Accumulate Small Advantages

Well, I'll see how long this lasts. Don't they say you need to do something for 21 days to make it a habit? So I'm going to try to keep this up for 21 days ... even if I have nothing to post.

Tactics

I did 20 today. I went on quite a roll and rattled off 9 in a row and moved above 1800 for the first time in a LONG time. The minimum goal is 20 blitz tactics a day at ChessTempo. I was up over 2000 (blitz rating) quite a while ago, but dropped dramatically after the admin updated the algorithm for rating adjustments. So getting to 1800 after being in the 1750's-1780's for the last several weeks is a good sign.

Logical Chess

When I started reading this book, I was updating a .pgn file with all the commentary Chernev wrote so that I could have the whole book in .pgn format. My reason for doing this is so that I can go back and read the book over and over again, but have it in .pgn file for easier reading. The downside to this is that it is so tedious. I'm up to game 9. But since I've been in this book for so long, I just want to get through it without putting pressure on myself to put it in .pgn format. So I'm just going to read the book and follow along in the .pgn file without worrying about typing it up.

Today I went over game 9. I would regularly ask myself what move I would make before looking at the next move. I've heard this is a great way to study GM games. I felt the cogs turning in my head and was much more into the book than if I had just read it.

I learned a couple of concepts from game 9.

Get the rooks out of their corners.

The other one is one particular paragraph. It says,

"Note that White has not embarked on dubious long-range combinations. His plan,
in most cases aimed at increasing his positional superiority, is made for a few moves only. Don't believe all those stories you hear of chess masters analysing intricate combinations with dozens of variations for thirty moves ahead. They don't do this because they don't have to! It is far easier and more to the point to look only a few moves ahead and try to maintain at least an equal game at every stage. Winning by accumulating small advantages is more consistent with a common-sense approach than to seek to overwhelm the opponent with bewildering combinations and venturesome sacrificial attacks. Strengthening one's own position gradually while undermining that of the opponent is more important than indulging in fruitless speculative fancies."

This is what the whole book is about ... how you go about identifying weaknesses in your opponent's game and how you can accumulate those small advantages.

That's all for today.

Keeping Track

I want to keep a regular update of what I am doing day to day on the chess improvement front. So I decided to start recording the tedious stuff I do every day which in turn will help me stay focused on the larger goals.

I'll comment on grandmaster games I'm playing over, any stuff I read from books, how many tactics I did that day, any interesting comments on tactics, exciting games or positions I've played, etc.. If I come up with any hot chess opinions or discussion-worthy stuff, I'll post it on this blog.

ChessForums.org

Back in the day when I first started to really get into chess, the Chessville forum seemed to be the place to discuss all things chess. Now that forum has all but dried up.

ChessForums.org is my new preference. The people who frequent that forum seem nice and respectable and the content seems relevant and useful. I signed up today so I could start posting there.

Stroll on over there if you get a few minutes.

General Factor of Intelligence: Chess vs. Painting

Half Sigma mentions chess a few times in his posts. His post today compares his thoughts about chess and painting. Be sure to read the comments too.

Chess Player Look-a-Likes: Carlsen-Damon

Here's another one.

Chess Player Look-a-Likes: Polgar-Livni

So I was at the gym the other day and was watching the TVs while I worked out. I thought I saw Susan Polgar being interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour, but that didn't seem right. Then I adjusted my eyes and saw it was Tzipi Livni.

"Basic Instructions" Mentions Chess

I think Scott Meyer's comic is one of the best out there right now.

He gave 'chess' a mention today.

DHA Doping

Tonight I read likesforests' latest post tonight in which he referred to taking DHA supplements. I have a small story to tell that involves DHA supplements. Several weeks ago in October, I attended a safety and wellness meeting at work. One of the head honchos over at the Cooper Institute spoke to us. He spoke very highly of omega-3's which contain DHA. If you haven't heard about these fatty acids and the benefits from taking them, then do some research.

Anyway, I've known for a few years that omega-3's are very good for you and especially for your brain. The brain is basically made of omega-3 fatty acids. In the past, I've taken flax seed oil and walnut oil, but I stopped after a while. After listening to the gentleman at the Cooper Institue, I decided to start taking fish oil and Cooper Complete vitamins. Since then, I've been taking fish oil and Cooper Complete vitamins every day.

My skin around my nose and eyebrows, which has suffered from some type of dry skin exema, has cleared up as a result of taking the supplments. Also, I feel my memory and coodination has improved. You may laugh, but before I started taking the supplements, the best I could do at playing Wii Tanks was 173 tanks and that was hard for me. One week after I started taking the supplements, I doubled my Wii Tanks record to 240. Ever since, I have regularly been scoring higher and have bested my previous record of 240 tanks to 243. I don't think it is a coincidence.

I think my chess has benefitted. I've been playing more blitz than usual the last several weeks. For the longest time, I stayed below 1200. But for the last several weeks, I've managed to stay above 1200.

But regardless if the omega-3's and vitamins are helping my video gaming and chess, I think the health benefits are tremendous.

Chess for Hunger

I was doing a search for Thanksgiving and chess and found this link. The page has a registration link on it, but the said tournament is closed for new registrations. But it looks like there is a new one available.

The Real Story of Thanksgiving

I heard this story several years ago and it amazes me that it isn't touted and taught more in school.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively. The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.

"And now you know the rest of the story"

Neatorama

So this post doesn't have much to do with chess, but it does have to do with a quest.

Some people read books for pleasure. I like to read blogs. The only blog I've read from post one to the final post was Don de la Maza's (our beloved founder of the Knights Errant).

Perhaps my all-time favorite blog is Neatorama. I'm on day two of reading every single post. I am leaving a comment on every post I read. The blog started in September 2005 and is still going strong today.

If you've never visited Neatorama, click on over there.

Brain Power

This is absolutely amazing. It is not unbelievable, but I didn't think I'd see these advances so early in my lifetime. My grandkids might not ever need to type! Wow. This technology is really mind-blowing.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Religion and Chess by Bill Wall

This is a fitting read considering the day of the week.

My favorite one - "Chess had picked up in Europe and pretty soon many of the clergy was spending more time playing chess than saving souls. In 1061 Cardinal Damiani of Ostin forbad the clergy from playing chess. He died in 1072 and chess was resumed in his domain."

This one is brutal - "In 1495 the Inquisition saw victims of persecutions stand in as figures in a game of living chess. The game was played by two blind players. Each time the captured piece was taken, the person representing that piece was put to death."

Getting Chess Skill

If you haven't visited Chess Vibes (or if you don't subscribe to their blog) you might want to saunter over there to read of some preliminary results they have on their recent study of chess skills.

Nothing too surprising about the results, but the glimmer of hope is found in once sentence: "Some believe that almost everyone can get to FIDE master with enough practice and study."

"So you're telling me there's a chance."

Additional Reading:
Susan Polgar picked this up too

I liked this graph which is displayed on Susan's blog

Straight Up Chess

Just when I thought chess could not get any more novel, it does.


Check out straightupchess.com The basic idea behind these boards is to make chess more artful by making the game into a piece of art ... hanging the game on the wall if you will. Very clever.

I wonder when the next leap will be ... LCD touch-screens with a chess board and pieces ... connected to FICS, ICC or wherever. I think I saw a commercial or maybe it was Bill Gates' home ... a coffee table that has a computer integrated into it. I seem to remember seeing people play chess on it.

Blitz Rating at FICS this Month

My blitz rating is mimicking the stock market. It goes up a little, but just keeps dropping even lower. I thought I'd get that off my chest.

Chess Comparisons

Tis the season when every sports writer in America breaks out the chess comparisons. Every year, MLB writers compare baseball matchups to chess. During the summer, it's not so bad. But during the playoffs, every, single writeup has at least one reference to chess.

Now with football in full swing, comparisons are being made between linebackers and quarterbacks. This week it was Ray Lewis vs. Peyton Manning.

To add on top of these is the US Presidential election. And we all know that somewhere in a political contest, there has to be at least some reference to chess. This political chess comparison is actually pretty good. The writer seems to have the good sense to take the comparison one step further by actually explaining the comparison of John McCain to an amateur chess player. Most writers will simply say, "it's a chess match" and leave it at that.

And then there is this article that classifies the two candidates into classic and hypermodern types. He dubs McCain a "classic 'Romantic-era' player" comparing him to Captain Evans. On the other hand, the author tags Obama as a "Hypermodern positional player" who is "an analytic who prefers big ideas to short-term tactics."

I really don't mind the comparisons. I enjoy the ones that go into the details. But the ones that make the broad-stroke comparisons aren't really that great. Everything is like chess in one way or another. But to put some thought behind the comparison is what makes the comparison truly worthy.

An Amusing Confession

With Magnus Carlsen making the news again (unofficially number one in the world now) I remembered the time our youngest son was born.

Our youngest son was born a few years ago. I was really, really interested in chess back then. I was playing daily and studying the game and such. During the course of my studies, the chess phenom Magnus Carlsen was garnering a lot of attention for his incredible chess talents.

So when our son was born, I tried really hard to convince my wife to name him Magnus. But she didn't like the name. She liked the name even less when I told her it was the name of a chess prodigy.

So instead of naming him after the next world chess champion, we ended up naming him after we heard a contestant's name on The Price is Right.

Chess Around the Net

I haven't done this in a while, but I managed to find some interesting stuff.

This New York Times article reports that American astronaut Greg Chamitoff is playing a game of chess against Mission Control. It also talks a bit about the first chess game played in space (by the Russians of course).

In this Washington Post article, the author relates how he used a chess class as a "crash-protection device" for his GPA. Read the full article for a useful tip in earning a higher GPA by taking a chess class.

Bored with chess? If you're good enough, you can always try rogue financial trading like Matthew Piper ... read more.

First there was chess-boxing. Now we have chess-marathon-running. David Levans, age 69, is determined to play six games of chess using his mobile phone while running a marathon! Read the article here.

In this eulogy, one of the stories described how government officials thought two-time Georgia chess champion A.C. Davis was a spy because he kept sending and receiving mysterious postcards!

"The demise of chess blogging" Response

LEP's post about the demise of chess blogging caught my attention. I've seen it too. I am a part of this falling off. Earlier this year (March-April-ish) my attention to chess blogging (reading and writing) decreased significantly.

In my case, there are number of reasons why. Right now I'm beginning to finish off an 18-month job position that requires me to work shifts. Hopefully I'll be done with this job early next year. The shift work has greatly disrupted my on-line chess activities. I mostly play correspondance chess now.

My family is continuing to grow up. Two kids are on school, one is in pre-K. They have a lot of activities going on and that takes a lot of time.

The last reason why I've decreased time with the chess blogging scene is I've sorta lost interest. I want to spend time on chess, but with so many other "distractions" I've not thought a whole lot about chess (not like I used to). Also, the Knights Errant seems dead. There isn't so much attention to them any more ... and nothing new (on-line) has replaced their gusto and fervor for chess.

One other thought occured to me ... I continue to peruse the chess blogs via bloglines. I agree with LEP's 2nd point ... there is a LOT of chess content on-line now. Information over-load might be another reason for the drop in interest. The vast majority of posts are *yawwwn* boring ... seen that, not new. But once in a while, there is a great post and catches my attention. I used to do "Chess Around the Net" posts and try to find out-of-the-ordinary stuff about chess. I still attempt this exercise, but more often than not, the stuff I find is old-news or not really blog-worthy. I might try it again tonight just for kicks.

Anway ... that is my two cents on the subject.