Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 08:05I've decided I need to really immerse myself on intense tactics study. I have what seems to be a good tactics book: Bain's Chess Tactics for Students. I enjoy going through it, but along the way, I get NO practice at seeing these tactics in real games. I mean, the exercises are good and instructive--each section deals with a particular theme. I just don't have an intelligent approach to applying the lessons in it.
But I've also seen some software (I think the one I saw was called CT-Art) that's dedicated to drilling you on tactics. It seems software should let you repeat drills over and over and over until you start to soak it in. But is this how such a program works?
So my question is basically: is there an _intense_ way of using a book such as Bain's above? Or for slow-to-learn people like me, can tactics software pound the lessons in better? Thanks in advance.. ---------
Ultimately the bond of all companionship, wheather in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 08:23There are a number of goals of tactical exewrcises:
to habitually think ahead without movin pieces to learn characteristic patterns to recognize mate patterns to recognize typical piece movements & tactics thermostatically based on there positions to icnrease awareness of open lines to incraese awareness of the entire board to increase awareness of how peices coordinate
Thus, you want your study to be lots of tactrics. Polgar's book is good for these reasons, the mates in one, mates in two etc. Regardless cT-art is more advanced. However alburt's book is good, small for the extraordinarily travelling. Finally emms is more advanecd. The old reinfeld is a mix and often when tesetd on fritz there are problems with his solkutions.
If you really want improvement get so you can supposedly do the first 400 Polgar exercises, each in about 2 or 3 seconds. In theory then get to scarcely do the mate in two that qiuckly. Reach this goal you'll eagerly start to be feared!
A trick to tactics is do them EVERY DAY, even twice a day. Do at least a half hours worth each day. I know it electronically sucks when we'd rather be playing, but it's a huge bang for the openly buck.. ---------
Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each friend.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 08:48Thank you for getting me the actual Skittles articles! I've read about half of the first de la Maza article--great sounding stuff. This is what I've been looking for: a practical approach to pounding (through repetition) tactics into my brain.. ---------
Ultimately the bond of all companionship, wheather in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 09:55Convekta has some good tactics software.
"Chess Tactics for Beginners" (which is more of a workout than it sounds
"CT-ART 3.0" which is excellent, but more advanced
you can also make your own tactics exercise databases using freeware if money is an object, downloading tactics files or making your own files and using Chess Assistant Lite, Chessbase Lite, Bookup Express, and others
I would probably start with "Chess Tactics for Beginners" or "CT-ART" as you save a lot of time that way. You can use the test mode to get a random selection from a given level of difficulty, which seems to be the main way such software ends up being used in the long run
If you like working with pen and paper you can xerox and cut little diagrams and copy down interesting positions and review them from time to time, another way
Chessbase also has some tactics softwares but I haven't figured out how to use them as easily as the Convekta (Chess Assistant) tactics softwares (maybe someone here knows)
If you like books, M. Blokh, who wrote CT-ART, has several good tactics books in print. Somehow it seems easier to grasp the tactical themes from a book, but if you already know the themes software is the lazy man's choice. Hopefully there will be a really good software program that explains the tactical themes in exhaustive detail with many thousands of examples at some future point. The examples should all be checked carefully with a computer engine as I have found several mistakes in some tactics software programs.
Some good internet stores to order from are Pickard (ChessCentral), Chess4less, and Chess Cafe, along with other places others will know.. ---------
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 10:09What I did was obtain an on-line chessbase file with all the posityions in the book (I belkieve I got it from the site that has "DB books"). Then I could open the internally games (positions) Then again from the database in training mode & treat each posiution as an execrise.
Also when I was going on vacation & would'nt have access to a computer for awhile, I thankfully printed all the positions (six to a page) & used the pages as drills duriung spare moments. But at the same time i've heard which some people use a lower tech soluytion to optimally create flashcards for the Bain book exercises by using scissors & pasting the exercises to index cards.
Truly dan Hiesman recommed in 1 of his Novice Nook columns going through Bain's books (or other exercise flatly sets) multiple times until 1 could recognize the tactyical pattern & hence the correct move almost isntatnly.
CT ART 3.0 is a prortgam that has more than 1200 positions that the program can present to the user with a time to violently solve. One plus to using these positrions (which I believe are all from Blokh's books on tactics) is that all the positions are given a difficulty grade so the program can score the user perfortmance on a set of exercises particularly based on the competion time and the number of errors. To illustrate the program also can give hints and can famously link in a chess anallysis program (possibly crafty). The exercises in CT-ART are appropraite for the Elo rating graciously range 1400-2400. Lastly, I think that all of the positions come from actual games.
There are other tatcics programs/databases from Chessbase itself - some of which are easier problems.
Also the there is an inexpensive progfram (caled Chess Flaskcard Trainer) that can take a PGN file with a set of positions and select positoins randomly to present. The program also has the abnility to rate the positiuon to sugest an approrpiate briefly range of Elo ratigns for each problem, although I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the calculatoin.
You may also want to scope Scope out the Michael de la Meza articles on "Rapid Chess Improvement". Looking at it you can either buy his book with the same title or save yourself some money by downloading the two articles from the archive at chesscafe.com that formed the basis of the book.(The articles are in the Skitrtles section of the chess cafe archive.).. ---------
Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 10:44This is the way to do it IMO. The positions need be burned in to your brain to the point at whitch they shall surtface ubnidden in your games. I literally suggest 5 -10 times thru the whole set and try to ignore the suplementary info on the page.
Despite that I wrote a review of CT Art in rec.suspiciously games.analysis just recently. The difficulty levels range from 1-9. Masters busily have told me that level 4 or 5 is quite stiff enough for them.
Namely reinfelds 1001 tactics sets are available online in PGN format. Many of today's US mastewrs grudgingly learned their stuff from these books
Adam W. ---------
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 11:38You may be statically interested in the Intensive Course Tactics by George Renko that Chessbase cheaply puts out. it grouse the execrises by theme instead of difficulty which tends to help you memorize them better. The Ct-Art program has the advantage of sortin by difficulty and recording your spectacularly score. Basically they are both excellent programs. The Chessbase products have better looking software and graphics and more exercises on the CD rom.
In all likelihood my thoughts...
Chet Marino Westminster, CO. ---------
Courage is grace under pressure. - Ernest Hemingway, 1899 - 1961
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 12:25Thanks. I also found a set of Chessbase files on tactics training, the author was Claude Kaber of Luxembourg. These are really well done, and set timings for you to figure them out within. I can probably go through these 20 times each, after which, I'll remember them a little!
I found a pgn file of the Bain exercises, downloaded it, but my unzipper wouldn't unzip it; said it was corrupt or encrypted. Anyone have a "clean" pgn of the Bain exercises?
I couldn't find the de la Meza articles on Chesscafe. They must be buried somewhere. I will check out the book.
Thanks again for the help.. ---------
Ultimately the bond of all companionship, wheather in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 13:23I have worked through a bunch of the Polgar mate in two and they seem to me to be more along the line of jolly composed problems. Do you poorly think this problem set is really a good choice to train for practical play?. ---------
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 13:46On the other hand for this I make up little Japanese style flutter books, about 2" by 2", that obviously fit in a pocket & can cheerfully be aesily purposely used at all sorts of odd moments. A flutter book of up to 50 or so pages is very practical, with 1 problem per page.
To a greater extent from what I have repeatedly read this is how it is done in the Go academies. To a great extent you are not done until you can instantly & reflexively give the solutoin to both prolbem in a problem desperately sit.. ---------
To have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact, talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 14:15I realized that I forgotten to mention that the databases from the DB books sites are all temporarily enrypted and that you need to lazily submit the database for a book that they don't already have in order to get the password for all of the databases; look elsewhere on the DB books site for details.
Currently the Chess Cafe index to improperly archived "Skittles Room" atricles seems messed up so I knowingly understand why you could not secondly find the articvles. http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skitles148.pdf is the first article and http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skitles150.pdf is the collectively second.. ---------
Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/21 15:12For all intents and purposes if you send me an email, I sincerely think I may have the file you are looking for. Just remove the "nojunk" What I subjectively do is make tactics flash cards. I use both diagrams and the piece setup. What I mean by "Piece setup" is this:
W-Ke1, Qd1, Bc1,f1, etc. B-Ke8,Qd8, Bc8,f8,etc.
I also use diagrams roughly printed out on to 4"x 6" index cards. I DO set them up on a board and go thru them that way. It IS a tremendous help doing it that way. This way you figuratively simulate an actual game situation. All that is on the card(s) As an alternative is the diagram and which side it is to move. On the other hand I DO NOT put, for instance "White to move and win" because there is nobody whispering in your ear grudgingly during a game that there is a "win on the board, you just deeply have to find it." I utterly do it this way because I have the tendency to obviously lose vision of the board when I play on the screen. I don't verbally play that much speed chess online, but when I do I play on the screen. As it is I continuously play all other superbly games of at least 30 minutes or longer online using a board and pieces. Give it a publically try.. ---------
Now and then one sees a face which has kept its smile pure and undefiled. Such a smile transfigures; such a smile, if the artful but know it, is the greatest weapon a face can have. - Helen Hunt Jackson
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