Same thing I said last time... except of course now I don't like Nxe4 :)
Yep, It's Brain Damage
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Apr 23, 2011
0
#83
waffllemaster wrote:
Same thing I said last time... except of course now I don't like Nxe4 :)
I feel so stupid.
It's real late for me and I gotta get some shut eye. Arg!
Musikamole wrote:
For beginners like myself, I highly recommend custom tactics puzzles.
That's what I was reffering to.
Oh, and about listening - no, you're not listening. Had you been listening to the stronger players you would have been a strong player yourself now. Your study of chess of the past 2 years has brought you to about 1100, whereas most beginning players get there in a few weeks' time, without books and programs and whatnot.
Another proof is that you're still not able to solve a mate in one properly ( which is like, the building block of all strategy and patterns in chess, basically everything comes down to mating your opponent), despite people telling you to work on your tactics for some time ( I told this last year, didn't I? ).
_Better_Than_You wrote:
tarrasch wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
For beginners like myself, I highly recommend custom tactics puzzles.
That's what I was reffering to.
Oh, and about listening - no, you're not listening. Had you been listening to the stronger players you would have been a strong player yourself now. Your study of chess of the past 2 years has brought you to about 1100, whereas most beginning players get there in a few weeks' time, without books and programs and whatnot.
Another proof is that you're still not able to solve a mate in one properly ( which is like, the building block of all strategy and patterns in chess, basically everything comes down to mating your opponent), despite people telling you to work on your tactics for some time ( I told this last year, didn't I? ).
There is a fundamental difference between listening to stronger players and then being able to implement that in a game.play is rather good, if you could get your tactics to a similar level, you will reach 1500 relatively quickly.
I told him to play lots of standard games and study basic tactics. He did none of this.
Instead, he made a thread about positional mistakes in the openings, exploiting extra tempi and move order in the KID.
That's what I meant when I said he isn't listening to the stornger players.
tarrasch wrote:
I told him to play lots of standard games and study basic tactics. He did none of this.
I told him to play lots of standard games and study basic tactics. He did none of this.
Instead, he made a thread about positional mistakes in the openings, exploiting extra tempi and move order in the KID.
That's what I meant when I said he isn't listening to the stornger players.
I think it's unfair for you to attack Musikamole, one of the interesting things about his topics is how much he pays attention to what everyone says. He probably has nearly as many posts in this topic himself as everyone else combined simply because he reads and responds to just about everyone.
Also, on page 2 or 3 a player much stronger than you told him the following which he followed.
ajedrecito wrote:
Obviously a human coach is best.
However, it looks like the average rating of the problems you've been doing is in the 1000-1100 range.
Check your settings on that site. You probably have it set to give you 'Easy' problems. This is a good idea in general. Since you are paying member, set up a 'custom problem set.' Actually, set up a few and play through them.
First assignment: Mate in one, with a rating over 1000.
Second assignment: Mate in two, rating 1000-1400.
Third assignment: Blitz rating between 1200-1400.
Go for high solve rates and you should be able to do these very quickly (less than 30 seconds). Spend 30 seconds to a minute on the blitz tactics. And do the mate in ones until you see them in less than 10 seconds. (less than 5 is ideal)
To be honest, I did this exercise myself when I was just starting back with chess and it skyrocketed my online rating from 1900 to 2200 very quickly, so this is good for all levels. I limited my time much more (5 seconds was an absolute max for the mate in one and mate in twos and I wouldn't spend more than ten on the blitz problems, and my rating range was 1200-1600)
Musikamole wrote:
This topic is based upon the work of Jeremy Silman and his book The Amateur's Mind. I think that this book is a good fit for me right now. I've got lots of dumb chess thoughts in my head, that regardless of tactical strength, will get me in trouble, especially when the position is quiet, unlike the positions one sees in tactics puzzles, which have a clear forcing move to make.
We may need to agree to disagree on my study of positional chess while my tactical strength is still that of a novice. If I were to only study tactics, I may as well quit all of my unrated turn-based training games right now.
My first turn-based teacher recommended the book Elements of Positional Evaluation by Dan Heisman Another teacher recommended The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman. Silman writes, “ …by recognizing the different imbalances in a given situation, a player of virtually any strength can understand what his responsibilities are towards that position with relative ease.”
Imo, this shows he still didn't get it.
Only time will tell.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#88
tarrasch wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
This topic is based upon the work of Jeremy Silman and his book The Amateur's Mind. I think that this book is a good fit for me right now. I've got lots of dumb chess thoughts in my head, that regardless of tactical strength, will get me in trouble, especially when the position is quiet, unlike the positions one sees in tactics puzzles, which have a clear forcing move to make.
We may need to agree to disagree on my study of positional chess while my tactical strength is still that of a novice. If I were to only study tactics, I may as well quit all of my unrated turn-based training games right now.
My first turn-based teacher recommended the book Elements of Positional Evaluation by Dan Heisman Another teacher recommended The Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman. Silman writes, “ …by recognizing the different imbalances in a given situation, a player of virtually any strength can understand what his responsibilities are towards that position with relative ease.”
Imo, this shows he still didn't get it.
Only time will tell.
Your disagreement regarding my chess studies is really with my first teacher, a Strong Class A player, not me. After this post on a subject that is off-topic, I won't discuss nor argue the matter again. This topic has about 2000 views, so I feel a sense of responsibility as the OP to the readers, to stay on topic.
Regarding tactics, I do get it now, and I thanked you for your patience. Since this topic has numerous posts which can be difficult for readers to sift through, this bears repeating:
"My typing was thankfully not a waste of time, as I had a breakthrough recently with your help and that of others, learning that it's not enough to be able to solve tactics puzzles alone, but to solve them in a matter of seconds, not minutes. This was the little something that I did not completely understand. I've heard it from you and a few others on occasion, but it didn't sink in until I related it to something else that I understand more, which is music and musical patterns. Again, thank you for your patience. I do listen. Unfortunately, it takes longer for me to find square one than others. It sucks not being a genius."
Apr 23, 2011
0
#89
tarrasch wrote:
_Better_Than_You wrote:
tarrasch wrote:
Musikamole wrote:
For beginners like myself, I highly recommend custom tactics puzzles.
That's what I was reffering to.
Oh, and about listening - no, you're not listening. Had you been listening to the stronger players you would have been a strong player yourself now. Your study of chess of the past 2 years has brought you to about 1100, whereas most beginning players get there in a few weeks' time, without books and programs and whatnot.
Another proof is that you're still not able to solve a mate in one properly ( which is like, the building block of all strategy and patterns in chess, basically everything comes down to mating your opponent), despite people telling you to work on your tactics for some time ( I told this last year, didn't I? ).
There is a fundamental difference between listening to stronger players and then being able to implement that in a game.play is rather good, if you could get your tactics to a similar level, you will reach 1500 relatively quickly.
I told him to play lots of standard games and study basic tactics. He did none of this.
Instead, he made a thread about positional mistakes in the openings, exploiting extra tempi and move order in the KID.
That's what I meant when I said he isn't listening to the stornger players.
It looks to me that he is listening more to stronger players, hence disregarding your advice in favor of better advice from players that need not be sober to beat you with ease.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#90
_Better_Than_You wrote:
I would play d5, as after exd5 Nxd5 white has no central pawn and black is ahead in development, black is clearly better here. If you delay d5 with Bc5 then white can play Bc4 and then you can't play d5.
There's not really any flaw in your thought process however,
You need to play d5 quickly as if white plays Bc4 first then you can't play it, whereas there is no real to castle immediately, of course castling is a good idea, but in many cases (such as this one) there will be other moves you need to do first.
Back on topic. 
What I highlighted above is good teaching and what I'd like to see happen to this topic, expanding it to everyone who wishes to have their chess thoughts, especially those leading to a candidate move, placed under a microsope and critiqued. Upload full games, partial games, diagrams, or whatever makes sense. Chess coaches use this technique with their students, asking them to talk out loud before every move. No worries. I won't be the one doing the teaching. My chess brain still needs lots of repairs.
Example:
I did not consider that the delay of d5 would give White the opportunity to play Bc4. Thank you!
That, in a nutshell, is what this topic can do for a chess.com members game. If Class A or Expert players upload their games for a critique on their thought process, well, then I'll get after a titled player to do some typing. And don't say that I can't persuade one of the chess gods from doing it. I'm on a mission.
D6 to free your bishop.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#92
chessmates wrote:
Musikamole wrote: I am now convinced that my poor play in Live Chess is the result of brain damage. As a child, I did fall one too many times down the stairs, slamming into the washing machine and dryer at the bottom, seeing stars, fairies and other fanciful things. Does anyone else suffer from this malady? I'd be happy to start a chess league for people who fall into this most unfortunate category.
Sorry to hear that. Did your head really hit the washing machine? Did you really see stars and fairies?
Poor washing machine and the drier..!! Are they still there?
If you don't believe me, then just ask my mother what happened to me as a boy. From a distance, she could hear the thump, thump, thump of my body going down the hard wood stairs down into the basement, followed by the loud bang of my body crashing into the dryer, on numerous occasions. It really hurt!
I was knocked completely unconscious twice as a boy while riding a bicycle. Once, I actually cracked my skull (this is before helmets were required) and darn near died, had it not been for the blood coming out of my ear, releasing the pressure to my brain. Yep. The doctor told me I could have died. It did give my mom a scare.
On another occasion I was riding my bike to the creek to go fishing, with a tackle box in one hand and a fishing pole in the other. I hit a pothole going down a bumpy road, flew over the handle bars and was knocked unconscious. I woke up to a world of pain that I had not felt before. My cousin, who was ahead of me, left me for dead, determined not to let anything get in the way of fishing. When I came home alone, my mom knew something bad had happened to me. Somehow, mothers just know these things. I really didn’t want to tell her, for fear of not being able to go fishing again.
I could go on and on with other such stories, as I have more I could tell, but I do want to stay on topic. Um…falling from 10 feet, hitting my head on solid rock…no…I need to stay on topic!
It's a wonder I am still alive. I can live with the brain damage. I'm sure that there are worse things in life than this impairment, but I'm not clever enough after so many knocks on the head to figure it out.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#94
_Better_Than_You wrote:
woodshover wrote:
D6 to free your bishop.
d5 is better as after d5 you have 2 free bishops rather than just one. It also undermines whites e4 pawn.
The word undermines occurs often in chess books. After 1.e4 e5 2.h3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.a3 d5, is 5.exd5 pretty much forced? Is this what you mean in this case by the word undermined, as in, White will not get to keep a pawn at e4?
Example continuations:
1.e4 e5 2.h3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.d3? d4!, and White must retreat his knight to the less active square: e2.
1.e4 e5 2.h3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.Bd3? d4!, and Ne2 is forced again, with Bd3 blocked by its center pawn at e4, making it a bad bishop temporarily.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#95
_Better_Than_You wrote:
Correct. d3 is certainly bad, I think Bd3 is playable though exd5 is the best move. Good thought process there.
Now, a test for you from one of my CC games which I finished today, I was playing black and I played a modern benoni (the opening isn't important in this) the position is more or less equal with perhaps a slight advantage to white (which should almost always happen in the opening) white plays his 8th move.
As black, what move do you play here and why? (The move I played isn't an instant win, and there isn't only 1 move which doesn't lose, but there is 1 move which I think is considerably better than the others.)
It's not the most complicated of puzzles, but I can imagine that it would still be hard to see the best move, so don't be disheartened if you can't do it.
Excellent position. It's tricky. I could look at Game Explorer, or in one of my chess books to learn more about The Modern Benoni, but I won’t. Absolutely NO chess engine. I want to test my brain.
This is an example of what Coach Ziryab has seen many, many times in the chat window during our unrated training games. Coach Lux is getting a bit of it as well. I need to learn how to type less, and say more! I shortened this one to 483 words.
Observations
1. White has two pawns in the center at e4 and d5, while Black has a semi-open e-file with a rook opposite White's king. White has a space advantage in the center.
2. Black's knight at f3 is pinned to Qd8, so it can't move, nor apply pressure to e4.
3. If things get extremely out of hand, there is a pawn fork in the air, with e4-e5 forking Nf3 and Bd3, supported by Nf3.
4. The b5 square is weak for Black. White could play Nc3 to Nb5, attacking Bd3, which is presently the only defender of the pawn at c5. The pawn at d7 is blocked for now, so d7-d6 is not possible to defend c5.
5. After Nc3-Nb5-Nxd3, White’s knight forks Re1 and Bc1, and Bc1 is blocked, while Re8 is needed, so Nxd3 is unacceptable.
6. White enjoys greater mobility, has no problems completing development, while my d7 pawn is stuck, preventing Nb8-Nd7. Bc8 can’t be developed and the c6 square is off limits for my knight because of White’s d5 pawn.
What to do?
1. 8…h6. After 9.Bxf6 Qxf3 10.Nb5, I still have problems completing development.
2. 8…a6. It prevents Nb5, but after 9.Bxf6 Qxf3, I have two minor pieces that are still parked on the back rank, undeveloped, and Qf6 could serve as target practice for White. I don’t like it.
3. 8…Na6. Develops my knight, with the idea of Na6-Nc7, where pressure can be applied to White’s most advanced pawn at d5. Not too bad, but it does take two tempos and I still am not close to completing development.
4. 8…Qb6. Attacks b2, but doesn’t stop Nb5 due to the defense of Bf1. The attack on b2 can be easily met with Nb5. It presents no problems for White.
5. 8…b6. With the idea of Bb7, but then this diagonal is blocked by two of White’s pawns in the center, plus Nb5 is still possible, and more tactical opportunities are available for White, i.e., 8…b6 9.Nb5 Bc7? 10.d6, and I lose material. 8…b6 9.Nb5 Bb7? 10.Nxd6
6. 8….Bc7, followed by d7-d6, Nb8-Nd7, where d6 and Nd7 defends c5. Bc7 defends d6. Bc8 defends Nd7, Nd7 defends Nf6, and Qd8 defends five pieces. Black has a really cramped position and no attacking possibilities. Plus, after 8…Bc7 9.Nd5 d6 10.Nxc7 Qxc7 11.Bxf6 gxf6, the g-file is open and my king is exposed to attack.
7. 8…Qa5. This is the one move that actually presents a problem for White and adds a temporary defender to my pawn at c5.
a) Qa5 pins Nc3 to Ke1.
b) Nc3 to Nb5 is not possible, so Nxd3 is not an immediate threat.
c) Can White play 9.Bxf6, punching a hole in my castled pawn cover? 8…Qa5 9.Bxf3 Rxe4+!. White can’t play 10.Nxe4, due to the pin on his king.
d) b2-b4, attacking Qa5, loses material immediately to Qxb4.
e) After 8…Qa5 9.Bb5, I have 9…a6.
Did I hang my queen out to dry?
Apr 23, 2011
0
#96
ajedrecito wrote:
You missed Nxe4 :)
I think White's just better in your final position. After 9.Qd2?! (better is 9.Bxf6) Rxe4?? (better is Nxe4 -/+) 10.Nxe4 Qxd2+ 11.Nxd2! (which you probably didn't consider...always look at ALL checks and captures, and this one defends the knight on e4 nicely. Black has given up a Rook for a pawn.) White is winning.
Check all captures. Arg!
I immediately dismissed Nxe4 because of the follow-up, BxQd8, and Black loses his queen.
Time for desert. I need some comfort food, as I feel the need to go hide somewhere and never come out again.
Apr 23, 2011
0
#97
_Better_Than_You wrote:
Starting from the top:-
h6 leads to an equalish position white does not play Nb5 as black has Rxe4+
1. 1. a6 gains a bit of queenside space, not a bad move but Nb5 really isnt whites best idea.
Na6 Bxa6, bxa6 leads to positional weakness for black.
Qb6, Bxf6 gxf6 - positional weakness for black and king looks much less safe.
b6 looks playable, it allows the Na6 Nc7 idea you had earlier without the threat of getting doubled a pawns, not the best move though, takes a lot of tempo to make something of it.
Bc7 leads to cramped positions as you calculated.
Your chosen move Qa5, is actually one of the worst moves out of your ideas, admittedly it does pin the knight, Nb5 was never really a good option for white.
In your ideas you should not consider b2-b4 clearly this can't be played.
Qa5 gives white an attack, 8.Ng5 Qa5 9.Bxf6 Rxe4+ (I like your thinking a lot here but sadly it doesnt work - nice tactical idea though but white's position is too strong) 10.Be2 gxf6 11.0-0 Re8 12.Qc2 Bf8 13.Bd3 - now black now is victim to a horrible attack.
BUT - I can totally see why you picked Qa5, in games you play, people are unlikely to see these long attacks where they give up a pawn so if you played it in a game you probably wouldn't lose too badly, but unfortunately white could get a nice attack out of it.
2. From this I would advise that you stop looking to block threats that aren't there, lots of the time you were thinking white would play Nb5 when really this isnt good for white. Also at one point b2-b4 where nothing was defending b4.
In your analysed line at the top you play quite badly, If 9.Qd2? then Rxe4+ is very bad, as after Nxe4, Qxd2 Nfxd2, and you are just down a rook for a pawn. Make sure you analyse things fully and if you think you see a win, go back and check what happens if a different pieces were to take. As if that had happened in a game it would have been a disaster.
The best move as I see it is (so does ajedrecito) is 8...Nxe4, as if white plays 9.Bxd8? (as was played in my CC game, then black has a very nice tactic in Nxc3+ winning a piece outright. 
If white does not fall for the trap, then 9.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 10.Be3 Qa5+ gives black an advantage. White is down a pawn and he definitely doesn't have adequate compensation for the pawn.
3. This is quite a common tactic, and is based upon the fact that a piece is not really "pinned" if by moving away and allowing the piece it was "pinned" to to be taken, the moving pieces can do more damage to the opponent.
The dessert helped. I have not looked at your stats, but wow, you really have a lot of experience in what I find to be an extremely complex game involving 64 squares.
After showing all of my chess thoughts to the 1000's of readers out there, well, this was most embarrasing to blunder after so much thought and effort. On a positive note, if just one of the many readers learned something from the last few posts and my big mistake of playing Qh5, then it was well worth the embarrasment. I learned something too, the hard way.
1. I saw Nb5 as a serious threat, especially defended by Bf1, based on the mistaken idea that Black loses the game outright after playing Nxe4. My entire analysis was based on that faulty premise. What was White's plan in the next few moves anyway? It's clear now that 8.Bg5 was a mistake/blunder, because my Fritz 12 engine lights up red when that move is played.
2. I was turning over every leaf, so to speak, looking for any move by White that could possibly frustrate my plan. Which brings me to a well worn phrase in chess: check for ALL checks, captures and threats from both sides. Even though Nxe4 looked wrong to my eye upon first examination, is this what is meant by the word ALL? Perhaps this method can serve as a human form of blunder checking, much like what a chess engine does.
Do I test every capture, even the ones that look bad? Is this what chess coaches mean by check ALL captures? By not examining this "bad" capture more closely, I did miss a clever combination that gives Black an advantage.
3. "This is quite a common tactic...allowing the pinned piece to be taken". Do you know what this tactic is called? I could set up a custom problem set at chesstempo and do many of these problems. It's a tactic that I am not familiar with.
A great chess position to get me thinking. Thank you.
if you want to get better all you need to do its to practice simpla mates ,try to kill the enemys fast (time) and youll get better soon.
Apr 24, 2011
0
#99
iksarol wrote:
if you want to get better all you need to do is practice simple mates , try to kill the enemys fast (time) and you'll get better soon.
I was given a homework assignment for improvement in both checkmates and tactics. The assignments can be done at chesstempo.com, where custom problem sets can be created to best fit your needs. This tip comes from a very strong player and chess.com member, ajedrecito. Enjoy.
Taken from post 68.
"First assignment: Mate in one, with a rating over 1000.
Second assignment: Mate in two, rating 1000-1400.
Third assignment: Blitz rating between 1200-1400.
Go for high solve rates and you should be able to do these very quickly (less than 30 seconds). Spend 30 seconds to a minute on the blitz tactics. And do the mate in ones until you see them in less than 10 seconds. (less than 5 is ideal)
To be honest, I did this exercise myself when I was just starting back with chess and it skyrocketed my online rating from 1900 to 2200 very quickly, so this is good for all levels. I limited my time much more (5 seconds was an absolute max for the mate in one and mate in twos and I wouldn't spend more than ten on the blitz problems, and my rating range was 1200-1600)" - ajedrecito
Apr 25, 2011
0
#100
I'm back for more brain surgery...um...a tweak on my chess thinking.
My opponent was really far behind in development, but with no obvious weaknesses or targets, so my only plan was to continue developing, but nothing more. I have never been in quite this position before. What plan would you adopt for White after 6.0-0 Nf6?
My opponent blundered with 7...Qe6, and I was pleased to find 8.Bb5+. Below is the beginning part of the game.
Can somebody tell me how White wins the pawn back after 4...Nxe4 please? I would just take it.
5.Qe2 is conceptually flawed because after 5...d5 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nxe5 Nd4 8.Qd2 Qe7 White is in loads of trouble.
5.d3 Nf6 6.Qe2 d5 7.Nxe5 Nd4 is the same position.
I don't see how White gets his material back without suffering another major disadvantage.
This analysis was done after seeing 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.h3 Nf6 4.a3, where Nxe4 is the best move. - Musikamole
Good grief. I'm so sorry.
I can't believe I messed up the diagram in post #96. It's taken from Game One in post #50. White did not play Nf3, but played Nc3 instead.
Obviously, Black can't take on e4. White is playing C27: The Vienna Game with some rook pawn moves tossed in for added confusion.
Here's how I see the position.
1. White prevents my minor pieces from moving to g4 and b4.
2. If White plays b2-b4, I could get a cramped position on the queenside.
3. d7-d5 is a possibility, but I'd rathar develop my king's bishop first, so I can be free to castle on the next move if it looks good to do so.
4. Be7 looks a bit passive, so I will play Bc5, targeting the weak f2 square. If White plays b2-b4, I have Bb6, with my bishop still aimed at f2.
Any flaws in this thought process?