i like
newlook's approach toward building a solid foundation .. is that an option in the premium edition?
like Drake, i start most days with tactics and coffee .. when i begin a CT session, i warmup with a set of missed problems, oldest first .. when i miss a problem again or recognize and remember the sollution on review, i copy the problem line from my problem history display and keep it in a text file named
CT Multiple Misses .. having just begun this practice i have only 13 such problems - only 4 are +100 points above my current rating, 1611, the majority are near or below my rating .. i don't have the stats, but i've noticted i tend to miss about 40% and remain clueless about what exactily i am missing .. periodically, i intend to re-review these problems, lowest rated first .. removing them from my review list as i gain mastery .. now, i'm wondering if the premium edition might offer this too?
Drake, out of curiousity, i took a look at your problem history when i finished mine yesterday .. i'd estimate on average, i am spending up to 10X more time on most problems as you .. i have really SLOWED DOWN in analyzing problems forcing myself to not answer until i can see and trust at least 2-3 moves into the problem .. often i'l even take a break while working a problem, or have breakfast, etc, between problems .. my most annoying error is when i quickly make a move with little analysis in an unexpected variation 3 or 4 moves into the solution .. i'm working on slowing down there too
yesterday, for example, all my chess time was wholly devoted to tactics .. at the point where i finished, Drake, we had both worked about 36 problems, a very long session for me these days .. my overall clock time was 4 hours, yours about one hour .. as i've suggested elsewhere, i think this slowing down approach is helping with my overall visualization and seeing combinations which is my primary focus, for now .. my logic is to build a strong set of tactical fundamentals and improved look ahead vision before worrying with the many other aspects of the game, all needing serious attention .. with analysis of games i play, Crafty is doing a good job at teaching me endgame situations where i am badly missing mate opportunities and other blunders
i'm not suggesting my approach is better, in fact most might find it quite boring .. mine is just different and offered as food for thought, yours and mine .. we each have unique learning styles .. as a former teacher and life long learner, i suspect the golden key is discovering what works for each learner .. except for the very experienced tournament players, ratings, imo, are not necessarily a very good measurement of learning or knowledge, but rather simply a measurement of individual progress .. since, i shifted to slowing down my CT rating has increased over 200 points in less than two weeks after dipping to a low point when mindlessly working 200-300 problems one day on Labor Day weekend .. more importantly, my gut check continues to tell me i am learning, but i know i have just begun
Drake, i know you have sound and broad knowledge as well as excellent pattern recognition skills .. days like yesterday apparently was for you happen to us all .. yesterday was frustrating for me, too, even though i was up nearly 30 rating points at one time, i just didn't feel as if i was seeing the board .. rather than pushing myself, as i've often done before, i just put it all aside .. i quickly discovered i really needed some sleep .. having the opportunity, i napped on an off all day .. rested now, i am feeling much better, but my days and nights are now reversed - here it is just after midnight and i just finished breakfast and am on my second cup of coffee .. so it goes
[on a personal note, Hurricane Ike has shifted and is bearing down on the upper Texas coast .. with Drake and i, living near Houston, now well within in the "cone of probability", we will be battening down the hatches soon with landfall expected late Friday .. so, send us some positive thoughts .. we are going to be on the dirty side of this storm where the wind and rains are most severe .. three years ago we were on the clean side of Rita and without power almost two weeks here in my rural community where numerous trees and power lines cause frequent and lengthy outages .. hopefully, the storm will fizzle or change course again, but they tend to strengthen over the warm open waters in the Gulf of Mexico and predicted trend lines are pretty accurate these days .. i'm headed to the library later for a good chess book .. i may well have a few days or more for reading
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