21–30 of 126 posts
Hijacking the comments to ask: what is the best way to get better at chess? (other than “just” playing matches, I’m already doing that)
* train various endgames (undervalued) (e.g. Naroditsky’s videos on endgames: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT1F2nOxLHOfQI_hFiDnnWj4l... ) * puzzles for tactics & mates * learn 1 “easy to execute” opening for each color
Hijacking the comments to ask: what is the best way to get better at chess? (other than “just” playing matches, I’m already doing that)
Hijacking the comments to ask: what is the best way to get better at chess? (other than “just” playing matches, I’m already doing that)
This is why I don't recommend bullet to anyone.
"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 Murphy.
Seneca was of a similar opinion: It would be a lengthy business to mention all the different people who have spent their lives engaged in chess-playing or exercise with ball or the practice of roasting their bodies in the sun. They are not unoccupied when their pleasure form such a busy occupation. No one will doubt that those men are energetic triflers who devote their hours to the study of useless literature - On t…
Hijacking the comments to ask: what is the best way to get better at chess? (other than “just” playing matches, I’m already doing that)
Study and practicing openings. By this I mean you should memorise all the lines of an opening; not just the main lines. A vast majority of matches are won/lost within 30-35 moves by a few botched up opening moves. I don't recommend puzzles that much. They give you mental satisfaction. However, it is one thing to think of a good move knowing before hand that there's such a move possible but entirely different to recog…
"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 Murphy.
Seneca was of a similar opinion: It would be a lengthy business to mention all the different people who have spent their lives engaged in chess-playing or exercise with ball or the practice of roasting their bodies in the sun. They are not unoccupied when their pleasure form such a busy occupation. No one will doubt that those men are energetic triflers who devote their hours to the study of useless literature - On t…
Plus, I doubt most people would really agree with de brevitate vitae. It's the equivalent of "grind culture" but from the first century. Amusing and interesting but probably not congruent with now most people want to spend their lives. (No shame from me if you do want to live your life that way, but it should just be known that this is far from a neutral perspective.) For a more balanced view of otium (pleasure, relaxation, opposite of negotium, business), I'd recommend the letters of Pliny the Younger.
Precise thought patterns, acronyms, X seconds per move... This seems like a terrible, robotic way to play chess, at least when it comes to having fun. I've played in excess of 100k games on lichess (mostly 3 minutes, some 5 minute and bullet too, no increments) with my ELO rating being ~2100 and I don't consciously do any of these (whether these or approximations of such still take place unconsciously is a different…
For mediocre chess players like me I recommend trying online speed chess for a few months. Bullet chess where each player gets a minute total clock is a completely different game where you move every half second on average. Aggressive playing is rewarded - as long as you get your opponent to waste time thinking. The quick play allows you develop a better sense of positioning, game flow, and end game tactics. When you…
I’ve always found Deleuze and Guattari’s comments on chess vs. go to be interesting. Some of the terminology might not make sense if you’re unfamiliar with their work, but I think you can get the general gist: Let us take a limited example and compare the war machine and the state apparatus in the context of the theory of games. Let us take chess and Go, from the standpoint of game pieces, the relations between the p…
Reading this has made me realise that I am nowhere near as literate as I think I am.