Lack of practice leads to poor playing

Well, it must be said that a lack of practice at Chess, and having your mind on other things, really does diminish your ability to play Chess.  I say that, dear reader, about you, knowing that it actually applies to me.  My Kasparov Chess computer, which I can beat at Level 6 at my best, is currently dealing me an education in Chess at just Level 4.  No, I wouldn't rank myself a beginner, I've been playing this game for over 20 years, but at the moment I feel a bit like a starter.

So, if you want to improve your Chess, the best thing you can do is at least practise occasionally, and more importantly, learn from your mistakes (and your successes too - I'll tell you when I next get one!).

Here's a list of some of the various games of mine that I've written up (and analysed) on this blog:

My earliest online Chess game
My very earliest Chess game (even earlier than I thought)
The Chess game I'm most proud of -
where I made the situation too complicated for my opponent, found a fork and then finished off with a piece sacrifice
 
The strangest game of Chess I ever played - 1. d4 d5 2. c4 b5
Like what was I supposed to do with that?  I was supposed to play 3. c4xb5, but played 3. c4xd5 and immediately and unintentionally took my opponent out of his prep.

The Chess game I'm least proud of

I got greedy, tried to hold onto a pawn that wasn't mine, and expended a lot of time and effort on it, instead of protecting my King.