My Win against CDGuyHall

I have been playing correspondence chess online at ICC and have finished all but one game. I may end up losing that last game but I am playing on anyways. Here is my only win from the latest ICC correspondence games.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2006SC18QF.02.18"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.05.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "CDGuyHall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "English, Kramnik-Shirov counterattack"]
[ECO "A21"]
[NIC "EO.23"]
[Time "22:59:49"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. a3 Bxc3 4. bxc3 Nc6 5. d4 d5 6. e3 e4 7. cxd5 Qxd5 8.
c4 Qg5 9. f4 exf3 10. Nxf3 Qd8 11. Be2 Nf6 12. O-O Ne4 13. Qc2 Bf5 14. Bd3
Qe7 15. d5 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. Bb2 Qe7 18. Rxf5 {Black resigns} 1-0

This was a rather quick win for me because Black blundered on move 15 and allowed me to win a piece. At the point where Black resigned he had all kinds of material hanging. You can view the complete game, with diagrams and analysis at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/GuyHall-English.html.
chess tournament results

My Game with Houle

ICC has tournaments that run every Tuesday night for 4 weeks. I entered the one for July and took a bye in Round 1 becuse it was on July 4 and I wanted to watch the fireworks. I lost Round 2 becuse I played too quickly at critical points in the game. Round 3 was played on July 18, 2006. I got disconnected from the ICC server almost imediately after Black completed move 22. The interface that I use to play on ICC is BlitzIn 2.5. I heard "Uh oh" and noticed that my timer was no longer counting down. I saw a message that said that my opponent was inactive so I incorrectly assumed the he was the one who got disconnected and waited about 20 minutes for him to reconnect. Eventually, I discovered that I was disconnected from the ICC server and reconnected. I tried to finish the game but was unable to. One of the problems was that I had BlitzIn set to count a disconnect as a forfiet loss. I got an email from the server that told me that I had lost on forfeit after I had claimed a win by mistake! I changed my settings so that disconnects no longer counts as losses. I also notified the ICC tournament director about my mistake. I am still hoping that my opponent will allow me to finsh this game because I hate to lose on a technical problem! I have a cable modem so my Internet connection is always on when I have my computer on! Here is the game score:

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.07.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "Houle"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White got disconnected and forfeits"]
[WhiteElo "1549"]
[BlackElo "1574"]
[Opening "English: Sicilian reversed"]
[ECO "A25"]
[NIC "EO.20"]
[Time "20:13:47"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. e4 Be6 7. Nd5 h6 8. Ne2
fxe4 9. dxe4 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. f4 Na5 12. b3 c6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. f5 Bf7
15. Ba3 Be7 16. g4 b5 17. cxb5 cxb5 18. Qd2 Qb6+ 19. Kh1 Rab8 20. Rfd1 b4
21. Bc1 Rfd8 22. Qe3 Qb7 {White got disconnected and forfeits} 0-1

This game, complete with my analysis and diagrams can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Houle-English.html.
chess tournament results

Mike Serovey Loses To Alex Colins Playing The Pirc Defense

I am continuing to lose games that I could have won or drawn! I'm still moving too fast at certain points in the game. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Alex-Colins-Pirc.html. If this losing streak continues I will not play in any big money tournaments until I start winning more consistently.

Here is the game in PGN format:

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.07.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "alexcolins"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1807"]
[BlackElo "1555"]
[Opening "Pirc: classical, h3 system"]
[ECO "B08"]
[NIC "PU.10"]
[Time "20:00:16"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8.
Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6 10. Bd3 b6 11. Be3 Bb7 12. O-O-O e6 13. Rhe1 Rac8 14.
Bg5 Re8 15. Bb5 h6 16. Bh4 a6 17. Ba4 b5 18. Bb3 Na5 19. e5 Nh7 20. Kb1 Nxb3
21. axb3 g5 22. Bg3 Red8 23. Rd6 Bf8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Rd1 Rxd1+ 26. Nxd1
Bg7 27. Ne1 Nf8 28. Ne3 Nd7 29. Nd3 Be4 30. f4 gxf4 31. Bxf4 Bxd3 32. cxd3
Nxe5 33. Bxe5 Bxe5 34. Kc2 f5 35. Nf1 h5 36. Nd2 Kg7 37. Nf3 Bf6 38. d4 Kf7
39. Kc3 Be7 40. Kd3 Kf6 41. Ne5 Bd6 42. Nd7+ Kg5 43. Nc5 Bxc5 44. dxc5 Kf6
45. Kc3 e5 46. Kd3 Ke6 47. b4 Kd5 48. b3 Kc6 49. g3 Kd5 50. Ke3 Kc6 51. Kf3
Kd5 52. g4 fxg4+ 53. hxg4 hxg4+ 54. Kxg4 e4 55. Kf4 e3 56. Kxe3 Ke5 57. Ke2
Kd5 58. Kf3 Ke5 59. Kg4 Ke6 60. Kf4 Kd5 61. Kf5 Kc6 62. Ke6 Kc7 63. Kd5 Kd7
64. c6+ Kc7 65. Kc5 {Black resigns} 1-0

Boylston Chess Club Weblog: Other Chess Blogs

This chess blog is listed at the Boylston Chess Club's blog. So, I decided to return the favor and post a link to them in my chess blog. Also, this link will give you a pretty thorough list of other chess blogs that you may want to visit!

Boylston Chess Club Weblog: Other Chess Blogs

My Loss To Tom Stiers

I have updated my chess site and have posted a game that I played back in May of 1991 against USCF Life Master Tom Stiers. The game only went 14 moves and Tom seemed annoyed with me for making him play it out that far! He wanted me to resign on move one! The game, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Tom-Stiers-English.html.

Here is the game in PGN:

[Event "S.C.C. Action"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1991.05.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tom Stiers"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 h5 3. h4 d6 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. d3 Be6 7. Nd5 Be7
8. Nxe7 Qxe7 9. Bg5 O-O-O 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. b4 a6 12. b5 axb5 13. Qa8+ Nb8
14. Bxb7# 1-0

I may have found a way that I can afford to play in the 14th Annual Southern Open, but will not know for sure for a couple more weeks.If I have to miss that one I still should be able to play in the state championship Labor Day weekend.
chess tournament results

I Have Updated My Chess Site

I have updated several of the pages at my chess site which is located at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com. The pages are my game with Dante Benez played on 17 November 1985, my Benoni Defense page, my Blackmar-Diemer Gambit page, my English Opening page, my French Defense page, my Gedult-Gunderam page, my Grob Attack page, and my Italian Game page. I have also added my loss to Stuart S. Finney playing the White side of the French Defense. In time I will be adding more games form OTB play as well as some correspondence games and some ICC games. I also have other web sites that I need to be working on, so I don't have all day to spend on chess. Maybe someday I will be able to become a professional chess player!

I got a card in the mail a few days ago that is advertising the 14th annual Southern Open. It is in Altamonte Springs, near Orlando, and is about an hour drive from here. I am hoping that I can catch a ride with someone who lives near me and share a room with him. The room rate is $79 a night whether it has one person in it or four. That would make the trip affordable for me. Otherwise, I plan to take half point byes in the first two rounds and drive back and forth both days. Gas is still cheaper than staying one night in a hotel room by myself! Or, I may take the byes in the morning rounds so that I can sleep in a little before i have to drive there.

chess site update

Upcoming Tournaments

Besides the monthly tornadoes in St. Pete and Orlando, the June 2006 issue of Chess Life lists two tournaments in my area that I would like to play in. They are The 14th Annual Southern Open and Florida State Chess Championship. The first one is August 4 through 6 and the second one is September 1 through 4. There are several side events at the Florida Championship that I would be interested in as well. However, I probably won't make it to either one because they are rather expensive to play in. I live about half way between St. Pete and Orlando so both drives are about one hour for me. Factor in gas at about $3 a gallon and that can be expensive to drive back and forth for 3 or 4 days at each event. Then, there is the wear and tear on both my car and me. Fatigue has been a problem for me in past tournaments so driving back and forth every day would probably kill my chances of winning any money in the Under 1600 sections. Staying in the hotels where the events are being held would reduce the fatigue factor but cost even more than driving would! It sucks that there are no tournaments anywhere close to where I live! There is no club anywhere close to where I live either. The closest club that I know of is in St. Pete.

Back in 1986, right after getting out of the US Army, I played in the state championship and won the Under 1600 section with a perfect 6-0 score! That was part of and 8 game winning streak that I have not been able to duplicate ever since! I played in the state championship once since then and did rather poorly. That event put my rating below 1600 and I have been below 1600 ever since!

I played in the Southern Open a couple of years ago and lost every game that I played! My only point came from a bye! Again, fatigue was a factor. I stayed in a hotel room by myself, but it was about a mile from where we were playing so resting between rounds was sometimes a problem. Also, I had trouble sleeping at night because I was used to staying up half the night. I still haven't posted those games from the Southern Open to my chess site.

For several years I have wanted to play in the World Open or some other really big money tournament. Again, cost was the main reason why I have yet to play in them. I have wanted to become a professional chess player for over 20 years now but I am not good enough and simply cannot earn enough money to go pro any time soon.

Back in my Senior year of high school I played in both the Southeastern (Region 4) High School Championship and the National High School Championship. I played in the Under 1400 sections of both championships. I liked the excitement of playing in a really big tournament and of being part of a team. I miss both now!

chess tournament advice

Why Do I Lose So Many Chess Games?!?

by Mike Serovey

Have you ever asked yourself that question while having a bad tournament? I can remember when I was still in high school I was playing a tournament and my chess team coach, Mr. Anthony Paul Stone, said that playing over a game that I just lost will depress me and make it more likely that I will continue to lose. Was he right? I don't know. Sometimes this is true and sometimes I really need to play over a lost game before the next round so that I can avoid repeating my mistake later in in that tournament.

One of the things that has hurt me for several years is fatigue. When I have to stay in a motel or hotel I don't sleep as well as I usually do at home. Also, the excitement of playing in a tournament can make it hard for me to sleep! To make things worse, I can remember playing a tournament in Jacksonville, FL where I had to share a room with about my entire chess team! I slept on two chairs next to the air conditioner! I bombed out in that tournament.

At other tournaments I shared a room with a USCF life master named Tom Stiers. Tom used to talk, and even scream, in his sleep. I have no idea if he still does this now. I would be startled out of a sound sleep several times a night by his talking or screaming! Tom used to hate to play against Igor Ivanov because Tom has yet to beat, or even draw Igor! I can still remember him screaming about having to play Igor the next day. I read in Chess Life that Igor had died, so Tom will not get his rematch. Is it any wonder that I was often fatigued after a day or so of stuff like this?

Someone commented on his web site that most of the games on mine were games that I had played online at ICC. He is correct. The interface that I use to play at ICC is BlitzIn 2.5. BlitzIn allows me to save all of my games in PGN format. That makes it really easy for me to post my games on my site. With over the board games, I have to type out the game score and check for mistakes in notation before I can put the notation on my web site. I have been too lazy, and busy, to do all of that work. However, I do plan to put these games on my site, eventually.

I have noticed that one of the things that has caused me to lose online and correspondence games is impatience! Even in correspondence games I fail to take the time needed to look at all of my opponents possible replies to my moves! I have posted two short games below that I recently finished. Both are from a correspondence tournament and in both I failed to look at all of my opponents' possible moves.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2006SC18QF.02.17"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.05.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Fegary"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[Opening "Sicilian: chameleon variation"]
[ECO "B23"]
[NIC "SI.44"]
[Time "22:59:49"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 d6 4. Nf4 e5 5. Nfd5 Nge7 6. Bc4 g6 7. Nf6#
{Black checkmated}
1-0

I just walked into a checkmate here! I failed to look at any knight move for White except Nxe7. Oh, well!

[Event "ICC correspondence 2006SC18QF.02.08"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.05.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "pokerram"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A16"]
[NIC "EO.64"]
[Time "22:59:49"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 c5 6. e5 Nh5 7. f4 d6 8. exd6
exd6 9. Nge2 Nf6 10. O-O Nc6 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Ng4 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Bxc6
Qb6+ {White resigns} 0-1

I resigned here because I was going to lose my bishop and the only way out of checkmate was to give up my queen to a discovered check. I thought that 14. Bxc6 was a winning move! It turned out to be a losing blunder because I failed to consider any queen moves for Black!

The moral of the story for me is to get plenty of rest both before and during a chess tournament and to take my time while playing! It is better for me to lose on time forfeit than to continue to blunder away pieces or to walk into a checkmate!

Another Loss to SlowMoe

Posted below is another one of my games against SlowMoe, a computer program at ICC. It is a loss and is posted in PGN format. The entire game, with diagrams and analysis can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/SlowMoe-English.html

[Event "ICC 20 20"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.02.19"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "SlowMoe"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1585"]
[BlackElo "1760"]
[Opening "English: symmetrical variation"]
[ECO "A16"]
[NIC "EO.64"]
[Time "18:31:26"]
[TimeControl "1200+20"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d5 5. d3 dxc4 6. dxc4 Qxd1+ 7. Nxd1 e5
8. b3 e4 9. e3 Be6 10. Bb2 Nbd7 11. Nc3 Bf5 12. Nge2 O-O-O 13. O-O Be7 14.
Rfd1 Rhe8 15. Nf4 Nb6 16. Ncd5 Nbxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 g6 19. Rad1 Rxd5
20. cxd5 Bd6 21. h3 Kc7 22. g4 Bc8 23. Rc1 f5 24. gxf5 Bxf5 25. b4 Kb6 26.
bxc5+ Bxc5 27. Rc4 Bd6 28. Bd4+ Kb5 29. Bf1 Ka5 30. Bxa7 Re5 31. Bd4 Rxd5
32. a4 g5 33. Bc3+ Kb6 34. a5+ Ka7 35. Bd4+ Ka8 36. Bb6 Be5 37. Bg2 Rd1+ 38.
Bf1 Bxh3 {White resigns} 0-1

I do have some wins against SlowMoe that can also be found on my chess site.

My Google Page Rank (PR) For My Chess Site

The home page for my chess site located at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com now has a Google PR of 4. Most of my main pages have a PR of 3. Most of my individual game pages only have a PR of 0. It seems that most of the other sites out there, especially chess sites, are linking to my main page only. That would explain why my main page has the highest PR of any page on my site. It seems that I need to improve my internal linking a little bit to get my other pages to rank a little higher. Also, I need to get some other sites and directories to link to some of my internal pages too. This is important because the higher a page ranks in PR the better the chances are that that page will also rank highly for the relevant keywords that are on that page. I want my pages to be found by those people who are looking for my content! So, if any of you web masters out there have been reluctant to link to my site because of low PR now you should be willing to link to my site because I now have decent PR for my home page!

I have been trying to earn enough money from this site to cover the costs involved in keeping the site up on the Internet. These include things like domain name registration and hosting. Although I have managed to keep these costs low, they are not entirely free! I have a link on my page asking people to donate if they are getting anything out of my site. So far, not one person has! So, either my site is not helping anyone or the people who visit my site are too cheap to help me out with even $5! This leaves me wondering why I even bother to keep the site updated! My hosting and domain name registration are both coming up for renewal in December of 2006. Should I bother to renew both or not? I did manage to get $13 in commissions from Amazon.com. So, some people are clicking on my Amazon links and ordering things. Unfortunately, the commissions from Amazon are so low that it took me over 1 year just to earn that measly $13! Again, this leaves me to wonder why I even bother!

The problem with spammers has also left me wondering why I even bother to have this site if all I get are spammers abusing it! It would be nice if I got some encouragement to keep this site up and and a little financial help to cover the costs of doing this. I'm thinking about offering some kind of incentive to get people to donate $5.00 each. What would people like? I have a few chess ebooks I could offer or a few GM games in PGN format. I am also thinking about rewriting a study I did several years ago on how chess players think. Although it may not be as extensive as Think Like A Grand Master, it should still prove valuable enough to be worth a $5.00 donation. I am thinking about adding a survey to my site asking people about this and to tell me what they want as an incentive. I am also hoping that I can get some real comments from people on this blog telling me what they want as an incentive. Come on people, help me out here!

Thanks,

Mike Serovey

Stop Spamming My Chess site & Blog!

I can't remember when I first set up my chess site at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com but since then I have managed to get the site, and most of its pages, listed with the various search engines. I tried a chat room and forum but found that nobody was using them and thus removed them. I had a blog on my site with articles arranged by topic and some people had posted comments to my blog. Unfortunately, some of those comments were spam and I selectively deleted them. Then, my hosting company had their server crash and my blog get messed up. I was unable to restore the blog so I move it to blogger.com hoping that I would not have the problem of my posts getting lost like that again. Still, several hours of work got lost.

Now, I have found a new problem. I had a guest book on my site but removed it because of the spam posts on it. I could not selectively delete posts from the guest book, so I just removed the entire thing! Here is what I posted on my chess site about the problem.

NOTE: I have removed my guest book because of the number of people who have made spam posts to it. When I last checked, I went from about 10 posts that were real comments or questions to 2752 entries! All but about 15 of these entries were spam posts! I had people from about 30 different countries spamming my guest book! I guess that is the price that I pay for being semi-successful online! Some of these jackasses actually went as far as to try to put an entire spam webpage into the little guest book area! Others would say things like, "Nice site. I will bookmark it" and then post about 30 links to sites that have nothing to with with chess or hobbies in general. I do not want people posting links to sites selling Viagra, pornography or gambling on my chess site!!!

If people wish to contact me and give me feedback, or request a link exchange, they will have to go to the "Contact Me" page on my site located at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/contact.shtml I have removed my unlisted telephone number from that page because of calls from telemarketers! However, you can still click on the email link to send me a message. I do NOT check my email every day but will get back to you when I finally do notice and read your email.

I do plan to put a forum or bulletin board back on my site, but only if certain conditions are met. They are: 1) The software must allow me to require everybody to register before they can make posts; 2) I must be allowed to delete spam posts!; 3) If someone makes a spam post he/she will be warned once, after that the person will lose his/her membership to the forum if he/she makes any more spam posts!; and 4) I must be able to edit posts to remove obscene language, racist comments and other offensive material.

What I would like is for other people, not just me, to be able to post games to the forum and then get feedback and analysis from other forum members. I would like to build a chess community if I could. Again, if spam becomes a real problem then I will shut this forum down for good. I will also need to make sure that I have all of the required legal disclaimers on the forum.

My Chess Goals For 2006

As the new year approaches it is time for me to be thinking about my new year's resolutions. I like to review my goals for the year that is ending and see which ones I met and which ones I missed. I lost my list of chess goals for 2005 when my former chess blog got messed up by my hosting company. So, I will have to go from memory as to what the goals were and whether or not I met them.

I have several chess ratings. I have 3 with the US Chess Federation (USCF). They are: Regular Over The Board (OTB) rating - 1512 (That rating will drop to 1500 because I lost all 3 games that I played in my last tournament.); Quick Chess - 1646; and Correspondence - 1893. My goal for this year was to win an Under 1600 class prize and then get my rating over 1600. I had no goal for my quick chess or correspondence ratings. I failed to meet my OTB rating and prize goals for 2005.

I also have a rating at Stan's NetChess. That is a provisional rating of 2143 - P24. I'm not sure how many games I have to play to get an established rating. My goal for 2005 was to get that rating over 2200 and I failed. So, my goal for 2006 is to get that rating over 2200 and get an established rating.

I also have some ratings at the Internet Chess Club (ICC). Below is a table that summarizes my ratings and games played so far. The number of games needed to get an established rating and my highest rating are also listed. My ICC handle is OnGoldenPawn.

Statistics for OnGoldenPawn

rating [need] win loss draw total best
Blitz 1394 [8] 14 28 6 48 1441 (13-Mar-2005)
Standard 1555 [4] 56 64 18 138 1674 (03-Jul-2004)
5-minute 851 [8] 1 2 0 3
Correspondence 1682 2 2 1 5


My goal for 2005 was to get my Standard rating back over 1600 and I failed. My goals for 2006 are: get my Standard rating back over 1600; Get my Blitz rating over 1500; get my 5-minute rating over 1000; and to get my Correspondence rating over 1700.

The problems that I am having with Blitz and 5-minute have to do with the fast time limit. If I take about 5 seconds per move I blunder and lose. If I take the time needed to find good moves, or avoid bad ones, then I lose on time. I have lost several games on time when I was winning on the board. I seldom win on time forfeit. Somehow, I need to be able to find good moves very quickly or I will never get my Blitz and 5-minute ratings over 1600!

How do I plan to reach my goals? I can start by studying and practicing. I didn't do enough of either in 2005. I have chess books and get Chess Life magazine. I need to read them. I cannot afford lessons from a master or even a class A player. I do know a class A player that lives near me. Maybe I can get some practice with him. I'm also thinking of buying and watching the chess DVDs by Grandmaster Roman Dzhindzhichasvili. They seem reasonably priced so I just have to work them into my budget.

I'm not sure how I'm going to overcome the problem I have with fatigue. I'm already taking expensive multivitamin and mineral supplements, as well as herbal supplements. I'm also working out at the YMCA 2 to 3 times a week. I also need to work on my patience. I sometimes get impatient, and even bored, when I'm not winning outright. Sometimes I get positions in which I have trouble finding a decent plan. At other times I just move too quickly and blunder. These are all times when I need to take a few extra minutes to look at the board and consider my best moves as well as all of my opponent's possible replies.

In about 6 months I plan to do a review and update on these goals to see how I am progressing toward the goals posted here today.

Mike Serovey's Chess Tournament Results This Year

So far in 2005 I have played in only two USCF rated events. Both were tornados at the ST. Petersburg Chess Club in St. Petersburg, Florida. Both were 4 round swiss system events with a time control of game in 60 minutes. Using digital clocks with a 5 second delay it was game in 55 minutes.

In the event I played on July 30, 2005 I won my first round against Nolan J. Denson, rated 1947. After that I lost to Michael A. Sperber, rated 1718 and to Remo Navales rated 1940. In the last round I drew Eric Lang, rated 1516. Later on I will post these games to my chess site located at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com. This tournament shows my lack of consistency that I have had for several years. I beat a 1900 in this tournament and then lose to a 1400 in the next one!

In the event that I played on December 10, 2005 I lost all three games I played and got a bye in the last round. I lost to a 1700, a 1500 and a 1400 before getting my bye. That will bring my rating back down to 1500 even. I cannot go below 1500 because the USCF has a rule that puts a rating floor on players to prevent sand bagging. My highest ever regular USCF rating was 1793 so my floor is 1500. I will eventually post those games, too, as I believe them to be instructive.

For those who don't know what sand bagging is, it is deliberately losing games in order to keep your rating from going over a certain point. For example, a player will win the under 1600 prize in a tournament and it will be $400. Then, a week or two later he will enter a smaller tournament with small prizes and a low entry fee and deliberately lose two or three games to keep his rating from going over 1600 points. That way he can continue to win the bigger under 1600 prizes. However, once a player has won a class prize of $1,000 or more then that player is no longer eligible to win prizes in that class. I really wonder how that rule is enforced!

I Moved My Chess Blog

The company that I use to host my chess site at www.mikeseroveyonchess.com had their hard drives crash and my site had to be restored from back ups. This process messed up my chess blog that I had hosted there. I was unable to correct the problems, so I moved my chess blog here where I shouldn't run into that problem. Also, that frees up some space on that server for me to post more games with analysis and diagrams. I plan to continue to post games in PGN format to my blog, as well as comments and thoughts about chess. It looks like my previous posts will be lost forever unless I can find some way to recover them and post them here.

I would be grateful if those people who post comments to my blog would keep their comments on the topic of chess and not make spam posts!

Thanks,

Mike Serovey