Getting started
Calling it a 'week' of study would be a serious overstatement as I spent much more time getting the blog tools and conditions set up properly. That and other things. A cop-out, no question, and excuses aren't going to get me there, but that is the purpose of the blog, isn't it? Keeping me honest. This next week will really get the thing underway.
I actually tried getting this domain more than once over the years, but found it taken by some ophthalmologist (if memory serves) who had his small site set up, and who shared my first and last names. I wasn't enthralled with the idea of some other permutation with hyphens or other, and had given up. To be fair, at the time I had no real idea of what I would do with it, and just wanted to have ownership of it when the time came. To my surprise, while arguing with a friend that it was not available, and about to show him, I was startled to discover that it was now free. So I leaped at the chance and grabbed it.
The slightly inconvenient side is that the phone has been ringing all day with people offering to create a site for my new domain. When I ask them what is wrong with the one I did, they are universally surprised to learn I have one, and hang up in my face. Twice I was actually called up by a machine if you can believe that crap.
According to the Time Management program, I spent about 6.5 hours studying this week, which is definitely on the light side, but I will get into the proper groove. I explored some of the options, and spent considerably more time on tactics than other things.
Here is one of the positions I ran into on the ChessBase Tactics trainer:
A sign of my rust possibly, I had a good deal of trouble solving it properly. Still, this was to be expected and in time it will come quicker and easier.
The solution is 1. c4! Qd6 2. Re6!! I actually saw this move fairly quickly but didn't see a crushing conclusion and figured I was 'trying too hard' to be creative, and was missing something simpler and possibly more efficient. It wasn't so much a lack of confidence in my ideas as having been burned before from precisely what I just described. In this case, however, my creative bend was spot on, and had I just looked calmly to see where it led from the get-go, I'd have solved it much quicker. 2...Qxe6 3. Nxc5 Qe8 4. Qxa7+ Kd6 5. Rxd4+ and the rest is easy.
The most strenuous part of my study was actually the visualization exercises I had described in The Plan. I literally took almost an hour and a half on that first major game in My Great Predecessors, playing through the moves, but meticulously playing out the analysis in my mind. The problem is that Kasparov is nothing if not thorough, which means not only openings commentary that referred to Fischer-Tal (Curaçao, 1962) for a nearly prehistoric game from 1834, but analysis that could extend as far as some 20 moves ahead. That's fine if we are talking about visualizing far ahead in a basic pawn endgame maybe, but not when the analysis starts with a position such as:
In fact, thinking more objectively about it, even 10 moves is ludicrous for such complex positions. In an endgame I will no doubt really stick to it, but when faced with this again, I will likely limit myself to 6-7 moves (meaning a full 6-7 moves for each color), at least until I am much further down the path to my goal.
The interface is bringing a series of tools such as Assisted Analysis, and Assisted Calculation. This latter promises to bring new tools to work on one's calculation skills, and though my first, basic tool is the book Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation by Jacob Aagaard, I will gladly include this depending on my impressions and conclusions on its usefulness.
Setting up the site
My initial blog URL was one of those ghastly combinations you get when you sign up for a free blog space: masterat50.blogspot.com. Gesundheit. It is now under a domain using my name: albertsilver.orgI actually tried getting this domain more than once over the years, but found it taken by some ophthalmologist (if memory serves) who had his small site set up, and who shared my first and last names. I wasn't enthralled with the idea of some other permutation with hyphens or other, and had given up. To be fair, at the time I had no real idea of what I would do with it, and just wanted to have ownership of it when the time came. To my surprise, while arguing with a friend that it was not available, and about to show him, I was startled to discover that it was now free. So I leaped at the chance and grabbed it.
The slightly inconvenient side is that the phone has been ringing all day with people offering to create a site for my new domain. When I ask them what is wrong with the one I did, they are universally surprised to learn I have one, and hang up in my face. Twice I was actually called up by a machine if you can believe that crap.
Wetting the feet
According to the Time Management program, I spent about 6.5 hours studying this week, which is definitely on the light side, but I will get into the proper groove. I explored some of the options, and spent considerably more time on tactics than other things.
Here is one of the positions I ran into on the ChessBase Tactics trainer:
The solution is 1. c4! Qd6 2. Re6!! I actually saw this move fairly quickly but didn't see a crushing conclusion and figured I was 'trying too hard' to be creative, and was missing something simpler and possibly more efficient. It wasn't so much a lack of confidence in my ideas as having been burned before from precisely what I just described. In this case, however, my creative bend was spot on, and had I just looked calmly to see where it led from the get-go, I'd have solved it much quicker. 2...Qxe6 3. Nxc5 Qe8 4. Qxa7+ Kd6 5. Rxd4+ and the rest is easy.
The most strenuous part of my study was actually the visualization exercises I had described in The Plan. I literally took almost an hour and a half on that first major game in My Great Predecessors, playing through the moves, but meticulously playing out the analysis in my mind. The problem is that Kasparov is nothing if not thorough, which means not only openings commentary that referred to Fischer-Tal (Curaçao, 1962) for a nearly prehistoric game from 1834, but analysis that could extend as far as some 20 moves ahead. That's fine if we are talking about visualizing far ahead in a basic pawn endgame maybe, but not when the analysis starts with a position such as:
[Event "1: Fourth match, London"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1834.??.??"]
[Round "16"]
[White "McDonnell, A."]
[Black "La Bourdonnais, L."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B32"]
[Annotator "Garry Kasparov"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4rr1k/1b2b1pp/7q/p1P1pp2/B1QpN3/5P2/PP4PP/2RR2K1 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "1834.??.??"]
[Source "Everyman Chess"]
[SourceDate "2013.04.05"]
23. Bxe8 $2 ({The last possibility of sharpening the play was} 23. Nd6 $1 Bxd6
24. Bxe8 ({or} 24. cxd6 Rc8 {and wins}) 24... Bc7 25. c6 e4 26. cxb7 Qxh2+ 27.
Kf1 exf3 28. gxf3 Bg3 $1 ({Romanovsky only considered} 28... Qh3+ 29. Ke2 Rxe8+
30. Kd3 Qxf3+ 31. Kc2 Qxb7 32. Qxd4 {, although even here after} h6 {Black is
slightly better}) 29. Qxd4 Rxe8 {, and now not} 30. Rd2 $2 ({but the computer
move} 30. Rc3 $1 {, and Black still has to work for his win:} h5 $1 31. f4 h4
32. b8=Q $1 Rxb8 33. Rd2 Qh1+ 34. Ke2 Qe1+ 35. Kd3 Qf1+ 36. Kc2 Bxf4 37. Qf2
Qxf2 38. Rxf2 g5 39. Rxf4 gxf4 40. Rh3 Kg7 41. Rxh4 Rb4 {with a won endgame})
30... Qh1+ 31. Qg1 Qxf3+ 32. Rf2 Bxf2 33. Qxf2 Qxb7 {with two extra pawns
(Neishtadt).}) 23... fxe4 $1 {(the avalanche of passed pawns sweeps away
everything in its path) Etc.} 0-1
I'll be frank in saying I got lost in the forest more than once, forced to backtrack to reset the image and relationship of forces, and knew I was kidding myself if I wanted to claim I had really visualized it all. Instead I broke off at the 10-move point, updated the position on the board, and started again from there. The idea is for this to be productive study, and not some ego-stroking exercise that has me convincing myself I really 'visualized' 20 moves ahead.In fact, thinking more objectively about it, even 10 moves is ludicrous for such complex positions. In an endgame I will no doubt really stick to it, but when faced with this again, I will likely limit myself to 6-7 moves (meaning a full 6-7 moves for each color), at least until I am much further down the path to my goal.
New Tools
In a couple of weeks, ChessBase will be releasing Fritz 16, and I am quite excited by it. The latest and greatest engine, in this case based on Rybka, is of interest, but not what piques my curiosity.
The interface is bringing a series of tools such as Assisted Analysis, and Assisted Calculation. This latter promises to bring new tools to work on one's calculation skills, and though my first, basic tool is the book Grandmaster Preparation: Calculation by Jacob Aagaard, I will gladly include this depending on my impressions and conclusions on its usefulness.
Comments
Post a Comment