Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti computer. I have a new Dell notebook, and I really like it! A PC can be very helpful in storing information, and for communicating, but are we really stronger players because we have access to them? Would we be weaker players using card file boxes, 3 ring binders and post cards? I'm just not sure. Any thoughts?
Originally posted by bill718 Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti computer. I have a new Dell notebook, and I really like it! A PC can be very helpful in storing information, and for communicating, but are we really stronger players because we have access to them? Would we be weaker players using card file boxes, 3 ring binders and post cards? I'm just not sure. Any thoughts?
I learned chess by playing against a computer. They usually have handicap modes which allow even a noob to win at least some of the games. Once you start to win more than your fair share of games, you can just up the difficulty a bit.
The software also had an excellent tutorial of K+R vs. K, annotated classic games, and an opening book [which introduced the idea of theory, even though some of the lines were rubbish/out of date].
Originally posted by bill718 Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti computer. I have a new Dell notebook, and I really like it! A PC can be very helpful in storing information, and for communicating, but are we really stronger players because we have access to them? Would we be weaker players using card file boxes, 3 ring binders and post cards? I'm just not sure. Any thoughts?
I'm an American, so I guess I'm too stupid to have any thoughts on the matter. 😕
Originally posted by bill718 Please don't misunderstand. I'm not anti computer. I have a new Dell notebook, and I really like it! A PC can be very helpful in storing information, and for communicating, but are we really stronger players because we have access to them? Would we be weaker players using card file boxes, 3 ring binders and post cards? I'm just not sure. Any thoughts?
Glad to see that you bought a Dell. At least I benefited from your purchase. 😏
My computer is my chess life. I play RHP games, and once in a great while I'll play real-time games with about twenty minute timeouts on another websight. Never played much blitz, but I learned how to play about a year ago is all, and didn't start taking chess that seriously until new years. Soon, I'm hoping to start playing blitz and hoping it won't move so fast that I can't understand it at all...I store all of my games on my computer. I drop them all into Fritz and have Fritz help me analyze games and to look at what would have been better moves in certain situations. If I'm trying to learn something new, I'll play it out a handful of times against Fritz. I like being able to take back moves and try new things instead of having to play an entire new game. When I go through chess books, I put the examples and the games into Fritz so i can play them whenever I want. To me, it's one thing to be able to understand how to get a draw out of a certain situation and a complete other thing to play it out against Fritz until I can't get it wrong. Yeah, I do use my chessboards as well, but my computer is most of what I do. It's pathetic, really. I'll analyze games on my Desktop then move it to my laptop so I can go through them whenever... If it weren't for computers, I wouldn't understand or even play this game - I can't get anyone to play me around where I live. Even my friends who like the game refuse to play me...
P
But I also do use three ring binders and notecards to supplement my engines and databases....
I used to use a paper spreadsheet for my lines for my OTB prep back in the day (I bought the pads of sheets at an office supply store), but it was far more time consuming. The time savings alone justifies my computer in my mind.
I also have a more esoteric example that comes from chessbase. I mouse all my games into chessbase after tournaments, and I have accumulated a good-sized database of my own games. Chessbase can break a games database down by types of endings, and this database has allowed me to determine:
1) What types of chess endings I actually end up playing;
2) The average ratings of my opponents, and my performance rating in that particular ending;
3) The frequency of each particular ending; and
4) From which of the openings I play does each ending come from.
It would have taken me hours just to collect that information without a computer, and the knowledge really helps me focus my study and assess my strengths and weaknesses more accurately.
I could go on, but my computer has been a very useful tool.
Originally posted by Paul Leggett I used to use a paper spreadsheet for my lines for my OTB prep back in the day (I bought the pads of sheets at an office supply store), but it was far more time consuming. The time savings alone justifies my computer in my mind.
I also have a more esoteric example that comes from chessbase. I mouse all my games into chessbase after tournaments, and ...[text shortened]... aknesses more accurately.
I could go on, but my computer has been a very useful tool.
Paul
hi, how is it possible to do this with chessbase, as far as i am aware, you can get an 'opening report', but i never heard of an 'ending report', before.
11 Oct '09 19:23
Do computers really help our game?
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