problem 45715

[uri blass]

I tried this problem at blitz.
It took me 870 seconds to solve it.

The average time
out of 59 attempts is 151.6 seconds so it is clear that I was more than 5 times slower than average.

I believed that I am going to lose rating points for it but I got 2.8 rating points.

My rating was 2163.2
before solving this 2470 problem

I do not understand how the rating list works because I already lost yesterday rating points for easy problems that I solved in less than 20 seconds and I lost more points when I tried to change my blitz strategy and to guess more in blitz in case that I do not see the solution.

My conclusion is that guessing is probably not productive for rating even at blitz and maybe I should simply use less time for checking at blitz but give the move only if I strongly believe that it is winning.

Note that I did not see everything in the first move and simply guessed because I decided that other checks are not good so
it was another reason to expect a reduction in rating because of the following from the FAQ:
"It is important to note that after a recent change to time handling in blitz mode, time taken after the first move is punished more severely than time taken before making your first move. The intention of this feature is to discourage 'incremental' guessing to try and solve a problem, rewarding users who sum up the situation before making their move sequence. Users who prefer to use an incremental approach may still do so, however their rating will be lower than users at the same level who think out the solutions first."

I disagree with the conclusion.
If I am convinced that some move is the best then it is best for me even without seeing how it wins(assuming I am convinced that other moves do not win)

If I do not play it and think how I can win then it is going to take me more time because it is going to be harder to imagine clearly the position some plies forward in my head(and in part of the cases when the opponent reply is not obvious I may need to consider also more lines).

Another point is that sometimes the opponent makes a stupid move so guessing the first move can clearly help and often you can get the full points to the problem
without solving the problem.

I think that incremental approach is clearly better and even if I see some win I can get the solution wrong because I miss some mate in 1 later so it is better to think again in every move to check if I missed something.

There are also cases when you get the first move of the solution for the wrong reason so thinking again about the second move can clearly helps.

Uri

[tama]

Well because the problem you solved was 300 points higher rated you gained point even when taking a relatively long time for blitz. But you mentioned guessing the first move which I cant approve of, manly because in a real game, will you guess a move?? lol. I don’t think so. The challenge is to calculate everything so to be 100% positive that the combination works. But it is possible to guess the first move and its pretty easy but less realistic. My standard rating is 2400 but my RD is 100 so thats why im not on the best list at the moment.

[uri blass]

In  OTB games you are always guessing(otherwise you are going to lose on time in all your games).

Uri
 

[richard]

Hi Uri,

I think there are different definitions of guessing at play here.  I don't think you are probably guessing in the same sense as I mean in the FAQ.  When you play a move you may not be certain you have the best move , but you've probably analysed the position enough to decide your move is at least a reasonable move.  The kind of guessing I'm talking about is where the user has no idea what to play and so plays (for example) a move which takes material (without even thinking about wether the opponent can get the material back or not).  I'm not qualified to make judgements on what is the best method of play, but I'd guess if you are playing "incremementally" in the sense that you look one move ahead, play your move then repeat this until you either lose or reach the end of the tactic that this method is unlikely to be very sucessful in OTB play.  This is what I'm referring to by guessing and playing "incrementally" in the FAQ.

Regards,
Richard.