I am green with envy with the graduates. They can now choose what they want to further their chess studies, while I am here chained and shackled to circle 6. Oh, good grief.
Anyway, I see most are turning their attention to endgames now. This makes me think about my plans. I also want to take up endgames. Afterall, most grandmasters actually recommend that you study endgames first before anything - But although my tactical prowess has increased. It is not the increadible, super power, mega, ultra, omega increase that I thought it would be. So I am thinking of doing yet another circles. I know, I know, my pseudo-masochistic tendencies are rearing itself again. But how I can be shirov if I dont go thru this painfull process?
Plus, I really also want to take up strategy. After a steady diet of tactics, things like space grabbing, color complexes, flank maneuvers, etc.. are really starting to become interesting.
Then, I also want to order the "MiddleGame I" from convekta. I wanted to master the Ruy, and the KID. In short - to establish an opening repertiore.
I've blogged about my post-circle plans before but my opinion changes like oil prices. Can't settle down and decide what to do. And I'm still not finished with the current circles.
The horror. The horror!
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
What are you doing?
posted by Nezha at 11:40 PM
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6 Comments:
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At 6:26 AM,
CelticDeath -
I know it all too well.
I already dived into endgames about a year ago for a mere 3 weeks, but it is not good to divide your energy.
Since I didn't had the idea that I had a reasonable level of skill in tactics, I had to use all my discipline to get back to tactics. But now I have the feeling the time is ripe. However I found it difficult to choose: is studying endings going to gain ratingpoints for me? But now I really want to stick with it, no matter what happens. End so it goes. . . -
At 8:30 AM,
CelticDeathTempo, I've read before that endgame mastery is really good for improving positional play. I guess that must be why GM Polgar recommends endgames to precede strategic studies. So, I'm sure you will gain points from it. However, my gut feeling is that the real gains will come when we are able to sew the pieces together (endgames and tactics). This sewing will be strategic study, and I feel that the strategic study will provide the context for both tactics and endgames as well as provide the maximum ratings improvement for us. Then, the last thing to do before studying highly specific critical positions to "tweak" our game will be to hammer down openings. I remember reading in Reshevsky's Art of Positional Play that he reached a point early on where he was simply instructed to study openings. So, I imagine that at that point he was already playing at the Expert level at least. But it does set the order in place, as I see it:
1. Tactics
2. Endgames
3. Strategy
4. Openings
5. Critical positions
I know what you mean, Nezha! I've had to restrain myself from beginning my endgame circles although the temptation is there. Tactics are exhausting, but necessary. So, I must force myself to complete them on schedule before I dive into the endgame.