Begin Chess

Chess for Beginners

Archive for the ‘Notebook’ category

Chess Training Notebook Week of 12/28/09

January 3rd, 2010

First entry of the new year, and it is time to review my Chess goals and resolutions. So far, I’m happy with my progress, and the new training program I am following is finally giving me guidance and improvement.

This week was the 2nd and final week of the first cycle of Phase I of the Extreme Chess Training Program which I began on 12/21/09. Next week I start on Phase II, which focuses on the endgame. I am going to use the end of 1 full cycle of ECT, which is 45 days to play a tournament and do a progress report. I will also post more information on the program upon my completion of my first 45 day cycle.

Monday 12/28 - Chess Trainer at chesstempo.com. Increased standard rating from 1717 to 1725 1hr and 81% accuracy which is much higher than my 57% average.

Tuesday 12/29 - Played rated game on FICS & reviewed game afterwards.

Wednesday 12/30 - 2 Stoyko Tactics puzzles from Imagination in Chess using Tactics Checklist . Spent 39 minutes on 1 puzzle! Total training time was 1hr.

Thursday 12/31 - New years eve, sneaked in 15 minutes of unrated tactics at chesstempo.com.

Friday 1/1 - Did Speed Tactics from Bain’s Tactics for Students. Exercises 93 through 197 with 95% accurracy. Also, to makeup for Thursday I played a standard game against Fritz 5.32 1 ply (Playing against engine due to Internet issues).

Saturday 1/2 - Core Tactics from Chess Training Pocket Book. 76% accurracy.

Sunday 1/3 - Open day – Solved Step 3 tests of Step Method scoring 80%, 70% and 72%. Also did 20 minutes of Tactics Trainer using chesstempo improved rating slightly from 1725 to 1727. Total training time 1 hr.

3 comments »

Posted in ECT, Notebook, Training

Chess Training Notebook 12.21.09

December 29th, 2009

This is the first week where I trained using the Extreme Chess Training (ECT) program. I am still beta testing it and I should have more information available the first week of January.

Monday – Performed 45 minutes of standard tactics at chesstempo.com

Tuesday – Played an ICC standard game and reviewed it afterwards.

Wednesday – Did 1hr of speed tactics, using Bain’s Chess Tactics for Students.

Thursday – Played standard game on FICS.

Friday – Performed core tactics for 1 hour. Focused on key positions from Chess Training Pocketbook

Saturday – Performed Stoyko Tactics from positions in Imagination in Chess.

Sunday – 20 minutes of chess trainer practice at chesstempo.com. Played over Alekhine – Duras 1913 on chessgames.com.

The program calls for more of the same on the week of 12/28/09.

2 comments »

Posted in Notebook, Training

Tags: Notebook Training

Chess Taxonomy

December 16th, 2009

I am working on creating a Chessbase notebook (more on this in a much future post), and I am working out a way to effectively categorize my chess content. Below is a draft of the taxonomy I plan on using. For example pins would be categorized as Middlegame – Tactics – Pins, whereas King and pawn endgame content would be categorized as Endgame – Theory – K+P.

Opening

Principles
e4- opening name
d4 – opening name
Tactics

Middlegame

Tactics – Pin
Tactics – Backrank weakness
Tactics – Decoy
Tactics – Deflection
Tactics – Double Attack
Tactics – Exposed King
Tactics – Fork
Tactics – In-Between Move
Tactics – Interference
Tactics – Clearence
Tactics – Mating Patterns
Tactics – Overworked Piece
Tactics – LPDO
Tactics – Promotion
Tactics – Skewer
Strategy - BishopPair
Strategy – Good vs. Bad Bishop
Strategy – Bishop vs. Knight
Strategy – Open Lines and Diagonals
Strategy – Central Control
Strategy – Closed Positions
Strategy – Space
Strategy – Activity
Strategy – Isolated Pawns
Strategy – Backward Pawns
Strategy – Doubled Pawns
Strategy – Pawn Chains
Strategy – Passed Pawns
Strategy – Minory Attack
Strategy – Weak Color Complex
Strategy – Weak Squares
Strategy – Outposts
Strategy – Positional Sacrifice
Strategy – Harmony of the Pieces
Strategy – Development

Endgame

Theory (Mueller / Fine type content)

Theory – Lucena Position
Theory – Philidor Position
Theory – Shouldering
Theory – Opposition
Theory – Triangulation
Theory – K+P
Theory – R+P
Theory – RvR
Theory – Double Rook
Theory – Queen
Theory – Minor Piece
Theory – Fortresses
Theory – BvN
Theory – Bishops of Same Color
Theory – Opposite Color Bishops

Practice (Shereshevsky type content)
Practice – King Centralization
Practice - Principle of Two Weaknesses
Practice – Do Not Rush
Practice – Passed Pawns
Practice – Schematic Thinking
Practice – Exchanges
Practice – Fight for the Initative
Practice – Prophalaxis
Practice – Bishop Pair
Practice – Zugzwang
Practice – Fortresses
Practice – Converting and Advantage

No comments »

Posted in Chess, Notebook, Taxonomy

Tags: Taxonomy

Training Notebook Week of 12.07.09

December 13th, 2009

Monday 12.07.09

Played G/15 game and drew against opponent rated 1826 in a winning position (I was up a minor piece), but opponent had counterplay and I was down to 4 1/2 minutes on the clock.

Tuesday 12.08.09

Reviewed game. Confirmed that position was won. Opponent made a tactical mistake where he lost the exchange. Focused study will revolve against playing this position against Rybka 3.

Wednesday 12.09.09

Played won position against Rybka and lost twice!!! I should have simplified the position, since I was up 3 pawns.

Thursday 12.10.09

Played standard game on ICC against opponent rated 1710 (I am currently rated 1780 with one more provisional game to go). Lost game due to tactical oversights.

Friday 12.11.09

Reviewed standard game. I played poorly, going from a better position to even and ultimately to a losing position. My first mistake was an exchange that gave my opponent lots of activity and counterplay even though I had a material advantage. It is interesting to note, how high Rybka evaluates activity giving it an evaluation of over 1/2 a pawn. I then fell victim to a removal of the guard / pin / deflection combination which netted my opponent my bishop. I kept on playing, and ultimately fell victim to a checkmate, which I totally missed. Focused study will revolve around doing extra tactics.

Saturday 12.12.09

Focused on doing tactics at chess.com instead of chesstempo. Noticed that the timer is not helping my solving…dropped approximately 100 rating points! I prefer solving the standard chesstempo tactics which allow me to take my time to find the right answer.

Sunday

Doing extra tactics solving at chess.com.

2 comments »

Posted in Chess, Notebook, Training

Tags: Notebook Training

Chess Notebook Week of 11.30.09

December 7th, 2009

Monday 11.30.09

Played G/20 20 game against opponent rated 1865. Played the Sicilian Grand Prix and lost in a rook endgame where I was a pawn down.

Tuesday 12.01.09

Reviewed game. Made an interesting observation that I would not have picked up on if I had not reviewed game. I lost 2 pawns during the game, because I failed to take back material. I chose to lose material instead of making an exchange that would benefit my opponent. I have to remind myself during a game that material precedes any other strategic criteria.

Solved tactics for 15 minutes.

Wednesday 12.02.09

Did Chess Tempo for 45 minutes. Was aiming for accuracy, so I only got to do 10 puzzles 65% success rate. I am currently rated 1702.

Thursday 12.03.09

Solved tactics for 15 minutes.

Played G/20 20 game on ICC against opponent rated 1783, I won the game and I am now rated 1780 (still provisional).

Friday 12.04.09

Reviewed Thursday’s game. Opponent made several tactical oversights, I made several poor moves in the late middlegame, but my opponent did not take advantage of them. This leads to the importance of reviewing your games, even your wins. After the game, I felt pretty good about my play and I would have never guessed that I made two weak moves that would have converted a won game into a draw if my opponent had acted on them.

Saturday 12.05.09

Solved 1 hour of tactics

Sunday 12.06.09

Open day. Did 30 minutes of tactics on Chess Tempo. Reached my highest rating yet of 1714. Played a few blitz games on FICS.

No comments »

Posted in Chess, Notebook, Training

Tags: Training

Chess Notebook Week of 11.23.09

November 29th, 2009

Started new program mid week, so entries will be from Wednesday through Sunday.

Wednesday 11.26.09

Played G/15 5 game against an opponent rated 1687 on ICC (I am provisionally rated 1781 after this game). I plan on playing all of my standard games on ICC so that I can maintain continuity in tracking my ELO rating. ICC rating is approximately 250 points higher than USCF. At 1781 my rating is a bit inflated due to it’s provisional status…it should be more like 1600-1650 IMO.

Solved tactics on Chess Tempo (30m)

Thursday 11.27.09 [Thanksgiving]

Reviewed Wednesday’s game – I won the game, but I came out poorly out of the opening. I have always had issues with the French Defense Exchange variation, so my focus study will be reviewing the French Exchange variation. (1 hour)

Solved puzzles at Chess Tempo (15m)

Friday 11.28.09

Chess Tempo 30 minutes
Focus Study: French Defense Exchange variation (1.30h)

Saturday 11.29.09

Solved (easy non-rated) puzzles on chesstempo (30m)
Played G/15 5 game on ICC against opponent rated 1865 I am still provisionally rated with an ELO of 1768. NOTE: Next game will be a G/30 time control.

Sunday 11.30.09
Reviewed game. Loss stemmed from not calculating all possible candidates and faulty thought process, where I forgot threats I had assessed several moves before. Opponent came out of the opening slightly better. Opening played was the Caro-Kann Exchange variation. Going to focus on Stoyko Exercises to improve calculation skills as well as an intense tactics training session.

Did one Stoyko exercise from a correspondence game I am currently playing. Analyzed the position for approximately 10 minutes. I also did a ‘Guess the Move’ game on chessgames.com. I chose a Capablanca game where Capa played White against the Caro-Kann defense. The chessgames.com exercise took about 30m.

Tomorrow Monday I’ll restart the training schedule.

2 comments »

Posted in Chess, Notebook, Training

Tags: Notebook Training

Chess Resolutions

November 25th, 2009

Farbror the Guru has challenged the chess improvement community to come up with a list of chess goals for the coming year, so here are mine:

Long Term Goals

Increase USCF rating to 1400 (currently at 1283)
Increase Chess Tempo standard tactics rating to 1850 (currently at 1700)
Increase ICC standard rating (currently have a provisional rating of 1750) will set appropriate ELO goals within the next 3 months once I get out of provisional status. update 01.03.10 Out of provisional rating after having played 26 standard games. Benchmark rating is 1781 goal is to reach an ICC rating of 1825 by the end of the year.
Play in 4 tournaments within the next 12 months
Play a minimum of 2 standard games G/15 or > per week
Have a minimum of 6 training sessions in the next 12 months with FM Charles Galofre

Short Term Goals (goals for the next 90 days)

Dedicate 1 hour per day to chess training
Review all of my standard games
Play in an OTB tournament before the end of February ‘10
Have a chess lesson before the end of February ‘10
Simplify my chess training, focus more on the practical side of chess
Increase Chess Tempo rating to 1750 by the end of February ‘10

7 comments »

Posted in Announcements, Chess, Goals, Notebook, Resolutions, Training

Tags: chess improvement Training

Chess Tweets

June 28th, 2009

I haven’t had much time to devote to blogging, so I am trying a new method. I am posting my chess training notebook using Twitter. If the post requires more than the 140 character limit, then I will expand on the topic via the blog.

No comments »

Posted in Announcements, Chess, Notebook

Tags: Twitter

King and Pawn Endings

November 24th, 2007

The following game illustrates (starting in move 49.) how to exploit an extra pawn in a King and pawn endgame with many pawns left on the board. This example comes from James Howell’s excellent book ‘Essential Chess Endings’.

Things to remember:

1. Activate the king.

2. Create a passed pawn to tie down your opponent’s king.

3. Cut out any of your opponent’s counterplay.

4. Once your opponent has run out ouf pawn moves it should be easy to force his king back.

5. Either penetrate with your king and pick off your opponent’s pawns while they are busy dealing with your passed pawn or advance your king and passed pawn to paralyze your opponent’s king and force him to make concessions with his remaining pawns.

2 comments »

Posted in Chess, Endgame, Notebook