Hey guys,
I just read Josh's book The Art of Learning, and damn, the book had a tone to it unlike any book written by a chess author. Josh kept on talking about meditation, Kung Fu, Tai - Chi and other Asian stuff. Lol, I guess that's what happens when spending half his life learning Asian Martial Arts...
As most of you know, Josh was the main topic of Searching For Bobby Fischer, a pretty epic movie. (The only part I remember though is when Josh playing the homeless guy for $5)
The story was divided into two parts: chess and tai-chi. He somehow manages to connect the two subjects together. Obviously, Josh has another talent besides those two areas of expertise xD
My favorite part was his description of childhood life in Manhattan, where he grew up playing against hustlers (usually not a good group to be involved with when trying to learn good habits). Another good part was talking about his celebrity life ("pretty girls gave me their phone numbers and asked me to sign their stomaches or legs" XD) His psychological description of tournaments really catches it's essence. I could hella relate.
Overall, it's good. I highly recommend the book to people, as it an enjoyable read and a self-help at the time (Josh talks about what to do under intense pressure). Also, if you like reading about someone beating the shit out of people in Tai-Chi, you'll like this book :P
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Bored
Alright guys, I didn't really feel like posting, but I was bored and didn't really have anything to do... I doubt anyone even comes to this place anymore, because I just don't really feel like trying to maintain the blog. It's so much freaking work.
Some things I want to say...
@Alex: It's cool, alright? Don't make too big a deal about it. :)
@Kevin: Sorry I don't hang out with you guys during lunch anymore, chess club is quite addicting, even if I never play xD
@ anyone else: I really need to either bust my ass working or take a break from chess. Every time I go to a tourney, the competition is so fucking big. Because everyone jumps sections now, it's no big deal when I win, but shocking when I lose. I gotta play up a section now too.
Competitive chess is really like a rat race where you try and solve your mistakes, and you manage to solve them. It becomes OK for a while, then new ones come up. DX
Some things I want to say...
@Alex: It's cool, alright? Don't make too big a deal about it. :)
@Kevin: Sorry I don't hang out with you guys during lunch anymore, chess club is quite addicting, even if I never play xD
@ anyone else: I really need to either bust my ass working or take a break from chess. Every time I go to a tourney, the competition is so fucking big. Because everyone jumps sections now, it's no big deal when I win, but shocking when I lose. I gotta play up a section now too.
Competitive chess is really like a rat race where you try and solve your mistakes, and you manage to solve them. It becomes OK for a while, then new ones come up. DX
Sunday, January 17, 2010
This blog
For those of you who still come here, this blog will not contain some posts for a while. Just letting you know
Friday, August 21, 2009
Definition of a Rampage
Hi guys, remember how you guys wanted me to post a game of mine online, but I never did (because I procrastinated?) Well I have a game here I played against good ol' Harsha Nukula, who is in MV right now (if you don't know him but attend chess club regularly, you either: 1) don't go to chess club often or 2) don't pay attention to who's good ;)).
In this game I was white, and I killed him so badly (lol) it was like Tiananmen Square on a chess board. (No offense to Harsha, btw) Enjoy!
Because of my conscience, I will later on post a losing game with me playing Harsha. I mean, he's a good player too, so don't get the wrong idea. Remember, this is a blitz game, so we both didn't play the best moves, just average ones to save time.
To get the best picture of the game, don't just look at the chess boards I provide, but actually take a board and move out the pieces. in the chess notation I have provided. If you don't understand chess notation, leave a comment and I will help you out.
Harsha, if you're reading this, you can put in your thoughts too. Send me an email requesting to be an author, and you can edit too. If this is embarrassing, don't worry, I'll put one of my losing games up ;)
Chris Wu (White) vs. Harsha Nukula (black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
This is commonly referred to as the Petroff or Russian Defense. It has a tendency for drawing.
3.Nxe5 d6
If black plays Nxe4 instead of d6, White can play 4.Qe2! Nf6 5.Nc6+! (a discover check). Black loses the queen. Not a good idea.
In this game I was white, and I killed him so badly (lol) it was like Tiananmen Square on a chess board. (No offense to Harsha, btw) Enjoy!
Because of my conscience, I will later on post a losing game with me playing Harsha. I mean, he's a good player too, so don't get the wrong idea. Remember, this is a blitz game, so we both didn't play the best moves, just average ones to save time.
To get the best picture of the game, don't just look at the chess boards I provide, but actually take a board and move out the pieces. in the chess notation I have provided. If you don't understand chess notation, leave a comment and I will help you out.
Harsha, if you're reading this, you can put in your thoughts too. Send me an email requesting to be an author, and you can edit too. If this is embarrassing, don't worry, I'll put one of my losing games up ;)
Chris Wu (White) vs. Harsha Nukula (black)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6
This is commonly referred to as the Petroff or Russian Defense. It has a tendency for drawing.
3.Nxe5 d6
If black plays Nxe4 instead of d6, White can play 4.Qe2! Nf6 5.Nc6+! (a discover check). Black loses the queen. Not a good idea.
4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nf6
position after Nf6
position after Nf6The 5...Nf6 move by Harsha was a bit unusual. Usually what happens is 5... Nxc3 6. dxc3 and White develops, catles queenside, and starts a pawn attack on the kingside.
6.d4 d5
loses a tempo... Don't know what that's about.
7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Qd2 Ng4
position after 9...Ng4
Black offers to trade the knight for the bishop. Altough bishops are better than knights, I was willing to trade, since once I take with the f-pawn, it opens up files I could use to launch an attack. By the way, all the moves before that were development moves. It's that important ;)
10.0-0-0 Nxe3 11.fxe3 Re8 12.e4
An important point to remember is: if you plan to launch an attack, you must open up as many lines as possible towards the enemy king. Keep in mind I can do this at will, since my king is castled on the opposite side. However, if I castled kingside, it would be wise to hesitate before opening any file, as every file opened weakens your king too. Diagonalls can be opened though :-)
dxe4 13.Nxe4 a6 14.Nxd6 Qxd6
position after 14...Qd6
My knight was blocking the way, and I wanted to get rid of it by exchange. Well now at least Harsha doesn't have two bishops.
15.Rhf1
Taking control of the open file and preparing the attack.
15... Nc6? 16.Ng5
Do you see the double attack?
f5? 17.Bc4+
In this move, I put him in a position where either move pretty much loses. Kh8 loses to the knight fork after Nf7+. Kf8 loses to Nh7+
17... Kf8 18.Nxh7+
position after 18...Nxh7+
Now the mayhem starts, and the real rampage begins.
18...Ke7 19.Qg5+ Kd7 20.Qxf5+ Kd8 21.Qg5+ Ne7 22.Qxg7
After this mini rampage, the kingside is pratically nonexistent.
22...Be6 23.d5
position after 23. d5
As I said, when attacking, it's better to open up files directed towards the enemy king. d5 attempts to open up the file. other than that, it's mainly for building initiative.
23...Bxd5 24.Bxd5 Nxd5 25.Nf6
Black cannot take because of the pin against the queen. Don't want to lose the queen, obviously.
25...c6 (don't know what this is for) 26.Nxe8 Kxe8 27.Rde1+ (building momentum) Kd8? ( a knight move would be better, but nothing can save black now) 28.Rf8+
Black has to give up the queen now to avoid being checkmated.
Qxf8 29.Qxf8+ Kc7 30.Qxa8 Black resigns 1-0
Ending Position
So that was the game, hoped you liked it. Notice throughout the game I kept on putting pressure on the position and never let go of the initiative. Once you continue a major attack, it's probably best to bet everything on it. Otherwise the initiative would just fizzle out (like Hitler's strategy).
loses a tempo... Don't know what that's about.
7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Qd2 Ng4
position after 9...Ng4Black offers to trade the knight for the bishop. Altough bishops are better than knights, I was willing to trade, since once I take with the f-pawn, it opens up files I could use to launch an attack. By the way, all the moves before that were development moves. It's that important ;)
10.0-0-0 Nxe3 11.fxe3 Re8 12.e4
An important point to remember is: if you plan to launch an attack, you must open up as many lines as possible towards the enemy king. Keep in mind I can do this at will, since my king is castled on the opposite side. However, if I castled kingside, it would be wise to hesitate before opening any file, as every file opened weakens your king too. Diagonalls can be opened though :-)
dxe4 13.Nxe4 a6 14.Nxd6 Qxd6
position after 14...Qd6My knight was blocking the way, and I wanted to get rid of it by exchange. Well now at least Harsha doesn't have two bishops.
15.Rhf1
Taking control of the open file and preparing the attack.
15... Nc6? 16.Ng5
Do you see the double attack?
f5? 17.Bc4+
In this move, I put him in a position where either move pretty much loses. Kh8 loses to the knight fork after Nf7+. Kf8 loses to Nh7+
17... Kf8 18.Nxh7+
position after 18...Nxh7+Now the mayhem starts, and the real rampage begins.
18...Ke7 19.Qg5+ Kd7 20.Qxf5+ Kd8 21.Qg5+ Ne7 22.Qxg7
After this mini rampage, the kingside is pratically nonexistent.
22...Be6 23.d5
position after 23. d5As I said, when attacking, it's better to open up files directed towards the enemy king. d5 attempts to open up the file. other than that, it's mainly for building initiative.
23...Bxd5 24.Bxd5 Nxd5 25.Nf6
Black cannot take because of the pin against the queen. Don't want to lose the queen, obviously.
25...c6 (don't know what this is for) 26.Nxe8 Kxe8 27.Rde1+ (building momentum) Kd8? ( a knight move would be better, but nothing can save black now) 28.Rf8+
Black has to give up the queen now to avoid being checkmated.
Qxf8 29.Qxf8+ Kc7 30.Qxa8 Black resigns 1-0
Ending PositionSo that was the game, hoped you liked it. Notice throughout the game I kept on putting pressure on the position and never let go of the initiative. Once you continue a major attack, it's probably best to bet everything on it. Otherwise the initiative would just fizzle out (like Hitler's strategy).
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monta Vista Tournament
Hey guys, sorry about the procrastination, I guess I didn't really get to do it... shit. A lot of things came up unexpected.... like that last minute summer camp... and the flooring in my house.. but you probably don't want to listen to my excuses.
Right now, I'm going through a chess phrase where I can't seem to beat people anymore. I'm just going to have to Study like mad and stop playing those 1 MINUTE GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, the chess club at monta vista will be holding a tournament either in september or january. There are two sections: reserve and open. The reserve section are for people under, say, 1600 skill level. The open section are for anyone. There's more prize money in the open section, but you will be competing will people just as good and better than me ;)
Right now, I'm going through a chess phrase where I can't seem to beat people anymore. I'm just going to have to Study like mad and stop playing those 1 MINUTE GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, the chess club at monta vista will be holding a tournament either in september or january. There are two sections: reserve and open. The reserve section are for people under, say, 1600 skill level. The open section are for anyone. There's more prize money in the open section, but you will be competing will people just as good and better than me ;)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
New Tournament
hey guys, sorry about the lack of posting... But I just got a notification from the USCF (United States Chess Federation) that my tourney club thing will come very soon!
now all I need are dates for the tournament. Weekdays allowed.
I haven't decided on a located yet. I was thinking about the church, but thinking about it, it seems like that isn't such a good idea...
Probably the Light-of Knowledge next to Home depot in Cupertino will do.... but no plans yet...
Suggestions Welcome!
now all I need are dates for the tournament. Weekdays allowed.
I haven't decided on a located yet. I was thinking about the church, but thinking about it, it seems like that isn't such a good idea...
Probably the Light-of Knowledge next to Home depot in Cupertino will do.... but no plans yet...
Suggestions Welcome!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson and Chess
Warning: Before you read any of this stuff, remember, IT'S JUST A JOKE! I don't exactly believe everything here, but I take to conspiracy theories, so yeah.
Yesterday was Michael Jackson's death, so today, I will make a list of all the similarities between him and chess. This is for remembrance of him.
1) In chess, your opponents are always out to get you, until you crush the resistance with your pieces. Similarly, many people were out to get the king of the mafia (Michael Jackson), until he killed them all. ;)
2)In chess, white is always better than black. Michael Jackson took this to heart (or to skin)
3) In chess, the adrenaline never gets pumped up unless you start an attack. But when the attack goes overboard, "you run out of gas", and you die.
Similarly, Michael Jackson couldn't get adrenaline rushes unless he took drugs, which gave him "pleasurable", minor, heart attacks. He died because the attack went overboard.
Warning: this was meant to be a joke, to all you die-hard Jackson ppl. I've never really been a fan, so yeah.
Yesterday was Michael Jackson's death, so today, I will make a list of all the similarities between him and chess. This is for remembrance of him.
1) In chess, your opponents are always out to get you, until you crush the resistance with your pieces. Similarly, many people were out to get the king of the mafia (Michael Jackson), until he killed them all. ;)
2)In chess, white is always better than black. Michael Jackson took this to heart (or to skin)
3) In chess, the adrenaline never gets pumped up unless you start an attack. But when the attack goes overboard, "you run out of gas", and you die.
Similarly, Michael Jackson couldn't get adrenaline rushes unless he took drugs, which gave him "pleasurable", minor, heart attacks. He died because the attack went overboard.
Warning: this was meant to be a joke, to all you die-hard Jackson ppl. I've never really been a fan, so yeah.
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