Endgame study

Originally posted by diskamyl
OK then 🙂. I have always sucked at claims with numbers (like 5-6 secs) on this forum anyway.

well I've drilled that exact endgame (and similar ones) maaaany times. it was simple pattern recognition.

although I would've known the theory side of it as well, which is that occupying any of the key squares a5,b5, or c5 is sufficient for a win. although going that way I would've had to calculate whether the defending king can get there first. (I'd of course know from experience that walking the king behind the pawn is usually the best move in these positions, avoiding body check.)

but I didn't need to calculate or even think, as I immediately recognized the pattern. which is the outcome of extensive drilling.

ICC training bot? What does that do?

I'm looking for resources, people. I love reading this discussion, and I'm inclined to agree that unfamiliar positions and odd moves will always eat up the clock in OTB games. But...

Let's get back to methods of study and resources for the poor family man that can't (at the moment, anyway) shell out for Fritz.

Originally posted by thesonofsaul
ICC training bot? What does that do?

I'm looking for resources, people. I love reading this discussion, and I'm inclined to agree that unfamiliar positions and odd moves will always eat up the clock in OTB games. But...

Let's get back to methods of study and resources for the poor family man that can't (at the moment, anyway) shell out for Fritz.

Youtube has some good endgame video's,for example:
YouTube

At present this site doesn't have much content yet but it looks promising for the future:
http://www.logicalchess.com/resources/lessons/endgame/

Originally posted by Romanticus
At present this site doesn't have much content yet but it looks promising for the future:

It was last updated in 2001.

Originally posted by heinzkat
It was last updated in 2001.

Oh!?Guess it's not so promising then....😳

Originally posted by thesonofsaul
ICC training bot? What does that do?

I'm looking for resources, people. I love reading this discussion, and I'm inclined to agree that unfamiliar positions and odd moves will always eat up the clock in OTB games. But...

Let's get back to methods of study and resources for the poor family man that can't (at the moment, anyway) shell out for Fritz.

ICC has several endgame bots you can train against.

at least:

Q vs lone K
R vs K
BB vs K
KNB vs K
KQ vs KR

also

KQ vs KN
KR vs KN

you can challenge them, and they'll set up a random position with said pieces.

FICS also has a similar endgame bot.


and if you have fritz, it has an endgame training module with these and many more endgames. and you can also make a database of starting positions by yourself, and load it up into the endgame module for easy use.

Originally posted by thesonofsaul
ICC training bot? What does that do?

I'm looking for resources, people. I love reading this discussion, and I'm inclined to agree that unfamiliar positions and odd moves will always eat up the clock in OTB games. But...

Let's get back to methods of study and resources for the poor family man that can't (at the moment, anyway) shell out for Fritz.

ICC - Internet Chess Club

Rated live games against people or various strengths of bots.. Some are set up for endgame training so you can practice endgames including the basics like R&K v's King.

But no better than setting up a position on any engine.

Chessvideos.tv has some endgame tutorial videos worth a look:

http://www.chessvideos.tv/wiki/index.php/Videos_of_Endgame_Studies

If I could get a hold on an earlier version of Fritz, would that help? Is there really that much difference in the versions?

Fritz 8 would be fine...I mean it's what everyone used before Fritz9, 10 & 11...and not so long ago.

You could try chessbasee light which is available as a free download...see what you can get from it:


http://www.chessbase.com/download/cblight2007/index.asp

Originally posted by thesonofsaul
If I could get a hold on an earlier version of Fritz, would that help? Is there really that much difference in the versions?

I have fritz 9, I'm not sure what f8 had... I seem to have a hunch that the training modules were introduced in f9? but I'm not sure.

Originally posted by wormwood
I have fritz 9, I'm not sure what f8 had... I seem to have a hunch that the training modules were introduced in f9? but I'm not sure.

I have Fritz 8. It has an endgame training module, but I've never used it. (Maybe I should! ) It has about 24 positions, but it says that you can add more positions to the database. Not sure how hard it is to do that, though.

Edit - The free Scid has 67 endgame positions in its tactics trainer. I've never used this either. Not sure if you can add to the database or create a new one. But it might be worth investigating.