Ramblings of the Subpatzer...
One of the strtengths of chess is that the truth of chess strength is evident.
Talk is nothing. I can call something the King's Indian Defense. I can blather on about ranks, files, and color complexes. I can claim an advantage by posessing the two Bishops. I can use terms like Philidor's or Lucena's position. But it only means I am literate, not strong.
I can own great equipment and have hundreds of chess books. That does not make me strong.
I can know great chess players. If I had breakfast with Carlson, lunch with Aronian, and dinner with Anand, it would not make me a strong chess player.
Only good moves matter.
So when I overlooked my Queen en-pris, it is not a problem with the French defense. It is a problem with me.
Caissa will not flatter me. Instead she flattens me.
And I have no one to blame but myself!
Kiss me Caissa!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Rolf Wetzell's Way
Rantings of the Subpatzer!
Before ROFL there was ROLF, Rolf Wetzell that is. He wrote Chessmaster at any age. I think it is one of the best books describing the evaporation of chess strength versus the aquiring of chess strength. He has a comprehensive study plan that makes sense.
It is really nothing new. Learn one opening and the resultant shots and strategic themes. Know the endings. Learn to manage your time. And most of all understand the ammount of work necessary to acchieve master level play. He spoke of memorizing openings in quints or 10 ply at a time.
So last night having finished scripting Larry Kaufman into Bookup, made a file just five moves deep and trained it. Even 5 moves is a lot to study. And it does not go far enough into what an opening is doing. Just the same it was a great practice.
Now I want to go deeply into particular lines. This would be more like Bent Larson who said that the way to get better in chess was to learn one thing really well, and then learn another thing really well.
An inch wide and a mile deep.
Kiss me Caissa!
Before ROFL there was ROLF, Rolf Wetzell that is. He wrote Chessmaster at any age. I think it is one of the best books describing the evaporation of chess strength versus the aquiring of chess strength. He has a comprehensive study plan that makes sense.
It is really nothing new. Learn one opening and the resultant shots and strategic themes. Know the endings. Learn to manage your time. And most of all understand the ammount of work necessary to acchieve master level play. He spoke of memorizing openings in quints or 10 ply at a time.
So last night having finished scripting Larry Kaufman into Bookup, made a file just five moves deep and trained it. Even 5 moves is a lot to study. And it does not go far enough into what an opening is doing. Just the same it was a great practice.
Now I want to go deeply into particular lines. This would be more like Bent Larson who said that the way to get better in chess was to learn one thing really well, and then learn another thing really well.
An inch wide and a mile deep.
Kiss me Caissa!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Chess is Just a Hobby
Ramblings of the Subpatzer...
Yesterday, I don't think I did any chess stuff. I didn't have time, and I didn't feel like it. I have days like that. Sometimes I have weeks and even months like that.
I read. I work on my music hobbies, clawhammer banjo, and fiddling. I warch TV, go camping or just take a nap.
There is much more to life than chess.
Not now Caissa!
Yesterday, I don't think I did any chess stuff. I didn't have time, and I didn't feel like it. I have days like that. Sometimes I have weeks and even months like that.
I read. I work on my music hobbies, clawhammer banjo, and fiddling. I warch TV, go camping or just take a nap.
There is much more to life than chess.
Not now Caissa!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Too Old to be a Jedi
Loading embedded chess game...
Collectorboy01 was better than me.
I should have lost, but was saved by the clock.
I must learn to use the force!
Kiss me Caissa.
Larry Kaufman's Repertoire
Rantings of the Subpatzer...
I imagine things about myself that are not true. I imagine that as an older player I should play solid end game openings. I imagine that I am an endgame guy. Ulf Andersson is my hero. But all this could be so much fiction and self deception. Part of my disease is to think of myself as an endgame guy but to spend most of my time messing around with opening choices.
I wish Cyrus Lakdawala would write a minimalist version of his ideas of solid play. Would it be like Purdy's 24hour repertoire?
For now I am working through the White side of Larry Kaufman's book.
The Kaufman Repertoire in Black and White.
When given the choice I am taking the least difficult path. In a way this is a step down from Larry's philosophy of riding the edge of opening preparation before the mountain of diminishing return sets in. But it is not all the way down to Purdy or Lakdawala's simple scripts.
It is the middle path padawan.
Something Larry Kaufman does really well is script out the opening plan within a small enough size to make preparation look doable.
Unfortunately for me, when picking, his second choice, coverage is even more minimal. This means that the book is simply a good starting place and my own studies must compliment the book. But this is true even for Avrukh.
I dream I am like Ulf Andersson, but I am more like Colonel Moreau.
Kiss me Caissa!
I imagine things about myself that are not true. I imagine that as an older player I should play solid end game openings. I imagine that I am an endgame guy. Ulf Andersson is my hero. But all this could be so much fiction and self deception. Part of my disease is to think of myself as an endgame guy but to spend most of my time messing around with opening choices.
I wish Cyrus Lakdawala would write a minimalist version of his ideas of solid play. Would it be like Purdy's 24hour repertoire?
For now I am working through the White side of Larry Kaufman's book.
The Kaufman Repertoire in Black and White.
When given the choice I am taking the least difficult path. In a way this is a step down from Larry's philosophy of riding the edge of opening preparation before the mountain of diminishing return sets in. But it is not all the way down to Purdy or Lakdawala's simple scripts.
It is the middle path padawan.
Something Larry Kaufman does really well is script out the opening plan within a small enough size to make preparation look doable.
Unfortunately for me, when picking, his second choice, coverage is even more minimal. This means that the book is simply a good starting place and my own studies must compliment the book. But this is true even for Avrukh.
I dream I am like Ulf Andersson, but I am more like Colonel Moreau.
Kiss me Caissa!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
An Inch Deep and a Mile Wide
More ramblings of the subpatzer...
I am supposed to learn and play just one opening and specialize for maximum effect. I am supposed to play a variety of openings to broaden my chess education. I should not play openings like the Colle because they are not sustainable in the long run. I should play main lines. But I should not play main lines that are above my chess understanding.
I should study tactics until I no longer fall for any two or three movers. I should study endgames in order to understand the power of the pieces. But it is not practical to study endgames that will practically never turn up in a game. I should understand the pawn structure and how that leads to correct piece placement and coordination. I should come up with the correct strategic plan.
With advice like this, is it any wonder that a casual adult hobbyist, has picked many flowers in the garden of chess. Who cares? The experts may be right, but I buy their books and dvds! Flowers for Caissa!
Right now I am scripting out Stuart Kaufman's latest repertoire book into Bookup. I have brought my % up to 91.2% in the Chess Tactics server. I have misplaced my 1001 beginning chess exercises again. My Reassess and Endgame Silman books are getting dusty.
Chess is a journey of self discovery.
Kiss me Caissa!
I am supposed to learn and play just one opening and specialize for maximum effect. I am supposed to play a variety of openings to broaden my chess education. I should not play openings like the Colle because they are not sustainable in the long run. I should play main lines. But I should not play main lines that are above my chess understanding.
I should study tactics until I no longer fall for any two or three movers. I should study endgames in order to understand the power of the pieces. But it is not practical to study endgames that will practically never turn up in a game. I should understand the pawn structure and how that leads to correct piece placement and coordination. I should come up with the correct strategic plan.
With advice like this, is it any wonder that a casual adult hobbyist, has picked many flowers in the garden of chess. Who cares? The experts may be right, but I buy their books and dvds! Flowers for Caissa!
Right now I am scripting out Stuart Kaufman's latest repertoire book into Bookup. I have brought my % up to 91.2% in the Chess Tactics server. I have misplaced my 1001 beginning chess exercises again. My Reassess and Endgame Silman books are getting dusty.
Chess is a journey of self discovery.
Kiss me Caissa!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Chess Microbase Implant: Not Yet a Borg
[Event "g 15, 10"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2012.06.13"]
[White "pawnhack"]
[Black "hdti"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1669"]
[BlackElo "1476"]
1. Nf3 e6 2. c4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. Na3 Na5 7. O-O Rb8 8. Qc2
b5 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 Nf6 11. Bb2 Nd5 12. Be5 Nb4 13. Qb1 Rb6 14. d4 Nbc6 15.
dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxg7 Rg8 17. Qxh7 Bf8? 1-0
I cannot figure out how to embed this game from microbase.http://chessmicrobase.com/g/pvh0bs3s
Anyway, I am trying 1.Nf3. Straight away 1...e6 puts me out of the book. But I hoped that after 2.c4 Nf6 I would be back in. The problem is that I did not want a Queen's Gambit Declined, or Stonewall Dutch. I played 3.e3 in order to discourage a reversed Benoni. If I liked playing against the Benoni I would have opened 1.d4 2.c4. After 3...c5 I figured "hdti" whoever that is, had equalized. My problem is that I want to put my bishop on b2, but until her knight comes to Nf6 there is the problem of Qf6. So I gambited the pawn with 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 hoping yet again for Nf6. She took it. And she held on to it for all she was worth. I on the other hand worked on speed. I worked to get all my stuff into the game and get back some of my own from there. It was working. Then she blundered. End of story.
I am still doing poorly at the chess tactics server where my name is "anotherpatzer" if you want to look me up. The speed factor causes me to lurch forward with the first tactic I see. So I might go for winning a pawn with a fork instead of a back rank mate.
I am committing myself to slow down and get them right. The heck with the rating.
Kiss me Caissa!
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2012.06.13"]
[White "pawnhack"]
[Black "hdti"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1669"]
[BlackElo "1476"]
1. Nf3 e6 2. c4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. Na3 Na5 7. O-O Rb8 8. Qc2
b5 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 Nf6 11. Bb2 Nd5 12. Be5 Nb4 13. Qb1 Rb6 14. d4 Nbc6 15.
dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxg7 Rg8 17. Qxh7 Bf8? 1-0
I cannot figure out how to embed this game from microbase.http://chessmicrobase.com/g/pvh0bs3s
Anyway, I am trying 1.Nf3. Straight away 1...e6 puts me out of the book. But I hoped that after 2.c4 Nf6 I would be back in. The problem is that I did not want a Queen's Gambit Declined, or Stonewall Dutch. I played 3.e3 in order to discourage a reversed Benoni. If I liked playing against the Benoni I would have opened 1.d4 2.c4. After 3...c5 I figured "hdti" whoever that is, had equalized. My problem is that I want to put my bishop on b2, but until her knight comes to Nf6 there is the problem of Qf6. So I gambited the pawn with 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 hoping yet again for Nf6. She took it. And she held on to it for all she was worth. I on the other hand worked on speed. I worked to get all my stuff into the game and get back some of my own from there. It was working. Then she blundered. End of story.
I am still doing poorly at the chess tactics server where my name is "anotherpatzer" if you want to look me up. The speed factor causes me to lurch forward with the first tactic I see. So I might go for winning a pawn with a fork instead of a back rank mate.
I am committing myself to slow down and get them right. The heck with the rating.
Kiss me Caissa!
Ramblings of the Subpatzer
The hill of chess is steep. No matter how much I study, and how hard I try, I will not leave the foothills of chess. Yea I even walk though through the valley of the shadow of chess.
But still I play on. I am like the weekend golfer who is always dreaming of that next plateau. And like golf where every shot counts, in chess every move counts. One bad move can cost the game.
"Like a turd in the punchbowl!" as a friend of mine used to say.
Fortunately for me there are things that are worse than losing in chess. And there are things that are better than winning at chess.
I am like the mature Boris Spassky, only without the talent or titles.
Kiss me Caissa!
But still I play on. I am like the weekend golfer who is always dreaming of that next plateau. And like golf where every shot counts, in chess every move counts. One bad move can cost the game.
"Like a turd in the punchbowl!" as a friend of mine used to say.
Fortunately for me there are things that are worse than losing in chess. And there are things that are better than winning at chess.
I am like the mature Boris Spassky, only without the talent or titles.
Kiss me Caissa!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Kiss Me Caissa!
More mumblings from the Subpatzer...
There are maximizers and satisficers according to Jonathan Haidt in his book the Happiness Hypothesis. And Kaufman in his repertoire books suggests that there is a point of diminishing return in chess opening studies. Silman does not teach the Knight and Bishop mate in his endgame course. And Irwin Kulla in his book Yearnings suggests that even God is a satisficer, and at the creation of the world the saying, "It is good." means "It is good enough." or even, "This one will do."
So here is to me and all the other amateur patzer chess hobbyists. We are the majority. We buy the books and DVDs on improvement. We will never nail the opening, see every shot, squeeze the maximum out of every position, or flawlessly conduct our endgames.
Kiss me Caissa! I am a chess player too.
There are maximizers and satisficers according to Jonathan Haidt in his book the Happiness Hypothesis. And Kaufman in his repertoire books suggests that there is a point of diminishing return in chess opening studies. Silman does not teach the Knight and Bishop mate in his endgame course. And Irwin Kulla in his book Yearnings suggests that even God is a satisficer, and at the creation of the world the saying, "It is good." means "It is good enough." or even, "This one will do."
So here is to me and all the other amateur patzer chess hobbyists. We are the majority. We buy the books and DVDs on improvement. We will never nail the opening, see every shot, squeeze the maximum out of every position, or flawlessly conduct our endgames.
Kiss me Caissa! I am a chess player too.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Captain's Log Stardate 6 12 2012 EarthTime
I am going to use this blog as a sort of diary. We'll see how that goes.
Yesterday I watched about a quarter of Lubomir Ftacnic's Chessbase program on 1.Nf3. So far I am liking it very much. He is suggesting lines that cut down on theory without going straight for a dead draw. He seems to be seeking calm waters rather than stormy seas.
I have been going to the chess tactics server practically every day and sometimes a few times a day. My rating is not that great see "anotherpatzer". It is about 1250. And my success rate is about 91%. Apart from a few bugs and glitches that might account for a few of my mistakes I think this is accurate.
I believe these exercises are very good for me. In addition I am going through 1001 tactical exercises for beginners. I misplace this book often and start over at the beginning of the marked page. But I don't care. I'm not going anywhere.
As usual the chess dream is to play an opening that is both enjoyable and successful, be sharp on tactics, accumulate positional advantages, and culminate the game by taking advantage of a tactical oversight by the opponent or grinding out an end game win.
Does this blog need a pretty picture? Think about what you want... Got it? Good.
Yesterday I watched about a quarter of Lubomir Ftacnic's Chessbase program on 1.Nf3. So far I am liking it very much. He is suggesting lines that cut down on theory without going straight for a dead draw. He seems to be seeking calm waters rather than stormy seas.
I have been going to the chess tactics server practically every day and sometimes a few times a day. My rating is not that great see "anotherpatzer". It is about 1250. And my success rate is about 91%. Apart from a few bugs and glitches that might account for a few of my mistakes I think this is accurate.
I believe these exercises are very good for me. In addition I am going through 1001 tactical exercises for beginners. I misplace this book often and start over at the beginning of the marked page. But I don't care. I'm not going anywhere.
As usual the chess dream is to play an opening that is both enjoyable and successful, be sharp on tactics, accumulate positional advantages, and culminate the game by taking advantage of a tactical oversight by the opponent or grinding out an end game win.
Does this blog need a pretty picture? Think about what you want... Got it? Good.
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