I am back from an extended hiatus from online chess. Here is a game in which I was quite happy with my position out of the opening. I think this is the primary benefit of blitz chess. It really is not enough time to calculate a winning combination to convert a positional advantage into a win. But it is a good venue to practice opening ideas and hone one's skills at evaluating the static and dynamic characteristics of positions and moves. Thus, I am trying to work on being happy if I am 24 moves into a blitz game and I have control over a central square that I can use as a home for a knight, or I have a strong pair of rooks blasting down an open file. I am sad if I am 24 moves into a blitz game and I am passively defending a backward pawn or have just hung my knight.
Position after 24. Rxa5
In this game at move 24 I have just won the a5 pawn, I have control over some dark squares in the center, my opponent's dark square bishop is hiding passively in the corner and "biting on granite" on my strong central pawn chain. My pawns are defending the c4 and e4 squares, limiting the activity of my opponent's pieces.
Position after 30. c4
After a few moves, everything has fizzled out. I must have missed something because my dream of establishing a knight on the powerful c5 square has not come to fruition. I must have missed something else, because my dream of establishing my rook on my opponent's 7th rank by Ra7 did not turn out to be possible by 29. Rxa8. Although I have a considerable static positional advantage, I am not able to take the initiative and win the game because of the passive placing of my queen and knight. That is, I do not have a dynamic positional advantage.
Position at which I was flagged on time
The most heartbreaking part of this game is where I am in a position with a very simple mate-in-two, but run out of time. But it's okay, because it's the first 7 minutes of a blitz game that really matter, right? At least, after losing in this manner, it helps me establish some peace of mind to think in this way.
The game. A pirc defense that had some ideas cross over from the King's Indian Defense and Philidor's defense.
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