Humbling and fun
I started Step 2 of Tasc Chess Tutor (TCT). I will have to repeat the first two modules in Step 2 (piece activity and Queen double attack), as I scored below 85% in some of the tests in each section. I can't imagine the kinds of problems the other Knights are solving in CT-Art! Maybe when I am done with the Divine Tragedy I will be ready for CT-Art Level 10. I can see some thinking habits developing as I work through TCT. In particular, in those tests that are not organized by theme, I have started to implicitly check for the following, in order, to be more efficient in my problem solving:
1) Am I in check?
2) Which of my pieces are under attack that I need to defend?
3) Can I mate him?
4) Which of his pieces are unprotected?
We'll see if any of this transfers to real games!
As for Stage 1 of my actual Thinking Drills, it is VERY helpful. I still have to spend a half-hour to successfully blundercheck ten full moves, and am impatient for when I can do this relatively quickly! It is very much like knight sight, except I am looking for en prise pieces to pop out rather than available knight squares.
1) Am I in check?
2) Which of my pieces are under attack that I need to defend?
3) Can I mate him?
4) Which of his pieces are unprotected?
We'll see if any of this transfers to real games!
As for Stage 1 of my actual Thinking Drills, it is VERY helpful. I still have to spend a half-hour to successfully blundercheck ten full moves, and am impatient for when I can do this relatively quickly! It is very much like knight sight, except I am looking for en prise pieces to pop out rather than available knight squares.
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 5/18/2005 02:40:00 PM
2 Comments:
One teacher I read who trained IM's said the rule was "check - material - position".
In other words, first check to mate, look for material gain and then play for position.
I like your approach very much. I noticed that when going through the problems in the final circles I usually knew the right move and played it without thinking. This was definitely a bad thing - neglecting a chance to train proper thought process just to finish a bit earlier was not worth it.
Keep up the good work, you're on the right track!
- bahus
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