T minus One Month!

My next chess tournament begins September 4th and I've been hard at work studying for the thing.

Right now, I am studying a white repetoire. If yer chess-lingo impaired, a repetoire is a specific set of opening moves you plan on making in advance of a game. For example, I might play 1.d4 and I'll study all the possible responses and what I will play for my second move. Black could play 1...d5, 1...Nf6, 1...f5, 1...d6, etc. I'd need to have an idea of how I wanted to respond to those moves. In some cases, I'd have to study several moves into the game because many popular openings have the same starting moves!

And that's just openings...I'm also studying middlegame planning. Bishops vs. Knights. Space. Consolidation and Compensation. It's one of the hardest topics, but *the* most important. There is also endgame, but I won't do any specific studying for that.

It's amazing how much work you can put in for a game of chess. I'm honestly not sure why I do it. I love the game. I'm certainly not a master of the game. It's just that deep understanding I crave. One day it will subside. Perhaps a tournament win will do it for me? Retire on a winning note? :)