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Speed vs. Accuracy in tactics practice

Speed vs. Accuracy in tactics practice

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Originally posted by Jie
You don't have a few seconds to solve tactical problems in OTB like in blitz/rapid chess. I think the truth has hit a raw nerve.
bark all you want impostor, I have the data to prove it: 80K problems on CTS (1643) didn't help my blitz one bit, I was still 1200 ICC 5-minute at that point, and 1840 on RHP. only starting to play lots of blitz helped, and I ended up at 1460 ICC 5-minute after a year.

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I think working through CTS positions helps in recognizing tactical situations [perhaps in advance, I mean, before they are actually on the board] that demand further investigation. This is especially helpful in games with longer time limits.

I have never used CTS to improve; I've always done it casually as a side-activity, just like the "worthless" Internet blitz/lightning games, which I believe you get not much for in return.

Also, I can see why someone like wormwood has improved "so much" from working through these positions the Chess Tactics Server offers; it helps in understanding the dynamics of Chess and the cooperation of the pieces.

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Originally posted by wormwood
bark all you want impostor, I have the data to prove it: 80K problems on CTS (1643) didn't help my blitz one bit, I was still 1200 ICC 5-minute at that point, and 1840 on RHP. only starting to play lots of blitz helped, and I ended up at 1460 ICC 5-minute after a year.
Then perhaps you are suffering from problems not related to chess if you wibble and wobble at blitz. I sharpen my claws on CTS and then dispatch people on speed chess sites with ease. I have 17 out of 18 wins at blitz here and in the game I lost on time to heinzkat I was a piece up.

However and I say however, when I want to play 30 min games or more I don't use CTS. AS CTS is simply a speed lottery system. Simple example below, unless the level of chess you meet is very low, people do not make tactical goofs at classical time controls.

black on CTS goes Rc6?? Resulting in the solution that CTS gives[/b]

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Sorry for the ego bump, but

You've solved problem p53537 in 3.8 seconds. ( Result 0.94 : 0.06 )
Your new rating is 1850.06 (+0.63).


Hurray! Paying a bit more attention to accurate solving does help, and does not necessarily have a negative influence on your CTS rating.

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Originally posted by heinzkat
Sorry for the ego bump, but

You've solved problem p53537 in 3.8 seconds. ( Result 0.94 : 0.06 )
Your new rating is 1850.06 (+0.63).


Hurray! Paying a bit more attention to accurate solving does help, and does not necessarily have a negative influence on your CTS rating.
well done! so what's accuracy now?

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Originally posted by wormwood
well done! so what's accuracy now?
63.2% vs. (I remember) 60.8% before. Latest sessions were all 80%+ with most errors at the beginning and in the end.

Last one: 136/169 ~ 80.5% with a rating rise from 1824 (begin) to 1846 (end, should've stopped after reaching 1850, after that I started making errors for no apparent reason).

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Originally posted by heinzkat
63.2% vs. (I remember) 60.8% before. Latest sessions were all 80%+ with most errors at the beginning and in the end.

Last one: 136/169 ~ 80.5% with a rating rise from 1824 (begin) to 1846 (end, should've stopped after reaching 1850, after that I started making errors for no apparent reason).
oh, okay. I thought you tried high accuracy. 🙂

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hey you know what I've found? an IM solving CTS problems and commenting live. He's a cool guy I think, and it doesn't bore you to death as it seems like it would.

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2004

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Originally posted by diskamyl
hey you know what I've found? an IM solving CTS problems and commenting live. He's a cool guy I think, and it doesn't bore you to death as it seems like it would.

http://www.chessvideos.tv/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2004
nice. interesting how I knew most of those problems, but I'm just a little slower processing them. when I'm still figuring out the decoy move he's already done, naturally. 🙂 but the difference didn't seem to be so huge as I assumed.

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Originally posted by wormwood
nice. interesting how I knew most of those problems, but I'm just a little slower processing them. when I'm still figuring out the decoy move he's already done, naturally. 🙂 but the difference didn't seem to be so huge as I assumed.
for me, the difference was huge, but that's normal I suppose. I'm a very slow thinker, and still a patzer 🙂.

maybe he's not in shape as a normal IM would be, I had watched many blitz videos of him, and in one of them he tells he's not a professional chess player now, he is a professional poker player instead! interesting man.

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If you're playing serious chess OTB at long time controls, probably accuracy. If blitz or lightning, maybe speed helps more. Just do what's more fun to you because then you'll probably train longer and that may help even more than either of those factors.

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Originally posted by wormwood
years of hard training. but maybe you're getting confused by the metrics? 1950+ is very strong on CTS, not even all GMs make it.

the high accuracy training on CTS is an acid tested method of improvement. we've tested every way of doing CTS over the years, and that's the result. it's the most efficient way, over longer periods. all high accuracy solvers* essdog & trallala, who have done high accuracy from the start afaik. as has bahus I think?
If it's true that not all GMs reach that level, it suggests that the relationship between CTS and chess strength is unclear or variable. Perhaps after a certain level it no longer matters or it doesn't correlate to chess strength. It's hard to say without data but I've always felt it was helping me.

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Originally posted by wormwood
oh, okay. I thought you tried high accuracy. 🙂
Yes, I bet on two horses, making both my rating and accuracy higher. Not that it matters that much, it's mainly about the ideas you "absorb" from working through the positions, but it's good to improve the numbers. (1861 now with 63.4%, working through the positions on about 80% accuracy as said in the previous post)

Good video link given by diskamyl; it's clear that the processing of the positions goes a lot faster in the IM's head (he comments quickly that he's already a piece up and other such basic things, for me I wouldn't even notice such a thing, let alone make words out of it so quickly). It is clear that he sees the whole position in "one look", where I only see snatches of the board.

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Originally posted by exigentsky
If you're playing serious chess OTB at long time controls, probably accuracy. If blitz or lightning, maybe speed helps more. Just do what's more fun to you because then you'll probably train longer and that may help even more than either of those factors.
Of course, accuracy in the games themselves; who would bust their moves out in a tactical position in just a few seconds like is asked on CTS? No, you collect a few candidate moves, calculate it out and then play the move. The Chess Tactics Server may help in this process, even when you're not solving 99% of the positions.

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Originally posted by diskamyl
maybe he's not in shape as a normal IM would be, I had watched many blitz videos of him, and in one of them he tells he's not a professional chess player now, he is a professional poker player instead! interesting man.
yeah, and I sort of conveniently forgot that he's explaining things at the same time, which must slow him down quite a bit. I know even listening to music slows me down a bit already, let alone talking. 🙂