The post that was quoted here has been removedCTS tells you the sequence of moves, which you can look at if you fail a problem.
My recommendation is to learn the tactical motifs. Best bet for the is Seirawan's Winning Chess Tactics, or Polger's Chess Tactics for Champions.
Then, once you've seen the basic patterns, spend a lot of time on CTS, and the improvement would be obvious.
If you want to learn a bit about strategy, Silman's books (Reassess your chess) are very good, although Seirawan's Winning Chess Strategy is the most basic you could find.
Once you've gotten a grasp of the tactical motifs, I'd recommend Understanding Chess Tactics by Weteshnik (sp? ), to show you how to create tactical shots.
D
Originally posted by greenpawn341) the very first spot my eye lands on is the e6 pawn, and I do mean the absolute first spot. can't say why, it just went there like it was a red light blinking.
WW & SG I know will solve this.
It would be interesting to hear their explanation how they reached and saw
the end.
White to playe. Stevenson - Galic. European Team Championship 2009.
[fen]5nk1/p1r3p1/4P3/1p1Q1P2/6P1/1PP1R1KP/8/2q5 w - - 0 1[/fen]
2) AFTER that I become aware of the discovered check.
3) then e7xf8, which I first assume to queen.
4) I become aware of the king winning a tempo by Kh7, which instantly seems like a possible escape.
5) just as instantly my promotion changes into knight, to hit the h7 square.
5b) suddenly ...Rf7 blocking the check comes to me, then I realize it's blocked by e7 so I continue. (5b because I remembered this later)
6) which makes me instantly aware of king slipping to h6 or h8. I assume h8 is a direct loss and skip to h6 as the principal suspect.
7) Qg8+ doesn't work instantly, so I go hunting for additional resources. up to here I've used maybe 10-15 seconds combined.
8) wait, do I have a queen check from below after Kh6? no I don't, my queen is on
9) I look at black queen. I was aware it was somewhere down there, but this is the first time I actually lay my eye on it. my first concern is: do I have a free tempo, can I just give black a move? does he have anything forced after the 1st check? can I just let him do that? is that an available resource? (I'm not really asking these questions, it's more like my eye stares at Qc1, then at Kh4-Kh5-Kg5. there's no language involved, just the fiery eye of sauron skipping over the board.)
10) I can't, Qxe3+ and Qh6 looks like reason enough, I'm not checking it any further. it just feels like too much trouble.
11) I fumble around a minute or two, going through the previous points again, checking them, trying find things I've missed. also things like f6, to get Qh5+ in somehow, but none of it works. at some point I realize there's Re6+ and BANG it's all over.
12) Re6+ Kg5 h5# pops into my head (I'm not calculating it in any way, it's just one static lump that suddenly pops up)
13) only now I go back to tie the loose end of Kh8, making sure it's a mate. it takes a while to realize I have to sac a queen to keep initiative, as well as making sure (again) that I don't just have a spare tempo there lying unused.
14) as soon as I see Qg8+ sac, something clicks and the rook mate just pops into my head as a single lump.
15) a final check from the beginning, and I know it's all in the bag.
I tried using expressions like 'became aware' and 'pop up' instead of 'though' to more accurately describe what happened in my head. they mean there's no language involved, no inner monologue, and not even calculation. just a 'pop', like magic.
things to point out:
my eye never even glanced at unimportant pieces or squares. it landed directly on the piece with most forcing effect, e6-pawn and pushing it with a discovered check. how does that happen? under the hood. peripheral vision. unconscious processing. the same way you can run, even on an uneven ground, without having to think how your 200 bones and 700 muscles contract and relax, forming incredibly complicated system which keeps you up. 'I runs that wayz!' is about the extent you're aware of what's really happening.
another thing, which I wasn't really aware of before dissecting this thought process, is that I didn't really calculate that much? it was more like a cascading effect of reactions, one thing prompted another in extremely fast succession. there were these bigger chunks, and key moves which falled like dominos. only in few places did I actually mentally calculate, "this goes here, then that goes there, then this..." etc. -it was nothing like when I'm working out an endgame positions, when I'm often actually moving the pieces one after another. I have no idea whether this is a sign of my bad calculation, bad tactical thought process, or good, but that's how it happens in my head.
also, there was a lot of 'feeling' instead of concrete evaluation. I simply skipped to most promising continuations based on that 'it felt right'. sometimes it takes me wrong, that's what we call 'unintuitive moves', but usually not.
well, that's about it.
The post that was quoted here has been removedthat's a good start. the more, the better, but it's even more important to stay on a steady diet. it's much better to do 15min 7 times a week than 1h45min once a week.
the problem set at CTS is just better, but basically it doesn't matter that much. most of the chesstempo problems seem to be the CTS problems, only with recalculated inferior solutions. it doesn't really affect your training, but is incredibly frustrating to be put on the spot of randomly selecting one out of many ambiguous continuations. at which point the CTS problems stop, for that exact reason.
but the important thing is to keep plowing daily. it's the journey, not the destination. getting to the mate is not what improves you, but the process of trying to get to the mate.
Good Post WW
Glad to see you used 'popped in head' and things like that.
It was the same for me and it appears for SG.
The fact 'we knew' something was there and again I do not use the
"you go here, I go here method." It's is done in chunks as you say.
It's must come like with all players.
If we could only explain how theser things 'pop into our head'
the under promotion, the Queen sac leading to the R & N mate.
I never got around to looking what Black was up to, I was busy looking at
at the King runs up the h-file and the checks and if the Rook had any effect
by interposing. Then the R & N pattern appeared 'pop!'
What happens when we don't get the 'pop' and it's a set position where you
know there is win. I sit and try all sorts of ideas till I get the 'pop'
Maybe write a book on tactcial calcualtion: In Search of the Pop!
The only doubt I had was I could not believe it had been missed.
Originally posted by heinzkatHi Heinz,
It's easy, the first thing you look at in any given position is the opponent's King, and if it is possible - in any way - to check him to death.
I'm talking about that moment in a game when you 'know' something
is on - it must be intuition.
I just posted something in a thread about Rook endings. Thread 121040
I auto-played the game and stopped the game when I saw the piece sac.
It was like an itch. 'something here!!'
I did not see anything else - intuition told me something was there.
So I looked and saceed a couple of pieces.
It does not feel right, (I have unscratched extra itch) but I posted it anyway.
Just been on the phone to Keith Ruxton - the missed win has made
the Scottish National Papers!
Keith reckons it's hard but anyone could have found it using the brute force
method. 'Check all checks and keep looking for more checks."
Maybe that is how we are solving it.
Where is the next check - where is the next check. then you hit the R & N
mating pattern because it's check.
"Good players will get it quicker because they have patterns and can take
short cuts." KR.
Interesting.
One explanation is that intuition is simply caused by lots of repetition...or lots of practice. The
first few times you do something you have to think carefully through each step then the brain
creates a shortcut taking you from A straight to C and skipping B.
What happens when you drive a car is a common analogy. When you first learn you think
about the revs and what gear you're in and so on...but after practice you just sort of know
what you need to do without consciously thinking about it.
You could produce some complex maths about the pressure required on the brake pedal to
slow the car sufficiently to come to a stop at the junction...but a bit of practice and it becomes
intuitive.
You could produce some complex maths about wormwoods tactical manoeuvrings...
btw recent research suggest that solving chess puzzles can help ward off dementia...although I
can't remember where I read that.
Originally posted by dubnikovaNothing wrong with winning but making less mistakes.
This is a great thread!. My RHP rating is hovering around 1600, yet I feel that I don't desreve anything higher than, may be 1400. My victories are mostly results of opponenets' blunders and blatant chess blindness.