If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
15. Have fun!
(Thanks to Nigel Hanrahan for writing these up!)
Improve Your Chess Now - The Book - Depth of Visuaization and analysis
Improve Your Chess Now - The Book - Depth of Visuaization and analysis
Greetings...
I have this book by Jonathan Tisdall. It documents his efforts to achieve the GM title in his 40s. Tisdall, and many others, seems pretty critical of Kotov's methods in TLAGM, especially his "tree of analysis" approach.
What is most interesting to me is chapter 2, which claims that depth of visualization and analysis can be exercised, like a muscle, and the way to do this is be playing lots of blindfold chess.
I will be digging into this book soon, and posting about it here. I was wondering if any of you, esp Mr Jung, our resident blindfold expert, has anything to say about this book.
This is an excellent book. I like the mating and tactical patterns in the appendix which I find a very good introduction to tactics for beginning students. Many of these are taken from Vladimir Vukovich's Art of Attack which is also an excellent manual for beginners. The Greek gift chapter from Vukovich is another one which I usually add for beginners.
This is an excellent book. I like the mating and tactical patterns in the appendix which I find a very good introduction to tactics for beginning students. Many of these are taken from Vladimir Vukovich's Art of Attack which is also an excellent manual for beginners. The Greek gift chapter from Vukovich is another one which I usually add for beginners.
Thanks Vlad. The tactical themes and mating patterns are quite simple, just a minor appendix. Really nothing to do with the meat of the book, which is quite advanced and not for beginners. I'm more interested in discussing his ideas on blindfold chess and visualization at the moment.
The opening paragraph of Chapter 2 is as follows...
"Here I want to discuss the major set of middlegame muscles - the powers of clarity and depth of calculation. Like any other muscle group, it can be exercised and its strength increased. In my opinion, the most reliable method to do this is by directed blindfold practice.
later he says "there can be no doubt that it is a visual skill, and honing it can only be beneficial.
later still... "It is intriguing to note the habit of certain young players (Shirov, Ivanchuk, and Svidler) who often calculate by suddenly staring into space..."
later there is a section on something he calls "stepping stone diagrams" whereby one "resets" the mind's eye on the position at which you begin to lose focus.
I never used the description stepping stone diagrams but its totally familiar to me. When I teach blindfold chess I tell students to practice using this method. Take a book of miniature games and read a chosen game until you cant visualize any more (maybe first time 8 moves?) That position becomes your stepping stone diagram. Next time (after resting - on first time you will probably not want to do anymore that day - so wait a day, but after that you only have to wait about half an hour) you continue from the stepping stone diagram as far as you can go - and then repeat the process until you finish the game. By choosing miniature games you should get thru the game in three sessions.
After a week of doing this every day you should be able to visualize a whole miniature game in one session.
Reading miniature games is only the start of it.
Then you can start visualizing analytical positions.
To start visualizing analytical positions I would suggest first taking a popular author like Lakdawala (one of his books) and start visualizing the game with notes. (his notes are fairly straight forward in terms of analysis and very clear conclusions)
After a couple of weeks of that the student should be ready to attempt the visualizing of analytical positions. The stepping stone diagrams occur when you have seen as far as you can go in calculations where you see a clear conclusion. Those resulting positions are your stepping stone diagrams and you should check them out on a normal chessboard and write them down.
Are your suggestions equally valid for a 60+ like me as they are for your younger students? As for using straightforward notes with clear conclusion, I suppose that assists you to keep a picture in my mind?
One of the things I remember Roman Pelts telling me during a lesson, is that it is also your chess knowledge (positional understanding, pattern recognition) that helps you to analze deeper as much as it is pure calculating power. Another was when solving combinations, first solve them in your head, then write down the solution with variations, from memory.
I also look at holistic and nutritional aspects, such as more B12, eating sleeping right, etc. And ease up on the green stuff maybe. :)
What about finding a partner? Is playing lots of blindfold chess helpful? I know lichess has a blindfold feature, I imagine it is just the usual screen, with notation, sans pieces.
I suppose that "conventional wisdom" might say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm expecting a tough slog. We'll see if I have the discipline.
(as to 60+) It just takes longer and I dont know how comfortable you will be but motivation is the biggest factor (if you have it you can do almost anything). One caveat - as long as it doesnt affect your sleep substantially. The biggest joy is finding a regular partner that gives you a challenge but is fun to play against. Anyways I encourage you to go for it and let me know how you do.
(as to 60+) It just takes longer and I dont know how comfortable you will be but motivation is the biggest factor (if you have it you can do almost anything). One caveat - as long as it doesnt affect your sleep substantially. The biggest joy is finding a regular partner that gives you a challenge but is fun to play against. Anyways I encourage you to go for it and let me know how you do.
What about this? After a game is complete, I find it relatively easy enough to replay the game from memory, but in a post-mortem when analyzing a sideline, it is next to impossible for me to get back to the mainline. What does that tell you? Is that typiucal?
Very common. Even now when Im lacking sleep or on too much medication I have that problem. Its a part of memory. I think if you ask the questions - where was each individual piece in the starting position of analysis you would get correct answers.
Perhaps when replaying the game we are first of all remembering our thought process, which helps is to rememember not just what we played, but what we would have played?
Perhaps when replaying the game we are first of all remembering our thought process, which helps is to rememember not just what we played, but what we would have played?
Fred, thank you for that interesting phrase "what we would have played".
Does anyone else find when they're looking at one of their not-recent games, that they can't figure out why they played what they did?!
Few things make me laugh harder than being clueless about my own games!
Fred, thank you for that interesting phrase "what we would have played".
Does anyone else find when they're looking at one of their not-recent games, that they can't figure out why they played what they did?!
Few things make me laugh harder than being clueless about my own games!
Same thing happens to me all the time. I've been in post mortems where I couldn't figure out what I was trying to do.
"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
"If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey
Tweet
Comment