Studying along

Although little seems to happen around this blog, I'm studying very hard. I will have two nine day tournaments in July for which I'm preparing. I do daily tactics for half an hour or an hour, conform my newly developed method. The more I think about it, the more I become convinced it is the only way. It addresses the very basics of tactics, which I turn out to master surprisingly bad.

I'm almost finished with the book Game Changer, about AlphaZero. It turns out that AlphaZero is an activity addict, although even in this book it becomes never clear what activity actually is. When activity isn't arrived at yet, AZ is a mobility addict.

I'm working on more understanding of the middelgame. It seems to boil down to three aspects:

• Prevent counter play in the center
• Targets, of which the king is an exponent
• Activity, although nobody gives a definition of that, and those explanations that are around seem to contradict each other

Of these three, activity seems to be paramount. Along with restriction of the activity of the enemy. Even targets are merely used as a way to restrict the activity of your opponents pieces by binding them to the defense of a target (function).

The pawns seem to play a key role. Since the pawns determine which lines and diagonals are open. The potential lines of attack. The piece position in relation to the lines of attack determine who can make use of the line of attack. It is a matter of tempo's. Who is first.

I was intending to divide my preparations for the tournaments in three: two months for the middlegame, two for the endgame and two for the openings. But the area is so vast, that I consider to drop the opening preparation altogether.

Maybe I should have a peek in the realm of the endgame first, in order to decide whether there is some low hanging fruit I can reap. After all, my new way of playing brings me in endgame after endgame. Where I usually screw up a better position.