Chess in Israel

A three-week stretch from October 23rd to November 14th saw my Chess.com Rapid rating nosedive from an all-time high of 1310, reached on October 8th, to 1234, a level not seen since August 24th. Devastated by the sharp reversal of fortune, of which I believe overconfidence and impatience to have been the principal causes, I spent the next three weeks sedulously clawing my way out of the abyss. Between November 14th and December 3rd I built up an eight-game win streak, and on December 10th the stage was set for me to reclaim the 1300 mark. Chess.com matched me with a 1328-rated player by the name of "aarghmaj" and assigned me the white pieces. This report examines the game itself, which ended with me resigning after twenty-three moves, and also explores the phenomenon alluded to in the title. What clues led me to suspect my opponent of cheating? What happened when I reached out to Chess.com and shared my suspicions with them? What does it feel like to be the victim of a c...

The Czech Pirc Defense has served me well for the most part as a repertoire for Black against 1. d4 and other non-1. e4 openings. The first four or five moves are easy to remember and can usually be blitzed out regardless of how White develops, and the relative obscurity of the Czech Pirc means White needs to spend time thinking while Black is in familiar territory. As the games progress, however, I often find that I'm underdeveloped and late to castle, that my position on the kingside is cramped with the dark-squared bishop having nowhere to go, and that my queen is stuck on the wrong side of the board with no way of impacting the game. As an alternative to the Czech Pirc, specifically against 1. d4, I recently experimented with the Nimzo-Indian Defense, which is considered Black's winningest reply to 1. d4. However, I repeatedly found myself in positions I couldn't understand and White was able to penetrate my defenses with ease. These experiences, together wit...