1387

I achieved my highest rating so far on fics, 1387. I had a couple of good wins against higher rated opposition yesterday, both of them went to difficult endgames.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "Introspection"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1359"]
[BlackElo "1432"]
[ECO "C88"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 c5 12. Qd2 c4 13. Bxc4 bxc4 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 Rb8 16. Qxc4 Be6 17. Qxa6 Qc7 18. c3 Bc4 19. Qa4 d5 20. g3 dxe4 21. Bf4 Bd6 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. Qxc4 Rxb2 24. Qxe4 g6 25. Reb1 Rfb8 26. Rxb2 Rxb2 27. Qd4 Qe6 28. c4 Rb8 29. c5 Rc8 30. a4 Qc6 31. Qd6 Qxc5 32. Qxc5 Rxc5 33. a5 Rc8 34. a6 Kf8 35. a7 Ra8 36. Kg2 Ke7 37. Kf3 Kd7 38. Ke4 Kc7 39. Ke5 Kb7 40. Kf6 Rxa7 41. Rxa7+ Kxa7 42. Kxf7 g5 43. Kg7 h5 44. Kg6 h4 45. Kxg5 hxg3 46. fxg3 Kb7 47. h4 {Introspection resigns} 1-0

The first, against introspection, was a case of being a pawn up in a rook endgame. I pushed the passed pawn as far as it could go, then when his king went across to attack, my king gobbled up his remaining pawns.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "cheesyperson"]
[Black "deanmadden"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1468"]
[BlackElo "1373"]
[ECO "A48"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Re1 Nbd7 8. Bf4 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Ng4 12. Bd2 Nc5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Bxe6 Nxe6 15. h3 Nf6 16. Be3 Qxd1 17. Rexd1 Nd8 18. Rd2 Nc6 19. Rad1 b6 20. a3 Nh5 21. Rd7 Rac8 22. R7d5 Rcd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rxd8+ Nxd8 25. Nb5 Nc6 26. Nxc7
Nd4 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Bd2 Nf6 29. Nb5 Nxe4 30. Bf4 a6 31. Nd6 Nxd6 32. Bxd6 Bf8 33. Bc7 b5 34. Bb6 Bg7 35. Kf1 f5 36. Ke2 d3+ 37. Kxd3 Bxb2 38. Bc5 Kf7 39. c4 bxc4+ 40. Kxc4 Ke6 41. Kb4 Kd5 42. Bf8 h5 43. Ka5 Ke4 44. Kxa6 f4 45. a4 f3 46. gxf3+ Kxf3 47. a5 Kxf2 48. Kb7 Kg3 49. a6 Bd4 50. Bd6+ Kxh3 51. Be5
Bf2 52. Bc7 h4 53. Bb6 Kg2 54. Bxf2 h3 55. a7 h2 56. a8=Q h1=Q 57. Kb8+ Kh2 58. Bg3+ Kg1 59. Bf2+ Kh2 60. Bg3+ Kg1 61. Qa1+ Kg2 62. Qb2+ Kxg3 63. Qc3+ Qf3 64. Qc7+ Qf4 65. Qxf4+ Kxf4 {cheesyperson resigns} 0-1

The game against cheesyperson was very even throughout, and I was convinced it would be a draw. It was a same coloured bishop and pawns endame. He had the advantage in the pawn promotion race, so I let him take my bishop in order for him to have Queen & Bishop versus my Queen and pawn. I managed to force an exchange of queens and then he resigned.

Update:

I'm now 1394. I've wanted to reach 1400 for a while and I'm almost there. I think my next medium term aim is to reach 1500, whether that will take a year or two years I don't know. Once I've reached 1400 I'll try to cement it in place and aim for 1450. Hopefully I'll get an OTB rating in the next couple of months so will have something to aim for with that. My long term aim, i.e. in the next five years or so is to reach a 100 ECF rating, equivalent to about 1750 fide and hopefully do-able.