Chess
I was first introduced to the game of chess in elementary school. I have very little memory of that time though, and I'm sure I did not really grasp many of the important concepts of the game. It wasn't until much later that I started following professional chess via some YouTube channels which covered historically significant games as well as modern competitions. Eventually, I started getting back into the game, and have been playing regularly (primarily online on chess.com) since the Summer of 2020 (during the pandemic-induced online chess boom).
Currently, I'm about 1900 rated in blitz on chess.com. Blitz is what I play most (by far), but I've also dabbled with rapid and bullet a bit. I'm relatively pleased with my progress so far since I am not dedicating a ton of time to study but getting to where I am now after a little over one year of regular play seems pretty solid to me. I think my long term goal is to get to a rating of 2000 elo. Anyways, below I'll share some of my thoughts about openings I like and maybe a couple of puzzles I find to be interesting. I'll likely update this as I continue playing and developing better understanding.
My Favorite Openings
White Openings
With white, I almost exclusively play 1. e4, and these are my favorite variations against some popular responses from black.
Giuoco Piano: Evans Gambit
Caro-Kann: Fantasy VariationÂ
Sicilian: Grand Prix Attack
Alekhine's: Four Pawns Attack
Black Openings
I tend to play double-edged openings with black, searching for imbalance. Below are some of my favorite setups.
Caro-Kann Defense
Sicilian Defense: Dragon
Nimzo-Indian Defense
King's Indian Defense
Some Puzzles I Enjoy
White to move, mate in 3.
White to move, mate in 2.
Black to move.