Originally posted by Arraksaving time on notation for OTB, but thats the only thing i can think of.
how important is it to know each square on the board? i mean like knowing that e4 is a light square, or that f6 is a dark square and so on. is their any advantage of knowing what each square is?
Originally posted by ArrakThe only things I can think of is a simple check if the pieces is set up initially correct: white queen on a light square, black queen on dark square, and if you play blind chess and want to know if a bishop on a light square ends up on a light square after a move.
how important is it to know each square on the board? i mean like knowing that e4 is a light square, or that f6 is a dark square and so on. is their any advantage of knowing what each square is?
If you translate a=1, b=2 etc, then a square is dark if booth the coordinates is even or odd, and it is light if one of the coordinates are even and the other odd. You don't have to memorize them all.
not worth knowing at all.
If you can picture a board and know whether the square the knight has just gone to is dark or light, then it's useful. Useful for calculating or playing blindfold chess.
But what you describe is just being really good at notation, which I can't see much purpose in.
It helps if you are having a conversation with a reasonable player
and you do not have a board.
eg.
"I had a King on g1, a Bishop on c2, pawn on f2,f3 and h2.
He checked on g5 with Queen and won my Bishop with Qc1+."
I don't know if it helps you in an actual game. Probaly not.
It helps of course with blindfold play.
You should be able to carry at least one game in your head blindfold.
Practise against your silicon friend by putting it on a low level at first
and switching off the diagram.
Which reminds of the time I was a bit tipsy in Bells and some guy had
one of these hand held naff computers.
I posted the full story on an old Corner, but here is the gist of it.
I wanted to impress the delightful Fiona so challenged this naff thing
to a blindfold game.
Fiona was duly impressed and sat with her arm around me.
The sweet smell of her long blonde hair I can still recall.
She was so proud of me and hushed the whole pub whilst the game took place.
here is what happened. I'm White.
Fiona giggled and wiggled her way out of my life and it took
months for me to live this down.
So even drunk you should be able to hold a game in your mind.
Wether or not you can play well drunk (I certainly cannot), is another matter.
Good story as always greenpawn!
Anyway, in answer to the original question, YES it's important to know these things!
WHY? Because it's a sign that you have learned part of the language and culture of chess!
As others mentioned, you can converse about a game without recourse to a board. It's also part of the visualisation process that improving your chess requires.
From my experience, strong players (2000+) will know automatically which colour a square is, weaker players will tend not to (without a bit of a think).
I can recall many occasions travelling to tournaments and being asked about a particular position by someone. It generally went along the lines of, "Well, I had a knight on f5...no f6... covering my Benoni pawn on d6...Hang on, no, it must have been...? Well anyway, he could have taken it with his fianchettoed bishop...now where would that have been....etc,etc,etc"
This inability to visualise where pieces are and what they can do is a serious drawback to actually improving as a player. It really should be automatic and not require a board.
Streetfighter,
I have two observations about your comments:
1. It is quite likely that the stronger players have been playing longer and such knowledge is a result of playing and studying over many years.
2. Stronger players have a better natural ability to visualize and calculate. Therefore they are going to be able to understand the board more easily. Therefore if someone who isn't as gifted spends the time purely memorizing, it will likely not have the same effect.
Having said that, I do agree with you that if someone is going to play otb and have chess conversations, having the board memorized is a worthy endeavour. I would think that having the board memorized would also be helpful when studying chess books.
Originally posted by EladarYou may well be right Eladar, however...
Streetfighter,
I have two observations about your comments:
1. It is quite likely that the stronger players have been playing longer and such knowledge is a result of playing and studying over many years.
2. Stronger players have a better natural ability to visualize and calculate. Therefore they are going to be able to understand the board more eas ...[text shortened]... I would think that having the board memorized would also be helpful when studying chess books.
1) We all know people who have played (and studied?) for 20 or 30 years and still can't visualise the board in this way.
Probably it's the 'study' part which is important-personally I have played through/read thousands and thousands of chess games, but that would still be only a tiny percentage of what a GM would have done.
2) I don't think it's a case of memorizing as such?! Maybe it's more an unconscious type of pattern-recognition related to the point I made above. I don't consciously think of f6 as a dark square, it just is, because I've seen the knight go there 1000's of times in magazines/books/real-life etc!?
Anyway, I'm sure some others will have ideas about this. My head's still a bit fuzzy from all the Christmas festivities so it's hard to put into words just now :~)
Originally posted by streetfighterI think there are actual studies suggesting that contrary to the intuition, learning blindfold chess does absolutely nothing to your playing strength.
You may well be right Eladar, however...
1) We all know people who have played (and studied?) for 20 or 30 years and still can't visualise the board in this way.
Probably it's the 'study' part which is important-personally I have played through/read thousands and thousands of chess games, but that would still be only a tiny percentage of what a ...[text shortened]... uzzy from all the Christmas festivities so it's hard to put into words just now :~)
however, I must say I have a lot of doubts about that, and would put at least a small amount of money on that better visualisation actually does help. especially when it has grown 'naturally' from studying thousands of games like you said.
and it certainly can't hurt.
Originally posted by wormwoodThe more I learn the board, the stronger I feel as a player. It SEEMS for me at least that the more I understand about my openings, and my middlegame strategy, I learn the board out of neccessity of understanding.
I think there are actual studies suggesting that contrary to the intuition, learning blindfold chess does absolutely nothing to your playing strength.
however, I must say I have a lot of doubts about that, and would put at least a small amount of money on that better visualisation actually does help. especially when it has grown 'naturally' from studying thousands of games like you said.
and it certainly can't hurt.
English! In the Dynamic English which I play, I know that the white central squares are extremely important, as they are the attempt to control d5! and e4! fianchettoing the white bishop along the white diagnal is also important. furthermore I know that getting the white Knight to g5 and e5 is great for white, and that the use of the dark bishop with a posted knight on either square is extremely strong for white in the english, as it quelms queenside marches.
Then of course, their is knowing which pawns should be lasting, as they're on ranks and their promotion squares are of certain colors (e and g pawns light are important as the dark bishop is traded off often)
In this way I think "seeing the board" is important, when small things like doubling up white's c-pawns is done in order to make your light squared bishop stronger in the endgame. If you think this way, I think you'll naturally begin to feel which squares are light and dark.
Maybe not the whole board, but more and more and more and more will come to you from experience at the very least. Not to mention, with more theory, comes more understanding of every aspect of the game.