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venda
Dave

S.Yorks.England

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I've just recently been doing the chess puzzles published on the site.
I knew they were there, but haven't really bothered with them before.
I'm fine with the mate in 2 or 3 moves, but mate in 8 and 9 which some of them are!
Can anyone on here really think that far in advance or is it just a question of how many errors?
I have also noticed a lot are published by someone who doesn't seem to be on the site anymore.
I hope he or she just left.
I would also ask Russ to keep this facility on any "new build"
I don't know how many use it but I like it.

BigDogg
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on the payroll

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@venda said
I've just recently been doing the chess puzzles published on the site.
I knew they were there, but haven't really bothered with them before.
I'm fine with the mate in 2 or 3 moves, but mate in 8 and 9 which some of them are!
Can anyone on here really think that far in advance or is it just a question of how many errors?
I have also noticed a lot are published by someone who ...[text shortened]... also ask Russ to keep this facility on any "new build"
I don't know how many use it but I like it.
Usually with longer mates you don't just 'see all the way to the end' but rather look for short-term 'threats' that must be defended. Once one is defended, you make another, etc., until there is one at the end that cannot be stopped.

Or, it could be that the defender doesn't have a lot of freedom of movement in the first place, and it's more a matter of pulling the noose tight. Zugzwang may enter the picture.

greenpawn34

e4

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I often pick a player at random and do two or three.
The lad posts frequently on chessgames.com.

As Big Dogg says, you do not need to see all the way to the end, if it is a sac-sac mate
then often you can. The longer ones you can do in steps and trust your intuition.

The chances are that is what the player playing the longer combinations did
during the game.It is not speculative or hope chess. It is going all in
knowing there is bound to be a mate in there or at the very least a perpetual.

Botvinnik - Capablanca, AVRO 1938


When Botvinnik played his famous 30.Ba3 he says in his very honest notes he did not
see it all but he saw at the very least he had a perpetual so went for it.

G. Chandler - V. Slaven, Edinburgh 1991

I was going for a perpetual here, It was best I thought I had. I did not see the mate
till I saw Black has to play Kf6. I could quite easily have said I saw it all when I played
Rh1h6 and someone just seeing the game with no notes might think I did.
But I didn't. I only saw the quiet move Qh5 when the position appeared in front of me..

BigDogg
Secret RHP coder

on the payroll

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Another example. It's actually pretty easy to solve, despite being 10 moves long.

Hersom, Donald H.
The Fairy Chess Review, 1936

White to move and mate in 10 moves.

venda
Dave

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@greenpawn34
I'm glad he's still around even if not on here

venda
Dave

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@BigDogg
See what you and GP mean
Thanks for all that

mchill
Cryptic

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@venda said
I've just recently been doing the chess puzzles published on the site.
I knew they were there, but haven't really bothered with them before.
I'm fine with the mate in 2 or 3 moves, but mate in 8 and 9 which some of them are!
Can anyone on here really think that far in advance or is it just a question of how many errors?
I have also noticed a lot are published by someone who ...[text shortened]... also ask Russ to keep this facility on any "new build"
I don't know how many use it but I like it.
I'm fine with the mate in 2 or 3 moves, but mate in 8 and 9 which some of them are! Can anyone on here really think that far in advance or is it just a question of how many errors?


The short answer is "Yes" there are a select few on the planet who can think that far in advance, but fortunately you don't have to. Tactics exercises will expand your ability to recognize patterns, and as yours improves, you can make decisions with increasing accuracy, without having to calculate the exact moves all the way through. Laszlo Polgar understood this when he began educating his daughters using tactics exercises.

You're on the path to improvement venda, keep up the good work. 🙂

greenpawn34

e4

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Ha-Ha.

I've done a classic. I never knew they had a puzzle page at the bottom of the page.
I thought you were talking about this site;

https://www.wtharvey.com/index.html

What a fool, I bet you lot think I'm a nutter.

That site is on my favorites and I thought Russ had linked to it that is why I started
going on about OTB chess.. Of course I do not try two or three of those set mate puzzles a day.

The site I linked too (by WTHarvey aka William Harvey) is the best puzzle site on the net.

OTB problems, set mate problems,...all kind of things. Give it a go.
I'll mention it in the next blog. (I might forget to mention my forum blunder.)

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