I started the woodpecker method about 6 weeks ago. I see a little improvement in my chess.com puzzle rating already, maybe people can check back here long after I am dead and see if it works.
The Grandmaster's positional understanding, by Igor Smirnov
Sort:
Wow lol great research!
I started the woodpecker method about 6 weeks ago. I see a little improvement in my chess.com puzzle rating already, maybe people can check back here long after I am dead and see if it works.
I started the woodpecker method about 6 weeks ago. I see a little improvement in my chess.com puzzle rating already, maybe people can check back here long after I am dead and see if it works.
Yosriv wrote:
Hi everybody!
Has anyone already bought Igor Smirnov's chess course "The Grandmaster's positional understanding"? (Igor Smirnov is rated 2496 Elo, look here)
I have Smirnov's course: "The Grandmaster's secrets" and I found it simple to understand and very practical. But if you have any ideas about the previously named course, it will certainly help me a lot. Thank you in advance
Wow ! )
blueparrot12345 wrote:
Again, chess is not about who knows more information. In fact, knowing more will just confuse you, since you don't even know what to think about.
There is a famous russian proverb.
"The less you know, the more good you sleep".
This proverb was especially actual in Joseph Stalin's times.
pfren wrote:
There is a Greek proverb which goes like
When you hear about a lot of cherries, then hold a small basket.
The similar russian proverb.
"Believe your eyes... not your years".
nameno1had wrote:
Aspiring_Champ wrote:
GM smirnovs courses suck...they are horrible and a complete waste of time....your all right his advertising sucks and his courses have no value...
(Im saying this because if every chess player who was interested in or looked at his site purchased...and deeply went through his material.....then everyone would be at least an expert to titled player within 2 years)
So *Cough cough* please pass this excellent course up! So that you all dont become champions!
Most likely, you'd have to have personal mentoring from a GM in order for you to become anything special in 2 years. It would most likely require the total dedication of the two of you, in order for it to become reality.
I think that you are missing that it isn't always easy to apply something you have learned right away in chess. You can't always cause the duplication of the circumstances, in order to exercise your newly learned knowledge.
These factors don't necessarily make the teaching works of someone bad. If you bought this material and it didn't seem to help you, you need to understand that there are as many bad students as teachers, if not more. It isn't that they don't try, but that they need someone to more directly show them what to learn and how to apply it. Also It is completely possible that what this guy teaches is correct for a particular style, but just not yours. I hope you find what you are looking for, good luck.
I think that you didn't understand his post.
Champ was just kidding.
Andre_Harding wrote:
I recently posted in another forum a high recommendation for some of Smirnov's courses. I purchased all eight of them from 2009 to 2012.
In particular, I recommend Grandmaster's Positional Understanding, Endgame Expert, How to Beat GM, Winning Plan, and Calculate Till Mate.
I am sure that one should watch Smirnov's videos on youtube before buying his course.
But the titles of his courses are very alluring.
korotky_trinity wrote:
blueparrot12345 wrote:
Again, chess is not about who knows more information. In fact, knowing more will just confuse you, since you don't even know what to think about.
There is a famous russian proverb.
"The less you know, the more good you sleep".
This proverb was especially actual in Joseph Stalin's times.
I think the American equivalent is "ignorance is bliss".
“The less you know the better you sleep” in Stalin times.
lol
lol
@pfren Good quote, but should be taken into context.
I found the video of Igor Smirnov on youtube.
You can do it easy also.
He was the guy who always said “To takes is a mistake”.
I think that’s good advice if you don’t take it too literally.
I think that’s good advice if you don’t take it too literally.
Ubik42 wrote:
He was the guy who always said “To takes is a mistake”.
I think that’s good advice if you don’t take it too literally.
I think that’s good advice if you don’t take it too literally.
Yes I like his YouTube videos, but trying to change your thinking system in chess feels to me like mission Impossible.
I read the comments so I decided to grab a sample e-book of Chess Grandmaster's Positional Understanding by Igor Smirnov. After reading thru I figured that this is too fundamental for me. This is probably because in the past I already read the books: My System by Aron Nimzowitsch and Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzowitsch by John Watson which I would recommend as a good starting point if you want to learn Positional Chess. Having said that, I think I will just skip this and look for more advanced material elsewhere.
I went through the people who claimed they used the courses on the first pages of this thread.
Not one showed substantial improvement since 2012.