Till You Get It Right

By Tim Sawyer

GM Lev Alburt has written that one of the best ways to improve in chess is to find a typical thematic position and try to learn everything you can about that one position. One approach is to practice chess by playing your favorite opening vs the same computer over and over again. CM Dan Heisman recommends that after every game, you look up where you could have improved. Using these principles in 2007 I began to play off and on certain BDG lines vs the computer "Rookie" on ICC, and later also vs its older brother "blik". In 2007 I lost most of those games, but gradually I learned. Post-mortem analysis with Fritz or Rybka became my pre-game preparation for a future blitz attempt. It worked well when I could remember the lines.