i think i learned something, but i don’t know what
yesterday i went for a huge bikeride, a bit too far, out of water, legs seizing up, nice light sunburn on the arms. i pushed myself, it was good. according to fred nietzsche, i’m stronger, seeing as how it didn’t kill me. i don’t feel stronger, in fact, i felt all sore and depleted.
so today i didn’t do a damn thing all day, save look at internet porn, study chess, and confit some lemons (blanch lemons, rinse and dry them. mix diced shallots (or onions) and garlic, and mix about 1/2 cup salt and 3 tbs sugar. slice lemons kinda thin. in a non-reactive container (i use a glass jar) layer lemons, garlic/onion, and salt/sugar, then lemons, garlic/onion, and salt/sugar, etc, to the top. top off with garlic mix, put in fridge for 3 days, cover with olive oil, and you got some tasty ass lemons to use in food or as a weird little side).
i mostly studied chess. what got me all excited was today i memorized a position. i don’t’ know why, i just did. you can reach the position either from a weird sicilian or a kings indian.
ok, so i know i’m supposed to “know positions” but i don’t quite know what that means. i don’t know what positions i’m supposed to know, or what it means to “know” them. like, do i need to know where every pawn and piece are, or just the big main players? are there some positions you see quite frequently? i know i often see a certain position playing a QGD game.
anyway, when i sat down to study at my kick ass chess desk, before i opened a book i made a conscious effort to “be in the moment” and pay attention to every move i made. then i went over the games, two and three times. i didn’t just look to see what move was made and make the move, i looked at the board, thought about what i would do, then looked at the book, saw what the player did, moved that move, then looked at the board, etc. occasionally i actually thought of the right move. sometimes i saw the move that that book said was obvious and wrong. other times the move i would make was never made in the history of chess because it sucked that much.
the one game i really liked, and i don’t know why, was short-kasparov 1993 london (rapid). for some reason this game appealed to me, and i somehow memorized the position after 9 moves. i can re-create it at will and i know what move was played next.
does this do anything for me at all? did i just waste some brain space learning something i will never ever need?
i wonder what positions i SHOULD memorize, if any. and how do i learn what positions i need to know?
anyway, i felt like i accomplished something, even though i can’t be sure it was anything. and if nothing else, at least i have some tasty lemon confit.
David K, Seattle said,
April 23, 2008 at 10:46 pm
pray tell, kind young man, was the s-k 93 game from the fritz database of 500k games, the database version i sent you of 1500+ classics from 2007, or from a book? nice to see you so stoked! yo!
Anonymous said,
April 23, 2008 at 10:54 pm
don’t make it a point to memorize openings yet. Do the tactic puzzles until they are memorized. Memorize endgame positions.
Soapstone said,
April 24, 2008 at 9:18 am
There is a Florida master named A.J. Goldsby who was blogging before it became fashionable. His training tips at http://www.geocities.com/lifemasteraj/training.html mention #18. Memorize master games. I’m not sure I buy rote memorization as a path to learning, but I thought it was a shame that I can’t reproduce any entire master games from memory, so I started to do it with Nunn’s 110 World’s Greatest Chess Games. I have sketchy memories of the Evergreen and the Immortal and Steinitz’s demolishing of Von Bardeleben, so I don’t think I succeeded in really memorizing them. A while back, I emailed master Jon Jacobs why he referred to Goldsby as the stupidest man on the internet. Among other reasons, he seemed mad that Goldsby bragged about getting a bunch of his blog readers to not participate in the one-time H.B.Global tournament.
Soapstone said,
April 24, 2008 at 9:23 am
Anyway, I think that if the position speaks to you and tells you to memorize it, don’t squelch the fun that keeps you bringing you back to the training. In intangible ways, it **ALL** helps. But if you’re overly concerned about rate of return, upping tactical skills is the way to go.
blunderprone said,
April 24, 2008 at 9:57 am
I am not really trying to memorize the master games rather I am trying to improve my understanding of them by slef annotating them, then checking my work afterward… and recently bloggin about it only as a means to help document the process.
I am remembering positions, themes, style of play, different ways to handle similar positions and understanding the evolution form teh Romantic days of Anderssen and Morphy, through the Scientific days of Steinitz and tarrasch and the Hypermods of Reti and Nimzo to the rpesent style. Its an amazing journey but i don’t think I cna recall a game I was studying 2 weeks ago in its entirety.
vic fan said,
April 26, 2008 at 3:24 pm
i learned liz v wants her anon admirers to wear pretty dresses for her.
ok, i still would… depending on what goes underneath
d! said,
April 26, 2008 at 8:41 pm
well. i think you should ……
drink a beer.
Liquid Egg Product said,
April 27, 2008 at 10:08 am
Patterns. Oh, yes, patterns. The thing I worry about is that you’ve received so much advice, it is overwhelming. Being a relatively sporadic, not-hard working player, perhaps I’m the last guy to give advice.
When referring to patterns, there are positions and mates every chess player worth his salt needs to know. These form the basis of your knowledge. I wouldn’t spend a too much time on master games–I don’t–because it seems like there’s not enough foundation yet to get full use. I honestly don’t remember everything you’ve done, so you may already know these…
The basic checkmates are a must, so the themes come to mind instinctively. Queen batteries, Rook roller, King and Rook, etc. Plus the more difficult minor piece mates teach coordination of pieces (2 Bishops and King vs King; Bishop, Knight and King vs King)
Probably the thing to most single-handedly improve my game was going through “Winning Chess” by Irving and Reinfeld. Excellent overview of tactical themes, maybe about 30 positions for each theme. Fork, pin, skewer, etc. I’d recommend this for just about any class player.
vic fan: If you want to try to preserve a modicum of dignity, you can wrap a towel around yourself and see if you can sneak that in as a dress.
chessloser said,
April 28, 2008 at 7:09 am
David - actually, i’ve been using the books. i need to use my chessbase more, i know…
anonymous - i do tactical puzzles, and i’m also trying to memorize endgame positions. i just inadvertently kinda “memorized” that game…
soapstone - i’m not a fan of rote memorization either. but if you study something so much you memorize it, and you can then bend and stretch that information and apply it to other situations, i think that is a good thing…
blunderprone - the fact that you remember positions is way ahead of me. i hope i can get to where you are now….
vic fan - depends on the dress….i like the sundresses, not a fan of the fancy evening gowns. skirts are most comfortable….
d! - good idea, i think i shall….
liquid egg product - good advice, always welcomed and appreciated. i do know most of the things you mentioned. as for the dress advice, like i said, skirts are always comfortable…