Cogmed and Chess

Our 10 year-old daughter has been diagnosed with ADD.  We've been working with psychiatrists and psychologists to help her overcome this disability.  At the same time, we've been trying other methods to try and tackle her focus issues.  There is no doubt in our minds that our daughter is very intelligent, but we see that focus is an issue.  We also think this issue is hereditary - my wife and I experience the same issues that are described in our daughter.

So in discussing these challenges with other parents who's kids have the same issues, we came across a program called Cogmed.  We just heard about it last week and I finally got around to going to the website to get more details.

As I was reading some of the user case studies, I found that one user used Cogmed to improve his chess.  Not only did it help him improve, he went from placing 26th in a tournament before using Cogmed, to winning the state championship after using Cogmed for a month.

Click here to read this brief case study.

Endurance

I've been thinking a lot about endurance this week ... especially since my loss earlier this week.  Wasn't it Dan Heisman who said your game is only as good as your weakest move ... or something like that.  I felt I was playing pretty well the whole game.  Then I saw a way to promote my pawn.  Being under a bit of time pressure as well as being a bit tired (it was around 11:30pm at this point in the game), I simply didn't calculate well - I didn't count the squares the king was from a8.  And so I threw the game away.

Here is a link to the game.

So my thoughts, this week, have been directed at how I can maintain focus for the length of the 2-3 hour game.  I personally think this issue of lack of focus and enduring to the very end is a broader issue in my life and it just manifests itself in my chess.

One thing I've tried to change this week is in my exercise routine.  Instead of giving up when I'm feeling tired, I been trying to stretch myself into working out longer.  Before, I would bike for 20 minutes and jog for 20 minutes.  During those workouts, I'd take frequent breaks.  This week I've been focused on riding consistently for the full 30 minutes and then to push myself for the full 30 minutes at jogging.  I've been successful so far (Monday through today).  This is just one example, but I've been trying to keep the topic of endurance in my mind in all the things I do.  I aim to improve my endurance and capacity in all aspects of my life.

Still Need to Learn My Lesson

Serves me right for drawing.  What makes it more painful is that I knew I needed to slow down - the time pressure was all in my head.  Had I simply got up, walked out, breathed deeply and took my time to assess the position, I would have won (most likely).  Instead, I rushed into it and didn't even consider the perpetual check or even the loss.  I was still lucky to even get a draw out of it after my failure to take time to assess.

Anyway, here it is; and here is the key position (at least for me):

I've included in the screenshot the time left on our clocks.

It took me two days to finally come back to this game and look at this position - it was really burning me up inside.

Qa7+

...Kf6 ... the knight is pinned and I my queen is on the right diagonal to defend against the black queen check.  My pawn is then free to capture the knight and I'm up a full rook.

What puts a burr up my butt is my failure to even analyze the perpetual check and potential loss - instead I succumbed to the perceived time pressure and went with the immediate knight capture.

I know how to not be rattled.  I've got to learn how to recognize when I'm being rattled.  From there, I can just right the ship.

Chess Around the Net

Intense Focus

When I'm in a chess game, I can usually block out everything else that is going on. My wife or kids might call me, but most of the time I don't hear them. My wife can carry on a whole conversation while I'm playing chess and then ask me a question ... the answer she will get is the deer-in-the-headlights-look on my face. But when I'm done with a game, my attention to family matters and otherwise returns.

Apparently this blogger forgot to return to reality after playing a blindfold game.

Years ago I played a relatively good blindfold game on the computer, then
got in my car to go somewhere and immediately ran a red light. Mentally I
was still busy analyzing the game instead of watching the road…

Most Expensive Chess Set

I'm sure many have seen this, but I thought I'd include it ... here's an article on a chess set worth $9.8 million.

The Blog Bet

I enjoyed the events of The Bet ... see here and here. Because of that bet, I found some new, interesting blogs! Thanks DG and Mark!

Pictures

I wonder if this man's heart is racing.

Here's a totally scripted chess-shot. Wrong set up. And there's NO WAY the bishop arrived at that position. Plus, it's NOT checkmate.

This shot could be the icon for the Knights Errant ... if these knights aren't errant, then I don't know what is.