More Chess

Here are two positions from a couple recent games. One is from a normal game, and the other is from a speed game (5 minute). The speed one isn't really all that interesting, but it is a game where I am under a lot of time pressure, and proceed to choke horribly. The other one I thought was sort of cute, but not really all that impressive.

Okay, here's me playing the role of a choke artist. I am White, and I moved Qd7 to threaten mate at g7. My opponent (1560-rated Blitz player on FICS) 'blunders' by moving Rb7. I had expected him to push his pawn to f5, and instead of spending a little extra time to think about this and making the correct play, I panicked and retreated with Qd3. So, instead of having a relatively easy win (even with little time left), I ended up losing on time in a roughly even position five moves later. Blech, I suck!


Again, I'm White. It's my move, and I've got a nice combination from here, which leads to a huge material advantage (in 3 moves, worst case). I guess I'll leave it at that, but once you see it, I think you'll understand why I thought it was a little cute. I know a few of you have been IM'ing me about chess lately, which is great. And, some of you have already started playing again. I need to get better though... maybe, I'll start studying the game, but I really don't want a huge time suck on my hands.