Temposchlucker

Blue Devil Knight addresses a very interesting question in his post . How do you correctly quantify piece mobility? Usually the value of a piece is expressed in units of 1 pawn. Q = 9 R = 5 B = 3 N = 3 p = 1 These are STATIC values. It can happen during a whole game that your rook stands on a1 without moving. Sometimes it even doesn't make a difference if your rook was placed next to the board in stead of on the board. In such cases the DYNAMIC value of the rook is 0 (zero). In other situations the rook can be so active that it is worth a queen. So the static value of a rook is representing the AVERAGE dynamic value of the rook. Because we have no good algorithm to express the dynamic value of a rook, the use of the static value has become very popular. Have a look at the diagram below. White to move. The space of the black bishop is severely limited by its own pawn. The space of the black king is limited by the rim of the board. White can make use of this by playing Rc1, threa

I don't expect to see convincing and measurable results before I have done 100,000 at CTS (see an old post ) It is not done to have a big mouth before I have measurable and convincing results. It's remarkable how little I have to say now I'm not allowed to have a big mouth. I'll bide my time. . . CTS circle 0: 1470 circle 1: 1500 circle 2: 1520 circle 3: 28,000 /70,000 Highest rating 1567

CTS invites me to play a tempo. But I noticed that even "a tempo" can be interpreted in different ways. I found the following 3 speeds. "Immediate" The main tactic is recognized in under 1 second. The position is so familiar you are sure this has to be the move. The validation of the move is allready in the pattern so to say. This happens in <1% of the problems. It is a sort of observation without actually seeing. You just know where the pieces are and what they are doing. I compare it with the tennis player who knows where the ball is while it is physically not possible to see it (feel the force, Luke). "Scanning" I scan the board and my eye falls on the main tactic. This happens within 3 seconds. <10% of the cases. "Validation" allthough I recognize the tactic fast, I feel the urge to validate the move. Before you know it 10-20 seconds are gone. For example a simple recapture of a piece falls in this category. I always feel the urge to ha

Will training at CTS have a positive influence on my rating? Officially that can only be proven with the dutch ratinglist in hand. The next rated games lie ahead. Within a few weeks the regional competition starts (7 rated games). And a regional championship (9 games). Both happenings last until april/may. The rating will be available only per august 1, 2006. In january I plan to go to the Corus tournament. Ratingprogress from that will be available per may 1, 2006. So that is some time to go. Maybe I go to an unrated rapidtournament in November (5 games G25). This should give an indication of progress. So since we have to wait for an official prove, what do I expect? I will try to estimate. Be prepared for my infamous algebra. I expect my rating at CTS to increase every month with 20 points. Right now I have gained 60 points. If I can maintain the pace it will be 100 points within two months. What is a rating gain of 100 points worth in the real world? The points at CTS are somewhat c