I have finished the first handful of games correspondence mode on chess.com. For the most part, they have been pretty straightforward: play well and wait for the big mistake. Most of those have come early.

The Rochester Chess Club group match against the "Galactic Empire" put me on fifth board (out of 5), because I was still unrated. I am playing black against an experienced online player rated in the 1600s, and he is playing very strong. I think I made a mistake early. I gave up my light square bishop for a knight, and he went into a line like the KID exchange, but better for white (the c-pawn is not already committed to c4). I wonder how he feels about the game, as my rating has climbed from 1200 (starting) to 1608 in my first five games.