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

mbuffett.com

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

#201

Post by lupire »

sabujp wrote: post #108

you can play "sound" chess using general rules and get to about master level on lichess : * trade a piece (bishop for knight and vice versa) when it's being less effective than the opponent's piece * block opponents bishops * block opponents pawns * don't give opponent's knights a perch (supported by a pawn) on your side of the board, especially near the middle * try to promote edge pawns to the middle or clear the p…

It takes longer to enumerate all the chess maxims than you have to pay a whole speed chess game.

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

#202

Post by marcusbuffett »

d23 wrote: post #199
marcusbuffett wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think from a higher level there are some interesting things, you're right that I should have gone into it a bit. One of those is that raising my ceiling of play, like challenging myself with super tough puzzles, was actually totally unproductive. Raising the floor of my play, however, was hugely beneficial. I imagine this generalizes somewhat to other pursuits. The other takeaway I've had is how different procedura…

Could you describe "raising the floor of your play" a bit more? I'm not fully sure what you mean by that.

Just that it’s less about how good my best moves are, and more about how good my worst moves are. It’s not a benefit to be able to figure out the next 5 moves in a really complex tactical position, when most games are decided by a simple tactic or hanging piece.

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

#203

Post by sabujp »

Bootvis wrote: post #116
sabujp wrote: post #108

you can play "sound" chess using general rules and get to about master level on lichess : * trade a piece (bishop for knight and vice versa) when it's being less effective than the opponent's piece * block opponents bishops * block opponents pawns * don't give opponent's knights a perch (supported by a pawn) on your side of the board, especially near the middle * try to promote edge pawns to the middle or clear the p…

What is master level to you?

being able to defeat latest stockfish level 6 and drawing against level 7 or 8

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

#204

Post by Bootvis »

sabujp wrote: post #203
Bootvis wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is master level to you?

being able to defeat latest stockfish level 6 and drawing against level 7 or 8

I think your claim is wildly optimistic. According to Google, Level 6 is about 1900. That requires more than some simple rule following for most chess players. I don’t have any statistics handy but the folks that cross 1900 are in the minority.

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

#205

Post by ycombinete »

amotinga wrote: post #119
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.

I once read 'power of mediocrity' or something like that that I saw here on HN. that article talked about the fact that it's ok to do things just to enjoy them as opposed to getting better at them. since then I don't worry about my rating anymore, just playing on lichess without loggin in, just to have fun. I'm not improving much, but i have fun.

The trick for me was understanding that in an MMR system, no matter how much better I got, my winrate was going to remain roughly 50%.

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

#207

Post by mostertoaster »

robomartin wrote: post #56
kthejoker2 wrote: post #15

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…

That's too much work. All my kids play. I have been playing since I was a kid myself. It's just a game. Getting into memorization and deep analysis makes it less interesting for me. I've been in the 1800 to 2000 range for a while. Spending too much time getting great at chess is, in my opinion, time that could be better spent getting good at something far more useful in life. Exercise is such an example. My system is…

I think this is where it really shows that it becomes just pattern recognition. Sometimes our brains are fuzzy and we slowly match patterns. Other times they’re quick.

Though I also think the real value in puzzles is not that they help you win more, but lose less.

I often play a puzzle that the advantage gains a piece over one or two lost pawns, and when I play these I love to go then and try to beat stockfish 9, undoing moves freely. I often still lose, but what I learn is how to defend after you blunder and how to avoid blowing an advantage.

I think just solving the puzzle as if you are the stronger player taking advantage of a blunder is less beneficial than solving the puzzle as if you were the one who made the blunder and what do you hope they don’t see is better.

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