I did not do any exercises last night. I had been doing them for so long that I was itching to unleash what I have learned on some unsuspecting patzers. So I went and challenged the neighbors. Recounted here are the sordid details of the whole affair

Game 1: I had black, and surprise2x. My opponent played d4. So I whipped out my KID. Of course I dont know nothing about this opening, but what the heck. I won because my opponent took too long to castle. I pushed the central break e5, and after the e-files were opened, he was as good as dead.

Now the impression I got from playing the KID is that this opening feels different".
I can't quite explain it, but the game felt heavier and sluggish to me. Or is it the
novelty of it being played for the first time?

Game 2: I had white. I let my opponent choose the color. Predictably he chose black. What is it with weakies and the black pieces? Does it feel more manly when playing with black? This time we played the ruy lopez. I dont know what variation we played,but again I won because my opponent took too long to castle. You know, this is a particularly effective technique that I learned sometime ago. If I had castled, and my opponent have not - I immediately look for ways of opening up the E and D-files. Even at the cost of material. Because after the rooks have centralized, death becomes those files (Just open the e-file, sac-sac-mate.)

I am beginning to dislike the ruy. It takes too long for the game to open up. Lots of manuevers are needed. My pieces are hampered by the pawn chains.

Game 3: I had black: This was a draw. I was up a rook, but then I saw a particularly
pretty rook+knight mate and decided to sacrifice material to achieve it. Only to find out that there was no mate after all. Serves me right for being too cocky.

Game 4: I had white again. Because my opponent chose black again. Will they never learn? This game followed the script of game 2. Again a ruy lopex, again my opponent failed to castled on time. That and my amazing tactical prowess grounded him to dust. Hehe! Hey I just won 3.5/4, I'm on top of the world! I'm on top of the world! Whoohoo!

Ok at this point, I have made my decision. I think I'll drop the ruy as an opening
repertoire. Its too slow and positional for me. So now, I have to think again what my opening repertoire will be.

Maybe I may have to bite the bullet and play the kings gambit. But eversince I saw some games of morphy playing against it, I have had doubts. Maybe I'll try the scotch? Arrgh! I can't decide. For the black pieces its easy, I'll try the sicilian dragon. The king-side pawn struture is the same as with the KID so since they look somewhat the same, I could save some time.

But I am now faced with a crisis. I think I have outgrown my previous sparring partners.Time to seek out better competition I think. But where? The monthly tournments are too far apart to give regular practice. I also dislike playing against the computer. Its either too weak or too strong. And playing in the internet does not produce the same adrenaline as OTB games. Darn!