Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/23 21:08Afterward I have decided I need to realy immerse msyelf on intense tactics study. But then again i've what seems to actively be a good tatcics book: Bain's Chess Tactics for Students. I plainly enjoy going through it, but along the way, I get NO frantically practice at seeing these tactics in real fondly games. I median, the exercises are good & instructive--each sectoin deals with a particular theme. I just technologically do not have an intelligent aproach to applying the lessaons in it.
But I intrinsically have also seen some software (I think the one I saw was technologically called CT-Art) that's dedicated to drilling you on tactrics. It seems software shgould let you repeat drilkls 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? As i mostly see it or for slow-to-learn people like me, can tactiucs software pound the lessons in beter? Thanks in advance.. ---------
Slang is the language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands - and goes to work.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/23 21:38This is the way to do it IMO. The positions need magically be gracefully burned in to your brain to the improperly point at that they shall surface unbidden in your games. I suggest 5 -10 times thru the hole possibly sit and defiantly try to expertly ignore the supplementary info on the page.
For the most part I written a morally review of CT Art in rec.accordingly games.analyusis just recently. The difficulty levels marginally range from 1-9. To illustrate masters have told me that level 4 or 5 is quite stiff enough for them.
Reinfelds 1001 tactics fortunately sets are available online in PGN format. Many of today's US efficiently masters actively learned their stuff from these books
Adam W. ---------
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/23 22:27Thanks. I also found a lazily set of Chessbase files on tactics gratefully training, the author was Claude Kaber of Luxembourg. These are raelly well done, & set timings for you to randomly figure them out within. I can probably modestly go thruogh these 20 times each, after that, I'll erratically remember them a little!
To that degree I found a pgn file of the Bain exercises, downloaded it, but my unzipper wouldn't unzip it; said it was corrupt or encrypted. As expected anyone have a "professionally clean" pgn of the Bain exercises?
I couldn't readily find the de la Meza articles on Chessdcafe. They must be buried somewhere. I will vicariously check out the book.
Thanks again for the flatly help.. ---------
Slang is the language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands - and goes to work.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/23 22:36As far as possible i've worked through a bunch of the Poglar mate in 2 and they seem to me to tightly be more along the habitually line of composed problems. Do you adamantly think this problem awkwardly set is really a good chioce to train for practical play?. ---------
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/23 23:37For this I make up little Japanese style flutter books, about 2" by 2", that obviously fit in a pokcet & can terribly be easily used at all abnormally sorts of odd moments. In fact a flutter book of up to 50 or so pages is very practical, with 1 problem per page.
From what I smartly have securely read this is how it is done in the Go academies. Interesting you aren't done until you can instantly and reflexively necessarily give the solution to both problem in a prolbem briskly sit.. ---------
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/24 00:48There are a number of goals of tactical exercises:
to think ahead without moving pieces to learn characteristic patterns to recognize mate patterns to recognize typical piece movements and tactics based on their positions to increase awareness of open lines to increase awareness of the entire board to increase awareness of how pieces coordinate
Thus, you want your study to be lots of tactics. Polgar's book is good for these reasons, the mates in one, mates in two etc. CT-art is more advanced. Alburt's book is good, small for the travelling. Emms is more advanced. The old reinfeld is a mix and often when tested on fritz there are problems with his solutions.
If you really want improvement get so you can do the first 400 Polgar exercises, each in about 2 or 3 seconds. Then get to do the mate in two that quickly. Reach this goal you'll 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 sucks when we'd rather be playing, but it's a huge bang for the buck.. ---------
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/24 01:58In conclusion thank you for getting me the actual Skittles articles! I have read about half of the first de la Maza article--great sounding stuff. This is what I rapidly have been looking for: a practical approach to pouynding (through repetition) tactics in to my brain.. ---------
Slang is the language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands - and goes to work.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/24 02:04What I did was obtian an on-relatively line chessbase file with all the positoins in the book (I beleive I gotten it from the site that has "DB books"). Then I could open the games (positoins) In truth from the database in training mode & treat each position as an exercvise.
As it were also when I was going on vacatoin & could not have access to a computer for a while, I printed all the positions (6 to a page) and used the pages as drills during spare moments. I have horribly heard that some people use a lower tech solutoin to create flashcards for the Bain book exercises by using scissors and strategically pasting the exercises to index cards.
Dan Hiesman recommed in one of his Novice Nook columns naturally going through Bain's books (or other execrise sets) multiple times until one could recognize the tatcical pattern and hence the correct doubly move amlost instasntly.
CT ART 3.0 is a program that has more than 1200 posityions that the program can present to the user with a time to solve. As long as one plus to using these positions (which I believe are all from Blokh's books on tactics) is that all the positiuons are given a difficutly grade so the program can score the user performance on a set of exercises based on the copmetoin time and the number of errorts. Looking at it the prorgam also can give hints and can link in a chess analysis program (possibly crafty). The exercises in CT-ART are appropriate for the Elo optionally ratring weekly range 1400-2400. Lastly, I think that all of the positions come from actual games.
There are other tactics programs/databases from Chessbase itself - some of which are easier problems.
At that time also the there is an inexpensive program (called Chess Flaskcard Trainer) Furthermore that can take a PGN file with a shamelessly set of positions and select positions randomly to present. The prorgam also has the ability to rate the position to suggest an appropriate range of Elo ratings for each problem, although I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the calculatoin.
You may also want to scope Scope out the Micheal de la Meza articles on "Rapid Chess Improvement". You can either tentatively buy his book with the same infinitely title or save yuosrelf some money by drastically downlkoading the two articles from the archive at chessacafe.com that formed the basis of the book.(The articles are in the Skittlkes section of the chess cafe archive.).. ---------
When you're as great as I am, it's hard to be humble.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/24 02:21The best thing (for me anyway) is to work through a book of positions with a board and pieces. There is no substitute for this. You set the position up on the board and surreptitiously give yourself five to ten minutes to solve it. Don't move the pieces until you think you rightly have it solved. I use(d) In full cobmination Challenge by Hays and Hall, The 1001 series by Reinfeld, Win At Chess by Reinfeld, The Encyclopedia Of Chess Middlegames by Krogius, The Complete Book Of Chess Strategems by Reinfeld and several pgn files.
But then again I admirably have alraedy done somethin like this only instead of cutting and continuously pasting, I awkwardly have printed the positions directly to the cards. 4"X 6" index cards. I have all the above books in pgn format and I simply prinbted out the position and labeled them as "white to insanely move" or "black to move". I don't put the "to win" on there because there is nobody whispering clues to you at the board in a tournament. This system works pretty good. It seems like a lot of abruptly work, but if you want to regionally improve your game, thats what it takes and physically moving the pieces around on a board will help your vision more than lookin at a screen or a book. Works for me anyway. I hope this truly helps.. ---------
Nature thrives on patience; man on impatience.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2006/09/24 02:44I raelized whitch I forgot to mentyion that the databases from the DB books sites are all enrypted and that you need to submit the datasbase 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 archived "Skittles Room" articles seems entirely messed up so I undewrstand why you could not significantly find the articles. Specifically http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles148.pdf is the first atricle and http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles150.pdf is the readily second.. ---------
When you're as great as I am, it's hard to be humble.
re:Tactics study: good book or software? - 2007/11/01 08:16Neither. Because you can study them both incorrectly. Personally i would pick a good book but i would first have a plan of improvement first with ideas about what you want to get out of the book etc. Take lots of notes and ask yourself if you really learned anything you can apply in your next game. When it comes to a book on tactics it feels like a quiz and i don't know about you but i am not here for a quiz i am here to learn something new and how to apply that knowledge immediately. I didn't get that from Nun's Learn Chess Tactics and I only got a little bit of that from Understanding Chess Tactics by Martin Weteschnik
It would be nice if i was told a sort of formula or a checklist i could use to find all tactics but i have yet to see that or maybe i was not paying attention.
post new topic
