Evolution of the evolution threads...

Originally posted by Eladar
I played a few people at school and go sick and tired of being frustrated by knowing how the pieces moved, but having no idea of how to play.

In my experience in college (Palomar College, San Marcos) there were no mentors, only tormentors. One kid in particular I met up with about 4 years later and really enjoyed crushing him, he would make all kind of disparaging remarks about how poor I played, which was a given considering I had just learned like the month before. Four years in the Air Force however, allowed me to learn quite a bit and I met up with the jerk and he got a bit of a lesson. He was quite the humble type after that.

That must have been a very satisfying game.

I've met my original goal of trying to understand what I'm supposed to be doing. At least I have a clue and I'm no longer giving my pieces away. I'm now the best at the school, but I'm trying to get my rating up to about 1700. When I can get it up, I'll try to play OTB at a tournament and get a real rating.

Originally posted by Eladar
That must have been a very satisfying game.

I've met my original goal of trying to understand what I'm supposed to be doing. At least I have a clue and I'm no longer giving my pieces away. I'm now the best at the school, but I'm trying to get my rating up to about 1700. When I can get it up, I'll try to play OTB at a tournament and get a real rating.

You should be playing OTB tournies now, not waiting till you get to 1700 here. Remember, the ratings OTB are different than here. Here you have the time to look up openings, study middle game theory during the game. OTB you don't get that chance. So what if you are around 1400, go to tournies, record the games, thats how you get experience, by getting experience. Like Horowitz said to Pariah, 'if you want to be a virtuoso, BE A VIRTUOSO'.

When I play here, I don't take advantage of data bases and books*. I just take advantage of the fact that I can take as much time as I'd like, although I do most of my looking at the board while I'm waiting for my opponent to move.

*Now I'm planning on using my black opening book to learn how to play the two knights defense.

I want to wait until I get better because I want to make a better showing of myself. If I'm going to get beat by a 10 year old kid, I want it to be a very, very, very good 10 year old kid.

Originally posted by Eladar
When I play here, I don't take advantage of data bases and books*. I just take advantage of the fact that I can take as much time as I'd like, although I do most of my looking at the board while I'm waiting for my opponent to move.

*Now I'm planning on using my black opening book to learn how to play the two knights defense.

I want to wait until I get to get beat by a 10 year old kid, I want it to be a very, very, very good 10 year old kid.

You should not let any of that stop you from going to an OTB tournie, first they usually pit the lower ranks with the higher ranks and you get beat anyway, then the lower ranks V the lower ranks so it all gets sorted out. The main thing you get is solid experience and you have a game score and practice making a game score, making it accurate. When you have a game score you start your own personal data base. So just do it, it will get you thinking deeper about chess automatically.
The last tournie I went to I was surprised to be put against an 1100 player, thinking it was not fair to the kid but it turned out he was being coached and I quickly had a huge game on my hands and only won out really late in the middle game when he finally made a blunder. It was an eye opener for sure. I did make 50% in the tournie, beat a 1900 player and drew an 1800 so I didn't do too bad for a 1700.

You're 1700 OTB? Your rating here is lower than that. I thought internet ratings were lower by 200-400 points. I'll look into the Oklahoma City Open that's in January.

Originally posted by Eladar
You're 1700 OTB? Your rating here is lower than that. I thought internet ratings were lower by 200-400 points. I'll look into the Oklahoma City Open that's in January.

Go for it, they don't bite! My rating is lower than my OTB because I also don't use databases or only occasional dips into an opening book. I just got MCO 15, a great one book reference which is not as good as the Encyclopedia of Openings but will certainly get you started with a good grounding in many of the openings in play today. It comes out about once every ten years, having gone through 15 editions since 1905 and a team of GM's really give it a great effort for the latest opening theory. I got it at Borders. It's in algebraic notation which is so much easier to read and understand than the old descriptive notation books. One book, a two volume set, by Max Euwe, Static and Dynamic chess, is a GREAT book, I worked on microwave communications systems in Thailand a couple of centuries ago and had a lot of time on my hands at work and went through every page but it was slow because it was in descriptive notation, I keep hoping that series will come out in algebraic but so far no luck. Anyway, try it, you have to get your feet wet sometime if you want to improve your play and there are a lot of other players at exactly your level so you won't be totally bowled over. Good luck on that project. Get MCO 15 and study it.

Openings only take you so far. Besides, I have my opening down for 80-90% of my games. I play the Zukertort for white (Barry Attack if I see g6), e4 e5 for black and try to get in a Zukertort for black if given anything elses. I think a black Zukertort is officially called QGD.

I feel pretty confident in most of my openings. The only one that bothers me is certain variations of e4 e5 and I have a book for that. I just need to use it.

Originally posted by PBE6
That's not true. Eladar said "You think you know God's intentions?". That wasn't the question. My question was what would a menagerie design by God look like. If anyone wants to answer the question, they can feel free. As I've said elsewhere in this thread, I don't like asking "gotcha!!" questions. It's a rhetorical device that gets us nowhere closer to the truth.

I'm not sure I agree with you, but since you say that is what you
meant, I'll accept your word and withdraw my complaint.
Kelly

Originally posted by sonhouse
Meanwhile christians and muslims go on killing every single day in the name of mo or jc. How can you sleep at night knowing that?

People with and without a view on God being real kill all the time, why
limit this to just those that claim God is real? It is a human trait to
murder for a lot of selfish reasons.
Kelly

Originally posted by sonhouse
You should not let any of that stop you from going to an OTB tournie, first they usually pit the lower ranks with the higher ranks and you get beat anyway, then the lower ranks V the lower ranks so it all gets sorted out. The main thing you get is solid experience and you have a game score and practice making a game score, making it accurate. When you have ...[text shortened]... make 50% in the tournie, beat a 1900 player and drew an 1800 so I didn't do too bad for a 1700.

I agree OTB play is much better than what we get here. I'm not trying
to bad mouth this place, I play more here than anywhere else, but the
game played OTB is just hands down better. Tournament chess is even
more so, to place in a tournament, or beat a higher rated player is
outstanding, one thing you need to worry about is if someone has
played you to a draw and you know or feel you are better than they
are, do not let that suck you into playing for a win and lose. Pride will
take more rating points from you than many other things, lack of
respect given to another player may cause you to play foolishly too,
so keep your head in the game. My problem here is I play here like
the games were speed chess I do not spend much time thinking
through some moves like I should. 🙁
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
People with and without a view on God being real kill all the time, why
limit this to just those that claim God is real? It is a human trait to
murder for a lot of selfish reasons.
Kelly

Which sidesteps the sub-set of those who kill in some g/God's name. I still want to know how you can sleep at night knowing people kill in the name of a G/god, regardless of the other reasons people kill.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Which sidesteps the sub-set of those who kill in some g/God's name. I still want to know how you can sleep at night knowing people kill in the name of a G/god, regardless of the other reasons people kill.

I sleep knowing that God is in control and I am not.
People across the whole world all share the same short falls we are a selfish
lot, we kill in the name of life, we bad mouth people who make choices
when we support choice if they didn't make the one we would have, we
steal what isn't ours, and we justify ourselves all the time, because of
bad behavior by other people. You seem to spend more time cursing
the cure than the illness. I can tell you lives do get turned around by
God for the good, but that does not mean that people are not going to
play God games to make themselves look one way when they are
really something else. We see the whole gambit around us, the
thing that we need to find is truth.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
I sleep knowing that God is in control and I am not.
People across the whole world all share the same short falls we are a selfish
lot, we kill in the name of life, we bad mouth people who make choices
when we support choice if they didn't make the one we would have, we
steal what isn't ours, and we justify ourselves all the time, because of
bad behavi ...[text shortened]... hing else. We see the whole gambit around us, the
thing that we need to find is truth.
Kelly

You don't want the truth, you only want to continue believing in your bible tales while the universe around us abounds with mystery and puzzles to solve while you would just continue to let the 'lord' run things, don't worry about advancement, God takes care of it all. That is holding your head under the sand while the world goes by around you. You are so brainwashed by your religion as to have nothing left to independently think with, only think your God is going to what, cure the CO2 in the atmosphere, stop us from frying our own planet in our own shiit dumped into the air?

Originally posted by sonhouse
You don't want the truth, you only want to continue believing in your bible tales while the universe around us abounds with mystery and puzzles to solve while you would just continue to let the 'lord' run things, don't worry about advancement, God takes care of it all. That is holding your head under the sand while the world goes by around you. You are so b ...[text shortened]... in the atmosphere, stop us from frying our own planet in our own shiit dumped into the air?

I did not grow up in a church going family, Jesus' name was just the
first part of a cuss word when I was growing up. I did not become a
Christian because of a warm and fuzzy life I had, I became one while
I was doing a large number of things that could have ruined or ended
my life. It was life changing when I got saved, it happened almost 30
years ago.

With respect to advancement I see a lot of the cutting edge stuff it is
still just stuff, and as far as sticking my head in the ground I'm not
being backed up by hardly anyone here in many of the threads I'm in,
and no one in my church or fellowship takes up these topics either,
so who exactly could possibly brain wash me? You on the other hand
accuse me quite easily for things I see more in your life than in mine.
You are the one that gets peer pressure to hold the line, not I, you
are the one that was told how to look at the world through certain
means “science” and outside of that is what as far as your now
concern,? The only Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons get raised like you
were with respect to science, and I do believe they are indoctrinated
into a cult.

I'm not sure what CO2 has to do with my religion, but I'm quite sure
you have some brain dead means of accusing it of something I know
nothing about until you tell me or lump me in with a million people
you accuse of things you know nothing about.
Kelly