Swearing off the Analyze Board

I've become too reliant on it. After going through 12-move variations, I realise how much of a disservice I am doing to myself with regards to OTB play. Unless my opponent allows a small relaxation of the touch-move rules... errrrr.

ya i know its hard...i try to go through the variations in my head adn only then check them with the analysis button..... its hard though cus it so tempting but if u use it to much then OTB becomes harder....

I don't know what everybody's talking about. this is correspondence chess. In C. chess you arrange and rearrange the pieces on your analysis board. It is one dimension of this type of chess. another dimension is you have three or more days to move. This is not OTB. If you want to play without analysis board and make a prearrangement, fine,but otherwise you're playing with one hand tied behind your back, if you don't use the other board.

Originally posted by buddy2
I don't know what everybody's talking about. this is correspondence chess. In C. chess you arrange and rearrange the pieces on your analysis board. It is one dimension of this type of chess. another dimension is you have three or more days to move. This is not OTB. If you want to play without analysis board and make a prearrangement, fine,but otherwise you're playing with one hand tied behind your back, if you don't use the other board.

For those of you who only play CC chess then using the analysis button is fine. But if u play OTB chess, then using the analysis button on here is not helpful since it makes u lazy and during OTB games u can't calculate as well cus u're to dependent on the analysis function. To me OTB means much more then CC. So i try not to use the analysis function during CC play except to check my analysis. I don't care if that means i have bad results during CC play. OTB is where u win prizes.... so thats all that counts for me... CC is just something on the side for me to learn openings better...

I don't know. I haven't played OTB since joining this site, but I find myself thinking about combinations and strategies that have formerly eluded me. I've never been a brilliant player, but I'm no dolt either. I'm willing to bet the Analyze Board is a great learning tool for awhile at least, especially if one continues to play OTB occasionally.

Originally posted by RahimK
For those of you who only play CC chess then using the analysis button is fine. But if u play OTB chess, then using the analysis button on here is not helpful since it makes u lazy and during OTB games u can't calculate as well cus u're to dependent on the analysis function. To me OTB means much more then CC. So i try not to use the analysis function during ...[text shortened]... ts all that counts for me... CC is just something on the side for me to learn openings better...

Of course I will use analyse board! This is CC, and I dont think it could affect my OTB play in negative way. I think CC can actually help me improve my openings and my understanding of some positions which will give me much more confidence when playing OTB.

Originally posted by Mislav
Of course I will use analyse board! This is CC, and I dont think it could affect my OTB play in negative way. I think CC can actually help me improve my openings and my understanding of some positions which will give me much more confidence when playing OTB.

Originally posted by tmetzler
I'm in the "disagree" category as well. Perhaps for good/great players getting "lazy" might be an effect. But I have found that using analyze board and CC in general has helped me in OTB.

Why?
I use analyze board to play out lines and see what happens. The more I do that, the more I am able to recognize the position that is going to result from ...[text shortened]... est that using analyze board helps "imprint" tactis/combinations in my head.


--tmetzler

Seems to be a matter of taste. I like the analysis board, but I don't use it all the time. sometimes i even get the old wooden chess pieces out and play around withthem on a board until i get a handle on a complicated position, but i'm older and the ambition to win prizes, etc. just isn't there. I just want to play a good game.

If your opponent has access to an analysis board, you'd be a fool not to use one yourself. Why allow the opponent to calculate more deeply than you can?

I don't use it and I do fine. I maybe use it a bit when I'm tired and don't want to look through a hard position in my head. That's even rare though.

Josh

I've found that using the analyse board is good and bad. It's bad for the same reason stated already, duaring OTB games your mental vision is a little constrained. However, i've also found that my style of play has changed to a more positional style. When i started playing here i used to sac pieces for play, something i don't do so much any more as when using the analyse board here, i've realized that 90% of my sacrafices are unsound. My OTB results have improved, this season i've scored 8.5 out of 10. At least 5 of those wins were won through positional understanding i didn't have when i joined. I'd say using the analyse board improved your chess, as long as your really using it to analyse, rather than just using it for error correction.

I don't use it... I get too tired of staring at a computer screen...

I just print the diagram, go to Borders (a library with a cafe), set up my board and clock myself 30 minutes while drinking coffee... I calculate variations, write notes on a notebook and reach a conclussion... Once I am in front of the computer I do not make a move but watch the position one more time at home...

I sleep over the move and the next day I go over the diagram one more time while going to school on the bus... If I am confident enough about my choice I will make the move. Otherwise I go back to Borders and think about the position one more time...