Tactics 01 Unit 08

223 problems, 775 exercises . . . whew . . .

Die Schachpartie

Tactics 01 Unit 07

GZA's General Principles

On recommendation from Edwin Meyer. This is actually a cool chess video.

jensen34 2006.04.03

Here is a match between a friend of mine at work and myself. I do get the better of him here, but no worry, I'll post another where I get smoked. This browser is not Java-enabled.

Patzers Rap

You got rap on my chess! No, you got chess in my rap!

Update: YouTube was having some issues, so here is the direct link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGcnkYSppuU. Enjoy.

Update 2: You can find more videos from the creators of this video at Buttlesschaps.

More Blog Roll Additions

I've added a Chess Blogs section this morning to my Blog roll: Susan Polgar, The Kenilworthian, Dutch Defense, Dreadpiratejosh, Delaware Chess Blog, Chessola, Boylston Chess Club.

And Then There Was Chess

I just added Dutch Defense's blog to my Knights Errant chess blog roll. This Errant Knight chess player is using PCT as well, and his speeds are quite impressive.

Tactics 01 Unit 06

Exhausted

I've decided to go with PCT. Yeah, more money being spent but I also need to see that I am making progress. I'm going through the Tactics 01 module. I have completed 5 units in 2 days. Basically, I've studied 150 exercises, but I have completed 420 exercises altogether --- obviously many of them are repeated and all them will be. After 6 times "studying" an exercise, PCT considers that I have learned it. Last night Istudiedd three units for a total of 75 minutes or so. Tonight it was two units for 90 minutes. The first four units covered 1 move mate, and Unit 5 started two move mates with sacrifices. Thanks for everyone's helpful advice.

First OTB Rated Games

I went to the 4th Saturday of the Month Quads of the Delaware Chess Association. My two loses were against a 1439 and a 1333 rated player. My win came against a 986 rated player. It was lots of fun and filled with many blunders on my part, maybe one or two good moves. I'll post the games as soon as possible.

CT-ART HowTo?

I know everyone does everything differently, but I just received my CT-Art 3.0 yesterday and I've got a few questions. 1. At the user creation screen, does inputting your ELO really matter? 2. Do most people use the "Grades by Difficulty" or Levels? If so, do you go Test mode or Practice? I know they are probably simple questions . . . Thanks in advance.

Day 6: Chess Vision

Today I worked g8 in Concentric Squares and I took my first pass at Improved Knight Vision. Study Time Today: 30min Total: 4hr 45min

Day 5: Chess Vision

It's late and I'm tired. I wanted to play a 30 min game on ICC but I've just run out of steam. I'm still on e8 for the Concentric Square and I completed the regular Knight Sight exercise. The good thing is that it was fast. Study Time Today: 30min Total: 4hr 15min (5 days)

Big Brothers, Big Sisters

Chess Boxing

I found the World Chess Boxing Organization via NPR. It is what you think it is: alternating rounds of boxing and blitz chess. Friday night will be the first event. May God have mercy on our souls.

Jaw Bones

Two inmates at State Prison at Carlisle, Indiana get in a throw down over a chess game breaking a guard's jaw while around the world, for over 50 years, Jasbir Singh's family has made chess pieces out of camel and cow bones. They make approximately 3 to 4 complete sets a month out of this raw material.

Day 4: Chess Vision

King on e8 for a Concentric Square drill followed by the Knight Sight. Straight and to the point. Tomorrow night I'll move to improved Knight Sight, calculating the shortest path from d5. CT-ART 3.0 is on its way and should arrive by the 20th. Study Time Today: 30min Total: 3hr 45min (4 days)

Beauty Day, Eh?

Easter Sunday in the First State was a gorgeous day. And what a way to celebrate such wonderment than to sit on the deck with a fat Dominican in my mouth and run through some Chess Vision drills. DLM writes on pages 29-30:

Some players may object that these micro drills are so trivial that they are unnecessary. The fact that they are trivial, however, does not mean that they are not useful. Remember that soccer players practice penalty kicks and basketball players practice slam-dunks even though these tasks are trivial. Professional athletes perform these micro-drills over and over again so that they can perform at a high level in adverse situations.

As far as analogies go, I would have preferred foul shots to slam dunks, but he makes his point. I finished my third Concentric Square at d5 and then did my first Knight Sight exercise. The Knight Sight excercise was quick and fun. More important, it reminded me of the rule that Knights move to opposite color squares. I felt giddy, whether it was the cigar that got to my head or just the gorgeous weather — did I mention is was gorgeous? —, I did another Concentric Square exercise, this time with the King on e8. I'll do a few more of that and then move the King to its various Castled positions, c8 and g8. I ended the session with a Knight Sight. I know that I should really limit my exercise time as not to burn out, but it was just so nice. Pale Morning Dun, your point is well taken about resting and playing. Two other notes: I purchased CT-ART 3.0 last night as well as paid for a year subscription at the ICC. Study Time Today: 1hr 45min Total: 3hr 15min (3 days)

Day 2: Chess Vision

A big thanks to all of you Knights Errant who made feel so welcome. May your King never be mated. The Concentric Square excercise went much smoother today and I began to see the patterns with the Rook. One more day on d5 and then to e8 for three days. I'm also expecting to start some of the Knight Vision training on Monday. Time Today: 45min Total Time: 1hr 30min

Listen Bud, He's Got Radioactive Blood

Spider-man vs. The Foil Guy in a game of Chess. May the best freak win.

Day 1: Concentric Squares

Admittedly, I went into my first concentric square excercise with some disbelief — okay, a lot of disbelief. How can moving a Rook, Bishop and Knight around the board and King help me? With the Rook I was yeah yeah yeah this ain't going to help and I felt my mind wandering to the Manchester United football match that awaited me on Tivo. But with the Bishop, the patterns began to emerge, the simplicty of moving the Queen to this square or that began to repeat itself in splendid beauty — okay, it just got easier. By the fourteenth day, it should get very easy.

Discovering Nature

Richard Feyman talks about how laws of physics are discovered using the analogy of watching a Chess game.

Grandmaster of Mediocrity

For the many years I have played Chess, I have run into two problems. The first is that I have always sucked. The second is that I could only find a limited number of people to play against. I realized in order to become better at Chess, I needed to study and various publishers and bookstores have been happy to oblige in that pursuit. Many Chess tomes I have opened but never finished leaving a great sadness surrounding these unread books. Consequently, my skills never strengthened, in fact, they have always stayed the same, mediocre. Through the webernet, I've discovered many place where I could play, play anonymously that is. Though I am playing many more games, my level of play has once again reached its level of mediocrity. On a side note, I am planning on playing real people in real situations. In one week, I journey to my first quad — okay, the people I will play are Chess geeks in a public library, but I swear these people are real. Once again I set out to study some more. Again. Again. Again. If my shoulders coudl slump any further, they'd be called my elbows. This time I went to the webernet. I was thinking about finding some way build my own lesson plan beginning with, what else, openings! I've always been embarrassed that I didn't know the difference between the King Indian's Defense and the Queen Latifah Gambit. As I searched and searched for some sort of lesson plan, through the power of Google, I discovered Michael de la Maza's Rapid Chess Improvement. I am about to embark on this journey, though I can't pretend to understand exactly what I'm getting into and I can't completely ignore Silman's complaints:

When all is said and done, I can’t recommend RAPID CHESS IMPROVEMENT (a book that, in my view, offers a philosophically bankrupt vision of what chess is). It smacks of “the blind leading the blind.” But, as I said earlier, his book might prove useful for some.

I need to start from somewhere. And I know, God, do I know, I can't go back to the old way which has never worked. Though I may stray from de la Maza's path, it provides me a catalyst to move forward to the simple goal of getting better at Chess. Tomorrow night is the first night of 14 nights of concentric squares. I can already feel my shoulders moving back towards the clavicle.