I have been playing and losing. I am getting tangled up in the openings, then letting something slip away. I don't feel particularly bad about it. I tell myself I was playing at a fast speed. I am going back over the game and correcting my point of straying. But I am not correcting my losing.
This can't be good.
I should care more.
But I don't.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Remember Chess Digest?
I remember when I saw my first Chess Digest catalogue. It was like I had died and gone to chess heaven. There were so many wonderful books to study.
Ken Smith and John Hall gave advice too. They gave a recommended opening repertoire for beginners and advanced players. Their advice if I remember was, "Learn one opening as well as anyone in the world." Their other advice was that until someone was master, their first, middle, and last name should be tactics.
I did not follow their advice. I played all sorts of things, looking for easy wins and easy plans. And I did not spend too much time on tactics either. I did enjoy Pandolfini's sprightly little endgame monograph.
One of my old touchstones was John Hall's "Opening Systems for Competitive Chess Players" that recommended the Torre Attack as White, and Caro-Kann, Queen's Gambit Declined Tartakower system as Black. It is a good plan, and close to Jeremy Silman, and Cecil Purdy's advice.
I believe it was Temposchlucker who pointed out that at our level the opposition deviates from our studied opening around moves 6-10. I have found this to be true in online and club chess. I have yet to see if it will be true in a tournament.
Ken Smith 1930-1999
So it goes.
Ken Smith and John Hall gave advice too. They gave a recommended opening repertoire for beginners and advanced players. Their advice if I remember was, "Learn one opening as well as anyone in the world." Their other advice was that until someone was master, their first, middle, and last name should be tactics.
I did not follow their advice. I played all sorts of things, looking for easy wins and easy plans. And I did not spend too much time on tactics either. I did enjoy Pandolfini's sprightly little endgame monograph.
One of my old touchstones was John Hall's "Opening Systems for Competitive Chess Players" that recommended the Torre Attack as White, and Caro-Kann, Queen's Gambit Declined Tartakower system as Black. It is a good plan, and close to Jeremy Silman, and Cecil Purdy's advice.
I believe it was Temposchlucker who pointed out that at our level the opposition deviates from our studied opening around moves 6-10. I have found this to be true in online and club chess. I have yet to see if it will be true in a tournament.
Ken Smith 1930-1999
So it goes.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Why I think Kids Improve Faster
I think kids improve faster because ...
1) Beginning chess players can improve quite a bit with just a little study. Afterwards improvement requires more effort. Children as beginners improve easily.
2) Perhaps children's brain plasticity makes learning easier. If Chess is like language, children can learn it faster than adults.
3) Children might have less ego issues. They know they are learning and improving. Adults may reject needed help because of pride.
4) Children might have better balance between play and study. This is based on the theory that adults study chess more and children play chess more.
5) Children have more time than adults. For example I have worked every morning, afternoon, and evening this week.
I would write more but I have to get back to work.
1) Beginning chess players can improve quite a bit with just a little study. Afterwards improvement requires more effort. Children as beginners improve easily.
2) Perhaps children's brain plasticity makes learning easier. If Chess is like language, children can learn it faster than adults.
3) Children might have less ego issues. They know they are learning and improving. Adults may reject needed help because of pride.
4) Children might have better balance between play and study. This is based on the theory that adults study chess more and children play chess more.
5) Children have more time than adults. For example I have worked every morning, afternoon, and evening this week.
I would write more but I have to get back to work.
Friday, April 24, 2009
The House of Death
Today was another day visiting an old friend at the local hospice center. It is something to face death. Ernest Becker wrote a Pulitzer prize book years ago called "The Denial of Death." I'm sure he would see our chess as a way of striving against the obliteration of death.
Theravada Buddhists are supposed to reflect on death. In the cemetery contemplations of the mindfulness sutta, we are taught to observe a corpse and say, "verily my own body is of the same nature, such it will become, and will not escape it."
In a way there is a comfort in death. In a canticle attributed to St. Francis, sister death is a great friend and equaliser. One good thing about it is that all our ancestors were able to do it, and we can too.
I am going to die if it's the last thing I ever do!
Checkmate supposedly comes from Shah matt, or the king is dead. Chess is a game of death. We may beat our opponents in many games and sports but in checkmate, we kill them. And on the other hand when we lose by mate, we die.
Fight for life! Do not surrender!
Dylan Thomas wrote...
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas has the right attitude for defending in chess.
Theravada Buddhists are supposed to reflect on death. In the cemetery contemplations of the mindfulness sutta, we are taught to observe a corpse and say, "verily my own body is of the same nature, such it will become, and will not escape it."
In a way there is a comfort in death. In a canticle attributed to St. Francis, sister death is a great friend and equaliser. One good thing about it is that all our ancestors were able to do it, and we can too.
I am going to die if it's the last thing I ever do!
Checkmate supposedly comes from Shah matt, or the king is dead. Chess is a game of death. We may beat our opponents in many games and sports but in checkmate, we kill them. And on the other hand when we lose by mate, we die.
Fight for life! Do not surrender!
Dylan Thomas wrote...
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas has the right attitude for defending in chess.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
If other sports had resigning
Imagine if football games went on and on until one team resigned. Imagine a game of soccer with only two opponents that went on and on until one resigned. Imagine cricket going on and on for days .... um, okay that one already goes on for days.
The point is that chess is tough. It ends with checkmate or resignation... except when it is stalemate, three fold repetition, fifty moves without a capture or pawn move, insufficient force to deliver mate, or a draw by agreement. But apart from that it is pretty tough!
I don't remember where I saw this little hypermodern gem, but here it is.
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nb1 Nb8 4.Ng1 Ng8 1/2-1/2
Notice the brilliant redeployment of the knights for maximum flexibility and the sly concealment of opening plans. Nimzowitsch roll over!
The point is that chess is tough. It ends with checkmate or resignation... except when it is stalemate, three fold repetition, fifty moves without a capture or pawn move, insufficient force to deliver mate, or a draw by agreement. But apart from that it is pretty tough!
I don't remember where I saw this little hypermodern gem, but here it is.
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nb1 Nb8 4.Ng1 Ng8 1/2-1/2
Notice the brilliant redeployment of the knights for maximum flexibility and the sly concealment of opening plans. Nimzowitsch roll over!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Winning Losing and Stalling
Sometimes I wish I were a more highly evolved chess player. Because some of my unstudied friends think I am smart, I feel like I have to live up to it. And when I put together a string of wins on line or at the club I generally feel like I have been playing lesser skilled players and deserve no praise for it. In addition I begin to slow down not wanting the loss which will inevitably come.
On the other hand, when I lose, I think I am hopeless and should take up golf, bowling, or birdwatching or something. When I blunder I am particularly hard on myself.
So when I win it is because I was not challenging myself enough. And when I lose, I suck. Chess can be so miserable, yet I keep coming back to it. Caissa is a like that for me.
Here I am playing black on FICS and losing a Four Knights Game. DenSeTho-PrudentStudent G10:29 April 6, 2009. (I don't know how to load in those neat little chessboards with animation.) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 (Yes I was dreaming of Berlin. I am a very boring player who idolizes Ulf Andersson) 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 (I am actually out of book already. My excuse is I dabble between the Caro-Kann, Accelerated Dragon, and Open and really don't know enough of any of them.) 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bc3 8.bc Bd7 9.Rb1 a6 10.Bc4 Na5 11.Bb3 Nb3 12.cb3 h6 13.Bh4 Qe7 14. Qd2 Qe6 15.Rfe1 Nh5 16.d4 f5 (Now things get interesting.) 17.de fe 18.Re4 Bc6 19.Nd4 Qg6 20.Nc6 Qe4 21.Ne7 Kh7 22.Re1 Qh4? (Taking the Bishop too. I felt like I was doing well. But I wasn't.) 23.Qd3 Kh8 24.Ng6 Kg8 25.Qd5 Rf7 26.Nh4 (And there she went! I played a few more hopeless moves in shock. I am busted.) Rf8. 27.e6 Re7 28Ng6 1-0
I hear the warblers are migrating this time of year.
On the other hand, when I lose, I think I am hopeless and should take up golf, bowling, or birdwatching or something. When I blunder I am particularly hard on myself.
So when I win it is because I was not challenging myself enough. And when I lose, I suck. Chess can be so miserable, yet I keep coming back to it. Caissa is a like that for me.
Here I am playing black on FICS and losing a Four Knights Game. DenSeTho-PrudentStudent G10:29 April 6, 2009. (I don't know how to load in those neat little chessboards with animation.) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 (Yes I was dreaming of Berlin. I am a very boring player who idolizes Ulf Andersson) 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 (I am actually out of book already. My excuse is I dabble between the Caro-Kann, Accelerated Dragon, and Open and really don't know enough of any of them.) 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bc3 8.bc Bd7 9.Rb1 a6 10.Bc4 Na5 11.Bb3 Nb3 12.cb3 h6 13.Bh4 Qe7 14. Qd2 Qe6 15.Rfe1 Nh5 16.d4 f5 (Now things get interesting.) 17.de fe 18.Re4 Bc6 19.Nd4 Qg6 20.Nc6 Qe4 21.Ne7 Kh7 22.Re1 Qh4? (Taking the Bishop too. I felt like I was doing well. But I wasn't.) 23.Qd3 Kh8 24.Ng6 Kg8 25.Qd5 Rf7 26.Nh4 (And there she went! I played a few more hopeless moves in shock. I am busted.) Rf8. 27.e6 Re7 28Ng6 1-0
I hear the warblers are migrating this time of year.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Ordinary Chess
I wonder about focusing on the Chess Grandmaster elite. I understand that they are our celebrities. But I think that for Chess improvement, I would do better to analyze my own games and shore up my own weak aspects.
Like professional football, basketball and such, they are fun to watch. But I cannot dunk, and I cannot throw like they do. I never could. I never will. I can enjoy a friendly soccer game but I have no illusions of greatness.
I don't need to be great. I am happy to get better.
Better tactical alertness. Better positional understanding. Better endgame technique.
Perhaps the best way to improve is to pick someone who is two hundred points higher, and study them. Then the style and typical mishaps of over the board chess will reveal themselves in all their low class splendor.
Power to the Patzers!
Like professional football, basketball and such, they are fun to watch. But I cannot dunk, and I cannot throw like they do. I never could. I never will. I can enjoy a friendly soccer game but I have no illusions of greatness.
I don't need to be great. I am happy to get better.
Better tactical alertness. Better positional understanding. Better endgame technique.
Perhaps the best way to improve is to pick someone who is two hundred points higher, and study them. Then the style and typical mishaps of over the board chess will reveal themselves in all their low class splendor.
Power to the Patzers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
