First Circle Complete!
Weekly Match Result
Last night OJ and I played a game at G/1:55 w/ 5-second delay with my new chess clock. My thought process was a total mishmash, but despite me being worse in the middlegame, OJ went astray during some middlegame tactics and I ended up a piece. I think my technique was pretty good in the remaining KQRB vs. KQR and I didn't allow much counterplay.
It seems that many of our games these days follow a similar formula: OJ builds up a +/- or +- advantage by the early middlegame, I get lucky when OJ overlooks a tactical point, and I grind out a win. I really wish I could come out of the opening with a decent position, but I'm not sure I want to spend much time on openings. I'm getting better (and winning), but it is still frustrating to have to always claw back from a bad position (and be at the mercy of my opponent making a tactical mistake). At any rate, I'll finish the MDLM plan before I start working on other stuff such as openings.
As for total time used: I had about 36 minutes left on my clock. I think OJ used up about 8 minutes. So he's almost playing blitz while I'm playing a regular slow game.
Circle One Complete!
So I got home a little after 10 p.m. last night, so I decided to slog through the last 10 problems in CT-Art. There was actually a problem with 210 points (I got 171, one of my better results that night). I finished up with 45% for the final 10 problems, better than I expected.
My final Elo: 2573. Pity this isn't a "real" rating. IIRC I started at 1600. Here's a graph of my progress (though CT-Art will only show the last 813 problems):
Originally I started with MDLM's suggested schedule, but I found I was finishing the first two levels pretty quickly, but really started to slow down at level 30 which was killing me time-wise. So I revised my schedule to the following:
Circle One Schedule
Week 1: 41 problems per day
Week 2: 30 problems per day
Week 3: 19 problems per day
Week 4: 17 problems per day
Week 5: 15 problems per day
Week 6: 14 problems per day
Week 7: 13 problems per day
Week 8: 12 problems per day
Week 9: 12 problems on one day, 10 on the other 6 days
Week 10 (one day only): 10 problems
Total: 64 days, 1209 problems
I was planning on taking a day or two off, but I think I may jump right into circle two tonight.
Circle Two Schedule
Week 1: 70 problems per day
Week 2: 36 problems per day
Week 3: 29 problems per day
Week 4: 25 problems per day for the first four days, then 24 for the last day
Week 5: 24 problems for one day, then 22 for the remaining three days
Total: 32 days, 1209 problems
Wish me luck as I sally forth fellow knights!
posted by fussylizard @ 9:47 AM
4 Comments:
Tally Ho! And 2573 is NICE!
What openings do you play?
Well Done! Congratulations!
Thanks for the encouragement all! I am cruising along pretty well on Circle 2.
Openings? What are those? :-) Really, I don't know many concrete lines in the opening, though I do know the general ideas behind several. The other caveat is that with my friend OJ we tend to play the same openings, so I don't have a lot of breadth. I've been meaning to ask folks when is the best time to work on a basic opening repertoire. Anyway, here's my "opening survey".
I used to play 1.d4 and then the Colle system or the Blackmar-Diemar gambit (BDG). I didn't get into the BDG much since it is highly tactical with lots of theory, and since it is borderline unsound, white must be very precise to do well with it. The Colle system was okay, but I never really took to it much.
Then I started going through the master games listed in the book GM-RAM, so I started getting a better feel for 1.e4, which I play now. However, I've not done much play with 1.e4 yet, so I don't have much prepared for it. So far I've only played the lines 1.e4 e4 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Nf3 since that's how OJ usually plays. He's tried the Sicilian Kalashnikov/Lowenthal a few times as well (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 and then either 5...d6 or 5...a6).
Against 1.e4 I reply 1...e5. As white OJ either plays the King's gambit or the Danish or Goring gambits. Against the King's Gambit I play the modern defense (1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5). Against the Danish / Goring we have 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 and then I play 4...Nc6 which takes us into lines somewhere between the Goring gambit and the Danish. I won't play 4...cxb2 since that is too risky without memorizing reams of theory. Usually after 4...Nc6 we go 5.Nxc3 Bb4.
Against 1.d4 or 1.c4 I will try to go into the Queen's Gambit. If white avoids the d4/c4 pawn center, I wing it.
Unfortunately that is about the extent of my opening knowledge beyond the first 2-3 moves of most major openings that I just happen to know. I'll probably spend a little time on a more formal opening repertoire after I finish the MDLM plan, but I don't want to go overboard on openings. I really would like to spend more time on the endgame, since I find that phase of the game particularly interesting.
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