Originally posted by kmac27Not blitz. The tactics are too shallow to be of value unless you're already at a level far above 1700.
I think reading one good tactics book and playing thousands of blitz games is better for tactics than puzzles. In games you don't know when a tactic may arrive. In a book you know theres always one to look for.
Originally posted by kmac27Not without the study of deeper problems such as you'll find in the better puzzles books. Blitz reinforces bad habits because you get away with garbage.
seeing multiple tactics is a very important part of the game. Blitz helps to see all types of opening lines too so it gives you good source of information to study if you pay attention.
Originally posted by WulebgrI disagree. I made my jump from 1100 to 1500 with 10 minute blitz games very quickly. Ten minutes really isn't really blitzing, but I know at the 1500 level I didn't look at a position for that long either
Not without the study of deeper problems such as you'll find in the better puzzles books. Blitz reinforces bad habits because you get away with garbage.
Originally posted by kmac27First of all ten minutes is really blitzing second of all, all you learn with that is moving fast, not analyzing through, doing the first move that comes to mind (which dragon fire has already said is bad), some openig,and with playong it you get better at blitz and barely bith normal chess.
I disagree. I made my jump from 1100 to 1500 with 10 minute blitz games very quickly. Ten minutes really isn't really blitzing, but I know at the 1500 level I didn't look at a position for that long either
Originally posted by WulebgrProspects:
Let's go back to Game 5768213 and start with Black's eleventh move.
What are the prospects in your position?
What are the weaknesses?
Queen is central and is threatening bishop
rook is on the open g file
white has two weak pawns on the b file
i have more pawns to potentially push
Weaknesses:
i still have not castled, as i pursued the extra piece advantage to the detriment of my defence.
my rooks are not linked
i have been forked and the rook on g8 is effectively dead
im a major piece down
im in check
my white bishop is ineffective and doing nothing of any good to me
i have weak pawn on both h5 & c7
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Originally posted by Mr AverageBTW - just to clarify one of my comments. Its probably true that 1700 is not out of reach for you. Dragonfire's comments (and others) are a good guide for this. I do suspect that 1700 is out of reach for this year. Its a big improvement for one year.
just to say that the adviced offered is *much* appreciated and I am just working through the comments now.
Originally posted by kmac27There's a world of difference between the rise 1100 to 1500, and the 1400 to 1700 in question in this thread.
I disagree. I made my jump from 1100 to 1500 with 10 minute blitz games very quickly. Ten minutes really isn't really blitzing, but I know at the 1500 level I didn't look at a position for that long either
Ten minutes is blitz, except for 3 0 junkies like myself. I find that I have time for a deep think in a five minute game, and can usually examine some tactical combinations long enough for a modicum of accuracy. But I've played thousands upon thousands of blitz games at Playchess, ICC, FICS, and elsewhere. Even so, a bit of postgame analysis cuts the heart out of every brilliancy, showing that I got away with garbage.
Blitz is fun, and I'd say that it has given me some useful experience. But, the thousands of hours spent playing blitz could have been put to use far more effectively. I stand by my assertion, shared by others, that blitz is not a road to chess improvement that can be recommended to anyone with concrete objectives.
Originally posted by Mr AverageThose are some good points, but I think my question was unclear. Consider the position prior to your eleventh move and assess it, not what you did, but what you might do if you were in that position now.
Prospects:
Queen is central and is threatening bishop
rook is on the open g file
white has two weak pawns on the b file
i have more pawns to potentially push
Weaknesses:
i still have not castled, as i pursued the extra piece advantage to the detriment of my defence.
my rooks are not linked
i have been forked and the rook on g8 is effectivel ...[text shortened]... hite bishop is ineffective and doing nothing of any good to me
i have weak pawn on both h5 & c7
You might take a position like that, where you have a decisive material advantage, but several weaknesses, and assess it, then play it against a stronger player as a set-piece game, or against a chess engine. Practice such positions until you can comfortably win them against much stronger competition.
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Originally posted by ErekoseI just went and checked some dates from my training diary: I first broke 1700 nine months after starting to play here, but I had been doing 3 months of tactics before, so I think the full 12 months is about reasonable interpretation for that. but I hadn't played humans before, so I think the 1400 has some edge there.
BTW - just to clarify one of my comments. Its probably true that 1700 is not out of reach for you. Dragonfire's comments (and others) are a good guide for this. I do suspect that 1700 is out of reach for this year. Its a big improvement for one year.
so how much work did it require? -when I broke 1700, I had done 37,000 tactical problems on CTS, and was rated around 1450 there. the accuracy was around 83-85%. there aren't that many people even today on CTS with 37K+ problems done, so it's quite a lot. but extremely beneficial.
about blitz as tactical training: I must agree with wulebgr on that. there simply isn't time to notice all the tactics, let alone solve them correctly. even GMs make huge tactical errors in practically every game. that's obviously not the best way to train anything. - BUT, blitz has other benefits and is beneficial if combined with slow training.
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Originally posted by wormwoodThe good news is that you can reach 1700 easily without doing all that work, it'll just take a little longer. 🙂 (Edit: I broke 1700 for the first time after 10 months here, and I had been playing with Chessmaster for roughly three months before I joined. So it actually didn't take that much longer, although it took considerably longer until I managed to stay over 1700 for a longer period.)
so how much work did it require? -when I broke 1700, I had done 37,000 tactical problems on CTS, and was rated around 1450 there. the accuracy was around 83-85%. there aren't that many people even today on CTS with 37K+ problems done, so it's quite a lot. but extremely beneficial.
Originally posted by Nordlysyes, but you're a genius. 🙂
The good news is that you can reach 1700 easily without doing all that work, it'll just take a little longer. 🙂 (Edit: I broke 1700 for the first time after 10 months here, and I had been playing with Chessmaster for roughly three months before I joined. So it actually didn't take that much longer, although it took considerably longer until I managed to stay over 1700 for a longer period.)