My chess game has its peaks and valleys, and I got to wondering if there was a pattern. Types of opponents? Kinds of tournaments? Perhaps I lose a bunch of games when I experiment with different opening moves.

As you’ll see after the jump, the answer is much simpler.

Proceed at your own risk »

This was a game where I would’ve quit if I had half a brain. He had position and strength in place and, except for a couple of moves, my king completely at his mercy. I was lucky to get the win.

Is position better than points? It appears that way in this game. My opponent has my king pinned down, my rooks are almost useless and he’s about one or two moves from giving me a well-deserved checkmate. He presses onward with the attack, but ignores the bishop on his doorstep and forgets to protect his rear flank with game-ending results.

Motto: Never give up. Never surrender.

Whether you women folks believe it or not, we males do remember certain dates: our birthdates, when our team last won a championship (10/14/1908), our mom’s birthday (5/14), and other little things. My recent significant date: yesterday was the 26th anniversary of my first USAF enlistment. It seems like ten minutes ago.

Here’s another game I should have lost. Down in material, my king is pinned down, and he’s attacking with two rooks and a queen. Then he makes this inexplicible move (#34) to take his queen out of the field of battle and I’m able to go on the offensive and win. Yogi was right about it not being over until it’s over.

Left chess for the longest time because I was frustrated over my lack of learning. Recently had a mind-reset on the subject and am now playing for fun.

Here’s a good game where I was lucky to get the win. This player is good. “Position over material!”

Edit: Longtime readers may remember I was miffed at GameKnot for a while, but they’ve added a couple of tools which make me a better player. I’m over my miffedness. If you want to challenge me to a game, my userid is ‘wolverines’.