Real chess/Thanks to Sancho Pawnza

I have been making an effort to thoroughly think through the consequences of my moves, what Heisman calls 'Real Chess' (see sidebar). It is really hard to play Real Chess on every move, and I still screw up, especially near the end of the game when I am getting mentally drained. This makes the games more intellectually demanding, and involves using all the time on the clock, but so far it seems to be helping me win some games. I am hoping it becomes an automatic process, rather than something I have to think about.

I had just finished a game at ICC last night, and got a hello message from none other than our own Knight Victorious Sancho Pawnza. He generously analyzed two games I had just played. It was very helpful, and despite the fact that Sancho's rating is ~900 points higher than mine, I could actually understand what he was saying. Very helpful analysis: thanks, Sancho!

Sancho helped me see that I am a bit passive in my play. Whenever possible, I need to consider what advantages I can squeeze out of the forcing moves following a check. Sancho saw some beautiful forced combinations early in my games. While I probably would not have seen most of them, some are within my talents, so I need to be a little more bold in my attacks. My fear is that I will miscalculate and lose a major piece, but I think I need to at least start considering such forcing moves. I am so worried about losing a piece that I don't even consider putting my opponent in check until I am sure I have a mating combination.