more of the same - random chess crap in my head
when the student is ready, the master appears….
that is an old buddhist proverb. i was thinking about the last post, thinking about the times in my life when i could have studied chess and didn’t. there were many times in my life when i had nothing but time and nothing to fill it with. sitting here now, i think “damn, i could have used that time to study chess, and if i did, i would be a really strong player now!”
but i don’t think i was ready then, or i would have sat down and learned chess. sometimes i feel like i wasted my life pursuing other things that don’t matter, but they only don’t matter now. back then, they did matter, and chess didn’t matter to me at all. if karpov lived next to me and said “hey, you wanna learn to play chess?” i would have probably said “thanks, but not really.” now i will talk to anyone who knows the littlest bit in hopes of learning some little thing (i still think about how the pawn affects the files next to it, thanks to a comment on one of my posts).
there was a question in the forum over at chess.com, some 21 year old kid asked if he was “too old.” i had to laugh, he is so worried that at 21 he is too old. damn, at 21, if you study and play for 10 years, which seems like an eternity, you could be quite formidable and still only 31, which is young. these young-uns, they don’t realize the potential for excellence they have. makes me wonder if in some cases, the student is not ready yet.
i’ve been studying morphy, alekhine, the old guys. i think they had it easier, even though they didn’t’ have chessbase, fritz, chessmaster, ct-art, and the entire everyman chess and gambit library on their shelves. back then, i don’t’ think most people were as serious. they could make “mistakes” and try “crazy” new things out and get away with things an 1100 rated player would catch and destroy on. i wonder how a morphy would fare against a blunderprone? i bet there would be more draws than morphy had ever seen.
how awesome would i be right now if i started chess 20 years ago? i bet lots of players think back to a time when they were not playing, and think “damn, why didn’t i start playing then?” no sense wasting time about that, there is the future to look forward to. perhaps, if i study seriously now that i am ready to, when i am 50, i will be a kick ass 1900 rated player.
i have that to look forward to….
Tacticus Maximus said,
December 30, 2007 at 4:50 am
when the student is ready, the master appears….
Indeed.
i wonder how a morphy would fare against a blunderprone?
Morphy would kick ass if he were alive today. With no new knowledge he would be a GM. Openings? The Morphy variation of the Ruy Lopez is still in fashion I don’t think the Berlin would surprise him either.
if i study seriously now that i am ready to, when i am 50, i will be a kick ass 1900 rated player.
Absolutely! Good luck.
(from a 2000+ rated almost 50 yo).
Blunderprone said,
December 30, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Thanks for the vote of confidence… but he’d probably kick my ass. But I’d whip up some Jumbolya to make him feel at home ( He was from Louisianna) . I’d beg for one of his “parlor tricks” and ask to be mated by a pawn on a4 and castle king side and go after the b-pawn with a vegenace.
If this were star trek, I’d completely be lost on the halodeck playing against Morphy, Stenietz, and all the old guys. I’d especially want to have a fireside chat with the Hyper Mods.
Pawn Shaman said,
December 30, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Your right everybody has that feeling that they should have started earlier. What if we had started to study astrophysics when we were 9? Things would be so much different. But then again what if we had started heavy drinking and smoking hash when we were 15? Things would again be so much different.
To quote Marcus Aurelius
“Labour not as one who is wretched, nor yet as one who would be pitied or admired; but direct thy will to one thing only, to put thyself in motion and to check thyself, as the social reason requires.”
gorckat said,
December 31, 2007 at 7:07 am
So wise.
svensp said,
December 31, 2007 at 8:38 am
Don’t worry, lots of small goals (which can be reached) can sum up to a big one (which can then be reached). So it’s never too late.
“back then, i don’t’ think most people were as serious. they could make “mistakes” and try “crazy” new things out and get away with things an 1100 rated player would catch and destroy on.”
dont know if you are serious about that, but if you are: I guess they would be a cause of severe depression to any of today’s players <2100 matched up against them
kind regards,
svensp
Liquid Egg Product said,
December 31, 2007 at 9:17 am
I couldn’t imagine Morphy wouldn’t be at least an IM today, probably more like one of those run-of-the-mill GM’s you’ve never heard of. Talent counts for a lot.
Learning chess is like…a game of chess. You can’t take back that error at move 9, so you can’t worry about it, and play the best you can with the position you have now.