Chess Improvement

Hi All:

I have been playing the game for over 4 decades and just recently starting taking the game more seriously. Now that I am retired, I would like to improve my game since I have more time to study all phases of the game. I have a decent chess library that covers openings, middle game,end game, strategy, tactics, etc. I also have a computer and use various chess programs that are currently on the market. Since I am "old school" I learned to read chess from books written in descriptive notation. I also have books written in algebriac notation. My question is this. Is it better to study chess using a computer or using a physical board and pieces? I notice that today, most players are stronger from using computers and various chess software to improve their games and I think this technology its great! I use 2 boards when studying openings from books (1 to study main lines and the other board to see the variations as they branch off the main line). I find that I retain more information mentally when using a physical board w/pieces vice using computers because I actually touch pieces as I move through a game, lesson, tactic, etc. This method seems good for me, but can be tedious and time consuming when investing long hours studying the different aspects of the game. Your suggestions/input concerning this matter is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tevans in Jacksonville, Fl.

Didn't see you thread - I actually just posted a similar question after you did.

I've been having a good progress (finally!) by going over annotated games lately. 

I've beent taking the time and effort to enter them into a Fritz database (chessbase format), so yes, I'm essentially 'recopying' the paper information into electronic form, which is time consuming, although I will say that it doesn't seem to save a huge amt of time by having the database form in the first place, since I bought some .pgn format books from Everyman chess so I don't have to enter them, and the first pass of study/reading takes about the same amt of time as entering the moves.

I've tried using board/pieces, but it literally kills me now - takes so much times to replay moves and variations. One misplaced piece, and all your analysis is totally off - and stepping through variations is the whole point.

I totally agree, it is time consuming. I have plenty of study material that I can key in to 'fritz, chessbase, SCID and most of the master rated games are already in the various databases, but my retention is not as great as physically moving the pieces. Maybe I should play over the game, tactic, strategy motif more than once...

This is actually what my informal observations of my own 'game memorization' takes:

- First pass/entry: Near 0% retention rate! If anything, I get slightly worse if I try and emulate what I saw in my real games, since I invariably confuse things and make things worse!

- 2nd/3rd pass: MUCH better retention by the 3rd time through. Note that this is usually at least 2-3 days later, not just 3 passes in the same day. I can definitely replay critical parts of the game accurately, and recognize them do novo.

- 4th/5th pass: I actually really start using the info I learned in my games, even in dissimilar positions. 

I don't play through huge numbers of games, and probably go through fewer rather than more since it's so time consuming to review them, but for sure, it's ALL about reviewing the games more than once, if not more than 3 times for me. I thought it would become lower yield the more I went through the same games, but it's actually the reverse - it seems to get higher yield in terms of actual chess ability acquired the more I replay and try and further memorize an annotated game. 

The fewer pieces you move (physical/computer pieces), in my opinion, the better. Chess requires intuition and calculation and you need to practice calculation by moving the pieces and seeing the variations in your head. It's good to set up a position on a physical board to solve puzzles/analyze games, but try not to play out the solutions/variations until you have calculated them. It will really help you to improve. A master coach would also be a good investment as they will fill important gaps in your knowledge. Best wishes :)