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Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

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Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#11

Post by LanceH »

jstx1 wrote: post #6

At 1700-1800 I hit a point where I had to study more seriously in order to improve so I lost interest and pretty much stopped playing. Up to that point I could improve just by playing more (with the occasional youtube video but that was more for entertaintment).

I peaked at 1800 USCF. People above that level could press home an opening advantage that I wasn't prepared for. Below that I could win enough games on a sharp, open game, even if I were technically a bit behind a pawn or fraction from the opening.

It felt like up to 1800, everyone is just better at the same game. Above that level there starts to be more coherence to everyone's game. Above 2000 there seems to be a sophistication to the game that can appreciate when I see it, but can build it myself.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#12

Post by marcusbuffett »

Mizza wrote: post #9

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy. I started playing anonymous games on LiChess, and playing without ELO anxiety is way, way more fun. It's a game, this is all I need out of it.

Yeah this is just as valid. I needed something to sink my teeth into, so I’ve been more interested in the improvement and learning side. The bonus is that games get more fun the better you get, until very recently I just found my own play frustrating, hanging pieces and falling for simple tactics.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#14

Post by DelightOne »

Mizza wrote: post #9

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy. I started playing anonymous games on LiChess, and playing without ELO anxiety is way, way more fun. It's a game, this is all I need out of it.

Improvement may also matter a bit more. With ELO you always lose half the time because when you improve you get a higher ELO and get to your half-lose rate again. With anonymous, I assume the pool is stable so with getting better you win more. Though your enemies may outclass you sometimes, especially when your prior ELO is too low.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#15

Post by kthejoker2 »

Pedantry alert: As ELO ratings follow a logarithmic curve, "gaining 600 points" is a dimensionless metric.

These are good tips for beginner to intermediate growth. The things that definitely help the most are:

* Pattern recognition - the best courses for this level are things like "Common traps in ", applied with Woodpecker method. Once you've memorized all the mistakes in the Scandi or London system, you can really crush a lot of people who play haphazardly.

* Study your own games and games of people at or just above your level. Four simple methods:

1) during the game, write down (Lichess has a notes section on the left) 3 candidate moves for every move in the middle and endgame, why you're making a particular move, and what you think the opponent's response will be

2) use the "Learn from your mistakes" button after each game during analysis

3) check the most common moves in the opening that are different than yours, play through a couple of masters' games to see why those positions are preferred.

And my last tip which helped me a lot just with the "meta" of playing chess ...

* Use more time. Be okay with losing games because you run out of time thinking. Always, always, always try to play the best move, even if it means spending a lot of time.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#16

Post by freewilly1040 »

DelightOne wrote: post #14
Mizza wrote: post #9

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy. I started playing anonymous games on LiChess, and playing without ELO anxiety is way, way more fun. It's a game, this is all I need out of it.

Improvement may also matter a bit more. With ELO you always lose half the time because when you improve you get a higher ELO and get to your half-lose rate again. With anonymous, I assume the pool is stable so with getting better you win more. Though your enemies may outclass you sometimes, especially when your prior ELO is too low.

I don’t really get this. Chess isn’t fun if your opponent is much worse or much better than you.

My suggestion is to take advantage of LiChess Zen mode, which hides the ranking of both you and your opponent. This orients me more towards the game rather than rank, while also providing evenly matched opponents.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#17

Post by kthejoker2 »

Mizza wrote: post #9

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy. I started playing anonymous games on LiChess, and playing without ELO anxiety is way, way more fun. It's a game, this is all I need out of it.

My only problem with anonymous is you have no idea if the person on the other side is 1100 or 2200 ... I just use Zen mode in Lichess, I know the other person is about my level, but I don't care what the numbers area .....

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#18

Post by benmmurphy »

someguy101010 wrote: post #2

I gained 200 point when I started practicing blindfolded, also great visualization training! A good way to start this is have someone call out squares on the board and you respond with the color. Next start naming the diagonals. Then start moving around a knight, bishop, and then slowly build up your ability to hold a game in your head. Highly recommend! Thanks for this article. The woodpecker method seems like a nic…

i assume you have a direct mapping in your mind between squares and colors or actually visualize the board but for those that don't you can convert the column letter to a number then add the two numbers together and depending on whether the number is even or odd the square will be black or white. ie: d1 -> 4 + 1 -> 5 -> white.

there are a bunch of tricks you can do if you use number,number notation but being able to visualize the board is probably better than relying on numeric tricks.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#19

Post by sova »

Surprised you didn't mention "analyzing games I played to find viable alternatives or understand opponent blunders." The greatest improvements to my score came from reviewing every game and using the "Computer Analysis" feature on Lichess to see other, stronger moves. This helped a lot in breaking out of old patterns and not making the same mistakes twice.

There is a famous series of chess textbooks they use to teach kids in Russia, and two of the important "commandments of chess" if you will, are: be able to visualize the board (seems crazy to me, still) and review/learn from your games.

Re: Thoughts on chess improvement, after gaining 600 points in 6 months

#20

Post by Mizza »

kthejoker2 wrote: post #17
Mizza wrote: post #9

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy. I started playing anonymous games on LiChess, and playing without ELO anxiety is way, way more fun. It's a game, this is all I need out of it.

My only problem with anonymous is you have no idea if the person on the other side is 1100 or 2200 ... I just use Zen mode in Lichess, I know the other person is about my level, but I don't care what the numbers area .....

This is a good tip, I didn't know about that mode. Cheers.
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