Learn Chess by Getting Crushed

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Avatar of Musikamole
uhohspaghettio wrote:

I will play you in 3 0 if you want Musikamole, what's the point in having a relatively high rating if I can't easily beat players of your rating?

However, I do think that the odds on chess.com are highly skewed in favour of the lower rated player when the ratings difference are over 300 or 400 points.... so don't expect to play me over and over. 


1941 Blitz

2306 Bullet

Geez!!

I've never played 3/0 and gave up 5/0 a few months back. I would just be pushing wood, playing blind at 3/0. The fastest I can play is 10/0 and deliver some resistance. I'll post my first three crushing experiences at 10/0 so you know what kind of game I have.

Avatar of Elubas

Being crushed is the worst useful reward you could get. You have to remember that 1. chess skill is all relative (there's always someone better or worse than you by big and small amounts) and 2. even if you did  actually suck (whatever that  means) it's not like that would matter. At least you know it's called a knight and not a horse (right?)!

But yeah, the worse you get crushed the more there is to learn from. You need to look at every loss objectively (The really hard part. I always used to make excuses for blunders, and they may make sense, but the blunder is still a blunder and the mistake needs to be learned from, not just pushed to the side), try to see where you went wrong (and find the right ideas best you can), and what in your mind made you do that, and check with a computer. As of late I'm actually considering following this advice. I think of chess in many different ways. There's the fight in chess that can turn losses into wins and vice versa, despite the reality of the position. And there's also the quest to see what the correct ideas are and not care about "what you actually played", as if you understand what was going on then the ability to find the right moves in future games will come naturally.

Avatar of Musikamole
Elubas wrote:

Being crushed is the worst useful reward you could get. You have to remember that 1. chess skill is all relative (there's always someone better or worse than you by big and small amounts) and 2. even if you did  actually suck (whatever that  means) it's not like that would matter. At least you know it's called a knight and not a horse (right?)!

But yeah, the worse you get crushed the more there is to learn from. You need to look at every loss objectively (The really hard part. I always used to make excuses for blunders, and they may make sense, but the blunder is still a blunder and the mistake needs to be learned from, not just pushed to the side), try to see where you went wrong (and find the right ideas best you can), and what in your mind made you do that, and check with a computer.

As of late I'm actually considering following this advice. I think of chess in many different ways. There's the fight in chess that can turn losses into wins and vice versa, despite the reality of the position.

And there's also the quest to see what the correct ideas are and not care about "what you actually played", as if you understand what was going on then the ability to find the right moves in future games will come naturally.


I'll try to find the link to an awesome interview with Anatoly Karpov.

Karpov mentions this one quality about himself that I found interesting and helpful. Anatoly would continue playing when others would more likely resign, and in so doing he was able to win more games. He saw himself as a fighter to the end.

I just finished 3 games with tarrasch (1508), and got crushed in all three. I'll post them shortly after dinner. It was a blast to play against someone who plays outstanding chess moves, and my weaknesses really stood out . Now I know with a greater understanding, getting hit by a 2 by 4, what needs the most attention in my game.

Getting crushed works! Cool

Avatar of Musikamole

Drum roll please!  <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

The winner of the First Getting Crushed Tournament is <><><><><><><><><><><><>   Tarrasch!   Tah - dum! Laughing

---------------------------------------------------------

I am way ahead of the curve regarding Live Chess Tournaments. Chess.com likes to take a touchy feely survey first. Who has played on Xbox Live and played…um…Live Tournaments?  It’s S.O.P.

------------------------------------------------------

Time control = 10 0

To be fair to Tarrasch, I did not know how to invite him to my tournament, so that is why I started with the Black pieces. I'll work on that little detail. Laughing

Game 1

In game one, I somehow managed to play book moves in The Sicilian through 9 moves. Dang! The wheels started coming off when I miscalculated (BLUNDERED) on move 10. Yep. I hung a minor piece after the dust settled. I got greedy and snagged a pawn with my rook on move 16, a slight miscalculation (BLUNDER) and the game ended abruptly with checkmate on move 27.

 



Game 2

In game two I had the home field advantage and opened with 1.d4. My center pawn is well defended and life is good. I played the Queen's Gambit and Tarrasch replied with a Slav Defense. Good stuff.

Things were going fine until a tricky exchange of pawns. We both made errors here. I played 11.cxd5? and Tarrasch played 11...exd5?. It seems to matter how pawns capture pawns. 

Tarrasch was kind to blunder on move 13 with c5??, but I failed to convert and capture on d5 with the correct piece, my knight. He saw this immediately, I did not, which makes him the stronger player.

Tarrasch was kind enough to blunder yet again on move 16 with Nb6??, but why not miss a tactic and follow up a blunder with yet another blunder, so I played the spectacular 17.Qa5??  The bright idea was to get my queen back into the action, but it was a bad square. I was most kind to make consecutive blunders on moves 18 and 19. You can’t win with this strategy, not sure why.  Resignation came at move 33, as I could not stop Black’s pawn from promoting.  Fritz found a way to prolong the agony, but I’m not a CPU.



Game 3

In game three I had the Black pieces again and played The Sicilian. No comments necessary here, as both of us made plenty of mistakes. Mental fatigue?

I am first and foremost a  teacher at heart and encourage others to give this idea a try, Getting Crushed. They are most instructive, and more importantly, fun!


Avatar of trysts

The first thing to come to mind after watching these games is "triage".Laughing

Avatar of Musikamole
trysts wrote:

The first thing to come to mind after watching these games is "triage".


Are you in the medical profession? Laughing

I beat someone rated at 1082 just now! WoOt!

Man, I focused real hard. I'm all worn out!  The guy who wants to get crushed, crushes the better player. I am completely psyched. It makes me want to get better at this game. This Learn Chess by Getting Crushed thing could get very addicting.  Cool

Who wants to help me write a book? The title is catchy, but I can't type for beans and struggle stringing sentences together. Ziryab, you are the wordsmith. Get busy! Wink

10 0 Live Chess Blitz

 


Avatar of Ziryab
Musikamole wrote:
trysts wrote:

The first thing to come to mind after watching these games is "triage".


Are you in the medical profession?

I beat someone rated at 1082 just now! WoOt!

Man, I focused real hard. I'm all worn out!  The guy who wants to get crushed, crushes the better player. I am completely psyched. It makes me want to get better at this game. This Learn Chess by Getting Crushed thing could get very addicting. 

Who wants to help me write a book? The title is catchy, but I can't type for beans and struggle stringing sentences together. Ziryab, you are the wordsmith. Get busy!

10 0 Live Chess Blitz

 



It will take some time just to point out the checkmates that you missed in this game, such as 25.Qc7#. Then, I'll need to clear my slate of other writing projects. Still, it might be a lucrative project. Let's start selling subscriptions to chess.com members.

Avatar of Musikamole
Ziryab wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
trysts wrote:

The first thing to come to mind after watching these games is "triage".


Are you in the medical profession?

I beat someone rated at 1082 just now! WoOt!

Man, I focused real hard. I'm all worn out!  The guy who wants to get crushed, crushes the better player. I am completely psyched. It makes me want to get better at this game. This Learn Chess by Getting Crushed thing could get very addicting. 

Who wants to help me write a book? The title is catchy, but I can't type for beans and struggle stringing sentences together. Ziryab, you are the wordsmith. Get busy!

10 0 Live Chess Blitz

 



1. It will take some time just to point out the checkmates that you missed in this game, such as 25.Qc7#.

2. Then, I'll need to clear my slate of other writing projects.

3. Still, it might be a lucrative project. Let's start selling subscriptions to chess.com members.


1. You simply can't invent the stuff I miss. I have a gift, which others in my boat can relate to, and it will give you plenty of material to work with. Just think of the comedic value alone. People love to laugh.

2. Got that one covered. I got an entrepeneur in mind. Thinkin' real big here.

3. Yep, it will sell like hotcakes. Most chess players struggle with that which is between their own ears, so we will sell them this idea of Learn Chess by Getting Crushed  (Trademark) better than the guy who can sell the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Chess players will see me getting crushed daily while I'm getting ever closer to chess mastery. It will mystify them and become absolutely infectious.

Players will rush out to buy our subscription to keep up on the latest tips and tricks on Learn Chess by Getting Crushed. The revenue stream will be endless, as the road to   total - - chess - - mastery - - stretches - - beyond ---- infinity! 

Avatar of allUrBaseRbelong2us

If you find me online challenge me to a game.  Say 10/0? i dont care much.  I would be happy to try to crush you. 

-All Your Base Are Belong to us.

Avatar of Musikamole
allUrBaseRbelong2us wrote:

If you find me online challenge me to a game.  Say 10/0? i dont care much.  I would be happy to try to crush you. 

-All Your Base Are Belong to us.


Cool! 10/0 is best for me. Thank you!

Avatar of Musikamole

Learn Chess by Getting Crushed

This idea is making me a better chess player. I learned something about playing defense.

In this next installment of Learn Chess by Getting Crushed, my king saftey was crushed, but I defended most stubbornly and found a way to win in the end.

Going in, it was a 1147 rated player vs. little old me at 901 and I had the Black pieces. Ziryab, did I blunder myself to victory in this game, or what?  You can't make this stuff up, and now have more to write about. Wink

My king was nowhere near safe, and yet I kept swinging, throwing punches when I could, and won in the end. I was much lower than my opponent on time, one minute to my opponent's five minutes, so I had to find checkmate to win.


Avatar of orangehonda
Musikamole wrote:
tonydal wrote:
Musikamole wrote:

That new avatar pic of myself with my cute little puppy Pepper probably does not help build my image up for being this new tough guy.


Just tell everybody it's a pit bull.


If you only knew what kind of wimp of a dog that is.


Looks like a king charles's spaniel -- they're really sweet, definitely not a pit bull :)

Avatar of Musikamole
orangehonda wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
tonydal wrote:
Musikamole wrote:

That new avatar pic of myself with my cute little puppy Pepper probably does not help build my image up for being this new tough guy.


Just tell everybody it's a pit bull.


If you only knew what kind of wimp of a dog that is.


Looks like a king charles's spaniel -- they're really sweet, definitely not a pit bull :)


You pickin' on my dog? Laughing

Avatar of orangehonda
Musikamole wrote:
orangehonda wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
tonydal wrote:
Musikamole wrote:

That new avatar pic of myself with my cute little puppy Pepper probably does not help build my image up for being this new tough guy.


Just tell everybody it's a pit bull.


If you only knew what kind of wimp of a dog that is.


Looks like a king charles's spaniel -- they're really sweet, definitely not a pit bull :)


You pickin' on my dog?


Naww, I like dogs.  I have a black and white english cocker.

Avatar of Campione

I'm happy to take on the 10 0 challenge as well mate if you're looking for higher rated opponents, so add me as a friend if you like. Way I look on it, if I lose (and I am capable of incredible blunders), then I deserve the drop in rating, same as I'd expect a big gain for beating someone much higher rated than me.