Sct vs cts

I am interested what would improve my OTB game more, chess tactics server, with lot of problems, less difficult but with time limit, or taking a book with more difficult problems but doing slow chess tactics, and analyzing maybe 5 positions per day, but more difficult, and with real effort while doing it. My goal is to be good standard OTB player, not blitz!

Opinions?

fast tactics (CTS) to improve your ability to spot tactics.

slow tactics (books, CT-ART etc.) to improve your ability to calculate correctly.

both are equally important for OTB, but here calculation isn't as crucial, as you can take your time to verify everything. but if you can't spot a tactic, you can't calculate it either.

Simple puzzles (5-10 s) focus on instant recognition, seeing if certain simple tactic works. There is no time (sometimes even need) to calculate variations so it is obvious that these exercises don't allow you to build up your "calculation muscle". Usually CTS problems focus on winning a piece or checkmate.

Challenging problems (5-10 min) contain perhaps more motifs but especially you have to see a lot deeper why certain tactic works. I've noticed that often the material balance is more even in difficult problems, in the best line you might emerge with a pawn or two up. Many (=all) people have to first study even the simplest positions slowly, once it is really learned you don't have to think about any longer.

Fast:
+ Training what you (should) know
+ Good for getting sharp before playing a game of chess
- Can cause bad habits (on the other hand if one is conscious of this it is possible to train proper thought process with these positions by taking all the time you need to see the solution)

Slow:
+ To my mind the only way to learn new concepts
+ Trains calculation skills
- Might get frustrating if the problem set is too difficult (or too easy)

It is of course also question of what appeals to you, if you find that studying a position for 10 minutes isn't that fun after all you should switch to CTS.


- bahus

Originally posted by bahus

Thank you very much guys, you helped me a lot!

Originally posted by wormwood
fast tactics (CTS) to improve your ability to spot tactics.

slow tactics (books, CT-ART etc.) to improve your ability to calculate correctly.

both are equally important for OTB, but here calculation isn't as crucial, as you can take your time to verify everything. but if you can't spot a tactic, you can't calculate it either.

As others have said, I find them to be complimentary. Sometimes I find myself guessing on CTS just because I'm under time constraints. It's not intentional either. It's definitely good for being able to "see" the tactics immediately. Sometimes I can see the possibilities when the board is loaded immediately, but other times I miss something obvious.

fast tactics of course.

just wanted to say that before RahimK gets here with his slow tactics mambo jambo...

Originally posted by Jusuh
fast tactics of course.

just wanted to say that before RahimK gets here with his slow tactics mambo jambo...

Rahimk seems to emit the most truth.
It's too bad that my soon to be completed robot is programmed to destroy him!.......shame...

Slow tactics!

Originally posted by cmsMaster
I signed up for CTS again - I had an old acct. but it seems to be gone. 😕

Originally posted by wormwood
this one? http://chess.emrald.net/tProfile.php?TacID=4574

they don't delete accounts, the ranking list just shows only people with a RD of less than 100.

Originally posted by cmsMaster
Might be, but I can't retrieve the password for some reason - the link they email to me just takes me to the homepage. 😕

Originally posted by wormwood
so it seems. bummer.



oh crap. it seems trying the pwd retrieval link has changed my pwd as well, to something I don't know. the old one doesn't work anymore.


EDIT: okay, I just got the new password in the mail. it just took a while.