Squares/Circles/Openings

I finished with concentric squares training. By the end I was finishing them in 10 minutes (note I only did it for the bishop, rook, and queen). In real games, I need to actively practice visualizing the lines of vulnerability ('chess vision') for any of the skills to transfer: it is far from automatic and effortless. I have begun the Knight Sight drill, and am doing it in concert with Knight concentric circles. I am starting to see the Knight's squares pop out in my games, which is nice. Again, this is not effortless, but requires me to concentrate a bit on seeing the knight's squares pop out. It is a cool effect, though, and I am no longer calculating, but 'seeing'. While this is an active seeing, it takes much less effort than calculating the possibilities, which is what I had to do before.

I will start the Circles in two weeks. I have narrowed my choice down to two programs. What I will probably do is work through both programs once in Circle One and afterwards evaluate which program to use in the remaining circles. First, I will work through Tasc Chess Tutor (TCT), because it will give this beginner a well-rounded introduction that includes openings, tactics, and endgame. On the other hand, I frankly don't feel like I am losing games in the opening, but in the tactics-rich middle game. Because of this, I will also work a more traditional DLM program (i.e., tactics focused) using Convekta's Chess Tactics for Beginners. It starts out very simple (1 move mate), but gets hard for me pretty fast. Also, none of the Knights are using it so it would be fun to be the first to report on how good it is (;-)). I know that both programs will help me.

For opening study, I have started making regular use of this and this site: they each have great graphical interfaces for opening study. I use the first site to find the name of the opening, and the second site to study it in more detail. I am using them to help me after games when I see an opening I am unfamiliar with. I have used them to learn the standard response (move 2 only!) to the Sicilian, French, and Scandinavian defenses. This has helped me gain speed and confidence in the start of a game, and I think it helps create contexts with great tactical potential (that I always fail to exploit).