64. Rxa8 Bf5 65. Kd6 h3 {A draw. My bishop + pawns prevent any pawn advances. My bishop protects the h-pawn. His king can't penetrate my position. He has no good sacrifice options.}66. Ra2 Be6 67. Rf2 Bf5 68. Kd5 Be6+ 69. Ke4 Bf5+ 70. Kf3 Be6 71. Kg3 Bf5 72. Kh4 Be6 73. Kg5 Bf5 74. Rh2 Be6 75. Kh4 Bf5 76. Rxh3 Bxh3 {Fine. the pawn ending is drawn, too. I had already calculated it out.} 77. Kxh3 f6 78. e6 f5 {White goofed. With connected pawns, I'm very likely to win. He had a solid drawing position and over-pressed.} 79. Kh4 Kf6 80. e7 Kxe7 81. Kg5 Kf7 82. Kh6 Kf6 {Now the win is elementary.} 83. Kh7 g5 84. fxg5+ Kxg5 {coolaa resigns} 0-1 ' margin=0 width=584 height=399 marginwidth=1 marginheight=1 name=pgnboard scrolling=no border=0 frameborder=0>

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Ne5 Nd5 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. Nxd5 cxd5. Quite a bit easier than the "Mistery" puzzle--didn't learn any chess lessons.

Good points... seeing a few of his games is the only way to know for sure.

Black must have played Nxg1 and Nh3 (twice). I think it's impossible to come up with a valid sequence of moves that reaches this point with Black to move without including those. The lesson is, knights cannot triangulate.

Tactical skill can be further divided into "calculation" and "pattern recognition". Calculation is when you look at a fresh position and say, "If I go here, he goes there, then I capture..." All chess players do this to some extent. The better class players have honed this skill by studying complex tactical positions. According to Scientific American, while us patzers spend most of our time calculating, grandmasters spend much of their time recalling similar positions. This is pattern recognition. In the words of the tactician Tarrasch, "You must see!" Perhaps your pattern reconigiton skills are weak? Think! How quickly can you solve this diagram for White? Instantly, I see the knight belongs on f6, so we have to move the rook with a gain of tempo. 1.Rxc6! bxc6 2.Nf6+ (1.5sec). 1.Rxf7 just looks silly. I wonder briefly if the knight can move and protect his rook at the same time, but the e7 pawn prevents Kf8 so we're good to go (2.5sec). If you take 10-20 seconds to solve this, you don't "see" knight fork tactical patterns. Another possibility is you haven't developed a disciplined thinking process. For example, examining every check and capture, every move. The good news is, both of these skills can be learned, and don't require fast young brains. :-)