chess_gg wrote:
Here's what I'm reading: "Blah...blah...blah..."
lol
Chess Tactics in Chess.com
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Personally I think the timer is a good thing. It gives you that feeling of when the clock is ticking playing an OTB game. You don't always have a spare 10-15 min to look for a tactic. If i want to do untimed tactics I'll use a book or do one of the mentor courses.
mattyf9 wrote:
Personally I think the timer is a good thing. It gives you that feeling of when the clock is ticking playing an OTB game. You don't always have a spare 10-15 min to look for a tactic. If i want to do untimed tactics I'll use a book or do one of the mentor courses.
+1
In real life chess you don't have unlimited time to find tactics and combinations, so if the training is going to be effective then it should mimic the real environment as much as possible.
I am aware of chesstempo and have an account there. It is still OK to discuss the chess.com TT despite the other option. I like both, but would still like to see chess.com offer a middle ground between unrated and blitz time for the tactics trainer.
I'm waiting for someone to revive this dead thread with a totally unique comment.
Something like:
"I don't have a problem with TT -- time is an important component of the game."
Now that would be a highly thoughtful, original comment. Please, let someone say it -- quick before anyone else thinks of it!
No, I totally got what you said chess_gg. You were more than clear. I was being facetious. I was actually being sarcastic. My point: that in spite of your clarity, someone will still come along, with a scintillating (not!), unique (not at all!) contribution, along the lines of: "I don't have a problem with the time component in TT, because time is an integral part of the game."
That was my only point. You said it yourself: people would rather talk than listen.
Now let's kill this thread -- quick.
I don't think a computer, the staff at Chess.com, or anyone else is really conspiring anything here, but it sure feels like it. I have been to 1860, but then plummeted to 1400. My score says that I am shooting about 93%, but if I miss a mate in one, I will be deducted 85 points. This is frustrating because one battles with fatigue. The key here, as I have discovered, is to climb the mountain about 50 points per day -- that is, if you have plummeted. 50 points other wise is a very huge leap. Once you get back to the status quo, then move on. I find after an hour or two, I am just spinning my wheels in Chess.Com Tactics Mudland and it becomes a slippery slope. Behavioral theorists will say, "Monkey get rewarded, monkey continue behavior." Humans continue despite the punishment. It is the interval behavior theory. In Las Vegas, the corps know if the machine pays off every now and then, you will continue gambling. it is the same on Tactics Trainer. If score really high and reach a good rating, you will continue even when you have plummeted. The bottom line is that it is a mental mind trip. The key is to master your emotions --
So what? Maybe if by the 10th time you've seen the same puzzle and can't solve it you should get a kick in the pants...
Even if you solve the problem the first time, it will come back to haunt you.
The point is that in a good training program, you will get a mixture of problems, easy and difficult. Given enough time, the majority of problems are repeats because the supply of problems is finite. You are not going to get all the problems correct (in fact, if you are getting them all correct, the program is not doing you any good). In a typical TT program, you solve 50 to 60% of the problems as you progress. Because of CT's policy, you need to solve >90% just to stay even (and keep getting the same problems). It's difficult to make any progress under such a policy.