capn_britain wrote:
What are the most important tips you'd give an adult (30yo) player who is returning to chess, but having trouble avoiding bad decision-making?
Do lots of tactics and analyze your games!
Coaching and Q&A
Sort:
capn_britain wrote:
I'd also love a good book recommendation or two!
I recommend these articles: A Theoretical Framework for Adult Improvement and Better Late Than Never. Susan Polgar has a great series on basic tactics. If you want further recommendations, adult improver Paul Swaney liked Bain's Chess Tactics for Students.
TheSwissPhoenix wrote:
Is the woodpecker method a good book?
I liked it! My review can be found on Chessable - for a detailed discussion click here and skip to 20:00. The idea of repetitive tactics training to build pattern recognition is highly effective, especially for adults. The puzzles within the woodpecker method beyond the easy section are generally too difficult to suit this purpose for adult club players. The woodpecker method still has very high-quality puzzles and is quite useful for slow calculation training! For fast training, experts and masters would likely enjoy the puzzles more than club players.
1e41-O wrote:
if ice floats because heat rises, why does my rating sink
the second law of thermodynamics
TheSwissPhoenix wrote:
how do you go from 2100 to 2200 rapid i'm winning games mainly on tactics i play the catalan opening for white and caro-kann for black
generally a good strategy for gaining rating is winning games
Mar 29, 2022
0
#68
LogoCzar wrote:
TheUnderDog001 wrote:
If a person wishes to do some self-study and further personalize his openings, how would you go about it?
It's generally good to start with understanding the key ideas and structures. It also helps to go through classic games chronologically and try to understand how the opening developed. Engines can be useful for exploring theory and getting new ideas though the ideas tend to stick better if you have already explored the key concepts elsewhere. Do you have any questions about specific aspects of opening study?
Hmmm. How would you normally study them? I usually just follow the main line trying to understand every move, but I'm not sure that's effective.
Trying to understand every move is effective - if you want to further develop your opening understanding you can also study the structures and historical development.
RedFastMath wrote:
How do I get unstuck from 1300?
Can you tell me more about yourself and how you are practicing?
April Sale! $5 off chess lessons with the coupon 'april': https://bookme.name/chessknight
Just chiming in to say that I'm super satisfied with my lesson with mr Logozar, he's patient, makes sure you're both on the same page 100% of the time, cares for you motivation and confidence and explains his thought process in a clear, concise manner. Will definitely get another lesson from him at some point.
Can recommend him to anyone!
Apr 4, 2022
0
#74
Not sure if anyone has asked this yet but what's the biggest barrier for most players to improve their rating? (E.g when you reach a rating plateau at any level)
Flamin-ingo wrote:
Not sure if anyone has asked this yet but what's the biggest barrier for most players to improve their rating?
Depends on the player -- game analysis and working on your weaknesses tend to work well! At your rating, I'd imagine that tactics would help a lot.
What do you think is the biggest mistake most chess players make? (In-Game wise, and one for studying-wise would probably be helpful too.)
InsertInterestingNameHere wrote:
What do you think is the biggest mistake most chess players make?
Sacrificing their king instead of the opponent's king. You need a King Postulate permit!
Steven-ODonoghue wrote:
Why am I so good at bullet but useless at every other time control?
You figured out that flagging is the secret to chess! Keep up the good work.
My question is when, if ever, is it okay or good to play f6/f3?
I've seen some positions where it is useful in order to prepare e4/...e5, pawn storm against the opponent's bishop (e.g. ...f6 and ...g5 against Bg5), or where your knight is on e2/e7 and you want to restrict the opponent's Nf3 or f6-knight. I'm sure there are other exceptions.
The main reason you learn not to play f3 or ...f6 at first is because it generally weakens the king and this can be exploited by either queen checks or play down the central diagonal after you castle. The exceptions are more subtle and are easier to take advantage once you have internalized the spirit behind 'never play ...f6' and also became tactically proficient enough to calculate the exceptions -- even when the opponent can't exploit f3 or ...f6, it is still possibly weakening and might be exploited if circumstances are slightly different.