Saturday, December 31, 2005

 

A long time ago...

...in a galaxy not real far away, I made a mistakes list to use in post-mortem analysis. My post-mortems consist of me spending 30+ minutes going over the game alone and then with Chessmaster, jotting down the worst of it. I was spotting about a third of the mistakes and Chessmaster was filling in the rest. In doing this it was obvious that tactics were the biggest hurdle, and I pretty much stopped using this list and started on the circles.

The mistakes list was intended to see how someone's performance in standard games was progressing over time. One difficulty in using it is it does not track your opponent's level of play. Even if you are improving, playing someone who is way over your head will likely push you into more mistakes, and those games make the list look like you are slipping backwards.

I present this as freely usable for personal or educational purposes only. Email me if you want to publish this or any parts of this. It may prove useful to someone out there, especially under 1500 folks. Modify to suit your own needs.
-=-=-=-=-

Mistakes List

MistakeExplanation
HasteActing like under time pressure when not
Time PressureNeed to manage time better
Mouse SlipOTB - Didn't write down the move first with plenty of time
Opening ErrorNeglecting development breaking from principals
Questionable/Weak Move
Easy Positional ErrorWeak center or squares inaccurate defense Knight on edge etc.
Medium Positional ErrorWhen 2 or 3 factors needed to be considered
Difficult Positional ErrorWhen 4+ factors needed to be considered
King Safety ErrorUnforced loosening of King's defenders or bad King moves
Back and 7th Rank ProblemsBoth offense and defense
Lost TempoWhen other moves were better
Lost InitiativeWhen it could have been preserved
Bad Plan or Tunnel VisionWhen you failed to fully examine what was called for
No Plan
After the Move ProblemBlocking your defenders, accidentally opening or closing lines, etc.
Forgot What I Saw EarlierCould be anything, like abandoning defense of other pieces
Weak/Inferior Pawn Structure
Failed To RetreatWhen there were other alternatives
Moved Into MateCalculating inaccuracies
Missed Mate
Stalemate ProblemsAllowed perpetual check thoughtless promotion etc.
Bad TradeWhen a trade of loses advantage
In Over Your HeadGetting into positions beyond your ability to play
Easy Endgame BlunderWhen a won/drawn game becomes drawn/lost
Medium Endgame BlunderWhen a won/drawn game becomes drawn/lost
Difficult Endgame BlunderWhen a won/drawn game becomes drawn/lost
Easy Endgame MistakeWhen only some advantage is lost
Medium Endgame MistakeWhen only some advantage is lost
Difficult Endgame MistakeWhen only some advantage is lost
Tactical Level of ErrorSimple clear and forced tactics are as below
(Include Missed Mate)Add 1-6 for unclear positions 1-4 for many variations 2-8 for combinations
0Blunder of not immediately taking
1
2Your opponent takes your hanging piece
3
4You miss a pin fork skewer or unstoppable threat
5
6You give your opponent a pin fork skewer or unstoppable threat
7
8You miss a 2 move threat or tactic
9
10You give your opponent a 2 move threat or tactic
11
12You miss a 3 move threat or tactic
13
14You give your opponent a 3 move threat or tactic
15
16You miss a 4 move threat or tactic
17
18You give your opponent a 4 move threat or tactic
19
20You miss a 5 move threat or tactic
21
22+



-=-=-=-=-

Example game:

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2004.11.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chessmaster"]
[Black "kingofthespill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2004.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 Bxc3+ 8.
bxc3 b6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. O-O h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Re8 13. Qc2 Ne4 14. c4 Nxg3
15. hxg3 Nf6 16. cxd5 Bb7 17. e4 Qe7 18. Rfe1 Rac8 19. Ne5 c5 20. dxc6 Qb4 21.
Bc4 Rxe5 22. Rab1 Rxe4 23. Rxe4 Qxb1+ 24. Qxb1 Bxc6 25. Re7 Bd5 26. Qf5 Rxc4
27. Qxf6 Rc6 28. Re8+ Kh7 29. Rh8# 1-0 paste below game into this link:

Mistake11/5/04, Black
Haste26
Time Pressure
Mouse Slip
Opening Error
Questionable/Weak Move7
Easy Positional Error
Medium Positional Error17
Difficult Positional Error
King Safety Error11
Back and 7th Rank Problems
Lost Tempo
Lost Initiative
Bad Plan or Tunnel Vision16, 19, 20
No Plan
After the Move Problem16
Forgot What I Saw Earlier
Weak/Inferior Pawn Structure
Failed To Retreat
Moved Into Mate
Missed Mate
Stalemate Problems
Bad Trade
In Over Your Head22
Easy Endgame Blunder
Medium Endgame Blunder
Difficult Endgame Blunder
Easy Endgame Mistake
Medium Endgame Mistake
Difficult Endgame Mistake
Tactical Level of Error
(Include Missed Mate)
016
1
2
319
4
5
6
7
8
9
1027
11
12
1322
14
15
16
17
18
19
2023
21
22+



Saturday, December 24, 2005

 

2005+1

I just lost my team 45/45 game. After a decent opening which I memorized through move 5, I went with a weakish Queenside castling and just wasn't finding good moves after that. My opponent's performance was rated as 93% agreement and 0 pawns worth of error according to Chessmaster, which essentially is Expert to Master strength.

I am getting back into TCT. No push towards finishing, just daily practice. I hope this next year brings more accurate combinations and brilliancies to me and all of my fellow Knight Errants.
-=-=-=-=-
Happy Holidays!
-=-=-=-=-

TCT Results

Circle 1Circle 2Circle 3Circle 4
Step 197%99%99%100%r
Step 293%96%95%97%
Step 393%97%97%96%
Step 480%86%90%92%
Step 574%

77%

83%92%*



 

Then What? II

From here what would be best after 32 Nde5+ fxe5 33 Nxe5+ Kg8?




Let's face it, to me this is it, the then what that loses or wins games at crucial moments. I'm not talking about combinations, just simple checks, threats, and captures. The day after my last post I was still working on the above problem because of this unclear sub-variation. I'll tell you in advance that I didn't get it right.
Mind you I worked through this problem about 9 months ago 7 times, and even reviewed it twice. Lesson learned: never grow old!

Back to the story. Starting from the the above question, I worked through a variety of Knight moves just to prove they were bad, although something in the back of my mind signaled "mate threat" on the right side of the board. All I could see after 32 Nde5+ fxe5 33 Nxe5+ Kg8 was Ng6, threatening the Rook when the White Queen hangs. I filed it away for later. I couldn't see much difference in the remaining obvious choices 34. Qxa5 or Rxb8. In my mind they were close, both eventually leaving White with a positional advantage and an extra pawn, and Black suffering with a difficult to promote a6 pawn and a backward e6 pawn. I did attempt a long, complete evaluation of both, posted below interspersed with Fritz corrections. I worked through the e6 pawn capture below, also. I went back and thought about adding the Knight to g6 idea, but I couldn't see it do anything good for the position, and therefore didn't change my opinion of either one.

I had a clue, though; 33... Kc8 wasn't chosen by a chess computer. Neither line was as bad as 33... Kf6, so I figured I did something wrong. After some frustration I plugged it into Fritz to find out why. Arrrrg. If you can see which of these choices for 34 is overwhelmingly better, you probably do have the potential to become a master. I just have difficulty realizing there was a line opened along the b1-h7 diagonal, a4-d1 diagonal, and that the King can be forced to move to a vulnerable square. Silly me.

I may be nitpicking, but I think Seirawan did this problem a disservice by leaving this out of his analysis in Winning Chess Tactics, not to mention he had marked this as intermediate as opposed to professional level difficulty. Bad GM!


-=-=-=-=-


Fritz's best in bold, all White +- winning lines, but only one clear best one for White. rn5r/2p2kp1/p1n1pp1p/q1PpN3/Q2P4/PR2PN2/5PPP/1R5K b - - 0 1

1. Nde5+ fxe5 2. Nxe5+ Kg8 3. Rxb8+

(3. Qxa5 Nxa5 4. Rxb8+ Rxb8 5. Rxb8+ Kh7 6.Rxh8+ Kxh8)

3... Rxb8 4. Rxb8+ Kh7?? {This is my idea. I was thinking the Rooks could x-ray protect each other. Strangely 4...Nxb8 Qxa5 +13.00 is marked as best. Urp.} 5. Qc2+ {this line is open !? *smack forehead*} 5...g6 6.Qxg6#

$1 (5. Rxh8+ Kxh8 6. Qxa5 Nxa5 7.Nf7+ Kg8 8. Nd8 e5 9. dxe5 Nc4 10. e6 Kf8 11. Nc6 Nxa3 12. Nb4 Ke7 13. Nxd5+Kxe6 14. Nxc7+ Kd7 15. Nxa6)

(5. Qxa5 Nxa5 6. Nd7

(6. Rxh8+ Kxh8 7. Nf7+ Kg8 8.Nd8 e5 9. dxe5 Nc4 10. e6 Kf8 11. Nc6 Nxa3)

6... Rxb8 7. Nxb8 Kg6 8. Nxa6 c6 9.Nb8 Kf5 10. Nd7 Nc4 11. a4 Ke4 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 d4 14. exd4 Kxd4 15. a5Kxc5 16. f4 g6 17. g4 Kb5 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 exf5 20. e6) *

-=-=-=-=-

TCT is on vacation.
Reviewing all book circles.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

 

Then What?

Edit correction: this is move 32, not 35.
(32.) White to move.


Deep Thought vs Mephisto
21st North American Computer Chess Championship
New York, Nov 11-14, 1990

1 Nf3 d5 2 e3 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4 Be2 Nc6 5 d4 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 O-O 7
Bxb4 Nxb4 8 a3 Nc6 9 O-O Na5 10 c5 b6 11 b4 Nc6 12 Nc3 bxc5
13 bxc5 Qe7 14 Rb1 Bd7 15 Bb5 Rfb8 16 Qa4 Nd8 17 Bxd7 Nxd7
18 Qa5 Rc8 19 Nb5 a6 20 Nc3 Qf6 21 Rb3 Qg6 22 Rfb1 f6 23
R1b2 h6 24 Kh1 Qd3 25 Ne2 Qd1+ 26 Nfg1 Nc6 27 Qa4 Ndb8 28
Nf4 Kf7 29 Nd3 Rh8 30 Rb1 Qd2 31 Nf3 Qa5 32 Nde5+ fxe5 33
Nxe5+ Kf6 34 Qxa5 Nxa5 35 Rxb8 Rhxb8 36 Rxb8 Rxb8 37 Nd7+
Ke7 38 Nxb8 Nc4 39 Nxa6 Kd8 40 a4 Nb2 41 Kg1 Nxa4 42 Kf1 Kd7
43 f3 Nc3 44 Nb8+ Kc8 45 Nc6 Kd7 46 Ne5+ Ke7 47 Ke1 g5 48
Kd2 Nb5 49 Kc2 Kf6 50 Kb3 Na7 51 Kb4 h5 52 Ka5 Nc8 53 g4
hxg4 54 fxg4 Ne7 55 Ka6 Ng8 56 Kb7 Ke7 57 Kxc7 Nf6 58 c6
Ne8+ 59 Kc8 Kd6 60 Kb7 1-0

It's easy to see the Knight sacrifice/Knight forking the overworked Black Knight and Black King idea, but then what? It's usually one of the weaker variations that I will have difficulty calculating, and sometimes not seeing that a square is going to be clear like the f6 square here.


I bumped into this "then what" difficulty in reviewing my book circles. My habit seems to have been to first get a very accurate hunch about a combination being in a position, correctly find the first move, then screw it up somewhere later. This calculation difficulty is still a problem, and it's as if the circles have only chipped away at the edges of it. Part of this problem is software. TCT isn't all that strong in its determining whether you know every continuation or not, although it occasionally does play some weaker continuation moves that forces you down some of those paths.

I haven't thought about "then what" for quite awhile. It was a one of things that made me seriously study tactics. Back a couple of years ago, I could usually work my opponent ( i.e. beginner) into some sort of tactical position that I rarely played right. Nowadays I find my opponents are usually more accurate and give away less tactical opportunities. The over 1800 crowd seems to be much better at creating those situations, that's for sure.
I need to get my positional knowledge beefed up after these cirles are done so I can deal with it better on both offense and defense.

P.S. I just had this happen again as White. Sloppy game...arg.

White to Move.

h

m

m

The pawn "sacrifice" e6+ seemed almost obvious, though later I found it was not the strongest. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the best moves after he (inaccurately) took it even with plenty of time.

11.e6+ Kxe6 12.Qg4+ f5 13.Qe2+ Kd7 14.Bxg5 Nf6 15.Bxf6?! exf6 16.Nd2

Fritz has this:

1. +- (5.00): 12.Qe2+ Kd7 13.Bg4+ Ke8 14.Be6 h5 15.Qb5+ c6 16.Qd3 Rh6 17.Bxb8 Qxb8 18.Bxg8

2. +- (3.41): 12.Qg4+ f5 13.Qe2+ Kd7 14.Be5 Nf6 15.Bf7 e6 16.Bxe6+ Kc6 17.Nc3 Ba8 18.Nxd5 Nxd5

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.d3 Nd4 5.e4 Nxf3+ 6.Bxf3 d5 7.e5 Rb8 8.d4 f6 9.Bf4 g510.Bh5+ Kd7 11.e6+ Kxe6 12.Qg4+ f5 13.Qe2+ Kd7 14.Bxg5 Nf6 15.Bxf6 exf6 16.Nd2 Bb417.O-O-O Bxd2+ 18.Rxd2 c6 19.Re1 Kc8 20.Qe6+ Qd7 21.Qxf6 Rd8 22.Re7 Qd6 23.Qxf5+Rd7 24.Rde2 Kc7 25.Qxh7 Bc8 26.Rxd7+ Bxd7 27.Bg4 Rd8 28.Re7 a5 29.Rxd7+ Rxd7 30.Qxd7+Qxd7 31.Bxd7 Kxd7 32.a4 Ke6 33.Kd2 Kf5 34.Ke3 Kg4 35.f3+ Kg5 36.h4+ Kh5 37.f4 Kg438.c3 c5 39.dxc5 bxc5 40.b3 Kf5 41.h5 Kf6 42.g4 Kg7 43.g5 Kf7 44.f5 Kg7 45.h6+ Kh746.Kf4 d4 47.cxd4 cxd4 48.Ke4 {Black resigns} 1-0

-=-=-=-=-
TCT is on vacation.
Reviewing all book circles.

Friday, December 16, 2005

 

More 5334 Talk

I have been reviewing my old book circle material. I feel rusty, so it seems must a good time to review. I am backing off of trying to get to some specific completion point with TCT, too. It just was extra pressure I don't need.

-=-=-=-=-

When it comes to real chess, I am still pretty clueless. You know, the exclamation mark moves, like those you find in CT-Art. I sometimes refer to this as the other game of chess.

When I got into regular reading of 5334 before the TCT circles, I was aware of the clear demarcation between the doable natural mates and endgames verses the non-doable other game of chess composed problems and combinations. Urp. I clearly needed to improve.


I figured that I was weak in the middlegame, so why not attack the combination section? Unfortunately that section of the book equally abstract as the rest of it, with no text or even x capture indications. Simply visualizing most of the continuations was so hard I had no free brain cells to then understand it, that is unless it was one of those few "mate in 2" ones. Still, I wanted to get into sacrifices, which I found to be one of the most intriguing part of chess, so I started wading through it. I now think I have grossly underestimated how difficult it would be to learn to regularly create winning sacrifice threats.

Anyway, I was and still am convinced that if you never even look at these weird moves, your likely to lose to them OTB. I made a note of those combinations that were the easiest to understand, given plenty of time that is. If you find the combination section daunting in 5334, you might try these first.

Medium: 4793, 4809, 4812, 4831, 4851
All involve attacks on either the f2 or f7 pawn.

Harder: 4899, 4901, 4904, 4954, 4957
All involve attacks on either the g2 or g7 pawn.

They have a known thematic move to be played in the diagram, so calculating is actually simpler than in real life. Some are forced mate, others are simply getting a winning advantage. They all look like fairly weird moves but with work, sometimes alot of work, they make sense.

-=-=-=-=-

TCT Results

Circle 1Circle 2Circle 3Circle 4
Step 197%99%99%100%r
Step 293%96%95%97%
Step 393%97%97%96%
Step 480%86%90%92%
Step 574%

77%

83%??%


Wednesday, December 14, 2005

 

Congratulations Tempo


I just happen to look on the CTS server and lo and behold, Tempo, you are the King of CTS. You may not consider yourself graduated, but this is an equivalent achievement to me and definitely worth celebrating.

-=-=-=-=-
I am happy to say that I have just finished Circle 4 of Step 4, and it's cool to be done with that one. The 92% seems high, especially considering how many positions I got stuck on.


I now study 40+ minutes daily with TCT. I am doing my best to just focus on the problem in front of me and forget about finishing any particular circle. A part of me certainly does want to be done. Based on other people's experience, that quality of the circles wearing on me seems like par for the course.


-=-=-=-=-

TCT Results

Circle 1Circle 2Circle 3Circle 4
Step 197%99%99%100%r
Step 293%96%95%97%
Step 393%97%97%96%
Step 480%86%90%92%
Step 574%

77%

83%??%


Wednesday, December 07, 2005

 

Stupidity Repellent

Just spray it on and it keeps you blunder free! Never fall for another trap again! Play more actively in no time!

Wouldn't that be great?! You could charge a pretty penny for it, too.
To some degree, that's what I hope to get from all this chess study. As of yet, I have not found any appropriate repellent in liquid or tablet form, so I suppose the circles will have to do.


-=-=-=-


I think that many good points about CTS have been made on J'adoube's latest post, both pro and con.

I have used CTS more since my last post, maybe 10-15 problems several days a week. I certainly don't think I have used it enough to draw any new conclusions, but I agree with Tempo that the major weakness is lack of integrated mechanism for problem repetition. It obviously isn't a panacea, I agree with J'adoube's points on the importance of good opening and middlegame play. Nonetheless, I like CTS for what it is, and use it to find where my tactical blind spots are.

I want to add that I do not like to guess using CTS. I attempt to really see the essential idea before playing any move. I could care less about the timer, but if my percentage falls below 80 percent, that's the signal to me that I am guessing
. If my rating drops on the server, I take it to mean that I am tired. No big deal.

One cool CTS interface idea I thought of was a vision mode - i.e. rather than seeing your opponent's move they just put in the text move.

-=-=-=-=-

TCT Results

Circle 1Circle 2Circle 3Circle 4
Step 197%99%99%100%r
Step 293%96%95%97%
Step 393%97%97%96%
Step 480%86%90%92%*
Step 574%

77%

83%??%



Saturday, December 03, 2005

 

Black Knights


I have joined the ranks of the Black Knights for the upcoming ICC 45/45 team tournament. I hope we fare better than the Black Knight in the "Holy Grail".

Although I am doing ok with the problems, I feel myself lagging. I am really getting to the point of just wanting to be done with these circles. I think I will at least aim for using some holiday time to eliminate Step 2 and perhaps even Step 3 once and for all.

-=-=-=-=-


Here's a pin-breaking tactic that came up recently. White to move.



-=-=-=-=-

TCT Results

Circle 1Circle 2Circle 3Circle 4
Step 197%99%99%100%r
Step 293%96%95%97%
Step 393%97%97%96%
Step 480%86%90%91%*
Step 574%

77%

83%??%


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