CT-Art Envy and Au revoir
I'm leaving for a two-week vacation to France tomorrow! My first visit to France. I'll be in Paris. Any suggestions for good chess spots in Paris? I can't promise anything, but I'll try to post once while there. My last 45 45 game is Sunday night: we'll see how I do in conditions in which most people win GM norms. That is, jet-lagged.
I had a look at CT-Art last night. The wonderful features it has, which CTB doesn't, include 1) The sweet 5x5 mini-board testing you on the key idea when you make two mistakes. 2) Defensive training: at least on some problems, once you've solved it, it gives you the move as the other color so you can practice defending against the tactic. 3) You can divide up the problems by difficulty, or by two types of themes. Since I think it is good practice to look at the same problems from multiple angles, I think it would be great to work through the problems sorted in all three ways (three times each means nine circles).
I can better appreciate why de la Maza recommended CT-Art. I can't wait until I'm ready for that program! It must have taken thousands of man-hours to complete.
I had a look at CT-Art last night. The wonderful features it has, which CTB doesn't, include 1) The sweet 5x5 mini-board testing you on the key idea when you make two mistakes. 2) Defensive training: at least on some problems, once you've solved it, it gives you the move as the other color so you can practice defending against the tactic. 3) You can divide up the problems by difficulty, or by two types of themes. Since I think it is good practice to look at the same problems from multiple angles, I think it would be great to work through the problems sorted in all three ways (three times each means nine circles).
I can better appreciate why de la Maza recommended CT-Art. I can't wait until I'm ready for that program! It must have taken thousands of man-hours to complete.
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 7/27/2006 02:42:00 PM
8 Comments:
CT art is the bomb!
or the phd exam, or the blackbelt test... or the big wall climb without 'pro [tection'=carabiners, chucks, screws, straps].
you do this, and you will become a mean moth_r.
You never considered to get Total Chess Training instead? Besides CT-Art being included, it covers much more. Hence the title "Total Chess Training".
Oh, and have fun in Paris. I've been there once and enjoyed it.
Au revoir
ive never been to europe--only korea and japan--and surely it must be as they say, the 'final exam for any american to go to europe'. enjoy. will think of you.
fyi, before i go, i looked at the total chess training when making my purchase, and decided that other software did these other things better and not to allow distraction. but from a consumer perspective, the extra money spent does give you a lot more--i assume, the endgame stuff is good.
but IF a person did the ctart3 seven times, is that not enough to digest or is allowing any distraction on this both enriching potentially but also possibly dilutive.
then the book secrets of pawn play, endgame strategy, fundamental chess endings, the dvoretsky cd for his endgame manual, then a good game cd such as megabase for game collections in our pawn structure knowledge and ensuent endings, etc. so yes dollar$$ wise total chess training darn good by but are these other parts ideal parts, or rather is it that the size of it is the only ideal but constituencies suboptimal? i decided cta3 only.
when a person starts carpentry then wood working, you dont buy a who drill press, then surfacer, and joiner to start. you start small then find what you need. if you buy too much for the shop, you can quit cabinet making and go to the pub cause its all too much.
but spread out over time, say ten trips to lowes or home depot, each one a treasured jewel of discovery... or wherever it is... each part hand selected.
or a cd with the best games of informator in pgn, etc. i better stop, im getting carried away as usual...
who takes care of your dog??
dk.
Bon voyage!
So....given that CT Art is too tough for me, where should I be starting with these circles? I don't own any chess software yet...I'd been looking at CT Art for a while but now that I realize it's meant for Elo 1600 and up I think I'm not ready for that.
Hmm, maybe it's time to start the chess blog, since I had to create a blogger blog to post this comment. I'll let you know if and when I bring it online for real..
zweiblumen: I had the same concern, so I am using 'Chess Tactics for Beginners' for my circles. For a list of potential software, with links, to use in the circles, check out this post. That post includes Chess Tactics for Beginners. I am finding it a great program: while it starts with very easy mate-in-one problems, it works up to more complicated three-move tactics and mates.
Let me know if you start a blog so I can link to it.
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