Friday, April 15, 2005

Whats the difference between a master and a grandmaster?

Grandmaster John Nunn describes that he once played 100 blitzgames with a master.
5 minutes on the clock for Nunn and 10 minutes for the master.
He won with 88-12.

Afterwards the master was disappointed:
"I thought that I would see lots of advanced strategic concepts in these games but actually all I have learnt is LPDO."
"LPDO?" Nunn asked.
"Loose Pieces Drop Off"
Most of the games where decided by relatively simple tactics involving undefended pieces.

So the tactical skills of a grandmaster compares to the master's as 88:12

According MDLM the difference between a class D-player and an expert lies in tactics.
So what is the difference between an expert and a master?
According to Nunn it is the ability to play rookendings well.

So what do you have to do if you want to become an expert, master, grandmaster?

Update.
I did it!
I completed the 560 problems of step 4 all a tempo!
Pffoeii.
I can hardly see tru my watery eyes and I'm grunting all the time.
But I did it.
I'm totally exhausted. Especially the last 100 where really difficult.
All 1100 problems a tempo in 24 days.
Ok, they were not too difficult. And I did them twice in the past. But they took me a lot of time in the first circle.
I think playing them a tempo is good enough. No need for circle 6 and 7.
In a few weeks (months?) I will repeat them to consolidate.
I'll have a break before I continue with step 5.
Aaaah, where is the beer?

TCT# prbscircle 1circle 2circle 3

circle 4

circle 5

circle 6

circle 7

Stp354096%97%

97%

99%

99%

NA

NA

Stp456094%95%95%

97%

99%

NA

NA

Stp558075%- -

-

-

-

-

5 comments:

  1. I agree that every player should modify the MDLM program according to his needs. For you it is 5 circles instead of 7. You set your goal. You reached it. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations Tempo!

    Where are you going to concentrate your energy next - more challenging tactics, endgames or middlegame strategies?

    - bahus

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the anecdotes, tempo. Basically, what Nunn was saying is that GM's play sounder and safer than masters. Perhaps we can conclude that before they make a move, they make darn sure that the move does not have a tactical refutation. So, given the blitz environment, I wonder if that means that they take much less chances than they might in a standard game. Hmmm...stodgy chess in a blitz game...makes sense. That way all they have to do is wait for their opps to make a mistake.

    ReplyDelete