Maybe chess is not for me :(
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You are only 19 years old.That talk everything.Continue work hard,going on tournaments,don't give up.NEVER!
See this blog "My training" from ericmittens
Plan of training is very important.If you want become great play you will must work hard,don't worry results will come.
You can only get better. Give me a game.
Teh "speed" of progress goes up and down. Have fun and do not put too much preassure on yourself.
Enjoy the game inspite of your rating. Take pleasure in learning.
Chess is for everyone!
Jan 19, 2008
0
#8
Chess can be heartbreaking. I know people who put all their heart into it and their rating refuses to go up. Very slowly and through a lot of games you start to learn things like what an advantage is or how to capitalize on a mistake. Reason suggests that study should help, but you don't know what you're looking at a lot of the time. A teacher can help, but anybody with a high rating feels like they can help, but it is not so. Teaching ability is a separate and unrated set of skills, so your 2200 tutor could well be a 675 teacher.
Ok, so you are a student and you want to take your studies seriously and maybe party on Friday nights with the guys and maybe try to impress a girl. This is all fine. You are right, the school thing might not go well with serious chess study. So offer to play people in passing at free moments and do not worry about ratings or study of chess. With your books, maybe you can carry around a tournament special chess set complete with clock. People will come to know you for taking a 30 min study break (15 min sudden death game) in the library. Also, if you can, find a screen saver that can play a ton of chess games in sequence. While not the same as studying chess, every now and again you can benefit from a "what the ..." experience. Good luck and have fun at school.
What I do is analyze a few master games each week, and realize I have only been seriously playing chess for a small while, and that people like Fischer and Tal have devoted their lives to playing chess and the study of chess. I one day hope to be the equal of their play, and to be able to produce their skill level, but without hours a week of incredibly serious study, your rating is not going to go anywhere quickly. Set a practice program every week. Have a friend analyze your games and see where you are making mistakes.
Also, this happened to me, where, OTB, I reached a point where I could not get a higher rating without serious study of Openings and their counters, and memorizing endgame positions. You may have just hit the bump where you cannot learn more without some memorization.
Jan 19, 2008
0
#10
TALFAN, #1, Stop playing internet chess. I know time is an issue, but there is NOTHING to be learned by playing on the web. It will actually RUIN your game. It's like trying to qualify for the PGA by playing Par 3 courses. Besides, you will encounter cheaters like me at EVERY turn. ICC is infiltrated with cheaters (I know because I cheat there from time to time and personally know others who do)
#2 Buy a good chess program. Forget the boring books, you need interactivity to learn. Here's another golf analogy: Books are like hitting balls at the driving range and a chess program is like playing on the course. GAME experience is the Key. You can read every book on chess and NEVER get above 1200. You can play 15 minute internet games all day long and never get above 1200 rated at regulation games. NEVER EVER EVER play a game under 1 hour per side if you wish to become a truly competitive player.
This advice does indeed come from a cheater, but remember, I have been playing OTB chess for over 30 years and feel quite confident that I know what I'm talking about.
I have been at the same ends as you. We all aspire to be like the great talents like the late, great Mr Fischer. Greatness in that sense is not meant for me and getting obsessive about chess improvement will only be counter productive towards my personal life. I found my "solution" in the fact that chess is a beautiful art/sport and if for the next 30 year I can play and maybe improve gradually I'll be glad. If some day I can reach the 2000 - 2200 level I'll be satisfied. In the mean time I just sit back and enjoy it's mysteries...
cheater_1 wrote:
TALFAN, #1, Stop playing internet chess. I know time is an issue, but there is NOTHING to be learned by playing on the web. It will actually RUIN your game. It's like trying to qualify for the PGA by playing Par 3 courses. Besides, you will encounter cheaters like me at EVERY turn. ICC is infiltrated with cheaters (I know because I cheat there from time to time and personally know others who do)
#2 Buy a good chess program. Forget the boring books, you need interactivity to learn. Here's another golf analogy: Books are like hitting balls at the driving range and a chess program is like playing on the course. GAME experience is the Key. You can read every book on chess and NEVER get above 1200. You can play 15 minute internet games all day long and never get above 1200 rated at regulation games. NEVER EVER EVER play a game under 1 hour per side if you wish to become a truly competitive player.
This advice does indeed come from a cheater, but remember, I have been playing OTB chess for over 30 years and feel quite confident that I know what I'm talking about.
Boring books? I have CM and I find that the tutorials are fairly simple, and the opponents only teach you defense, as they almost always make programmed mistakes. I once beat the Alekhine personality by simply building up my defenses and waiting until he made a mistake. It is a good program, but I have learned more from books than I have ever learned from Chessmaster. If you want my recommendation, play a game there once a day, and have the CM engine analyze it, and then use the mistakes it found to improve your game.
You learn nothing from playing an engine that will always make programmed mistakes.
I don't play to achieve a certain rating. I play for the challenge, and beauty of the game. The point of it is to beat the opponent. How do you do that? By looking at the board, not at ratings. I enjoy the game and do my best to make the best moves and I'm pleasantly surprised when my rating does go up. I find the more I revel in the experience the better my stats on paper look as well.
TALFAN,
It's good that you are looking at your games. I liken that to looking at one of those 'magic eye' pictures, where looking really hard doesn't reveal the picture, but slighty 'de-focusing' reveals the image. I'm not suggesting that you 'de-focus' when looking at your games, but maybe just try not to look at them too hard/closely. If that doesn't make any sense then don't worry about it, perhaps I'm having trouble explaining what I mean.
Have a break - do something else, go for a walk, whatever. Just find something you enjoy doing and then come back you your chess game and you may just have an epiphany!
As for progress, you need to find something that 'works' for you. It's a shame you can't play with your old fella any more (and I do know how that feels), but I doubt he'd be very pleased if you quit playing. Keep going mate!
My father taught me how to play chess when I was around 7 or 8 . That's the time when I played the most . Everyday I would play for an hour or 2 with my dad , and he would often let me win so I would be happy . Later on I played less , and for a period of around 4-5 years I stopped playing completely . I have come back to chess around a year ago , where I signed up to ICC . My rating when I started was around mid 1200 . I have played there for exactly a year now , and my highest ever rating was 1630 , and now I have dropped to 1450 .
After 4-5 years of moderate play I would think my rating should be higher than that . In the last year or so I started analysing and reviewing my games , and going through gm games as well .I always feel motivated and enlightened by games of Tal and Fischer and Morphy , and one day hope to be able to produce same kind of beauty as they have . In general though, I feel dissapointed with my progress .
I would love to play with my dad again and see if I could beat him now , but unforunately he passed away . And I rarely play otb these days apart once a week or so at my university . I would join a chess club , but I'm low on free time in general . Any advice for me ? Has anyone else felt discouraged with their progress and felt like giving up on the game ? I would love to hear your thoughts.