Sharing Tricks to get 2000 points in the Legends League of Chess.com!
A CHESS.COM Legends League Shares His Trick To Get to 2ooo Points.
by ThroughtonsHeir
(Week 42 Divisional Cup Champion)
During the first months of my adhesion to CHESS.COM as 2022 faded away, I started competing in the Player's League. By winter 2023 I was a crowned champion of the Legends League and my only physical prize was a tendinitis. Determined to keep playing live, but wanting to keep an ethic of Daily games to solidify my classical chess skills, I went for the seasonal format. From then on I decided to keep working on a cycle of one cup per season. As we entered October I decided to play my Autumnal cup. For those interested to follow their own similar pattern in the future I'll add recommendations along the way.
An entry point
The first clarification is that the winter season is competed either at the end of a calendar year or the beginning of the following. You could choose from November through February but since I won my first early 2023, I tend to keep the Winter Cup week closer to Groundhog Day than Black Friday. The other main recommendation will be to always play Arena, ALWAYS ! The only situation when you shouldn't will come along soon enough : read on. We will go through evey thing that could make a little difference and help you reach you goal if you haven't yet: winning a cup with 2000 points like Wayne Gretzky in the League of Legends of CHESS.COM !!
Drawing things out : a bonafide diplomatic artform !
I'm not one to go for long games when a shorter format of the same speed will give me the same amount of points. I have more opportunities to win by timeout in a 3 minutes Blitz than a 5 minutes one. Same with 10 minutes Rapid, being the longest I'd every play for the Player's Cup. The only case where we cannot opt for a short format is, ironicaly, in the bullet format. NEVER play ultra-bullets, since the 30 seconds per player games won't give you any points for Live Games in the Player's League. All other formats give you as many "regular" points for a win, and as many bonus points for an Arena win. You get points for Draws and stalemates as well, whichever form they take. So learn some diplomacy skills, and like me you could get a 66.6% rate of "Drawn by agreement" results. Those are about 12-50 points a week easily, while playing shorter games. Get a very tough position early in, settle down to push your opponent to his time limit with his light advantage, then offer the Draw. You'd be surprised the speeed at which a player 200-300 ELO above you will agree to settle the score peacefuly. Moreso when an Arena is about to end - which means the current ongoing game is exiled out of continuity. Aborted. Zero points, zero results in your games folder : it's forgottenm you can'T review it, can'T keep track of anything you hadn't screenshot. Some interesting lines could be lost by not having thte diplomatic skills and observation of BOTH timers (in-game and tournament countdown) to know when to push the situation to the brink. A settlement then becomes a formality. Trust the stats: work on solid defense with a quick opening and concede some advantage to placade yourself behind unshakable fortifications.
Time
Having reached my 5th decade on this globe (42nd spin 'round the sun) I must be wary of my articulations and injuring myself after the surgery that brought me to Chess in november 2022. Had I not been forced to not use my right arm at all for 3 months I might not have reconnected with Chess, so I'll share the obervations I made from those limitations of the human engine we call "our body". Be mindful and ask for council with your health profesionnal - cuz I ain't one. Those are just anecdotes of an aging Gen-X chess geezer.Take time in-between Arena tournaments to disconnect from your screen.
Sight
Try to focus your vision to distant points and hydrate your eyes if necessary in dry environments. Be mindful of the humidity level, ambiend temperature and keep yourself hydrated. Remember: we never get enough fresh air, sunlight (and/or moonlight) over the cours of a busy day. Go outside if it'Ssa possibility where you live or are currently located. Go on the balcony if it's all you can manage as an "escape". Open the window and lean out as safely as possible, if you are recluse like Rapunzel. Drink water, the brain needs it as it works hard solving riddles on the chessboard hour after hour. Feed it as well : sugars, proteins, fat, the bases of what the body craves (No it's not only Electrolytes). Don't rely on body altering semi-peptides solutions or energy drinks. Cook yourself a meal, order something, get out to order a milkshake before the last dairybar shuts down if they are open near you, or like me if you are in North America but further south than the Canada-USA border.
Movement
The execution is one of the other main points to discuss. This week I decided to try and play ambidextrously using my iPhone. Left hand makes the move. As I review the board my right hand prepares to click the "confirm" green check button. Too often have I in the past 2 years got to the point of cramp pain tremors in my arm, hand, wrist and shoulder from going all out in Bullet games. That's another reason not to play "Ultra-bullet", atop the fact that we already stated : it doesn't give Player's League points. 30 Seconds of Chess is too short for points so not even worth your time and furtherless the health of your limbs!
Gravity
Be aware of your legs, ankles, shoulders, elbows, neck ... all articulations might you add. It's so easy to lean on a limb with all our weight and lose all sensation, cutting the bloodflow as we delve into deeper lines as a game advances. Change positions, the more you should being related to the hardness of your seatings. The hard angles of a wooden chair without padding can hurt your ankles in the time it takes to lose a Rapid game through a blundered Queen. You leg, thighs and bum will be feeling like an army of ants running across them after you complete your Bullet tournament of 18 games... So get up. Change seating positions. Try to walk around and play standing up if you can. Take care of your sight with good lighting, being wary of the setting sun and not bending your neck too much if you play on a cellphone.
Having problems with some carpal tunnel related syndromes (not the actual CTS), I often take breaks to give my right hand and arm some hope of relief. Application of ice is not out of bounds and could be one of the best, cheapest and safest options. Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen depending on your diagnostics or other pains related to articulations is to keep in mind. Playing chess live 30 minutes to an hours, compared to 3-5 hours a day, and up to 8,11, or even 13 hours a day can be a big change that leaves permanent damages to your physionomy if not done carefully. Often when my right hand gets numb from too much work, and the spasms overtake the whole length of my right arm, I start playing left handed only, with my right hand behind my back. I'll try to rest my hand and arm by reducing the effect of gravity on them, held to my chest / side as if it were supported by a cast held with a bandage over the shoulder.
Pins and the art of forcing
At the end of their timer put them in check, pin pieces to their king. Fforcing them to make unexpected moves will let you steal away some precious time from them when it matters the most. Think through a solid sequence of checks while safely evading hanging your pieces. Alternatively, move in a position to pin a piece they might have anticipated to use next. Last week I literally lost a game because of this: a promoted Queen pining my own Queen to the King. Paralyzed since it couldn't be moved, the Queen's line I was aiming for was the last move I tried to make as the final handful of seconds ticked away. The mind can be one-tracked, losing sight of the periphery and those pesky diagonals. Moving a pawn in a quickshot retort might get a hasty opponent to miss the line that was opened on that diagonal to their precious pieces.
Don't fork with me!
Keep on the lookout for Forks with a capital "F". Let them hastily walk their king right into the trap as you execute a sneaky tactic to prepare the endgame. "Monarchic forks" are the saltiest ones to cope with, moreso when the timer was in your favor. So put pressure on the opponent and you might "fork with the Monarchy" soon enough with skills worthy of Rasputin. When you are too tired you also risk to put yourself into these positions so that's a daily warning valid for ourselves, no matter our level.
Put your King to work
Daring to move the King more often - earlier, without castling - I keep having 3-5% more King moves compared to similar players. When I check the result by phases of the game in my insights reports the results are flagrant. Any lenghth of game, you'll see my King wander more often than those of my peers and as precisely as theirs (if not more in some cases) . For those stressful Bullet & Blitz games, trust me it could make a difference for you in the 800 - 1000 ELO range.
Thanks for reading the first portion of these chronicles of "How to reach your goals in competitive Live Chess in the Player's League top brackets". Be sure to drop a comment if you liked it, or not. Stay tuned for more and for a complete statistical review of the week in the coming month!
Thanks for reading the first portion of these chronicles of "How to reach your goals in competitive Live Chess in the Player's League top brackets". Be sure to drop a comment if you liked it, or not. Stay tuned for more and for a complete statistical review of the week in the coming month!
DISCLAIMER : no A.I. has ben used in the composition, writing, correction of this blog.
The thumbnail painting is the sole A.I. involvement in this project.
Dall·E 2 credits
https://openai.com/dall-e-2
