Chess Student

Mini-Pirc

2009-05-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

I just finished a short game against a player rated over 2000. I am not sure what happened. I was fully expecting to have a hard fight, but he seemed to just play lazily. Taking just a few seconds for each move. I was a little lost in the opening. It wasn't until move 8 that I hit a position I was sure I had studied before. This game puts me at 2021 on ICC. I am impressed with my results so far, but there are some serious issues as well.
1. I'm finding it so hard to use my thought process. I am playing more cautiously, but that's not the only thing I want.
2. I have less and less time for playing games and my study time seems to be getting more fragmented.

Enough complaining, here's the game...

USCF Rating Tracker - progress Report

2009-05-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

I have started working on the rating tracker in my spare time. Here is a shot of what I have completed so far.
The meter will be used to display the progress towards the player's goal rating. To the right of that there will be a line graph showing the previous three months results. In the box in the middle there will be a list of the player's games which can be sorted by opponent's name, tournament, win/loss, date, etc. The bottom two boxes will display the player's career win/loss/draw ratio as white and as black.

Currently it only allows you to add a player, it downloads the information from the USCF site, but I have to go through the tedious process of programming the logic that extracts the statistics from the downloaded web pages. If any USCF members would like to take part in the Alpha and Beta testing, let me know. Also, if you know how to program in C# and want to help, I would love to have a hand as I am still just a novice programmer.

Of course it is going to be open source so other programmers can make versions for FIDE and any other chess federations.

Nice Mate Gets me to 2010 on ICC

2009-05-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

I sucked it up and got a membership to ICC. They had an 18 month for the price of 12 deal going on. I have some money coming from a yard sale, so it was easy to afford at the moment. My provisional rating after two games is 2010, which will only fall from this height for sure. But I can at least brag and say my highest rating on ICC is 2010 right? Well the game that got me to 2010 was rough. I was playing sloppy and hung a pawn. Cooking dinner while you play is not a good idea. But this made me start paying more attention and I started to use my move process. My opponent then dropped a piece, and in mutual time trouble we reached the position in the image.

Mate in one and you have two options for it. I had two minutes on the clock and he had two and a half. It was a harsh game. He was down a piece but had a bit of an initiative and started to force things. This caused him to lose his queen and it just crashed from there. That's it, nothing instructive. I just thought it was an interesting mate with all of white's pieces swarming around.

Odd Vision Problem

2009-05-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever played a game and had a player make a move and some how been trapped in their delusion? Check this position out. I was some how convinced that taking the knight would lead to mate. WTF? So, I played a second best move 31... Bc5+?! 32. Kh1 Bf2. It still wins, but why not just take the dang piece? I really need to work on my anallytical ability. But first, I have to get this thought process down.

Missed Tactic

2009-05-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

I missed a tactic in a game on FICS today. Can you find the move?

Click for the answer. At least I didn't miss the mate in one, though. I used the thought process somewhat poorly. I really need to continue training it. I would like to know your opinion, though. Is it cheating if I play with a sheet of paper that has my thought process in front of me? This certainly wouldn't be legal OTB. What do you think? If I had used my thought process I would not have missed this tactic.

MSA for Charting your USCF Rating

2009-05-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

If you’ve never seen this program and you are a USCF member, you will want to. It’s great. It downloads data about your rating (and the ratings of others if you enter their USCF ID) and allows you to work with it and create charts based on the data. Were you ever curious about your win-loss ratio against Player-X? Would you like to know your win-loss ratio against players rated 100 points over you? Or against lower rated players? Well, it’s easy to get these details with this program. And, you cannot beat the price... Free.

Planning for Another Weekend

2009-05-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

I’m looking to get in some games against human opponents on FICS this weekend. So far my studies are all on track. I have been doing board vision training on a daily basis, I have been reviewing my endgame positions, completing problems in Practical Chess Exercises, and I have completed my mini-circle of the first three levels of CT Art. The problem is still finding time to get in long games against strong opponents. I really have to make this a priority as it’s the best way to train my thought process and develop my analytical abilities for OTB play. This means I actually have to wake up at 6:30 on the weekends. It sucks, but I see no way around it. I usually have to have breakfast ready for the family by 9:00, so that will give me enough time to eat and get a game in before the hustle-and-bustle starts.

2009-05-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

Starting to think CMX games are a waste. On Sunday I was playing my latest CMX personality, rated in the high 1900s (yeah right) and got out of the opening with a slight advantage. I would say it was += in my favor. Then out of nowhere the stupid chess engine takes my two “hanging pawns” is exchange for a knight. No human player would have done that. Next thing you know I am crushing “her.” Sadly I went to adjourn the game because I had to cook super and I accidentally hit the Call of Duty 4 icon on my StarDoc. After I closed CoD4 ChessMaster crashed so the entire game was lost. Luckily I at least had it noted on a score sheet. I think I am just going to start playing Rybka 3 Human and see what happens. Yes, I will lose every single game, but I imagine I will learn a lot more. I will certainly have to mix rated games with games in sparring mode as well. My main concern is that playing with such a strong engine will improve my game defensively, but it will not help me develop offensive tactical vision. Another concern I have is finding the time to sit for over an hour and actually finish the game. One of the benefits of playing the CMX personalities was that I could adjourn the game if I needed to go cook or finish some other chore. That keeps the wife happy. And keeping the wife happy is essential to being able to continue my chess studies at the level I want to.

Something Cool

2009-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

My board vision exercises have been paying off. I have now graduated to using Chess Success by Neil McDonald as my primary board vision study. I still do square color flash cards for a few minutes each day as well. But I can follow the games in my mind with a good amount of concentration. I know many people see no purpose in "memorizing" the colors of the squares and if that is all you are doing, I see no purpose in it as well. But if you are using it as a visualization tool, it's an entire other thing. Knowing the colors helps me fix the position in my mind better and I lose sight of the pieces less frequently this way. It is a really cool feeling to be able to study an entire game, in cluding notes, without using a board and being able to accurately recreate the final position on my own chess board at the end of studying it.

Another Busy Weekend

2009-05-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

I may not get to any slow games this weekend on CMX, so I published my current rating early. It's up over 100 points, but that is not hard. Kenji, the last personality I played was a typical weak machine. Foolish moves that made no sense. I did get some experience out of the opening, though. So it wasn't a complete waste. I also managed to not play "Real Chess" on every move and nearly allowed a tactic because I had not evaluated the oponent's threat properly. Now Rybka actually agrees with me, but there are two problems:

1. In this position I saw the check on e2 but did not realize it also forked the rook. I had lost track of it in my mind.

2. I did not examine Qa5-Qd2 at all.

If I have any readers, which I doubt at this point, what do you think? Is Qc5 the strongest move here?

Rating Progress Spread Sheet

2009-05-01T07:00:00.001-07:00

I have created a spread sheet for tracking my ratings. I'll be updating the results on a weekly basis. It has catagories for PlayChess.com, FICS, and ICC. Due to financial restrictions I do not intend on subscribing to ICC very soon. That is a major plan for my improvement, though. I will start playing on FICS soon, but right now it is a question of time. I don't like sitting and waiting for long games to be accepted. It's jsut a waste of time I could be using better. I believe I have a 6 month access key to PlayChess.com, but again my time is so constrained I do not want to sit around seeking games. This is why I have been using CMX.

Another nice victory against a supposed Class A CMX personailty last night. I think 400 points is a good esitmate for the amount the ratings are inflated. It may actually be 500 on some.

Slow Game Progress Report

2009-04-30T06:56:00.001-07:00

I am easily gaining a slight advantage out of the opening against the CMX personalities in the “Class A” level and I am starting to win more games. I think that I really need to boost the playing level of my opponents. This weekend I will start playing CMX personalities in the 2200+ range. The reason being I think I underestimated the amount their ratings are inflated. I would say it is probably closer to 400 points rather than 200 as I initially speculated. I am also going to see if I can start playing in STC Bunch tournaments on FICS. The only problem is that I have two IT certifications I need to study for as well.

Relatively Easy Win Against 1823 Odile CMX

2009-04-28T18:10:00.000-07:00

I just had a relatively easy win against 1823 rated Odile. I found the game relatively believable for a human Class C player (with the exception of move 26). I was in intense time trouble with only 3 minutes left by move 46 due to my thought process training. Had she not blundered a piece on move 26, I might have lost this game on time like I lost the last one. I am quite proud of my endgame skills on this one considering the time trouble, though.

(4) Kaucher,Robert (1433) - Odile (1823) [B22]Chessmaster 10th Edition Rated Game, 28.04.2009
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 e5 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Qe4+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Bxe2 Nf6 12.dxe5 Ne4 13.Bd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Bd7 15.0-0 Rd8 16.Rac1 0-0 17.Rfd1 Ba4 18.b3 Be8 19.Bf3 f5 20.exf6 Ng5 21.Bxb7 Bh5 22.f3 Rxf6 23.Nc6 Re8 24.Nxa7 h6 25.Rc7 Kh7 26.Bd5 Re2 27.a4 Bxf3 28.gxf3 Nxf3+ 29.Bxf3 Rxf3 30.Rdd7 Rxb3 31.Rxg7+ Kh8 32.Rh7+ Kg8 33.Rcg7+ Kf8 34.Rb7 Rxb7 35.Rxb7 Ra2 36.Rb4 Kf7 37.Nc6 Ke6 38.Rd4 Ra1+ 39.Kf2 Ra2+ 40.Kg3 Ra3+ 41.Kf4 Rh3 42.a5 Rxh2 43.a6 Rf2+ 44.Ke3 Rf1 45.a7 Re1+ 46.Kf2 Ra1 47.Rd8 Ra2+ 48.Ke3 h5 49.a8Q Rxa8 50.Rxa8 Kd6 51.Rh8 Kxc6 52.Rxh5 Kd7 53.Rh6 Kc7 54.Kd4 Kd7 55.Kd5 Ke7 56.Ke5 Kd7 57.Rg6 Kc7 58.Kd5 Kd7 59.Rg7+ Ke8 60.Ke6 Kd8 61.Kd6 Ke8 62.Ra7 Kf8 63.Ke6 Kg8 64.Kf6 Kh8 65.Kg6 Kg8 66.Ra8# 1-0

Training the Thought Process

2009-04-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

As I stated in my last post I have to focus on training my thought process. I was being lazy about it in my training and I know now that it really needs to be the only focus I have in my exercises for the next month or two. It’s really hard work to develop this type of mental discipline and it is, in my opinion, the major reason why I and many other chess amateurs stay in the lower rungs of the class level. I saw an interesting question in a Dan Heisman article where he asked if most of your game-losing mistakes were due to something you did not know about chess or something you knew but did not apply. I know for a fact that in my own games the errors are caused by me not taking the time to fully understand the position at hand and therefore I do not apply the knowledge that I have. This lack of caution causes me to blunder and lose to players I know I should be beating.

Blah, blah, blah, get to the point, right? Well I am reconsidering my training so that for the month of May I will focus only on solving problems using PCE, CT Art, and Chess Personal Training as well as playing training games against CMX and Rybka. For every single move that is not book I will use my move rhythm and write down a principle variation for my candidates and for each reasonable reply I see to my candidates. These will be at least three ply (half moves) and include an evaluation of the resulting position. Then in June I will continue this training but I will stop writing down the principle variations. Throughout May and June I will continue to review the material in Silman’s CEGC that I have completed thus far, but again the major focus will be on developing an efficient and consistent thought process on every single move that is not book or forced.

Getting Back on Track

2009-04-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, as I said in my last post the weekend was a complete bust. Any studies I did complete were of minimal value as I was completely drugged. But I have to move on, it is what it is. So here are my objectives for the week. One thing I did learn from the weekend is that I need to work on using my move rhythm and board vision. It has to be my major focus. I see these two as linked because of Dan Heisman’s concept of playing “real chess.”

1. I will complete CT Art Level 3 using my move rhythm.
2. I will play 3 rated games against CMX personalities and use my move rhythm.
3. I will play two rated games against Rybka 3 Human and use my move rhythm.

On the second two items I will also write down my move and times as though I were in an OTB match. My only real objective for the next month is going to be improving my thinking at the board. This is why my OTB rating is in the 1300s when I know that it should be in the 1600s.

Speaking of OTB competitions I have decided that I will play in the King’s Island Open in November and if I have the money I plan on playing in the Columbus Open in July.

Training Games

2009-04-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have partially completed the CETG test, which is all I am going to do for now. It set my rating at 1635.

Unfortunately this weekend has been a bust for training games. I took medicine on Friday night and Saturday and spent most of the weekend as a zombie. I tried to keep up with my usual training and tried to play a few training games. I resigned both as I was just too out of it to continue. In both cases I was not properly using my move rhythm.

Interestingly I was clearly better in both games but gave away my advantage due to foolish errors. Even though I was feeling drugged I could have won had I not gotten lazy and stopped thinking. I would blame the cold medicine if this were not the exact problem that I have in OTB games.

Tactics Training

2009-04-26T08:44:00.001-07:00

CT Art level 3 is a real challenge for me. It’s clearly where I need to be focusing my energies in my tactics training. Sometimes I find it hard to even see the idea. I have been so tired for the past few weeks due to this cough that my wife had and has now spread to me, that I find it hard to really concentrate on the exercises the way I should.

On the bright side I am still crushing on the endgame exercises in PCE and CETG. I am getting more and more confident as I am able to take an unfamiliar position and see how it relates to the more basic positions that I have learned. One such position was Rook and Pawn vs. Pawns where the opponent’s pawn was about to queen. It took me about three minutes to find the correct move but I was easily able to hit on the right idea because I could clearly see the position would simplify into a known and easily won pawn ending. It was just a matter of how. So far I am 100% on all the endgame exercises I have done in those two books.

Endgame Resources and Status Update

2009-04-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

Endgame Resources and Status Update
I found a nice site that can help chess students out: http://www.chessvideos.tv/ . I did some positions of Rook vs. Rook and 2 Connected Pawns there yesterday and I was very pleased. I am not sure but it seems like the engine they use on the site uses table bases as it put up a descent fight.

I managed to get some middlegame theory done yesterday. I’m glad to be getting back into the groove of things with my studies. My big problem this week has been board vision training. I really only need to dedicate 10 minutes daily to it, but I keep forgetting.

Here is what I intend on completing by the end of the month:

7 Games against CMX and Rybka Human.
Complete Chess Base Strategy I (theory and games, not test)
Complete CT Art Level 3
Review Philidor and other Rook vs. Rook + Pawn drawing techniques

Rough Weekend and Meeting My Goal

2009-04-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

My wife has been sick and coughing all night long. I haven’t had a descent night’s sleep for over a week, well until last night. This means my schedule has been all screwed up. My board vision training got all out-of-whack and on some days I didn’t even accomplish my minimum training for the day. I am slowing down on studying Silman’s Complete Endgame Course this week. I am ahead of schedule on it and I really need to catch up on my strategic and positional theory. There are several GM games I need to review and several more I need to actually dedicate some time to studying.

On the bright side my endgame knowledge is really improving. I am doing the first 30 question from Chess Exam and Training Guide as my kind of initial base line (though I am over a month into my training) and I have gotten perfect scores on all of the endgame positions so far and I knew the answers immediately without even having to think about the questions. My middlegame concepts are still proving week, though. I will post the score of the first 30 questions when I am done. Then, at the end of the year I will complete the test (100 questions) to see if I have met my goal.

Since I will not be able to really compete in many tournaments for the next 6 months I will use the following to see if I have accomplished my goals:
CMX Rating: 2200+
CETG Score: 1900+
CETG Tactics: 2000+

I believe that my rating for the CETG books might be a little inflated, so I’m shooting for a higher score on those and I know the CMX ratings are inflated. I would also like to see an OTB rating increase of 300 points. I am not sure if that will be mathematically possible, though, as I will probably only be able to get in a few tournaments.

2009-04-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me I have yet to publish my study regimen.

Daily Study
Silman’s Complete Endgame Course
CT-Art Exercises (10 minimum)
Opening Preperation (done during lunch while I eat, weekdays only)
Board Vision Exercises

3 days weekly
ChessBase Strategy I
Practical Chess Exercises
Play Long Games

2009-04-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am still working on board vision exercises almost daily. There has been one day this week I was not able to do it formally, but I still try to do the minimum by viewing the board and naming squares in my mind. It is getting much easier. Calculating CT Art exercises with eyes closed until I firmly see final position has been helpful as well. I am currently engaged in a game with a CMX personality that is rated over 1800. She has not made any foolish blunders like a 1300 player might, yet. She has had some issues in the opening, though. Currently we are in the early middlegame of a Sicilian Grand Prix and she has yet to castle or develop her king’s knight. Lots of pawn moves I could see a Class B player making as they seem to gain space and initiative. I had to adjourn the game though due to life’s responsibilities. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to finish the game and get caught up on theory. I have yet to study positional concepts this week, only mild review.

Computer Ratings vs. OTB Ratings

2009-04-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting article about computer ratings vs. other types of ratings that I found very encouraging. I was very concerned about how I was going to measure my progress with the concerns I had about the ChessMaster 10th (CMX) personalities. As long as I am seeing improvement in my game I will know I am keeping on track.

A Waste of Time

2009-04-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

The other night I played my first game using my “move rhythm” and it was a waste of time. I played a CMX personality supposedly rated over 1750 who dropped a piece by the 10th move. I’ll be posting the game here but I really feel my time could have been spent better. Perhaps it was a fluke. I am going to continue on playing the suggested personality, who is just under 1800, but I am suspicious that CMX personalities are over rated by at least 300 points. One good thing I noticed, though, is that I was able to use the rhythm to avoid any foolish blunders and it really helped me keep track of the ideas present in the positions during the game. In 2006/2007 when I had some time to play in tournaments relatively regularly I tried to implement a specific “thought process,” which was simply too complicated. This “move rhythm” on the other hand is simple and logical.

My Theory of Improvement

2009-04-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

I believe that the true key to improving at chess is not just acquiring new knowledge about the game but is drilling down and finding out how to force yourself to apply the knowledge you have in a consistent and correct manner. I feel certain that the major key to this is developing a simple but efficient thought process to help you choose your moves.
Another major component to practical playing strength is the player’s ability to accurately visualize the board in his mind. This comes from actually training my mind to see the board and the pieces but also from becoming familiar with the pawn and piece formations in the openings I play. It is easier to calculate when you know that position x three moves ahead naturally flows into position y, which is 7 moves ahead. This kind of feeling is derived from lots of over-the-board play as well as going over many master games in your openings. By “many” I mean over 100, but going over them quickly taking no more than 20 minutes per game. Of those games pick the 25 most instructive and do some analysis on them. It might be better if they are already analyzed by a strong player for educational purposes, but that is not always possible. I will spend about 40 minutes on each game. Of those 25 I will pick the top 5 and memorize them so that if I were presented with a flash card containing any position I would know the moves without question and be able to explain why those moves were made. This will increase my confidence in the positions I reach and help me know which moves to examine as good candidates.
So now that I’ve mentioned all the areas I believe I need to train, how do I go about doing it? I was reading Dan Heisman’s Novice Nook article, The Theory of Chess Improvement, and I believe there are really only two ways to accomplish this:

1. Using tactical and positional puzzles
2. Playing games against strong opponents

Now I can do these things till the cows come home, but if I do not try to improve my thought process by following my move rhythm and actually examining the moves, it will do very little for me in real games. You will play the way you train.
Puzzle Method
The puzzle method is relatively straight forward. I just need to exercise the move rhythm while choosing my candidates. The objective here is making it a habit to go through the steps.
Strong Opponents
Playing against strong opponents is a bit more complicated. I do not have the time to do my studies and go to a chess club or regularly play in tournaments. I’m stuck with computers. The training I want to do would simulate a club tournament each weekend. But this takes time away from studying theory. My time is limited and if I am going to stick with this it must be reasonable. I also cannot forget that I need to take the time to review these games myself.

Ideal Training Game Schedule

4 Games Against CMX Personalities rated 1750 to 2000 (1 Friday, 3 Saturday)
1 Game against Rybka 3 Human Using and Taking Notes (final game Sunday)

If I am able to follow my idea this will give me 120 games in a six month period. Although I expect it will be closer to 70. The reasoning behind allowing myself to use and keep notes against Rybka is because the program is rated at about 3000 Elo on my 64 bit quad core system. I simply stand no chance. This will also help me to relate and remember certain ideas that I might not remember otherwise. Even more than that it will teach me patience as the slightest tactical error will result in immediate defeat.

Move Rhythm

2009-04-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

After my opponent’s move…
* I will examine all of the checks, captures, and threats he has available as if he had a second move.
* I will then consider the consequences of that move and discover what benefits and drawbacks it has.
* I will then examine all checks, captures and threats that I have available to me. If none of these leads to a win of material I will then begin to formulate my to-do list.
* I will consider my opponent’s check, captures, and threats after each candidate move. If any candidate allows my opponent to win material immediately, I will ensure it is not a false win (i.e. I drop a knight but get him in a back rank mate) and reject the move if required.
* I will then consider my to-do list and begin to evaluate each remaining candidate move and their consequences.

I will do this until it becomes a habit I cannot break.

My Quest to Reach Class A in One Year

2009-04-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

This blog is to chronicle my quest to achieve a Class-A USCF playing strength in one year. I will include posts relating to my training methods and results.