Temposchlucker

 Let's start with a typical Aurora attack in the Colle Zukertort. This is how it might work: Diagram 1. White to move r4rk1/pbqn1ppp/1p1bpn2/2ppN3/3P1P2/1P1BP3/PBPN2PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 2 4 Remember what we try to accomplish: finding the preconditions. The preconditions are related to the LoA landscape. Let me first map the obvious LoAs (lines of attack). Diagram 2. White to move. The LoAs What do we see? blacks Nf6 messes with two LoAs The long diagonal is clogged up The first thing to look at is can we clear the long diagonal with tempo? 1.Nxd7 1. ... Qxd7 (Aurora Australis) 1. ... Nxd7 (Aurora Borealis) Let's assume the Aurora Australis 2.dxc5 2. ... bxc5 2. ... Bxc5 2. ... Be7 (the lesser evil, giving up a pawn) Let's assume that 2. ... Bxc5 is played. Then we get the following position after 1.Nxd7 Qxd7 2.dxc5 Bxc5 Diagram 3. White to move r4rk1/pb1q1ppp/1p2pn2/2bp4/5P2/1P1BP3/PBPN2PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 6  3.Bxf6           getting rid of the defend...

 I retired in Januari. Since then, I have mainly been busy to organize my life in accordance with the new situation (planting geraniums). I played my games on two clubs, but besides that, I haven't studied new material. Although I maintain the current stuff. Yesterday, I subscribed for a 9 day round robin tournament in July. And now the question is: how am I going to prepare for the tournament the coming months? The last tournament in december had a clear conclusion: 1/3 of my points I lose by tactics while 2/3 I lose by molesting endgames. Losing should read as not winning.  If I would worry about points, then focusing on the endgame would be the logical path to go. But I don't consider endgames as being problematic. It is only a lot of work. And even that remains to be seen. My problem is that I lack an endgame plan most of the time. And without a plan, tactics have no direction. The past weeks I have been quite successful as white. I won three times in a row with a bishop s...

 Robert stated: " If the patterns (principles/”rules”/whatever) are  NOT  embedded in LTM, then it is highly likely that we will NOT “SEE” the available options. " This is the core conclusion of this blog. It might not be immediately obvious what this means for our training. The following diagram makes this perfectly clear: Diagram 1. Black to move r3r1k1/1p3pp1/p5N1/P1p3n1/6b1/2N1P1B1/1PQ2PKP/R4R2 b - - 0 22 Pal Benko vs. Wolfram Hartmann (1984) I hesitated between Bh3+ and Bf3+. I thought it was equal, ceteris paribus. Admittedly, it was 6:00 am this morning and I just woke up. But that are the perfect moments to show you what has been absorbed and what not! What a grandmaster has absorbed doesn't disappear when he is drunk or sleep-drowsy. As long as these two moves look the same at first glance, I haven't absorbed the patterns. And that has dire consequences! What you haven't absorbed, you can't SEE during calculation. Diagram 2 is from my game yesterday. ...