The Chess Campaign - Starting Rapid 1 to 10 (400)

[Part of the Chess Campaign]

Ok, so I'm trying Rapid (10 minutes per side) games for the first time and once again I'm starting with a "gifted" (400) rating as it turns out the ratings aren't shared between the chess modes. So no, I didn't suddenly get better - my Blitz rating remains at (347) while I'm doing these. Interesting how big these rating jumps are too, but I guess it's just narrowing down where I actually am. The 10 minute clock also means I doubt I'll win using it via my blitz "pushing wood" tactic now. Lastly to save some typing (and reading), games with (W) mean I played white and games with (B) mean I played black.

After watching Gothamchess lessons on Youtube I've decided to stop trying to use fancy openings (after the first game here) and go back to the basics of control the center of the board. This backpedal is mainly to help force my brain to think a bit more rather than, "I'm going to try use Queen's Gambit (in every situation) because that's what I know."

1. Kruseher (W): QGA and standard development then started slowly but surely losing the battle. Not sure why he resigned midway, because it didn't look great for me (well, it didn't look great for him either). Still counts as a win! (400) up to (560).

2. fena2804 (B): d4 e5 / dxe5 start, followed by standard development until she foolishly sent her queen to die? Had her on the ropes afterwards until checkmate (my second checkmate win LOL). (560) up to (692). Look at me, using chess notation haha.

3. hritikmehta (B): d4 e5 / dxe5 start, followed by standard development until silly error put me into a losing position. With very few pieces left it was a race to promote a pawn and he won. (692) down to (602).

4. Filip2304 (B): attempted the Scandinavian defense but clearly failed (should have developed more first I think) as he managed to infiltrate his queen into my back ranks and eventually win via checkmate. (602) down to (528)

5. engnidal67 (B): while a misclick really undid me, he managed to get TWO rampaging knights into my ranks. I really liked his first rampager though, as it had bishop cover and started from a standard development position. I've done this before accidentally in Blitz, but I'm going to study it better now to see if I can use it intentionally. This defeat brings me from (528) down to (458).

6. Msm9909 (B): I just did basic central development while they opened with each rook's pawn and also push forward weak undefended pawns. Once they ran out of pawns and got their queen sniped, they offered a draw which I refused so they resigned instead. Victory (458) up to (492).

7. MrGhsty (W): after basic central he was winning in attacking my King side castle, but then made silly errors that let me take his queen and the rest of his pieces. Then I goofed because even though I had two queens on the board and he only had a king, I managed to put it into stalemate. LOL. (492) down to (488).

8. proofjj (B): I think this was his first game on the site, and after a e4 e5 open he offered an early queen trade which I accepted as I had more material at that point. Castled on opposite ends and eventually got to promote two more queens to ladder checkmate him with 42 seconds to go. Win (488) up to (514).

9. Chayo1255 (B): e4 e5 and he had me on the backfoot early but charged my line with a bishop instead of a knight with an awesome fork (same one as game 5 here vs engnidal67) . This let me recover and get my queen into his own lines but then on chat he was :scared face: "juega rapido" (I take my time thinking if I have 10 minutes lol) so I traded queens and we cleared most of the board. I offered a draw (which would have lost ranking for me) in case he was in a hurry IRL which he refused so I advanced my pawns to promotion which he desparately tried to stop, but was caught by a rook / pawn promotion queen in his face. Win (514) up to (548).

10. nabilyy (B): he used an odd opening advancing all pawns down one side which I'd not seen before. Felt I was doing ok defense wise until I castled that way and fell into a Queen / Rook checkmate. Well played, I need to remember that one! Loss (548) down to (504).