why study chess when you can play go?
The rules of go are so elegant, organic and rigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere in the universe they almost certainly play go. -Lasker
How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
31–40 of 156 posts
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#32Speaking of getting better at chess, someone on Reddit pointed out that Shredder for iPhone/iPod and iPad went on sale at half price ($3.99 [1]) for the world chess championship. There are stronger chess engines for iOS available for free (Stockfish and Smallfish), and Shredder has some interface annoyances (the move list only shows the last couple of moves, making it annoying if you want to jump around while analyzi…
I wrote a website (http://nextchessmove.com/, GNUChess-backed) and corresponding iPhone app (Stockfish-backed, $0.99, mostly covers website hosting). Both let you drag pieces around "freestyle" and ask the engine for a move.
I've gotten absolutely clobbered with traffic lately, presumably tournament-related. I'd love to hear what you all think about the site's applicability to learning the game.
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#33> "One big mistake is to rely heavily on computers for chess analysis. Computer analysis should be done only after you analyze the game on your own." This isn't correct information anymore, in my opinion. Chess engines have improved tenfold over the last four years (when the author says he stopped playing). The increase in the strength of chess engines has subsequently caused an increase in the "humanity" of chess en…
> "This isn't correct information anymore, in my opinion"
It looks like you hastily condemned the writer as a means to justify a parallel insight. The writer is clearly not against computer analysis, even in the quote that you have extracted. It does make sense to analyse without the aide of a computer then afterwards using one. Your insight still stands.
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#34why study chess when you can play go? The rules of go are so elegant, organic and rigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere in the universe they almost certainly play go. -Lasker
Today I decided to learn about Go. I knew nothing prior. I read a few chapters of Chikun's "Go: A Complete Guide to the Game." I really like how he goes back and forth between introducing a game mechanic, and then some historical element.
The chapters look like: http://i.imgur.com/qcnWUng.png
I even went so far as to watch the first couple episodes of Hikaru no Go, which is honestly really awesome.
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#35why study chess when you can play go? The rules of go are so elegant, organic and rigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere in the universe they almost certainly play go. -Lasker
why do either when you can go outside and get some fresh air, maybe talk to a cute girl and/or guy.
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#36Good chess player - sign of a great mind. Great chess player - sign of a wasted mind.
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#37And for those that are interested in building their interest in chess in a way that is more entertainment than education, I highly recommend watching "live commentaries", IE chess players playing against other people online while commentating it live. My personal favorite is IM Greg Shahade (aka curtains), who has hundreds of these videos online [1]. There are also a bunch on youtube from other sources, but in my opi…
I really like Daniel King's game reviews. You can find them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/PowerPlayChess
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#38Anyone care to provide similarly practical tips for Go?
I'd suggest the list here [0]. And I'd add a couple of my own notes:
- For replaying pro games, it's actually far easier than it sounds. I'd suggest to pick a pro with a "peaceful" playstyle: Shusaku, Shuwa for old go, Lee Chang-Ho or Go Seigen for more modern games. Try not to copy their opening/ joseki blindly, but getting a feeling of the conventional/ good shape in play is always good. Strong players with a aggressive play style and lot of brilliant moves can be a bit hard to follow.
- There is the smart go apps for iPad, which is very useful for both tsumegos and game replay (it has a large collection of games)
- I'd suggest the book "Lessons in the fundamentals of Go" by Kageyama Toshiro. I'm not sure if the book is out of print, but it helps a lot to get a sense of the game (ie. all those "fuzzy" criteria as joe_the_user mentioned).
[0] http://senseis.xmp.net/?BenjaminTeuber%2FGuideToBecomeStrong
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#39> "One big mistake is to rely heavily on computers for chess analysis. Computer analysis should be done only after you analyze the game on your own." This isn't correct information anymore, in my opinion. Chess engines have improved tenfold over the last four years (when the author says he stopped playing). The increase in the strength of chess engines has subsequently caused an increase in the "humanity" of chess en…
Would you mind naming some good chess engines for Mac, Windows and Linux? (I know this can be googled, but I value the recommendation from a credible source).
Re: How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
#40Anyone care to provide similarly practical tips for Go?
http://www.kiseido.com/go_books.htm
Pick up "Tesuji", "Life & Death" and "Attack & Defence". Use "Tesuji" and "Life & Death" to learn the how and why of basic go tactics and to prepare yourself to study problems in general. Keep "Attack & Defence" for when you are ready to learn how to actually play go on a strategic level.
Pick up the "Graded Go Problems for Beginners" vol 1 - 4. Pick up "1001 Life & Death". Pick up "501 Tesuji Problems". If you play games and grind through most of this material, your strength will be around 5 kyu by any standard and rising. "Attack & Defence" will be here now to help you climb to the gate of the dan ranks and begin crushing your way upwards.
I'd consider Ishida's "Dictionary of Basic Joseki" to be the definitive guide to how to think about corner patterns. The updated edition, "The 21st Century Dictionary of Basic Joseki" is much more up to date but suffers from shallower analysis and a narrowed scope. Dip into those books when reviewing your games and for regular study. Combine that with collections of professional games, commented and otherwise, to develop your sense of the opening and early to late middle game.
I love to read go books (I own or have owned nearly every book on that page, as well as books from many other publishers...) but all the periods where I've increased in strength the most have been when I've played games and worked go problems on a regular basis. Still, "Attack & Defense" and those 3 volumes of joseki were instrumental for my progression from the weak end of single digit kyu up to 1 dan.