Hugo Estrada's House of Wonder

My plan with chess was to play a game a week seriously in real time. Well, I kept putting that off, which means that I really didn't want to do it.

Well, it seems that chess means a lot more to me than I previously thought. And I do have to state that chess has helped me during the hardest times in my life. In any case, it seems that chess is very serious for me, so serious that it is even worthy to procrastinate an actual game.

For I have been very good about studying chess every night. My command of the board is the best that it has ever been. Even though I know the whole board now, I do need to keep practicing visualizing the board.

Well, I did play a game today, and I made a fatal mistake in move 14, while playing blacks. I missed seeing how one of my pieces had been pinned. And all what I had to do to protect it was to move my knight to the side.

This was a consequence of two things: my developing tunnel vision on specific branches of the game, and my automatic moving.

The automatic moving of a piece is what really drives me insane. This is when I move quickly without thinking. so I make many basic mistakes. There is a checklist of how to move. I know it, yet I still have developed the habit of thinking through it before I move.

So my goal for next week's game is to play every move going through that list. I will keep count, and if I do so over 80% of the time, I would have achieved my goal.

What is the list?
* Can I be mated in the next move?
* Am I about to give away a piece in the next turn?
* Do I know the reason for why the opponent made his last move?
* Do I have a plan to follow when making my moves?
* Is it safe to move my piece where I am planning on moving it?

Basic stuff, but not learned deeply yet :)