Chess Tempo improves your tournament chess?

[drahacikfm]

My 9-year-old son, bubak here on Chess Tempo, has been doing a lot of Chess Tempo problems the last 3 months.  He has played 3 tournaments in July and August.  His performance ratings in those 3 tournaments was 1865, 1917, and 1922.

Last year he played about 6 tournaments, and had a performance over 1800 in only one tournament.

Of course he has been doing other things besides Chess Tempo, such as playing 60-minute games on ICC and looking at them with me afterwards.  And he is one year older, so he should be better.  But Chess Tempo certainly has not hurt his results.

[oblonsky]

Drahacikfm

That is one hell of a talented son you have there.

[barrynl]

Wow, 1900 at 9 years - he's certainly on the path to GM

[revenant]

drahacik, any anecdotes to offer about what kinds of Chess Tempo problems bubak enjoys most and which the least?  Does he find some aspects of solving to be frustrating or discouraging the way we adults often do?  On the other hand are there certain patterns or themes he thinks are really cool?

Hope he's having fun, because chess should above all be fun, especially for kids.  Best of luck in the tourneys.

[drahacikfm]

revenant:  The problems he really hates are the ones he gets wrong

No, I haven't noticed that he likes any types of problems more than others.  Of course like most kids (and most adults I guess), he likes problems where he sacks pieces and mates.  He likes more difficult problems, which is good.  I had him doing all the mate-in-two problems, and he thought that was boring.  He likes the ratings more than the problems, and he's mad when his rating is lower than the day before.  Just like me

barrynl:  1900 at age 9, and becoming GM are two very different things.  It all depends if he keeps up his interest in chess for many years.  Kids can be great when they are young, and then lose interest when they are 12 or 13.  We'll see what happens!

[angrypirate]

I must say I agree with the idea that tactical study pays off...I just finished a USCF tournament, with a performance rating of 1840......3.5 / 4

In every one of the games, it was a tactical idea that helped me....even in the draw that I had, I had to sac. the exchange to eliminate a powerful piece, and that helped me draw the game!

[argentum]

Hi,

I am sure this site is very helpful improving tactical eye.

My standard rating here has gone up considerably since I started a month ago and I can feel several themes which I missed often earlier and I don't miss them anymore (so often). For example: in between moves which check, x-ray attack and defense, seeing mating squares in mating net, decoy and attraction tactics, and so on...

I can really feel clearly the improvement. Learning with other methods is probably slower, this kind of site with huge amount of problems that are auto-adapted to match your level is darn good.

Congrats and great work Richard,
Regs Argentum

[richard]

Thanks everyone.  I'm glad the site appears to be meeting its intended purpose!

Regards,
Richard.

[drahacikfm]

Hi guys, I've been away 10 days with my son (bubak here on chesstempo.com).  He played in the European Championship for Boys 10 and under, and came in 17th place out of 118 boys with 6 out of 9.  Better than we expected.

Before the tournament he was training a lot here on chesstempo, and I think it helped a lot.

Now he's playing in the European Rapid Chess Championship for Boys 10 and under, and he has 4 out of 6 so far with the final 3 games tomorrow.

[andreacoda]

Kudos for the result, and happy to hear you are back!
I didn't hear from you for a while, and I was afraid we lost our spiritual father!

Next time, in case of long absences, drop us a line so we don't get worried... 

Welcome back, and gratz again for your son!

Andrea

[iduditz]

it would be great if there was a similar area for endgame puzzles or trainers.. top notch site!

[rené torenstra]

I'm sure the site helps a lot.

One thing: remember you (usually) don't have to find the killer move OTB in a few seconds. Recheck your line

[tama]

But OTB you still dont got all day to make a move eater.

[drahacikfm]

I played two league games this weekend.  In the first game I beat a player rated over 2300 FIDE, which hasn't happened very often for me this year.  I think my Chess Tempo training really helped in that game.  I don't think I saw any tactics that I would not have seen before.  But I saw the tactics throughout the game much faster than before, and that helped me get a nice time advantage on the clock.  My opponent played some mistakes in time trouble, while I didn't get into time trouble.  Also during the game I was playing moves that would lead to complicated tactical positions like those on Chess Tempo.  Usually I play more positionally.  So I can say that Chess Tempo training changed my style a little and saved me time on the clock, both of which contributed to winning that game for me.

Second game was a draw after the opening so that our team would win, so no tactics there.

[dougy]

Congratulations on your nice win there.

I have a tournament this weekend and am hoping to do well partly as a result of this site.  My FIDE is currently 2000 (exactly).  I'll tell you how I go.  *fingers crossed*

Curiously my standard rating on here is also around 2000.