Studying chess tactics: repetition or novelty?

Hi Everyone,

I just received "Winning Chess Tactics" and am excited to start focusing on tactics.

I have been using the tactics trainer every day to help improve my tactical knowledge, but have also read that some people prefer to practice the same set of tactics puzzles over and over (a la Maza's 400 points in 400 days http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles148.pdf).

Do you have any advice/thoughts on whether I should be repeating the same tactics puzzles over and over until they are ingrained, or should I be seeking a variety of positions, such as available on tactics trainer?

Thanks for your insight!

-Collin

tactics trainer I would say, you will see many of the same positions and ideas repeated, but often a slight variation. Kinda combines both lines of thinking which I like

An adult player can't improve more than 100 points in a year?  That really stuck out in that article.  It sounds like the same crap I've heard over and over about music, despite the fact I started piano as an adult and a few years later ended up winning a competition to play with an orchestra.  I started chess in March of this year and went from 700-800 range to about 1300, and I'm 27.  Sure, it was on chess.com. but it's still 400 points of improvement.

Everytime I see anything about how an adult can't learn something, it really ticks me off.  I think the person who wrote that article wasn't to convinced by chess coaches, either.

It's not that an adult "can't" learn anything, it's just that their brains are far more developed, and so learning something new isn't going to come without significant difficulty when compared to their younger counterparts.  Without quantifying progress and caps arbitrarily, the differential rate in which a child learns vs an adult can be understood just by comparing how fast they learn a new language or skill, omitting individual differences and anomalies of course.  Ever try teaching your Dad a new language, how to use a computer, or explaining why their somewhat racist viewpoints don't match the liberal leanings of modern society?  Not impossible, but man, is there a process!

I am working on a program to present tactics in a "spaced learning" way: you are presented with a blend of new and old puzzles (a percentage you specify).  The old ones are presented based on 1.  How long its been since you saw them last (oldest first), and 2. How well you did on them (muffed ones before solved ones).  See the thread http://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/help-me-design-a-tactics-computer-program.

Fred, that sounds awesome! I am familiar with spaced repetition for language learning, so it makes sense this would be of benefit to chess as well!

That does sound neat.  It's going to take a ton of work!  I'm sure the programing is going to be the easy part compared to finding hundreds or thousands of chess puzzles and making sure they're right according to a powerful chess engine.  Talk about time consuming.

Back to the topic, when practicing tactics, it's probably better that you don't memorize exact positions unless you have a photographic memory.  Time and memory being a finite resource, it's probably more efficient to ingrain the themes behind the solutions so that you can recognize the same tactical shots in your own games. 

I thought this was funny.  I know the stereotype old man trying to access their email.  My grandfather worked with computers way back in the day, like room sized computers, and he doesn't seem to get windows.  I think he kept his dial-up until they told him they won't support it.  OMG, maybe he still has it?!?

My father, though, has kept up with computers since before I was born, has studied another language, and is pretty liberal.  But teaching him how to play a PS3 game?  That is the true meaning of torture!

for tactics what i find useful is doing a mixture of both techniques. i play on chesstempo pretty much every day, while at the same time going through a book of tactics. once i've finished doing the book i go through it again at least once. this way you ingrain stuff and get a good mixture of seeing random puzzles too.

so far i have been through bobby fischer teaches chess twice and done the end chapter of it another three times and i'm just about finished my second pass through learn chess tactics by john nunn.

on the point of adult improvement, i started in august this year and have gone from 900 to 1400 so far, so it definitely can be done.

Isn't that a contradiction? If our brain is more developed as adults shouldn't it also learn better? The fact that it does not, is probably a product of human laziness and self fullfilling prophecies, after all, if we all keep hearing it, why wouldn't it then become true? 

I think end game is more important than tactics.I have solved thousands of tactics,I think it is enough.

It is an interesting topic to revisit. After posting this 8 months ago, I hav focused on tactics exclusively and have seen great improvements to my game. Like 348756226 said, I think it is time to do some end-game work. But I think focusing on tactics will still be a priority.

Interstingly, my greatest improvement came after I stopped training on tactics trainer and began repetative practice of basic problems, like Dan Heisman recommends.

...still have a long ways to go though :)

I split my tactics training. Easier problems for pattern recognition, where I have to find the answer quickly. And complicated problems for calculation training where I think very thoroughly (up to 30 min per position).