I started playing in Dec 2010. I remember I was fascinated by all
those beautiful combo moves. Sac this, sac that, go for the King, checkmate!
You know, all those fascinating maneuvers. I had some very very enjoyable
games. With my arsenal, I managed 1600+ within 2 months of my playing. Then I
hit the wall. Playing with 1800+ wasn't what I expected. They developed their
pieces regardless of what I threw at them. They weren't afraid to make
exchanges. And I usually went down to an end game in a hopeless situation.
Sometimes, I didn't even know what actually happened. Those types of games were just out of my reach.
I knew I had to up my
arsenal to continue playing better players. I stopped my games and started with
the legendary book by Irving Chenev. He taught me about development, patience
and building small positional advantages before launching a full scale attack.
I started to apply his theory and guess what? I lost most of my games... I
found it difficult even playing lower rated players. I couldn't understand why!
Every move I made, I saw a weakness in my position. Most of the time, the
opponents would take advantage of it and I would be in a defending role
throughout the game.
I knew something was very wrong, until I learned of a magic
strategy called “Counter Attack”. Yes, I previously got the concept correct:
Every piece maneuver creates a weakness. And if I defend well enough, there
will be a time when I can give up a pawn or a piece to mess up the opponent’s
attack. And most of the time, the attacker’s piece structure isn’t as connected
as the defender’s. I am happy with my games now. And most importantly, I am
enjoying my games =)
