Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Circles of Madness


Today I began a new 7-circles quest, following in De La Maza's footsteps.

It may seem strange to begin CT-ART circles when temposchlucker questions the whole method of solving tactics. But in G/30 to G/60 games tactics and calculation almost always plays a key role against amateur opponents. And intuitively practice is a fundamental requirement for improvement. Harnessing the power of spaced repetition makes practice more effective.

Of course, that's it's necessary is not the same as saying it's sufficient. Neither I nor De La Maza are one-trick ponies. I have a master-level coach advising me on thought process. I'm also playing and practicing visualization (as is Ray Cheng).

CT-ART progress:

 Level 10
N° 110
Succ. 94%
Perf: 1779

I missed some basic ones, especially as I got tired. But tournament games come when you're tired, hungry, distracted, etc so I intend to practice in all conditions.

Tactical Hall of Shame:

14 comments:

From the patzer said...

Number A two of the hall of shame i cant find.

A. 1. Qg6+ fxg6 2. hxg6++ // ???

B. 1. Bc4+ Kh8 2. Qh7++ // 1. Rxb8+ Kxb8 2. Qb3+ Kc8 3. Qxa2

C. 1. Qf6+ Bxf6 2. Nf7++ // 1. Rf2 Rxf2 2. Qh5+ Kg8 3. Qe8+ Kh7 4. Qh5+ ... draw

likesforests said...

chesstiger, wow! You are right where I want to be tactically.

A2: Bxe4! There are two ideas: (a) dxe4 discovers an attack on Black's bishop after Bxg7+ Qxg7 Qxg7+ and (b) Qxe4 removes a defender and allows Bxg7+ Kg8 Bd4 and f2 is defended.

trallala said...

Hmm, I'll pick up the gauntlet and start with ct-art again... ;-)
94% is pretty good score for a first time :-)

From the patzer said...

Aargh, i have looked at Bxe4 but thought it just gave away the bishop after dxe4. Guess my visualisation of the position was way off there.

likesforests said...

trallala - It's not a bad score, but I'm surprised by how many holes there are in my thought process.

In the bottom-left diagram, I saw the idea of Nf7#. I explored Qxh7+, Qxg8+, Qxd7, Qxf5, Qxd5, Rxd5 followed by Qxd5, and then gave up on that and looked for other ideas.

But if I were really examining *ALL* CHECKS then CAPTURES as my coach encourages (when a move doesn't JUMP OUT at me, of course) I would've explored Qg7+ and Qf6+ early on and found the win quickly.

likesforests said...

Even worse, I picked 1.Qxf5 noting Black had to drop material to prevent Nf7#. I didn't check Black's CHECKS and after 1...Rxa2! I was quickly mated.

Blue Devil Knight said...

Huzzahhh!!!

From the bowels of the decrepit Knights Errant rides a Knight of Yore, blazened in burnished steel, wielding a battle ax that would do Thor proud, with trusty black steed Rocinante under his loins, carrying forth to slay the demons.

Onward, Knight, to slay the dragons!

Temposchlucker said...

It may seem strange to begin CT-ART circles when temposchlucker questions the whole method of solving tactics.

I just question the calculation part, not the tactical part. Matters are not so dark for the circles. Look at the other figures of my chess exam. And these 6 diagram of yours I solved in under a minute thanks to the circles. (finding out who was to move was the hardest part:)

rockyrook said...

I don't know if I could do the circles again. Good luck with the fresh quest.

likesforests said...

BDK - My coach has also taken to calling me Don Quixote--one of my trademarks is tripling my major pieces on open files where there's nothing to attack.

tempo - Under a minute?! Wow. I think CT-ART provides more of a calculation workout than the sets I've done before (Heisman, CT-B, S.Polgar) but of course much less than Stoyko Exercises.

Rocky - I didn't feel I had the right tools to tackle it until now. Keeping up the motivation as it gets harder will be tough.

Blue Devil Knight said...

CT Art problems are great for practicing calculation. Especially once you get to higher levels, they are good Styoko exercise problems.

likesforests said...

I look forward to the upper levels then! I hope I can score >50% against the upper levels, but the workout level-20 is giving me is telling me that won't happen. ;)

Anonymous said...

troll was here

Kaan Kara said...

1st 3rd 4th and 5th problems i have solved in 2-3 secs but failes to solve 2nd and 6th ones in 15seconds... İ will look again after writing this note.
likesforests i know i promised to publish my games which i played in university tournament but i couldnt find my copies. (i noted them in to blank papers not on a notebook or so.) I am attending an elo rated tournament begining today i promise i will publish them every night:) Its called called horse elo tournament with prize around 400-320-240-160-80 usd for first five degree (in turkish liras they are exact 500-400-300-200-100 liras)
wish me luck