Friday, September 2, 2011
Blitz Tactics
After a few blunders in a tricky offbeat opening, I had the following position. What is the most precise win? I'll put the answer in the comments.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Studying Master Games Quickly
I don't think there's any dispute that studying master games is productive for increasing one's chess knowledge. Typically, the most common way to do this is to study an annotated master game in a chess book or nowadays, watching a chess video or studying a game on the internet. However, I did something a little different tonight that I found to be helpful in my specific situation.
Basically, I found a specific opening variation I have been studying and searched my database for it. After putting in specific variables - I wanted to study how masters carried out their plans against lower rated competition - I came up with 22 games. I played through the games fairly quickly, about 2 minutes per game.
The first few games kinda flew by, but then I noticed something interesting. I saw several positions like the one below:
Here, White had just moved his knight to e6. In several of my own games, I always wondered whether I should prevent this and if not how I should handle the annoying pawn on e6 after capturing with the bishop.
After playing through 5-6 games with this, I started to get a feel for what Black could do in this situation. Nothing too general, as each position was slightly different (that was a lesson in itself), but realized that it was something that shouldn't be feared. Now perhaps studying a few more games like this more in detail will help strengthen this knowledge, but getting an overall view through seeing it in several games was very helpful.
By the way, this concept of playing through master games quickly and in high volume is not a new one. Jeremy Silman, Dan Heisman, and Ken Smith mention it as an effective training method. It may seem a little passive for some, but I think it has some benefits:
1. By doing it quickly and in fairly high volume, I think your mind makes connections between common themes and patterns. for example, if the same 5-6 games were studied weeks apart, the connections might be more difficult to make without specifically looking for it.
2. It is a great exercise for when you're too tired to do intense training. Attention is still needed, but it's a little lighter than playing a serious game, or playing through a deeply annotated master game. For example, I decided to do this tonight because I was too tired to study and felt it would be more productive than playing some relaxing blitz chess (I think I was right).
3. It is easy with access to online databases (I used chesstempo.com) and the ability to filter games according to position, material, player ratings, and results allows you to customize this exercise to your specific needs.
In any case, I do have a few opinions on how to best do this:
1. I would suggest you pick a specific theme for the games you will study. For example, games within a specific opening variation.
2. I think at least one player be a strong player. For example, as I play the King's Indian Defense as black, I made sure all of the players with the black pieces have a rating of at least 2400 (I went higher, but I couldn't find enough games so I lowered it to 2400). As I mentioned, I think your subconscious mind picks up things you may not be aware of, so I would rather pick up the types of moves a 2400+ player would make than say, the moves an 1800 player would make.
3. Although this is a little more relaxing, it is important to pay attention to the board and not have too many distractions while doing it.
Of course, feel free to experiment with different variables. Let me know how it goes if you choose to try this out or if you already do this.
Basically, I found a specific opening variation I have been studying and searched my database for it. After putting in specific variables - I wanted to study how masters carried out their plans against lower rated competition - I came up with 22 games. I played through the games fairly quickly, about 2 minutes per game.
The first few games kinda flew by, but then I noticed something interesting. I saw several positions like the one below:
Here, White had just moved his knight to e6. In several of my own games, I always wondered whether I should prevent this and if not how I should handle the annoying pawn on e6 after capturing with the bishop.
After playing through 5-6 games with this, I started to get a feel for what Black could do in this situation. Nothing too general, as each position was slightly different (that was a lesson in itself), but realized that it was something that shouldn't be feared. Now perhaps studying a few more games like this more in detail will help strengthen this knowledge, but getting an overall view through seeing it in several games was very helpful.
By the way, this concept of playing through master games quickly and in high volume is not a new one. Jeremy Silman, Dan Heisman, and Ken Smith mention it as an effective training method. It may seem a little passive for some, but I think it has some benefits:
1. By doing it quickly and in fairly high volume, I think your mind makes connections between common themes and patterns. for example, if the same 5-6 games were studied weeks apart, the connections might be more difficult to make without specifically looking for it.
2. It is a great exercise for when you're too tired to do intense training. Attention is still needed, but it's a little lighter than playing a serious game, or playing through a deeply annotated master game. For example, I decided to do this tonight because I was too tired to study and felt it would be more productive than playing some relaxing blitz chess (I think I was right).
3. It is easy with access to online databases (I used chesstempo.com) and the ability to filter games according to position, material, player ratings, and results allows you to customize this exercise to your specific needs.
In any case, I do have a few opinions on how to best do this:
1. I would suggest you pick a specific theme for the games you will study. For example, games within a specific opening variation.
2. I think at least one player be a strong player. For example, as I play the King's Indian Defense as black, I made sure all of the players with the black pieces have a rating of at least 2400 (I went higher, but I couldn't find enough games so I lowered it to 2400). As I mentioned, I think your subconscious mind picks up things you may not be aware of, so I would rather pick up the types of moves a 2400+ player would make than say, the moves an 1800 player would make.
3. Although this is a little more relaxing, it is important to pay attention to the board and not have too many distractions while doing it.
Of course, feel free to experiment with different variables. Let me know how it goes if you choose to try this out or if you already do this.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Howler
The following position demonstrates that besides building up my knowledge and skill in various areas such as openings, strategy, and endgame fundamentals, it is always paramount for every player to be wary of tactics, both offensively and defensively. I offer the following position as both a tactics problem for you and a painful reminder for me to always be careful.
I am playing black and made the horrible move 1...Nxh4?? This move took a slightly worse game and turned it into a losing game. Unfortunately, my opponent did not find the solution and lost the game. Can you? Check the comments for the answer.
I am playing black and made the horrible move 1...Nxh4?? This move took a slightly worse game and turned it into a losing game. Unfortunately, my opponent did not find the solution and lost the game. Can you? Check the comments for the answer.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Road Ahead
I have to admit, I was in kind of a chess funk the last week or so. Things have been busy with work and family (mostly in good ways), so instead of training and studying, I have been mainly playing games for relaxation (not a bad reason to play I might add). However, I did some reflecting on my ultimate goals with chess - namely, to master the game and enjoy the journey along they way, so here I'm going to share some of my thoughts in a semi-organized manner.
Building a foundation
One thing I feel I've been lacking in my overall plan is building (or perhaps completing) a foundation of chess study. If you think of chess like language, this would be the alphabet and words (how I view tactics and combinations), and basic sentence structure (how I view strategy. This also includes the basics of your topic sentences and main ideas (openings), body (middlegame), and conclusions (endgame). The idea is to write a masterpiece of literature or deliver a powerful speech, you need to know how the fundamentals. Enough with the language analogy, but I hope I made my point.
In my collection of about 40 chess books, I picked several that I plan to read (or in some cases reread) to build my foundation. The point to rereading is to get the material in my database for future review. Here are a few of them:
Modern Chess Strategy by Ludek Pachman
100 Endgames You Must Know by Jesus de la Villa
The Art of the Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn
This also includes a progressive set of game collections of annotated master games. I wanted to mention and credit excellent chess coach Dan Heisman's influence on me in this regard. Going back to my language analogy, think of studying master games as studying examples of excellent prose.
Besides the foundational chess content, another important aspect to my personal improvement program includes learning from my playing experiences...
Learning from experience
Socrates said, "the unexamined life is not worth living" and as such the unexamined game perhaps is not worth playing. I don't truly believe this, but I do think if one wants to improve, you need to learn from experience. This isn't a profound discovery, as many masters and common sense would lead you to this conclusion. Here are the types of things one can learn from studying one's play:
1. Chess content such as openings - not just specific lines, but the feel of the opening. Such as the difference between technically learning a swimming stroke and actually getting in the pool and doing it. Similarly, tactical motifs and endgame positions that show up in your games are great material for study.
2. Non-chess content - this might include how you calculate (or don't calculate), time management (or lack of), concentration, energy as well as other factors.
Again influenced by Dan Heisman's writings as well as my own experience, I'll be focusing on a few things when I look for games to play:
1. Focus on long games with some blitz sprinkled in. This would involve time controls greater than 60 0. Dan Heisman talks quite a bit about this in his excellent Novice Nook column at Chess Cafe. Basically, I think long games give you the most material to work with for improvement (chess and non-chess content), while short games give you the ability to play a bunch of games (getting practice with openings and tactical shots). Intermediate term games (such as 20 0) should be avoided generally as they don't quite give you enough time to use and test your thought process for deep thinking and also not short enough to get the benefit of volume.
2. Try to play as well as possible. Fairly self evident, but to use a weightlifting analogy, if you aren't lifting hard enough, you won't get better. Also, but trying as much as you can, you get a better picture of what you can and can't do, as well as eliminating excuses based on not putting in enough effort.
3. Play strong competition. Similar to point #2, but as a friend of mine said, "If you want to play better tennis, play better tennis players." Stronger players will test you and punish your mistakes, exposing your weaknesses so you can improve them.
4. Go into each game with specific goals (based on your needs). For example, if time trouble is an issue, you can go into a game with the goal of being aware of the time control during play. During and after each game, one can assess how they are doing on these goals. This process is called self-regulated learning, which basically means taking responsibility for your learning and going into each experience with objectives. You can learn more about this in Talent is Overrated
by Geoff Colvin or by looking up Zimmerman (the most prominent researcher on this process) and Self-regulated learning on the internet.
The General Plan
So what I want to do over the next couple years is systematically go through my foundational books as well as play "good" games and study them (working to improve any weaknesses I find). Again, this is not necessarily a new idea (I won't be writing a book on my training methods), but a systematic program that I haven't really followed consistently.
There are a few other ongoing training and study tasks that I will be enjoying as I work through my material and study my games. These include the following:
1. Practicing basic chess tactics (mainly using Chess Tempo) on a daily basis.
2. Studying and enjoying master commentary of games on ICC and www.chessvideos.tv.
3. Analyzing positions with friends or on my own as I have time for and find along the way.
Once I've completed this foundational work, I'll hopefully be much stronger than I am now and also be in a better place to determine where to build from the foundation. Immediate thoughts to that regard include more focused work on openings and more game analysis (instead of studying other people's analysis).
The Road Ahead
If I stay consistent, patient, and persistent in this plan, I believe I'll get pretty good. By laying out some of the basics (a few more details can be found in my training log), I find myself at peace with the road I've layed before me and I'm looking forward to travelling it. Perhaps I'll meet you along the way!
Building a foundation
One thing I feel I've been lacking in my overall plan is building (or perhaps completing) a foundation of chess study. If you think of chess like language, this would be the alphabet and words (how I view tactics and combinations), and basic sentence structure (how I view strategy. This also includes the basics of your topic sentences and main ideas (openings), body (middlegame), and conclusions (endgame). The idea is to write a masterpiece of literature or deliver a powerful speech, you need to know how the fundamentals. Enough with the language analogy, but I hope I made my point.
In my collection of about 40 chess books, I picked several that I plan to read (or in some cases reread) to build my foundation. The point to rereading is to get the material in my database for future review. Here are a few of them:
Modern Chess Strategy by Ludek Pachman
100 Endgames You Must Know by Jesus de la Villa
The Art of the Checkmate by Renaud and Kahn
This also includes a progressive set of game collections of annotated master games. I wanted to mention and credit excellent chess coach Dan Heisman's influence on me in this regard. Going back to my language analogy, think of studying master games as studying examples of excellent prose.
Besides the foundational chess content, another important aspect to my personal improvement program includes learning from my playing experiences...
Learning from experience
Socrates said, "the unexamined life is not worth living" and as such the unexamined game perhaps is not worth playing. I don't truly believe this, but I do think if one wants to improve, you need to learn from experience. This isn't a profound discovery, as many masters and common sense would lead you to this conclusion. Here are the types of things one can learn from studying one's play:
1. Chess content such as openings - not just specific lines, but the feel of the opening. Such as the difference between technically learning a swimming stroke and actually getting in the pool and doing it. Similarly, tactical motifs and endgame positions that show up in your games are great material for study.
2. Non-chess content - this might include how you calculate (or don't calculate), time management (or lack of), concentration, energy as well as other factors.
Again influenced by Dan Heisman's writings as well as my own experience, I'll be focusing on a few things when I look for games to play:
1. Focus on long games with some blitz sprinkled in. This would involve time controls greater than 60 0. Dan Heisman talks quite a bit about this in his excellent Novice Nook column at Chess Cafe. Basically, I think long games give you the most material to work with for improvement (chess and non-chess content), while short games give you the ability to play a bunch of games (getting practice with openings and tactical shots). Intermediate term games (such as 20 0) should be avoided generally as they don't quite give you enough time to use and test your thought process for deep thinking and also not short enough to get the benefit of volume.
2. Try to play as well as possible. Fairly self evident, but to use a weightlifting analogy, if you aren't lifting hard enough, you won't get better. Also, but trying as much as you can, you get a better picture of what you can and can't do, as well as eliminating excuses based on not putting in enough effort.
3. Play strong competition. Similar to point #2, but as a friend of mine said, "If you want to play better tennis, play better tennis players." Stronger players will test you and punish your mistakes, exposing your weaknesses so you can improve them.
4. Go into each game with specific goals (based on your needs). For example, if time trouble is an issue, you can go into a game with the goal of being aware of the time control during play. During and after each game, one can assess how they are doing on these goals. This process is called self-regulated learning, which basically means taking responsibility for your learning and going into each experience with objectives. You can learn more about this in Talent is Overrated
by Geoff Colvin or by looking up Zimmerman (the most prominent researcher on this process) and Self-regulated learning on the internet.The General Plan
So what I want to do over the next couple years is systematically go through my foundational books as well as play "good" games and study them (working to improve any weaknesses I find). Again, this is not necessarily a new idea (I won't be writing a book on my training methods), but a systematic program that I haven't really followed consistently.
There are a few other ongoing training and study tasks that I will be enjoying as I work through my material and study my games. These include the following:
1. Practicing basic chess tactics (mainly using Chess Tempo) on a daily basis.
2. Studying and enjoying master commentary of games on ICC and www.chessvideos.tv.
3. Analyzing positions with friends or on my own as I have time for and find along the way.
Once I've completed this foundational work, I'll hopefully be much stronger than I am now and also be in a better place to determine where to build from the foundation. Immediate thoughts to that regard include more focused work on openings and more game analysis (instead of studying other people's analysis).
The Road Ahead
If I stay consistent, patient, and persistent in this plan, I believe I'll get pretty good. By laying out some of the basics (a few more details can be found in my training log), I find myself at peace with the road I've layed before me and I'm looking forward to travelling it. Perhaps I'll meet you along the way!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Analyzing "by hand"
With the proliferation and availability of computer chess engines, it is tempting to use them for all of your analysis outside of actual games. I used to do that quite a bit. However, recently I have started doing my post game analysis very thoroughly "by hand" without the assistance of computer engines, and I have found the experience to be very helpful.
Now, this is not a new method of training or learning...this is what the players used to do before computers became strong enough to make better moves than most players. And perhaps many people still do. I know many who do what I did though...right after their game, they look at points where they were confused and fire up the engine to see what they should have played or to confirm their decisions during the game.
In this post, I'm going to discuss a few of the benefits and limitations of analyzing by hand and also how one might maximize its effectiveness.
Benefits
1. Analyzing by hand helps practice skills of analysis used during games. These skills include calculation of variations, evaluation of resulting positions, and selecting candidate moves. Even if you are moving pieces on the board (instead of doing it all in your head), you still need to evaluate and organize the variations you come up with. If you do this with focus and self-awareness, I believe you will become more efficient and effective at it.
2. You will more likely remember what you discover in your analysis than if you didn't because of the engagement and emotions involved in your work. To use an easy example, consider the following position.
This is a well-known checkmating pattern that I and many others can instantly spot: 1...Nf2+ 2.Kg1 Nh3+ 3.Kh1 Qg1+! 4.Rxg1 Nf2#
I first discovered this pattern in a problem from a tactics book. I can spot this pattern, or at least consider it now whenever the appropriate elements of it are in place (e.g. the positioning of queen and knight, the weakness on f2, etc.) as opposed to if I had just been shown this without figuring it out myself.
The remembering I think is partly due to the emotional aspect (e.g. the satisfaction or frustration you may feel) of your involvement with the analysis.
3. Analyzing by hand helps to develop understanding of positions. When you fire up your chess engine to figure out a move, the computer is not telling you why the move is the best move. However, when you work thoroughly through various variations, seeing why "obvious" moves you might make work or don't work, and then taking a step back and looking at your work as a whole, you begin to have true understanding of the chess position you were analyzing. I believe this ability improves itself with practice. The key is the willingness to work at it.
Now, there are a few limitations of this type of work:
1. It takes a time. Analyzing by hand will take more time to find the answers than if you used a computer chess engine. This is a situation where the benefits far outweigh the cost. This is of course if your purpose is not only to find the best moves in the position, but also to better yourself as a player.
This reminds me of something I learned from GM Gregory Serper. I had taken a lesson with him years ago, when we both lived in Cleveland. We only had one lesson, but it made a big impact on me. He told me how as one of his assignments when he was studying under Kasparov was to correct the analysis in one of Kasparov's books. He said, "and I didn't cheat by using the computer." He said this took him several months (or a couple years...I forget exactly) but by the time he was finished his strength had grown tremendously to where he is now a Grandmaster (although I believe he is currently retired from active play). Note that the assignment wasn't just to correct the analysis but to gain experience and knowledge from the process of doing it!
2. You may not find the right answer or best moves. This is certainly a limitation and here is a couple suggestions to help with that. First, set a time limit to how much time you will spend on a position (perhaps depending on complexity of the position and whether you think you are on the right track). After your time is up and you feel you're spinning your wheels (which to some extent is a good thing), you can then either go to a stronger player or chess engine and see what you may have missed.
For example, consider the fundamental Lucena Position:
When I first saw this type of position in my games, I tried analyzing for about an hour and actually figured it out. However, unless you figure out the "bridge building" technique, all of your analysis may be frustrating. I think a little frustration is good for learning, but a lot may be counterproductive. So if you don't know the answer to this position, then try analyzing for say 15 minutes before reading the solution.
The solution is 1.Rd2+ Ke7 2.Rd4! (building a bridge for the White king to clear a path for the pawn) 2...Ke6 3.Kc7 Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc6 Rc1+ 6.Kb5 Rb1+ 7.Rb4 and White's pawn will queen. Black's best resistance is 5...Rb2 (waiting patiently behind the pawn) 6.Re4+ (pushing the king further away) 6...Kf5 7.Rc4 and the king will escort the pawn to the promotion square.
Once you have learned the pattern, then it's with you forever (with some occasional review). So by using chess engines and reference sources after you've tried analyzing it yourself, you get the benefit of learning important patterns as well as the practice of analyzing. And as I mentioned in an above point, you will most likely remember the pattern more deeply by doing the previous analysis.
3. Analyzing by hand can be difficult. This is a definite limitation, but playing chess well is not easy, which is why it is worthwhile. I won't belabor this point, but I guess we all need to ask ourselves (and any answer is valid) whether or not putting in the effort and time (analyzing by hand) is worth the benefits (getting better at chess).
Conclusion
Now before I conclude this post, I do want to mention that this advice is aimed at mid-level amateurs like myself (I was going to put a level range, but instead I will describe what I mean). Players who are beginners may not have many "tools" in the toolbox for super-deep analysis, so may want to limit the time they allot to a smaller amount before seeking help from a stronger player, reference, or chess engine (in that order). Strong players who have developed their analysis skills to a high level may want to use the chess engines for assistance earlier in the process so they can cover more ground faster. Obviously, it is up to each player to determine what level is right for them.
In summary, I think analyzing by hand is a great way to practice and learn chess. Those who have the tendency to fire up Fritz, Junior, Rybka, or Crafty right after their games may want to consider taking a little time to analyze by hand first. The use of computer analysis after this is done may enhance your work. I hope that if you don't already, you may try this and not only experience the benefits of this type of training, but also the joy of analyzing and solving interesting positions.
Now, this is not a new method of training or learning...this is what the players used to do before computers became strong enough to make better moves than most players. And perhaps many people still do. I know many who do what I did though...right after their game, they look at points where they were confused and fire up the engine to see what they should have played or to confirm their decisions during the game.
In this post, I'm going to discuss a few of the benefits and limitations of analyzing by hand and also how one might maximize its effectiveness.
Benefits
1. Analyzing by hand helps practice skills of analysis used during games. These skills include calculation of variations, evaluation of resulting positions, and selecting candidate moves. Even if you are moving pieces on the board (instead of doing it all in your head), you still need to evaluate and organize the variations you come up with. If you do this with focus and self-awareness, I believe you will become more efficient and effective at it.
2. You will more likely remember what you discover in your analysis than if you didn't because of the engagement and emotions involved in your work. To use an easy example, consider the following position.
This is a well-known checkmating pattern that I and many others can instantly spot: 1...Nf2+ 2.Kg1 Nh3+ 3.Kh1 Qg1+! 4.Rxg1 Nf2#
I first discovered this pattern in a problem from a tactics book. I can spot this pattern, or at least consider it now whenever the appropriate elements of it are in place (e.g. the positioning of queen and knight, the weakness on f2, etc.) as opposed to if I had just been shown this without figuring it out myself.
The remembering I think is partly due to the emotional aspect (e.g. the satisfaction or frustration you may feel) of your involvement with the analysis.
3. Analyzing by hand helps to develop understanding of positions. When you fire up your chess engine to figure out a move, the computer is not telling you why the move is the best move. However, when you work thoroughly through various variations, seeing why "obvious" moves you might make work or don't work, and then taking a step back and looking at your work as a whole, you begin to have true understanding of the chess position you were analyzing. I believe this ability improves itself with practice. The key is the willingness to work at it.
Now, there are a few limitations of this type of work:
1. It takes a time. Analyzing by hand will take more time to find the answers than if you used a computer chess engine. This is a situation where the benefits far outweigh the cost. This is of course if your purpose is not only to find the best moves in the position, but also to better yourself as a player.
This reminds me of something I learned from GM Gregory Serper. I had taken a lesson with him years ago, when we both lived in Cleveland. We only had one lesson, but it made a big impact on me. He told me how as one of his assignments when he was studying under Kasparov was to correct the analysis in one of Kasparov's books. He said, "and I didn't cheat by using the computer." He said this took him several months (or a couple years...I forget exactly) but by the time he was finished his strength had grown tremendously to where he is now a Grandmaster (although I believe he is currently retired from active play). Note that the assignment wasn't just to correct the analysis but to gain experience and knowledge from the process of doing it!
2. You may not find the right answer or best moves. This is certainly a limitation and here is a couple suggestions to help with that. First, set a time limit to how much time you will spend on a position (perhaps depending on complexity of the position and whether you think you are on the right track). After your time is up and you feel you're spinning your wheels (which to some extent is a good thing), you can then either go to a stronger player or chess engine and see what you may have missed.
For example, consider the fundamental Lucena Position:
When I first saw this type of position in my games, I tried analyzing for about an hour and actually figured it out. However, unless you figure out the "bridge building" technique, all of your analysis may be frustrating. I think a little frustration is good for learning, but a lot may be counterproductive. So if you don't know the answer to this position, then try analyzing for say 15 minutes before reading the solution.
The solution is 1.Rd2+ Ke7 2.Rd4! (building a bridge for the White king to clear a path for the pawn) 2...Ke6 3.Kc7 Rc1+ 4.Kb6 Rb1+ 5.Kc6 Rc1+ 6.Kb5 Rb1+ 7.Rb4 and White's pawn will queen. Black's best resistance is 5...Rb2 (waiting patiently behind the pawn) 6.Re4+ (pushing the king further away) 6...Kf5 7.Rc4 and the king will escort the pawn to the promotion square.
Once you have learned the pattern, then it's with you forever (with some occasional review). So by using chess engines and reference sources after you've tried analyzing it yourself, you get the benefit of learning important patterns as well as the practice of analyzing. And as I mentioned in an above point, you will most likely remember the pattern more deeply by doing the previous analysis.
3. Analyzing by hand can be difficult. This is a definite limitation, but playing chess well is not easy, which is why it is worthwhile. I won't belabor this point, but I guess we all need to ask ourselves (and any answer is valid) whether or not putting in the effort and time (analyzing by hand) is worth the benefits (getting better at chess).
Conclusion
Now before I conclude this post, I do want to mention that this advice is aimed at mid-level amateurs like myself (I was going to put a level range, but instead I will describe what I mean). Players who are beginners may not have many "tools" in the toolbox for super-deep analysis, so may want to limit the time they allot to a smaller amount before seeking help from a stronger player, reference, or chess engine (in that order). Strong players who have developed their analysis skills to a high level may want to use the chess engines for assistance earlier in the process so they can cover more ground faster. Obviously, it is up to each player to determine what level is right for them.
In summary, I think analyzing by hand is a great way to practice and learn chess. Those who have the tendency to fire up Fritz, Junior, Rybka, or Crafty right after their games may want to consider taking a little time to analyze by hand first. The use of computer analysis after this is done may enhance your work. I hope that if you don't already, you may try this and not only experience the benefits of this type of training, but also the joy of analyzing and solving interesting positions.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Storming the castle!
Here is a nice game I played on ICC last night. You can play through the whole game and I've included some key positions with comments.
Position after 8.Nh3: Sort of a King's Indian Samisch. White plans on lining up a battery on the c1-h6 diagonal, castling kingside, and going for a kingside pawn storm attack.
Position after 12...h6: Black would like to play 13...Nh7 and then prepare ...f7-f5 at some point to break in the center. However, this plan doesn't quite work in this position because 13.Qd2 forces 13...Kh7 to protect the h6 pawn.
Position after 16...Ng8: White can't quite take on h6 yet, and Black threatens to play 17...h5 to close up the kingside. White finds the solution in 17.h5! preventing Black from shutting the door on White's kingside attack.
Position after 19.Be2!: Offering up the rook. The idea was to trade the rook for the opportunity to bring the rest of my pieces into the action. At this point, check out the sequence on the game replayer to see how I bring in the rest of my army to make the final assault on the king, most of the moves with tempo.
Position after 25...Rh8: Black resigned. White has many ways to win here. Perhaps the cleanest is 26.Bg5+ Kg8 27.Rxh8+ Kxh8 (or 27...Bxh8) 28.Bxe7 and White is way ahead.
Lessons from the game:
1. Typical plans in opening systems need to be checked for tactical soundness before being played "automatically" - e.g. Black's common King's Indian plan of ...h7-h6, ...Nh7, and ...f7-f5.
2. During a pawn storm against a castled position (such as in the KID Samisch, the Pirc 150 attack, or in some variations of the Sicilian Dragon for example), don't allow your opponent to lock up the pawns and "shut the door" on your attack.
3. During a direct attack on your opponent's king, it is worth material to gain time to bring in reinforcements to the attack.
I hope you enjoyed the game. I certainly enjoyed playing it. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Position after 8.Nh3: Sort of a King's Indian Samisch. White plans on lining up a battery on the c1-h6 diagonal, castling kingside, and going for a kingside pawn storm attack.
Position after 12...h6: Black would like to play 13...Nh7 and then prepare ...f7-f5 at some point to break in the center. However, this plan doesn't quite work in this position because 13.Qd2 forces 13...Kh7 to protect the h6 pawn.
Position after 16...Ng8: White can't quite take on h6 yet, and Black threatens to play 17...h5 to close up the kingside. White finds the solution in 17.h5! preventing Black from shutting the door on White's kingside attack.
Position after 19.Be2!: Offering up the rook. The idea was to trade the rook for the opportunity to bring the rest of my pieces into the action. At this point, check out the sequence on the game replayer to see how I bring in the rest of my army to make the final assault on the king, most of the moves with tempo.
Position after 25...Rh8: Black resigned. White has many ways to win here. Perhaps the cleanest is 26.Bg5+ Kg8 27.Rxh8+ Kxh8 (or 27...Bxh8) 28.Bxe7 and White is way ahead.
Lessons from the game:
1. Typical plans in opening systems need to be checked for tactical soundness before being played "automatically" - e.g. Black's common King's Indian plan of ...h7-h6, ...Nh7, and ...f7-f5.
2. During a pawn storm against a castled position (such as in the KID Samisch, the Pirc 150 attack, or in some variations of the Sicilian Dragon for example), don't allow your opponent to lock up the pawns and "shut the door" on your attack.
3. During a direct attack on your opponent's king, it is worth material to gain time to bring in reinforcements to the attack.
I hope you enjoyed the game. I certainly enjoyed playing it. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Chess9030 Tournament 101 Round 2
I played a nice game last night. Due to an inaccurate pawn break in the opening by Black, White emerged a pawn ahead. After some middlegame tactics, I was able to win another pawn, which turned into a monster in the endgame, crippling my opponent's remaining pieces and paving the way for my rook with each advance. My rook coordinated well with my bishop finishing Black off in fine fashion. Thanks to my opponent for being a good sport and friendly opponent. I'm now in first place in this tournament with a score of 2 after 2 rounds. My next game will be against the final player in our quad and I'm looking forward to it!
Bloom's Taxonomy and Learning Chess (Part 1)
I was reflecting the other day on how I study chess, specifically studying master games in this case. The "old" me would play through the moves, and read through the commentary and maybe play out a few of the lines in a particularly complex position. Although doing this was definitely beneficial, I wondered if it was the best way to do things - if there was a best way.
More recently, technology and media have allowed us to take this a step further, with chess videos, including those on the internet such as on the Internet Chess Club, or ones you can by from Chessbase or other producers. Again, I would listen and watch the video and "absorb" the information. Again, probably useful in my understanding, but again I wondered if it was the most effective way.
Concurrently, I was at my client's office (by day I work as a financial planner) and noticed a little spiral flip chart with a few words on it - Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. I talked to her about it, and she told me it was from Bloom's Taxonomy. I won't got into all of the details of Bloom's Taxonomy, as there are many aspects to it, but I would like to focus on the cognitive domain, with the six categories mentioned above. I will discuss how each level can be applied to my chess story (and maybe yours). The general idea is that the higher levels constitute higher levels of critical thinking and mastery. I will discuss it in the context of studying a master game. A note to those familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy: I am using the modern version of the concepts, which are slightly different from the original, with the main functional difference for this discussion being the change from nouns to verbs and the slight shift in the last two levels.
Level 1 - Remembering
This is the most basic level of thinking and it is important. This would involve recalling facts and basic concepts.
Chess application: Memorizing the moves of a game (as it may relate to an opening you play). If you were studying a master game, you could try to remember the moves after you have played through it once. This would also include remembering who played the game and what opening it is from. This indeed is very important as this information you remember is used in higher levels of thinking. Also, certain aspects, such as remembering a specific game, may help you access ideas and plans for specific openings. However, knowing is not enough. You need to understand...
Level 2 - Understanding
This level involves demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, and interpreting.
Chess application: When you study a game, they key is to answer the question, "Why did Kasparov make this move?" or "Why does this plan work here?" When you listen or read masters' comments on a game, you can ask yourself: "Do I understand what he is saying? Does this make sense?" Some activities you might use to test your understanding include:
1. Asking yourself questions after reading the notes to a move: "Do I understand this?" If not, you may want to move the pieces around and figure out why. (Note: if it is very complex for you as it is often for me, it is okay to make a note of it and move on, because you may not have the basic knowledge necessary to understand the more complex concept - more on that in a future post)
2. When playing through a game, ask yourself: "Why was this move played?" Then compare what you think to the notes given by the author. This is another type of Solitaire Chess, where you cover the moves and try to guess what the master played, except on a level of comprehending the concepts instead of producing the moves. Both methods are great ways to train in my opinion.
Once you understand, then you can apply your knowledge...
Level 3 - Applying
Applying involves solving problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, and techniques in a different way.
Chess application: Of course, this is what we are striving for in our chess games. I would contend that by doing it on a more conscious level we can accelerate our learning. Here are a couple methods and examples of applying.
1. When reviewing your games, try to make direct connections between something you learn to something you did. For example, if you learned about isolated pawns and thought to work at creating isolated pawns in your opponent's pawn structure, note this. This will strengthen your ability to use it in the future (as well as give you confidence that your studying is paying off).
2. Play solitaire chess using a game from the same opening as the master game you studied. For example, let's say you studied a game with the Sicilian Defense where you learned about the Sicilian queenside counterattack. You might want to find another master game in the Sicilian where Black won and try to guess the moves that the player with Black played.
3. Play the computer from the position you studied. Take the side of the winner. The computer will most likely play differently than the antagonist, but many of the positional or tactical concepts that were valid in the original game should be valid in this case as well. This involves being able to select the right positions to do this with.
Once you've learned to apply your knowledge, you can begin to deepen your mastery of the concepts through analysis.
In this article, I discussed the first three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy for cognitive learning, and how we can actively apply these principles to our chess study and training. Perhaps you may find some ideas you can try in your own training program. In Part 2, I will go through the next three steps and also discuss how understanding these concepts can help you construct or add to your own training regimen.
More recently, technology and media have allowed us to take this a step further, with chess videos, including those on the internet such as on the Internet Chess Club, or ones you can by from Chessbase or other producers. Again, I would listen and watch the video and "absorb" the information. Again, probably useful in my understanding, but again I wondered if it was the most effective way.
Concurrently, I was at my client's office (by day I work as a financial planner) and noticed a little spiral flip chart with a few words on it - Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. I talked to her about it, and she told me it was from Bloom's Taxonomy. I won't got into all of the details of Bloom's Taxonomy, as there are many aspects to it, but I would like to focus on the cognitive domain, with the six categories mentioned above. I will discuss how each level can be applied to my chess story (and maybe yours). The general idea is that the higher levels constitute higher levels of critical thinking and mastery. I will discuss it in the context of studying a master game. A note to those familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy: I am using the modern version of the concepts, which are slightly different from the original, with the main functional difference for this discussion being the change from nouns to verbs and the slight shift in the last two levels.
Level 1 - Remembering
This is the most basic level of thinking and it is important. This would involve recalling facts and basic concepts.
Chess application: Memorizing the moves of a game (as it may relate to an opening you play). If you were studying a master game, you could try to remember the moves after you have played through it once. This would also include remembering who played the game and what opening it is from. This indeed is very important as this information you remember is used in higher levels of thinking. Also, certain aspects, such as remembering a specific game, may help you access ideas and plans for specific openings. However, knowing is not enough. You need to understand...
Level 2 - Understanding
This level involves demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, and interpreting.
Chess application: When you study a game, they key is to answer the question, "Why did Kasparov make this move?" or "Why does this plan work here?" When you listen or read masters' comments on a game, you can ask yourself: "Do I understand what he is saying? Does this make sense?" Some activities you might use to test your understanding include:
1. Asking yourself questions after reading the notes to a move: "Do I understand this?" If not, you may want to move the pieces around and figure out why. (Note: if it is very complex for you as it is often for me, it is okay to make a note of it and move on, because you may not have the basic knowledge necessary to understand the more complex concept - more on that in a future post)
2. When playing through a game, ask yourself: "Why was this move played?" Then compare what you think to the notes given by the author. This is another type of Solitaire Chess, where you cover the moves and try to guess what the master played, except on a level of comprehending the concepts instead of producing the moves. Both methods are great ways to train in my opinion.
Once you understand, then you can apply your knowledge...
Level 3 - Applying
Applying involves solving problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, and techniques in a different way.
Chess application: Of course, this is what we are striving for in our chess games. I would contend that by doing it on a more conscious level we can accelerate our learning. Here are a couple methods and examples of applying.
1. When reviewing your games, try to make direct connections between something you learn to something you did. For example, if you learned about isolated pawns and thought to work at creating isolated pawns in your opponent's pawn structure, note this. This will strengthen your ability to use it in the future (as well as give you confidence that your studying is paying off).
2. Play solitaire chess using a game from the same opening as the master game you studied. For example, let's say you studied a game with the Sicilian Defense where you learned about the Sicilian queenside counterattack. You might want to find another master game in the Sicilian where Black won and try to guess the moves that the player with Black played.
3. Play the computer from the position you studied. Take the side of the winner. The computer will most likely play differently than the antagonist, but many of the positional or tactical concepts that were valid in the original game should be valid in this case as well. This involves being able to select the right positions to do this with.
Once you've learned to apply your knowledge, you can begin to deepen your mastery of the concepts through analysis.
In this article, I discussed the first three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy for cognitive learning, and how we can actively apply these principles to our chess study and training. Perhaps you may find some ideas you can try in your own training program. In Part 2, I will go through the next three steps and also discuss how understanding these concepts can help you construct or add to your own training regimen.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tactics!
The following was the position before the final move in an online tournament game I played this afternoon. Before looking at the answer, see if you can figure it out:
I believe all beginner and intermediate player should make it a priority to master tactical recognition and calculation. I have been thinking about this lately, and although it is not very profound (many instructors and masters also agree with this), I am reminded of just how important it is as a foundation to more advanced strategic planning and concepts.
This shows up when I am studying a position, thinking about infiltrating weak squares of trading off my "bad" piece for his "good" piece and I miss a mate-in-two. Often, the opportunity doesn't present itself again once it is missed.
In any case, here is the move: 30...Rd2! threatening the bishop on c2 as well as the pawn on g2 (which would lead White giving up his queen to avoid the checkmate with the Black queen entering the scene on h3). My opponent resigned here.
Tactics! Tactics! Tactics!
I believe all beginner and intermediate player should make it a priority to master tactical recognition and calculation. I have been thinking about this lately, and although it is not very profound (many instructors and masters also agree with this), I am reminded of just how important it is as a foundation to more advanced strategic planning and concepts.
This shows up when I am studying a position, thinking about infiltrating weak squares of trading off my "bad" piece for his "good" piece and I miss a mate-in-two. Often, the opportunity doesn't present itself again once it is missed.
In any case, here is the move: 30...Rd2! threatening the bishop on c2 as well as the pawn on g2 (which would lead White giving up his queen to avoid the checkmate with the Black queen entering the scene on h3). My opponent resigned here.
Tactics! Tactics! Tactics!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Pushing past limits
Today, I ran 8-miles, my longest run ever. It was somewhat grueling, but I've been slowly building up my distance over the last three months, adding about half a mile a week starting at 5 miles. It got me to reflecting about the limits in our lives and how for the most part, we set these on ourselves.
I also recently listened to the audio series by Dr. Wayne Dyer called Excuses Begone!
In it, Dyer dispels many of the excuses we give ourselves and outlines principles we can use to defeat them and reach our true potential.
These confluence of events inspired me to share a couple actions I am trying to apply in reaching higher levels of chess. I hope you find them helpful.
1. Decide what you want. This is always a first step I noticed in all self improvement books as well as a logical step in any case. You may want to think broadly - e.g. I want to achieve as USCF Rating of 2200 - or maybe more specific - e.g. I want to improve my understanding of the Ruy Lopez. Dr. Dyer discusses the universal power of contemplating or envisioning what you want in your life and how the universe brings everything you will need to accomplish your goal. Whether you believe in this universal power or not, I think you can also see the usefulness of knowing what you truly want out of chess or anything in your life. If you want to become a national master for example, you will begin to seek out the information and training you need to start getting there. Obviously, your work and commitment to this vision is important, but knowing is the first step.
2. Recognize that your beliefs empower or limit you. Do you believe you're too old to improve your chess? Do you believe you are not born with the innate talent to become better than you are? Dyer discusses an amazing example of the placebo effect, where patients with arthritis were either given known surgical treatments or a "placebo" surgery where the doctor only made superficial incisions and pretended to work on the arthritic joint (the knee in this case). They followed the patients after surgery for two years and found that the patients in both cases improved at the success rate! They talked about patients who were able to play basketball, run, and do things they hadn't done for years. They were told after two years that they actually hadn't been treated, and the patients were amazed! Your beliefs both positive and negative have a profound effect on what you can and cannot do.
3. Be present in the moment. Do you let the regrets of the past distract you? Do you dream too much, without taking action in the present? Living in the moment prevents you from really making excuses, because you are just doing and being. In chess, when you are playing a game or solving a problem, think about just being present in the moment. Do not think of how you beat or lost to your opponent in past games, or even about a move you should have played in the past. Think about the current position at hand and focus your entire being into making the next best move. As Dyer says, the future can only be lived out in the present as well. I admit that this concept is difficult for me to wrap my head around, because I often try to learn from the past as well as plan out my future, but I don't think Dr. Dyer is excluding those useful activities, but instead that when reflecting on the past or focusing on the future prevents living in the moment through feelings of regret or distracting from the present is can be harmful.
4. Take responsibility. When you take 100% responsibility (a concept I've read in many books, including QBQ
by John Miller and Success Principles
by Jack Canfield), there is really no room for excuses. For example, a common excuse is that "I'm too old" to become a chess master, but if you look hard enough, there are many people who reach that desired title late in life. Similarly, excuses such as "I don't have time" and "it is too difficult" disappear when you truly take 100% responsibility for your results. As a good friend of mine said, "Who has time to play chess? Well, I guess those who make time."
NB As a side note, I wanted to share the technique of creating posteriorities in our lives (a concept I learned from Brian Tracy books). Where priorities are things we should do first and more often, posteriorities are things we should do last or not at all. We can take our time to improve at chess (or anything else) from our posteriorities. For me, my main posteriority watching excessive amounts of television and I can easily carve out an extra hour a day for my priorities by reducing the time in front of the tube.
5. Take it a step at a time. Sometimes, when we look at our long-term goals for chess and life, the enormity of the task ahead can be overwhelming. How do you eat an elephant? That's right...one bite at a time. Do you want to get better at tactics? Well, doing 1500 tactical problems and understanding them deeply would certainly make you better. If you did 15 problems a day, which would take 10-15 minutes, you'd do just that in 100 days, just over three months. I'll give you a striking example from another hobby of mine - weightlifting. About 3 months ago, the most I had ever deadlifted was 140 pounds. However, by careful training and gradually adding 10-15 pounds each time I successfully completed the lift, I can now successfully deadlift 235 pounds! Now I know you greatest gains are made at the beginning of most endeavors, but that constant striving for improvement, even in little ways, over time will add up to great results. By the way, had I tried to lift 235 pounds 3 months ago, I would have seriously hurt myself and not even budged the bar.
There are many more insights that Dr. Wayne Dyer shares in his book and many other ways to improve, but I think the most important thing I learned from these experiences and his book are that we have an incredible power to create what we want in our life. We only need to have the vision and belief in ourselves, and be willing to live our lives with full responsibility for our results. Excuses Begone!
I also recently listened to the audio series by Dr. Wayne Dyer called Excuses Begone!
In it, Dyer dispels many of the excuses we give ourselves and outlines principles we can use to defeat them and reach our true potential. These confluence of events inspired me to share a couple actions I am trying to apply in reaching higher levels of chess. I hope you find them helpful.
1. Decide what you want. This is always a first step I noticed in all self improvement books as well as a logical step in any case. You may want to think broadly - e.g. I want to achieve as USCF Rating of 2200 - or maybe more specific - e.g. I want to improve my understanding of the Ruy Lopez. Dr. Dyer discusses the universal power of contemplating or envisioning what you want in your life and how the universe brings everything you will need to accomplish your goal. Whether you believe in this universal power or not, I think you can also see the usefulness of knowing what you truly want out of chess or anything in your life. If you want to become a national master for example, you will begin to seek out the information and training you need to start getting there. Obviously, your work and commitment to this vision is important, but knowing is the first step.
2. Recognize that your beliefs empower or limit you. Do you believe you're too old to improve your chess? Do you believe you are not born with the innate talent to become better than you are? Dyer discusses an amazing example of the placebo effect, where patients with arthritis were either given known surgical treatments or a "placebo" surgery where the doctor only made superficial incisions and pretended to work on the arthritic joint (the knee in this case). They followed the patients after surgery for two years and found that the patients in both cases improved at the success rate! They talked about patients who were able to play basketball, run, and do things they hadn't done for years. They were told after two years that they actually hadn't been treated, and the patients were amazed! Your beliefs both positive and negative have a profound effect on what you can and cannot do.
3. Be present in the moment. Do you let the regrets of the past distract you? Do you dream too much, without taking action in the present? Living in the moment prevents you from really making excuses, because you are just doing and being. In chess, when you are playing a game or solving a problem, think about just being present in the moment. Do not think of how you beat or lost to your opponent in past games, or even about a move you should have played in the past. Think about the current position at hand and focus your entire being into making the next best move. As Dyer says, the future can only be lived out in the present as well. I admit that this concept is difficult for me to wrap my head around, because I often try to learn from the past as well as plan out my future, but I don't think Dr. Dyer is excluding those useful activities, but instead that when reflecting on the past or focusing on the future prevents living in the moment through feelings of regret or distracting from the present is can be harmful.
4. Take responsibility. When you take 100% responsibility (a concept I've read in many books, including QBQ
by John Miller and Success Principles by Jack Canfield), there is really no room for excuses. For example, a common excuse is that "I'm too old" to become a chess master, but if you look hard enough, there are many people who reach that desired title late in life. Similarly, excuses such as "I don't have time" and "it is too difficult" disappear when you truly take 100% responsibility for your results. As a good friend of mine said, "Who has time to play chess? Well, I guess those who make time." NB As a side note, I wanted to share the technique of creating posteriorities in our lives (a concept I learned from Brian Tracy books). Where priorities are things we should do first and more often, posteriorities are things we should do last or not at all. We can take our time to improve at chess (or anything else) from our posteriorities. For me, my main posteriority watching excessive amounts of television and I can easily carve out an extra hour a day for my priorities by reducing the time in front of the tube.
5. Take it a step at a time. Sometimes, when we look at our long-term goals for chess and life, the enormity of the task ahead can be overwhelming. How do you eat an elephant? That's right...one bite at a time. Do you want to get better at tactics? Well, doing 1500 tactical problems and understanding them deeply would certainly make you better. If you did 15 problems a day, which would take 10-15 minutes, you'd do just that in 100 days, just over three months. I'll give you a striking example from another hobby of mine - weightlifting. About 3 months ago, the most I had ever deadlifted was 140 pounds. However, by careful training and gradually adding 10-15 pounds each time I successfully completed the lift, I can now successfully deadlift 235 pounds! Now I know you greatest gains are made at the beginning of most endeavors, but that constant striving for improvement, even in little ways, over time will add up to great results. By the way, had I tried to lift 235 pounds 3 months ago, I would have seriously hurt myself and not even budged the bar.
There are many more insights that Dr. Wayne Dyer shares in his book and many other ways to improve, but I think the most important thing I learned from these experiences and his book are that we have an incredible power to create what we want in our life. We only need to have the vision and belief in ourselves, and be willing to live our lives with full responsibility for our results. Excuses Begone!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Opening Musings
Since starting to play again these last few weeks, I've been thinking about trying out some new openings. I'd like to put something together that I could have fun with and get better with. In general, over my lifetime, I'd like to have several opening choices for each option - not 4-5, but maybe 2-3. Here are some ideas for opening repertoire themes I've been thinking about:
1. An offbeat repertoire - something where I get the first surprise in. Typically, this type of repertoire ends up being a little trappy and I've played these types of openings before. For example, gambit lines with 1.e4 with White, the Scandinavian Portuguese Variation and the Hennig Schara Gambit with Black. More recently, I've been using the Trompowsky and Pseudo-Trompowsky with White, which can be fun too. The advantages of this type of repertoire is that you often have a surprise factor on your opponent, especially if it's a sharp gambit line. The cons are usually you limit the types of positions you learn, perhaps limiting your long-term growth. Also, since less of the best players play them, you may have to study games of lesser known masters (which can still be very rewarding I'm sure). Interestingly, my 1.e4 gambit lines have been very fun to play in blitz lately, and I still remember a lot of the ideas, even though I developed that repertoire about 10 years ago and hadn't played them in years before a couple weeks ago.
2. A classical repertoire - The would involve playing 1.e4 e5 and 2.d4 d5 with Black and either 1.e4 and 1.d4 aiming for main line classical openings. The advantages of this in my mind are that one would get a good grounding in overall chess play, as these openings have been played since the beginning of the game. Similarly, they are still being played by the best players in the world. The disadvantages to doing this is there is less of a surprise factor and usually you might be the one finding yourself in an opening surprise. Also, since these openings are so old, there is a lot of analysis, so stronger opponents may understand them a little more.
3. A similar positions repertoire - I can mainly think of a few examples of this. One would be a hypermodern style repertoire, involving the Reti opening with White and the King's Indian and Pirc with Black. Another might be the use of the English opening and Sicilian Defense to try to reach similar positions. Another might be an opening repertoire that leads to Isolated Queen's Pawn Positions (such as used to some extent by Sveshnikov). The advantages to this is mainly playing positions that are similar and that familiar plans and themes. Conversely, since the positions are limited, again one's overall development might be stunted.
4. Favorite player repertoire - This would involve taking a favorite player and playing selections from their opening repertoire. The advantages to this approach include studying the games of your favorite player to enhance your knowledge, perhaps playing games that fit together somewhat (e.g. if your favorite player is Kasparov, many of his openings will be sharp and tactical whereas if your favorite is Karpov, the openings will tend towards the positional). The disadvantage to this approach is perhaps your favorite player's style may not match up with your natural strengths. Also, if your favorite player is older, the openings played may not be up to date with theory (although I don't think this would be such a problem until higher levels of play, and at that point, one can update the repertoire with more modern games).
In any case, these are some of the themes I've thought about in creating a new repertoire. By the way, I don't think it's the most important thing to focus on openings, but for me creating a new repertoire is fun and I get much middlegame and endgame knowledge from studying the whole games within those openings. I'll update you once I've made some decisions as to what I'm going to do.
As I'm making these choices, I have a few things in mind:
1. I want to be able to hold on to these choices for a while (as I get better), so I don't want them to be total junk trick openings. This doesn't eliminate offbeat openings, as I believe many offbeat openings such as the Trompowsky are perfectly sound alternatives.
2. I want to improve my overall chess game by playing these openings. This would probably eliminate the similar positions approach (at least for now) for a more diverse repertoire.
3. I want openings that are still played a little today. They don't have to be absolute main line, but I don't want them to be too obscure that no 2600+ GM's play them.
I hope my opening musings have been interesting for you, and perhaps they might inspire you to try out something new. Cheers!
1. An offbeat repertoire - something where I get the first surprise in. Typically, this type of repertoire ends up being a little trappy and I've played these types of openings before. For example, gambit lines with 1.e4 with White, the Scandinavian Portuguese Variation and the Hennig Schara Gambit with Black. More recently, I've been using the Trompowsky and Pseudo-Trompowsky with White, which can be fun too. The advantages of this type of repertoire is that you often have a surprise factor on your opponent, especially if it's a sharp gambit line. The cons are usually you limit the types of positions you learn, perhaps limiting your long-term growth. Also, since less of the best players play them, you may have to study games of lesser known masters (which can still be very rewarding I'm sure). Interestingly, my 1.e4 gambit lines have been very fun to play in blitz lately, and I still remember a lot of the ideas, even though I developed that repertoire about 10 years ago and hadn't played them in years before a couple weeks ago.
2. A classical repertoire - The would involve playing 1.e4 e5 and 2.d4 d5 with Black and either 1.e4 and 1.d4 aiming for main line classical openings. The advantages of this in my mind are that one would get a good grounding in overall chess play, as these openings have been played since the beginning of the game. Similarly, they are still being played by the best players in the world. The disadvantages to doing this is there is less of a surprise factor and usually you might be the one finding yourself in an opening surprise. Also, since these openings are so old, there is a lot of analysis, so stronger opponents may understand them a little more.
3. A similar positions repertoire - I can mainly think of a few examples of this. One would be a hypermodern style repertoire, involving the Reti opening with White and the King's Indian and Pirc with Black. Another might be the use of the English opening and Sicilian Defense to try to reach similar positions. Another might be an opening repertoire that leads to Isolated Queen's Pawn Positions (such as used to some extent by Sveshnikov). The advantages to this is mainly playing positions that are similar and that familiar plans and themes. Conversely, since the positions are limited, again one's overall development might be stunted.
4. Favorite player repertoire - This would involve taking a favorite player and playing selections from their opening repertoire. The advantages to this approach include studying the games of your favorite player to enhance your knowledge, perhaps playing games that fit together somewhat (e.g. if your favorite player is Kasparov, many of his openings will be sharp and tactical whereas if your favorite is Karpov, the openings will tend towards the positional). The disadvantage to this approach is perhaps your favorite player's style may not match up with your natural strengths. Also, if your favorite player is older, the openings played may not be up to date with theory (although I don't think this would be such a problem until higher levels of play, and at that point, one can update the repertoire with more modern games).
In any case, these are some of the themes I've thought about in creating a new repertoire. By the way, I don't think it's the most important thing to focus on openings, but for me creating a new repertoire is fun and I get much middlegame and endgame knowledge from studying the whole games within those openings. I'll update you once I've made some decisions as to what I'm going to do.
As I'm making these choices, I have a few things in mind:
1. I want to be able to hold on to these choices for a while (as I get better), so I don't want them to be total junk trick openings. This doesn't eliminate offbeat openings, as I believe many offbeat openings such as the Trompowsky are perfectly sound alternatives.
2. I want to improve my overall chess game by playing these openings. This would probably eliminate the similar positions approach (at least for now) for a more diverse repertoire.
3. I want openings that are still played a little today. They don't have to be absolute main line, but I don't want them to be too obscure that no 2600+ GM's play them.
I hope my opening musings have been interesting for you, and perhaps they might inspire you to try out something new. Cheers!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
ICC July Standard Tournament Round 1
One of my goals is to play competitive long games. Here is the first round of the ICC July Standard Tournament. My opponent is a bit lower rated than I am, but I am not taking anything for granted. I had a couple goals going into the game:
1. Concentrate
2. Consider the big picture (not just tactics)
3. Focus on piece activity
4. Calculate, don't guess at moves.
I accomplished those fairly well for the most part. I do admit though that my focus wilted slightly as I found myself with more of an advantage. This will be corrected naturally I think as I play tougher competition and get punished for lapses in concentration. Each game I go into I have 2-3 little goals like this depending on what my needs are at the moment.
I will be looking up this opening, which I haven't played in a while as well as review my thought process throughout the game. Enjoy!
1. Concentrate
2. Consider the big picture (not just tactics)
3. Focus on piece activity
4. Calculate, don't guess at moves.
I accomplished those fairly well for the most part. I do admit though that my focus wilted slightly as I found myself with more of an advantage. This will be corrected naturally I think as I play tougher competition and get punished for lapses in concentration. Each game I go into I have 2-3 little goals like this depending on what my needs are at the moment.
I will be looking up this opening, which I haven't played in a while as well as review my thought process throughout the game. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Slight shift in plan
I decided to shift my training plan a little to perhaps increase my chances of sticking to the plan and to attend to my current needs. First, I am simplifying my schedule a little, as I'm finding with my two kids, wife and business, that I don't always get the specific time allotments I strive for. In any case, my plan will focus on the following areas:
1. Tactical training on Chess Tempo. Currently, my focus is on tactical pattern recognition (as opposed to an emphasis on deep calculation) so I'm using their blitz settings.
2. Playing long games against good competition and then analyzing those games deeply. The analysis will focus on finding the best moves I should have played as well as identifying the reasons behind any mistakes I might make - for example, was my error due to time pressure, laziness in calculation, lack of knowledge, not formulating a plan, etc. This analysis would also include looking up my openings.
3. Studying master games: This includes games from books, videos, and games I find in my database. I'm not going to specify at this point a specific schedule, as I think the key is just getting through the games. For example, one day I may be in a mood to study a master game from a video on ICC or on www.chessvideos.tv (one of my new favorite chess sites), or I might feel like delving into one of my chess books, such as Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking
by Neil McDonald. I'll try to find "relevant" games to study - e.g. a game with an opening I just played - but again the key is to study games and positions and seeing how the masters did it. I usually will also try to stay engaged in the material. For example, when watching a video and the commentator says, "and on this next move Polgar found a powerful tactic" I will pause the video and try to figure out the move. I am a big fan of solitaire chess and this type of work I think helps in the long run.
I think I've spent a little too much time trying to "perfect" my training schedule and not enough time actually working on it. I think by having these areas of focus and staying a little flexible, I get out of the rut of getting disappointed if I miss a day, or feeling like I'm not optimizing my training. The benefits of enjoying the training and actually engaging in the training will overcome any detriment due to not "structuring" the training perfectly I believe.
Also, I'm going to move my specific training journal to www.chessvideos.tv's forums. Here is a link to my training journal. On this blog, I will focus on my game annotations, philosophy of chess training, cool positions I find, etc. Those who wish to delve into the details of my chess training can do so in my training journal.
Well, my kids and wife just got up, so off I go. Have a beautiful day!
1. Tactical training on Chess Tempo. Currently, my focus is on tactical pattern recognition (as opposed to an emphasis on deep calculation) so I'm using their blitz settings.
2. Playing long games against good competition and then analyzing those games deeply. The analysis will focus on finding the best moves I should have played as well as identifying the reasons behind any mistakes I might make - for example, was my error due to time pressure, laziness in calculation, lack of knowledge, not formulating a plan, etc. This analysis would also include looking up my openings.
3. Studying master games: This includes games from books, videos, and games I find in my database. I'm not going to specify at this point a specific schedule, as I think the key is just getting through the games. For example, one day I may be in a mood to study a master game from a video on ICC or on www.chessvideos.tv (one of my new favorite chess sites), or I might feel like delving into one of my chess books, such as Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking
by Neil McDonald. I'll try to find "relevant" games to study - e.g. a game with an opening I just played - but again the key is to study games and positions and seeing how the masters did it. I usually will also try to stay engaged in the material. For example, when watching a video and the commentator says, "and on this next move Polgar found a powerful tactic" I will pause the video and try to figure out the move. I am a big fan of solitaire chess and this type of work I think helps in the long run.I think I've spent a little too much time trying to "perfect" my training schedule and not enough time actually working on it. I think by having these areas of focus and staying a little flexible, I get out of the rut of getting disappointed if I miss a day, or feeling like I'm not optimizing my training. The benefits of enjoying the training and actually engaging in the training will overcome any detriment due to not "structuring" the training perfectly I believe.
Also, I'm going to move my specific training journal to www.chessvideos.tv's forums. Here is a link to my training journal. On this blog, I will focus on my game annotations, philosophy of chess training, cool positions I find, etc. Those who wish to delve into the details of my chess training can do so in my training journal.
Well, my kids and wife just got up, so off I go. Have a beautiful day!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A couple games.
I've been a little stressed with home issues and work. I decided to play a couple games "for fun." I beat someone slightly lower rated than me after he dropped his queen. I then played someone slightly higher rated and after getting squeezed, found a chance to make an exchange sacrifice to open up his king, which further allowed me to maneuver my queen through a series of checks to win a piece. I'll analyze them and perhaps put them up here once I figure out how to do that.
Finding Time
This morning, I got up a few minutes earlier than my kids, so I took the time to review of tactical problems. One of my struggles is being satisfied with the 15-20 minutes here and there I have for training. In fact, as I type this, my 6-year-old is sitting next to me trying to get my attention. In any case, the more I can effectively squeeze in training in those 15-20 minutes gaps of silence, the more effective I'll be. The key will be to savor those moments and enjoy them as much as I would when I have an hour free which rarely happens these days.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Training Log
9:00 PM
30 minutes of Chess Tempo Tactics
3 correct out of 5
Starting rating: 1807
Ending rating: 1812
I little rusty at calculating the variations, but I am confident my skills will return soon.
30 minutes studying King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
Reviewed initial moves, fairly straightforward
Reviewed illustrative game Kramnik-Shirov, Brundesliga 1992
On Thursday, I will review a couple more illustrative games.
A good start to my training plan. Tomorrow, I will try to do my training in the morning.
30 minutes of Chess Tempo Tactics
3 correct out of 5
Starting rating: 1807
Ending rating: 1812
I little rusty at calculating the variations, but I am confident my skills will return soon.
30 minutes studying King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation
Reviewed initial moves, fairly straightforward
Reviewed illustrative game Kramnik-Shirov, Brundesliga 1992
On Thursday, I will review a couple more illustrative games.
A good start to my training plan. Tomorrow, I will try to do my training in the morning.
Summer Training Plan
I recently made a mindmap (using Freemind) about what I wanted to learn in chess. It included things like what I wanted to learn about openings, the types of performance skills I would need - such as concentration, time management, endurance - as well as the types of general knowledge I would need - such as strategic elements and the endgame. It was quite overwhelming for me and deciding where to start has been an incredibly difficult thing for me to do. So I decided to take a page from my fitness and health program and break it down into bite-size pieces. Instead of scientifically trying to develop the most efficient training program possible, I'll work on different aspects (utilizing as much as possible the deliberate practice principles I mentioned in a previous post) and "enjoy" the journey. With that in mind, I submit a little training plan I will work on this summer.
General Strategy
1. Continue to develop the big picture of where my chess training should go by continuing to work on my model of chess knowledge.
2. Work on overall tactical and calculation ability.
3. Systematically work on my opening repertoire - focusing on understanding moves and not just memorizing.
Projects/Goals
1. Chess Tempo tactical training: Use standard rating training until Standard Tactical Rating exceeds 2000 (then reassess plan).
2. Chess Tempo Endgame training: Do endgame training until Practice rating reaches 2000.
3. Opening repertoire map: Use Freemind to map out overall opening repertoire.
4. King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation: Memorize main line and variations from Gallagher book
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.
5. Queen's Gambit Declined (from White's point of view): Memorize main line and variation from Cox
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.
6. Sicilian Defense, Keres Attack (from Black's point of view): Memorize main line and variation from Pritchett
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.
7. chess9030 tournament: Prepare, play and analyze games.
Schedule
This is the general goal for my schedule. However, I want to remain flexible as family and work responsibilities sometimes makes it tough to follow strictly.
Monday - Chess Tempo Tactics, King's Indian Defense
Tuesday - Chess Tempo Endgame, QGD
Wednesday - Chess Tempo Tactics, Sicilian Defense
Thursday - Chess Tempo Endgame, King's Indian Defense
Friday - Chess Tempo Tactics, QGD
Saturday - Chess Tempo Endgame, Sicilian Defense
Sunday - Off
Other Stuff:
Playing tournament games: Whenever I can schedule with my opponent.
Opening Repertoire Map: Whenever I can fit it in. This is something I can work on for say 10 minutes here an there.
Big Picture Training Map: Whenever I can fit it in.
Monitoring and Review:
I will be posting my training log with any interesting insights or positions I come up with. Also, as each project is completed, I will update the training program. For example, once I've finished this initial work with one of my openings (more work to come later of course), I will pick a new opening variation from my repertoire to work on.
I've been contemplating how to go about things for a while, so it is good to get something down on paper (or at least the computer screen).
General Strategy
1. Continue to develop the big picture of where my chess training should go by continuing to work on my model of chess knowledge.
2. Work on overall tactical and calculation ability.
3. Systematically work on my opening repertoire - focusing on understanding moves and not just memorizing.
Projects/Goals
1. Chess Tempo tactical training: Use standard rating training until Standard Tactical Rating exceeds 2000 (then reassess plan).
2. Chess Tempo Endgame training: Do endgame training until Practice rating reaches 2000.
3. Opening repertoire map: Use Freemind to map out overall opening repertoire.
4. King's Indian Defense: Samisch Variation: Memorize main line and variations from Gallagher book
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.5. Queen's Gambit Declined (from White's point of view): Memorize main line and variation from Cox
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.6. Sicilian Defense, Keres Attack (from Black's point of view): Memorize main line and variation from Pritchett
. Study illustrative games from book. Complete 5 Solitaire Chess games with analysis.7. chess9030 tournament: Prepare, play and analyze games.
Schedule
This is the general goal for my schedule. However, I want to remain flexible as family and work responsibilities sometimes makes it tough to follow strictly.
Monday - Chess Tempo Tactics, King's Indian Defense
Tuesday - Chess Tempo Endgame, QGD
Wednesday - Chess Tempo Tactics, Sicilian Defense
Thursday - Chess Tempo Endgame, King's Indian Defense
Friday - Chess Tempo Tactics, QGD
Saturday - Chess Tempo Endgame, Sicilian Defense
Sunday - Off
Other Stuff:
Playing tournament games: Whenever I can schedule with my opponent.
Opening Repertoire Map: Whenever I can fit it in. This is something I can work on for say 10 minutes here an there.
Big Picture Training Map: Whenever I can fit it in.
Monitoring and Review:
I will be posting my training log with any interesting insights or positions I come up with. Also, as each project is completed, I will update the training program. For example, once I've finished this initial work with one of my openings (more work to come later of course), I will pick a new opening variation from my repertoire to work on.
I've been contemplating how to go about things for a while, so it is good to get something down on paper (or at least the computer screen).
Friday, June 24, 2011
Training 24, 2011
Tonight, I spent about 2 hours thinking about training in chess (not doing any actual training). I came up with a bunch of insights that I will eventually share although it's 2 A.M. here so I should get to sleep soon. I am quite excited about this as I have been thinking about the most efficient way to train for some time now. One may ask why I don't just jump in and do something? Well, I guess I've done that before and I've made progress and then failed. I think I want to get a good start on a process that will last for a while and that will keep me motivated. In any case, I'm exhausted, but I'll share some of my thoughts in a future post. Cheers!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Training June 23, 2011
These last few days I have not been able to get a chunk of time for study. During the day, I probably spent 15-20 minutes reviewing several dozen tactical problems. I'm also going to end my day studying an internet lesson on ICC by GM Larry Christiansen (on his regular show Attack with LarryC).
One thing I'm trying to do when studying master games or online lectures is to ask myself actively whether or not I understand the material as well as asking myself questions to check that understanding. In the past, I used to be more passive when reading through master games are listening to online chess lessons. I believe this type of proactive engagement will accelerate the learning process. More on this in a future post.
One thing I'm trying to do when studying master games or online lectures is to ask myself actively whether or not I understand the material as well as asking myself questions to check that understanding. In the past, I used to be more passive when reading through master games are listening to online chess lessons. I believe this type of proactive engagement will accelerate the learning process. More on this in a future post.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Training June 22, 2011
Today, I'm going to continue my analysis of my games from the Father's Day Appreciation Tournament. I'm also going to buy a notebook to use with my tactical training and analysis exercises. My goal is to spend 1 hour total doing the game review, although because of my work schedule today, I'll be breaking up the sessions.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Reviewing my games
Tonight, I entered my losses from the Father's Day Tournament from Saturday. It is kind of painful going over these games, and I've never been really consistent about analyzing my games, but I know that if I want to improve, I need to understand what I need to improve. I have faith that working to understand my mistakes and then working to correct and improve them will pay big dividends over time.
This brings up the concept of deliberate practice that I first learned about in Geoffrey Colvin's book Talent is Overrated
. It's a great book, which mainly proposes that one can achieve expertise through specific hard work. I've read the book several times, and I've come up with a simple flow chart to explain what deliberate practice - a term referring to this type of specific hard work needed to produce expert performance - is:
I encourage you to get the book to learn more about it. It talks about chess a bit, as the original researchers who coined the term deliberate practice studied the rise of great chess players, including Bobby Fischer. The book also mentions the Polgar sisters. I have found it very insightful in my own search for ways to improve chess and other parts of my life.
Back to the games: I'm going to try to note all of the thoughts at the key points of the game, including whether I used a lot of time on the moves. In the next couple days, I plan on using the computer to help me pick out my tactical errors and in general try to look for the types of errors I'm making - for example, a couple I've noticed just in reflecting on the games as I entered them:
1. Making moves impulsively without calculating the tactical consequences.
2. Spending too much time thinking on simple moves.
3. Failing to develop counterplay.
4. Inactive pieces.
I'm sure I'll find a few more as I analyze the games. After this analysis (plus any games I play between now and then), I want to come up with a few training methods to tackle the areas I feel are most holding me back. My goal is to get this analysis done in the next week. I'll share any interesting positions or insights that I discover.
This brings up the concept of deliberate practice that I first learned about in Geoffrey Colvin's book Talent is Overrated
. It's a great book, which mainly proposes that one can achieve expertise through specific hard work. I've read the book several times, and I've come up with a simple flow chart to explain what deliberate practice - a term referring to this type of specific hard work needed to produce expert performance - is:
Back to the games: I'm going to try to note all of the thoughts at the key points of the game, including whether I used a lot of time on the moves. In the next couple days, I plan on using the computer to help me pick out my tactical errors and in general try to look for the types of errors I'm making - for example, a couple I've noticed just in reflecting on the games as I entered them:
1. Making moves impulsively without calculating the tactical consequences.
2. Spending too much time thinking on simple moves.
3. Failing to develop counterplay.
4. Inactive pieces.
I'm sure I'll find a few more as I analyze the games. After this analysis (plus any games I play between now and then), I want to come up with a few training methods to tackle the areas I feel are most holding me back. My goal is to get this analysis done in the next week. I'll share any interesting positions or insights that I discover.
Father's Day tournament
This weekend, I played in a USCF tournament. I scored 2/4. I enjoyed the tournament overall, and I was just glad to be able to play. Because of work and family, I have not been able to play in a tournament since January. My current project and training tasks will be to analyze these games to glean any insights as well as identify and consistent weaknesses. From that information, I will be able to adjust my training program to meet my needs. I hope to copy the games from my notebook to Chessbase today and start writing down some of the thoughts I had during the game. After that, I will begin my thorough analysis. I will share any interesting positions or insights.
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