Its surely true. My stated aim was to study openings here to improve OTB.
In my 1st OTB game of the new season last night I had my best win as black for years, beating a player rated 2070 OTB who was unbeaten in the league last year, using the "new" (to me) version of the Ruy Lopez I have been trying out on this site.
Nope. Then again, we don't have leagues here, so I just play the other club members and it looks like this
2000 person A
1950 person B
1950 person C
1900 person D
1850 person E
1650 - Me
1400 person F
1400 person G
(another 4 people < 1400)
In short, I can't really tell you because I continue to beat the people below me and while I think I am doing better against the top guys than I was before, it's hard to say for sure as I usually only play 1 serious game per week (the rest is all blitz - where I do great or terrible based on how sharp my tactics are that day).
Originally posted by Dragon Fire Its surely true. My stated aim was to study openings here to improve OTB.
In my 1st OTB game of the new season last night I had my best win as black for years, beating a player rated 2070 OTB who was unbeaten in the league last year, using the "new" (to me) version of the Ruy Lopez I have been trying out on this site.
Has anyone else had similar success?
Congratulations on your success... however, one game isn't enough to accurately determine whether you just had a fluke or whether you have really improved. Hopefully it's the latter! :-)
Originally posted by Dragon Fire Its surely true. My stated aim was to study openings here to improve OTB.
In my 1st OTB game of the new season last night I had my best win as black for years, beating a player rated 2070 OTB who was unbeaten in the league last year, using the "new" (to me) version of the Ruy Lopez I have been trying out on this site.
Has anyone else had similar success?
The only reason I play on RHP is to brush up opening ideas 🙂
Originally posted by Bedlam The only reason I play on RHP is to brush up opening ideas 🙂
The use of opening databases on here has really speeded up my otb game, although the games are an hour long (at least, as I play in 2 leagues with different timings) it's still nice to get into the middle game with a 5-10 min advantage
Originally posted by stevetodd The use of opening databases on here has really speeded up my otb game, although the games are an hour long (at least, as I play in 2 leagues with different timings) it's still nice to get into the middle game with a 5-10 min advantage
Im normally too lazy to just look up an opening and try to learning it, but im not so lazy that I wont look up the opening in a database while im playing it corry.
Pretty good for those who play off the track lines that have practically no theory or very shakey theory, Kings Bishop Gambit/Reti Gambit being just two that im hoping to learn past available theory.
My only slight grr at the site is iv come across one cheat already and have quite a few 2000+ players opening up like total patzers but still 2000+ god knows how.
I could have told you that a long time ago. You just had to ask 🙂
That's why I'm here. I wouldn't say that it has helped me play that much better yet. Eventually it will I think but not right now. I just don't play as many games and other people to test out openings that much.
Some side effects of Rhp:
I am use to the Rhp timers 1/7 and so in OTB get into time trouble now days. Also I'm a bit lazy with calculating in my head in OTB because of Rhp.
My OTB rating has gone up and I have won some big tourneys but I don't attribute that to Rhp. I just think it was because of the practise. You play Rhp or OTB games, both give you good practise. So I attribute my wins to hardwork and practise.
Originally posted by stevetodd The use of opening databases on here has really speeded up my otb game, although the games are an hour long (at least, as I play in 2 leagues with different timings) it's still nice to get into the middle game with a 5-10 min advantage
This was a major factor in my recent OTB win. Because I had the openings off pat I got to move 10 having used 5 minutes to his 30 in a game where the time control was 30 moves in 75 minutes. By the time we reached move 17 I had used 40 minutes to his 65. By move 23 he only had 15 seconds left to my 15 minutes in a complex position. The rest is history.
It is thanks to RHP that I got such a time advantage in the opening. Time will tell if this is a one off or a consistent improvement.
Originally posted by RahimK I am use to the Rhp timers 1/7 and so in OTB get into time trouble now days. Also I'm a bit lazy with calculating in my head in OTB because of Rhp.
My OTB rating has gone up and I have won some big tourneys but I don't attribute that to Rhp. I just think it was because of the practise. You play Rhp or OTB games, both give you good practise. So I attribute my wins to hardwork and practise.
On point 1 I try not to take too much time over each move so as to avoid this problem but study the openings carefully, follow (and understand) the "book" and thoroughly analyse and try new lines (then annotate my book) that I come across.
And playing loads of games with sensible time controls helps. Here I have played 300 in 3 months. OTB that would take me 10 years.
Originally posted by Dragon Fire On point 1 I try not to take too much time over each move so as to avoid this problem but study the openings carefully, follow (and understand) the "book" and thoroughly analyse and try new lines (then annotate my book) that I come across.
And playing loads of games with sensible time controls helps. Here I have played 300 in 3 months. OTB that would take me 10 years.
I blitz the opening moves now days to save time for later in the game.
Originally posted by Bedlam Im normally too lazy to just look up an opening and try to learning it, but im not so lazy that I wont look up the opening in a database while im playing it corry.
Pretty good for those who play off the track lines that have practically no theory or very shakey theory, Kings Bishop Gambit/Reti Gambit being just two that im hoping to learn past available ...[text shortened]... and have quite a few 2000+ players opening up like total patzers but still 2000+ god knows how.
What do you mean by "iv come across one cheat already"? Are you talking about a flaw in the software tha allows people to get inflated ratings?
No, one of the people I was playing got banned for using assistance. Hardly surprising since he shoot up from average 1400-1600 to 2000+ in about a month with mass change of style in play to boot.
Personally, I've found that my OTB abilities have fallen this season due to a summer of online play. The only real board I looked at all summer was the one sitting on my desk next to my comp (I can't stand the Analyze Board function...)
I've been trying to keep a balance of quick games and cc though 🙂
RHP improves OTB play
11 Oct '06 18:06
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