Confessions of a Serial Chess Problem Solver
Excerpts from the minutes of the 2005-04-29 Meeting of Chess Problem Solvers Anonymous (CPSA):
fussylizard
Hello everyone. My name is fussylizard and ...
Group Moderator
Excuse me, Mr., uh, "fussylizard" was it? Here we all use our real names, not our internet chess handles. Can you please start again but use your real name?
fussylizard
Uh, sure. Hello everyone. My name is fuss-, er, I mean, Chris, and I am, well, supposedly addicted to solving chess problems. I'm really not sure why-
Group Moderator
OK. That's enough for now. Recognizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery.
fussylizard
Yeah, that's what I've heard...
Group Moderator
Why don't you tell us why you are here.
fussylizard
Why I'm here? Well to be honest, I'm not really sure. This woman that claims to be my wife made me. I mean I've seen her around the house and all, but I didn't realize we were married, you know? I've been a bit busy lately. She said something about being a "chess widow" and was quite insistent that I attend. She seemed nice enough, so here I am.
Group Moderator
OK. Why don't you tell us about your "chess improvement plan".
fussylizard
Oh, the MDLM plan? Yeah, sure. In December 2004 I started this chess improvement program recommended by this guy named Michael de la Maza. For four months I spent nearly every spare moment outside of work solving chess problems. I did the same set of 1100 or so problems over and over and over. At first it was difficult, ignoring my friends and family while bathed in the cold glow of my laptop's LCD. Hundreds upon hundreds of problems…so many. At first I was overwhelmed, but ever so slowly I grew to enjoy it. Each pass through the problems got faster and faster, more and more. Slowly, enjoyment changed to need: the need to spend every spare moment in front of CT-Art, solving, solving, solving.
Group Moderator
And then what happened?
fussylizard
Things were going really well until, well, I finished the study program. The final day I took the whole day off from work to spend in front of the computer, solving from morning until night. And then suddenly…it was over. The joy was indescribable, suddenly being freed from the invisible shackles of the study program. The next day I didn’t even load up CT-Art on my computer at all. Nor the next day. But then...
Group Moderator
Yes?
fussylizard
Well, I began to ask myself: was I really free? Hour after hour I spent listlessly reviewing chess games played by the masters of yore, but somehow it just wasn’t enough. Sure, there was the occasional combination or kingside attack I could play through at lightening speed thanks to the plan, but outside of this, I felt…empty. Something was missing. My life was meaningless. I felt the atrophy slowly eating away my hard-earned tactical skills. There must be more. I have to have more. I must have more, More, MORE!
At this point the minutes say something about a scuffle and Chris being dragged out by a bunch of guys in white coats while he screamed, "I am the king! I am the king!!" More on this on the 11 o'clock news tonight.
Stagnation
Having finished the MDLM plan, I feel really lazy. I’ve spent pretty much every night for the last four months doing tactics problems. Now that I’m not doing that, I feel very lazy, like I’m throwing it away since I’m not keeping it up. I’ve actually been going through Chernev’s Logical Chess book, but it’s just not the same. Life has also sort of caught up again as well, so between working late at the office lately and going to see the midnight movie of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Thursday night I’ve not been able to dedicate as much time to chess as I would like.
It’s funny what having a schedule does. With a schedule, you make time for things. Without it, the things you want to do get eaten up by the zillion other little things that just come up. I need to come up with a new study schedule so I will have something to stick to.
One thing I will mention about going through Chernev’s book: I had gone through about half of it before years ago, trying to guess each move of the winning side before I read the move and notes in the book. I did rather poorly overall in my guessing percentage. Now I am doing a little better on the “regular” moves, but whenever there is a tactical sequence, it’s like my brain goes into turbo mode and I can calculate out things with lightening speed. It’s a bizarre feeling to be going along and then suddenly have my brain shift into tactics mode and zip through the upcoming combination. I hope this bodes well for my OTB play.
Another thing to mention is that I find it interesting to go through other tactics material now. I have the book Chess Tactics for Juniors which relative to CT-Art is basically 534 level 10-50 type problems. When going through it (usually for 15 minutes or so before bed) I notice that some problems I solve almost instantly, whereas others I agonize over for minutes. This tells me that many tactical patterns, even some relatively simple ones, are still not “instant”, so I think I need to continue studying a lot more tactics, even after the MDLM plan with CT-Art.
A Confession
I have to admit it but Thursday I ordered Convekta’s Total Chess Training II set which includes, essentially, a boatload of tactics and endgame problems. I’m not sure if I will take an MDLM approach to it or not (or when I will start on it), but somehow it is comforting knowing there is more material to go over.
A quick note about CT-Art- I had no idea you can have it randomly reverse the piece color or “mirror” the board left to right so as to diminish the role memorization plays in solving the problems. I did 20-30 level 10-50 problems last night just for fun and found that swapping colors made essentially zero difference in my solving times, but the mirroring required me to think for a couple extra seconds in general to recognize the pattern. I think all the review work I will do in CT-Art going forward will use this random mode, at least for levels 10-60.
The Narrative of My Experience
I’m still working on my summary about my experience with the MDLM plan. I hope to finish it this weekend. When I’m done, I’ll be sure to post a link here.
Thanks
Thanks all for the congratulations on finishing. I hope I can inspire others to do the same.
posted by fussylizard @ 2:46 PM
6 Comments:
Great stuff. Sounds like when I used to finish finals at college. I would be going going going on adrenaline, and then, BAM. Nothing to do. IT was always kind of a disconcerting letdown.
I very much look forward to your description of your experiences with the Circles! I start my revised, slightly watered-down version of the circles, which I am calling The Divine Tragedy, next week when I finish the chess vision drills.
I'm already planning on starting a new program immediately upon completing my tactics study. I've got Convekta's Strategy 2.0 and Chess Endgame Training. Those two programs should take me through the end of next year running in 7 consecutive circles. WAAAHHOOOOO!!!!
CD- I will be curious to hear how you like Strategy 2.0...I was curious about that package as well. I think I'll do the Practical Endgame package before I do the Endgame Training one.
I'm considering getting the Chess Tactics for Beginners package and doing that one as well given that there are a lot of simple motifs that are still not fully burned into my brain. I think the Chess Tactics for Intermediate Players will be more calculation-intensive and not as good for building up basic pattern recognition. Hmmmm....
fussy, I've been slowly working my way through a first pass of Strategy 2.0 already. I have the good fortune of being able to drive home for lunch everyday, and I work through a few of those puzzles as I eat. I recommend it very much. It is not verbose as far as explanations, but I am learning a lot of "unspoken" things just by playing through the variations. It's certainly something that requires a good tactical grasp, IMHO, in order to do well because of the calculation involved. There are a couple of instances I've noticed so far where some problems duplicate those of CT-Art 3.0. Those are very few, though. It's an 1800 problem set and covers a lot of ground. One thing I've been noticing recently is how often a pawn get sacrificed for position in these games. It's certainly food for thought for me, because I never think to do that when I play.
How was Hitchhiker's?
What you said about having a schedule really struck a chord with me. When I did the MDLM plan, I stuck rigorously to the schedule. Whether playing in tournaments or sick with a cold, I always did the exercises. I don't think I've ever stuck to a schedule like that for that long without ever missing a day. And you're right about how when you're not on a schedule, life always seems to find a way to intrude.
So now I'm currently putting together a schedule for my further chess study. It won't be as insane as the MDLM schedule, but I plan on sticking to it.
Thanks for mentioning what I already knew but needed to hear!
Chris, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was okay. I am mostly familiar with the radio shows, but folks that are not already familiar with the story I think will be lost. For fans like me (my wife is a huge fan), it was okay to good.
Glad I helped you re-realize the benefit of a schedule. I need to get one in place myself.
Post a Comment
<< Home