Microplasticenjoyer Blog Dec 22-Dec 28

I am an intermediate casual adult player, and have fallen in love with the beauty and challenge of chess in the last year or so. As part of my chess journey, I want to start analyzing one of my games more deeply each week without just clicking for a computer review. It will be a mix of wins and losses. I'm doing the exercise for myself, but figure I'll publish it on my lichess blog so I have a record of my writing, and to have it out there if others may find it interesting or insightful. Some weeks I will also aim to provide a puzzle of the week that I find instructive, or perhaps any other games and thoughts I find cool. Thank you so much for reading!

My Game of the Week

This week's game is one I played to reach 1500 for the first time in Rapid on chesscom. I like to play on both major chess sites to mix it up as far as player pools, board visuals, etc. This game has a good mix of opening ideas, tactics, and late stalemate tricks, so I hope you enjoy it.

Opening Phase

Key Tactical Sequence

Resulting Middlegame & Endgame

Beautiful Game of the Week

Watching the World Rapid and Blitz championship this week, I was amazed by this game between Ju Wenjun and Irine Kharisma Sukandar. Something I'm trying to understand better is how material imbalances play out and their benefits and drawbacks. This game was an absolute clinic on that with a beautiful tactic from Sukandar to gain an advantage and then impressive defending by Wenjun who holds a draw with rook and bishop vs. queen, including many pawns still on the board. Complex stuff!
https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-world-rapid--blitz-championships-2024--rapid-women/round-3/FnCI82cJ/0NysQ0mG
Thanks for reading!
-Charles