@venda saidYou make a move in a game. Several days later you come back to the game after your opponent has moved and you've absolutely no idea why you made your last move!
You make a move in a game.
Several days later you come back to the game after your opponent has moved and you've absolutely no idea why you made your last move!
How these players with hundreds of games on the go work out what they are planning/doing is beyond me
This used to happen to me, then I read an article about keeping a notebook with the lines of play you wish to follow. These will change of course, based on what your opponent does, but they will serve to refresh your memory as to why you made them in the first place.
@venda saidI have the same problem, even while only playing a few games at a time.
You make a move in a game.
Several days later you come back to the game after your opponent has moved and you've absolutely no idea why you made your last move!
How these players with hundreds of games on the go work out what they are planning/doing is beyond me
I keep telling myself that I need to make notes, which might help me remember what plans I had in mind, but I still rarely do that. That's about the only way I can think of to help keep focused on what I'm trying to do in several games going at the same time. (Or probably even with only one game in progress 🙂 )
But it's still great to have these online games available. I'm living in a small rural community so finding people to play OTB games isn't that easy.
Thanks for the comments and advice everyone
I only play games with 7:7 or above because it gives me the flexibility to have time off from the site without being subjected to time pressure.
I am far too lazy to make notes so not remembering my plans is just something I'm going to have to put up with.
If I was playing 20 games of 1/na concurrently I would probably have the same issues but with timeout pressure as well
@venda saidI think this is an interesting phenomenon which I have experienced too. The reason could be as banal as not being able to come up with a clear plan last time and playing a waiting move to see if the opponent comes up with something. This sort of thing can make a game look quite random, as can an unexpected move by an opponent - you didn't see it so there is nothing to remember. Some years ago I experimented with a self imposed rule of not sending a move until I had written out a "cogent" main line 10 moves deep. Of course if you apply the advice of examining all checks and captures available to both you and your opponent at each turn in the analysis, this becomes quite burdensome to work through and my experiment did not last long and put me off note making altogether!
You make a move in a game.
Several days later you come back to the game after your opponent has moved and you've absolutely no idea why you made your last move!
One thing I've noticed with advancing years is the short term memory becomes very short indeed, but I tend to think that relying on memory carries risk anyway. Once you find yourself playing the move you "remember" without checking that (a) it's still relevant (b) it doesn't hang anything (c) or even it's the right game you are looking at- you are on a slippery slope. We tell our kids that chess improves problem solving skills, resilience in the face of adversity, planning, concentration etc - less tends to be said about memory.
Probably the solutions to this are fairly straightforward.
1. Treat each position as new. Looking at it with fresh eyes may help find new possibililties or negate any previous fixations in thinking about the position.
2. Open the analyse board a play through the last two or three moves to remind yourself of what has been going on.
3. Review the position while it is the opponents move. This will combine reinforcing the short term memory (as recommended by study technique experts) as well as looking at the position with fresh eyes.
4. Use some kind of thinking guide tool when looking at the position. Over the years I've seen several 5 or 10 point plans recommended by chess authors to focus the thinking. Even if you have forgotten what it was you thought last time following the checklist is likely to help you think it again.
Some sound advice there my friend.
I find the analyze board facility invaluable and I always play through the last few moves before looking at the position and considering my next move.
I also play through a few possibilities which of course you would have to do in the mind if you were playing OTB.
I suppose this procedure is a bit like playing snooker on a small table-it spoils you for playing on a full size table but when I do very occasionally play OTB I believe playing on here and reading the various blogs -particularly Greenpawns, has improved my game