The Loner's Chess Club

Chessmaster was one of the first chess products I bought and with hindsight the only chess product I really need. The Guru Mansion is filled with chess books/DVDs/Magazine et al. Most of them waiting for some love and devotion.

What makes Chessmaster unique? I think Chessmaster is among the best products when it comes to mimicing bad chess. It is not perfect but good enough if you consider that the Chessmaster Personalities are always ready for a slow came and they do not mind if you have to exit your Chess Cave using Ctrl-P and deal with your real life.

Going to a Chess Club does, in theory, sound like a nice thing but all the practicalities makes it borderline impossible.








Activities at the Loner's Chess Club

The morning work-out is always (almost daily) tactics problems. The site used depends on the amount of time available. I solve problems until I have missed the solution of three problems. That little gimmic makes the problem solving a little bit more fun and focused.

On a weekly basis, I try to get my four game matches with Chessmaster Personalities going.

The Reading group at the Loner's Chess Club is on hold as the key memeber is spending his limited chess minutes on matches against silicon opponents.

Midchesslife Crisis

My, in lack of better words, career has been ongoing for about four years. Early on I set a long term goal for my activities: Play at a 1750 level before the age of 50.

I am more than halfway there, the due date is a little more than three years away, and progress is slim to none.

What has gone wrong?

The time budget has always been infinitesimal and I have not been able to play enough slow games. That is no surprise and part of the equation from the very start. I honestly believed that my chess muscle would grow and a steady diet of tactics puzzles. The tactics muscle has improved (around 1850 at Chesstempo today) but I see no traces of improvement in my few games or in my rating.

Obviously, a lot of time have been wasted in illusionary fake training which comes in many shapes:

• Reading Chess news instead of something beneficial
• Planning, Documenting or changing your training instead of training
• Not spending enough time on a topic and not learning it properly
• Developing knowledge instead of skills

Sounds familiar?

Well, it is time to be more concrete, condensed and minimalistic. Will it help? We will see!

Goals for December 31, 2012

• 40+ slow games played and analyzed
• Three Books
• Daily Chesstempo problem(s)
• Monthly Chessmagnetschool rating tests (November 11, 2011: Rating Test. Score: 1487)

Chess Goals Galore

It is about time to evaluate the progress towards to the Fall Seaon Start-Up Goals. I am on par with everything but my reading and book review. Still, I am confident that I will finish it in time.

How about my Chess Buddies? On Target?


I could use a few more cc games. Any takers? There are a silly amount of rating points on my accounts to be won.

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 3 (Capablanca)

Capablanca vs Tartakower, 1924 (score: 115 par = 103)

A nice logical grinding affair. Very much in line with what I in lack of better words would call my style. I is probably better training to study sparkling tactical games but it has a homely feel to replay games of this type.

Capablanca vs Marshall, 1918 (score: 54 par = 51)

Marshall is all over Capa in a wild attack and then Capa moves a few pawns and it is all over. Amazing.

Lasker vs Capablanca, 1921 (score: 127 par = 139)

A long and often confusing game. Very energy draining!

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 2 (Lasker)

You can read about the achievements of the second world champion Emanual Lasker many times and be surprised everytime about his results. There are so many legend making results. It is possible to ignore 90% of what he did and Lasker would still be one of the Greatest chess players ever!

I strongly recommend a look at his chess biography at www.chessgames.com.

1. Pillsbury - Lasker, 1895 (score: 24 par = 40)

Another fine game. I think I was punished a bit hard in the Opening and lost quite a few points. In the end, the score was probably fair. There are a hanful of moves which I cannot tell if they are blunders or pure magic.

2. Marshall - Lasker, 1907 (score: 94 par = 99)

3. Tarrasch - Lasker, 1908 (score: 46 par = 51)

A game worth a second look and then another glance. Lasker sneaks in a bishop in the enemy camp and the Tarrasch just runs out of oxygen without any obvious errors. Amazing.

Start Up Goals

A few days ago, I posted the following question to my two closest chess buddies:

"In the next two months I will..."

"My goal will be evaluated by......"

"Should I fail to reach My goal, I then promise to...."

Here are the responses:

ScotchYeti

Goals:

- 10 "Guess-the-move", analysis shared on my blog (selected positions) or with AndreaCoda/Farbror

- no Blitz nor 5min games from next Monday onwards, Sunday rating will be sent by email and must not change

Penalty:

- one item from the Amazon wishlist (com, uk) for my buddies AndreaCoda and Farbror

AndreaCoda

Goals:

Complete at least 50% (16/33) of "Logical Chess Move by Move", both in GTM mode on chessgames and through thorough analysis

My goal will be evaluated by......

Farbror, through snapshot of chessgames window which I will send

Should I fail to reach My goal, I then promise to....

Get to both Farbror and ScotchYeta a book of their choice from Amazon.com

Farbror

Chess Goals for August, September and October:

Goals:

8 slow games and analysis (some to be posted at my blog)

8 “Guess-the-Move” (to be commented on my blog)

(Re-)Read a Chess Book I have not yet reviewed (Review to be posted)

Penalty:

Should I fail to reach the goals, I will then pay for the next six months of membership at ICC/Playchess etc for my Chess Training Buddies

Simple, Simpler & Doable!

It is a common trap to try to be efficient doing something and to try form a new habit of doing the very same thing at the same time. Simplification is the order of that day and quite often things must be much simpler than expected.

One minor success story of mine was to choose “Playing 50 slow games” as a goal. This is a clear and well defined goal which just might be possible to reach for a proud father. Another goal was to “Read 3+ chess books”. This goal will have to be clarified and maybe simplified. I have tried to read three books at once and that clearly isn’t efficient. I do not have time to read decent “chunks” of any book in a single session and jumping back and forth between several books makes it all to “chopped up”. So, the first change will be to read the books one at the time.

A nice strategy for forming a habit: The 6 Changes Method I will try "The 6 Changes Method" and keep you posted on the minor steps and ground covered.

PS. Yeah, Silman's Endgame Course is great but which is your favourite portable endgame book? DS.

Public Goals -- Join the Movement!

A chess blogging friend, Chesstiger, has started a nice project collection Chess Goals for chess bloggers. As a firm believer in peer pressure, I have gladly joined the movement.

My long term goal is to reach 1700+ at ICC before turning half a century old or before trading my chess books for tic-tac-toe books (whichever comes first).

Join the Movement!

My Chess Goals for 2011

Here are the draft list of my Chess Goals for 2011

• 50+ Slow Games
• Read three or more chess books
• 50+ Stoyko Exercises
• Study 100+ Annotated Mastergames
• Play few corr games
• Do 50+ Guess-the-Move Exercises
• Write a weekly Training Report
  

The Final Exam

Here are the final verdict after working my way through Igor Khmelnitsky's fine book.

The overall score (1446) is probably fairly accurate. My Chess Buddies at the office are both rated 1550ish and I feel half a step behind those guys.

I am still surprised by my crappy Tactics Score. Well, I just need to keep "finding those forks" on a daily basis.

Category	Score	%	ELO
Overall	280	46.6%	1446
Middlegame	158	41.6%	1372
Endgame	122	55.5%	1698
Calculation	83	46.1%	1552
Strategy	92	57.5%	1668
Tactics	105	40.4%	1274
Attack	81	50.6%	1366
Counterattack	99	49.5%	1470
Defense	100	41.7%	1609
You are Better	133	60.5%	1640
Equal	96	43.6%	1359
You are Worse	51	31.9%	1270
No Sacrifice	161	57.5%	1656
Sacrifice	119	37.2%	1257