Plugging the holes
I'm plugging the holes in my bucket systematically, lately. I already have plugged all mates and all basic tactics. It took me 240 days to do so. I don't know how many hours per day I study exactly, but if I estimate it on 3 hours per day, we talk about 720 hours for the basics. I'm not quite finished yet, but when I'm 20 days further, I'm probably ready.
Yesterday I outplayed a 1930 player. First I won an exchange, then I could convert it into a whole rook for two pawns. In the endgame I made a blunder in time trouble. Which is of course a bit sour after playing for four hours so well. The basic mates and tactics are enough to outplay 1950m players on a regular base. But there are other holes in my bucket that make me still drop points against them.
I don't worry too much about the holes in my bucket. Like openings and endgames. It is more important to work systematically. I register all holes and will plug them in due time.
The next steps are advanced tactics and positional chess. Only after that, I will have a look at the other holes. But I'm pretty sure we are a year and a half further before I reach that point.
Posts like these, probably don't contain much added value for you. For me the importance lies in that it confirms the thoughts I have and indicates the direction to continue. For instance, a lot of the basic tactics I use as exercise, leads to winning endgames when the opponent doesn't cooperate fully. I'm now in the stadium that I must absorb the basic tactics first where the enemy does cooperate.. But later, I must learn how to play out these resulting endgames where the enemy doesn't cooperate. I'm happy, because I must grow in being my own coach. But for you, this is probably boring.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that I totally outplay a 1930 player. Even despite the loss due to a blunder. The loss delays the proof of my method, but helps me to know where to go next. Which I consider to be more important.
I play with a few questions in the back of my head. One of them is: how far can an adult come with my method. The evidence piles up that you can become a grandmaster with it. Maximum speed: within 8 years. I hope that somebody will at some day pick up the gauntlet.
NOT boring! We're just eagerly waiting for the next steps to unfold, while wishing you complete success!
DeleteThere are of course quite a few uncertainties in this calculation. Child prodigies need 8 years to become a grandmaster. Adults must be able to do the same in the same time. But there are a lot of questions. Because I'm the first, a lot of time is consumed by figuring out things. How many relevant areas are there?
ReplyDeleteMates, basic tactics, advanced tactics, resulting endgames, positional moves are rather obvious. I have the right problem set for those already. But are there more areas that are relevant and that are not covered yet?
I purposely didn't mention openings. How many opening knowledge does a child prodigy have? What is the minimum that you need to become a grandmaster? It can have a huge influence on the total study time.
In general, I don't study very effective. I study a few minutes, and then I'm going to think about stuff. Stuff that might or might not be related to chess at all. If you have a method that is cast in concrete, it would be easier to make the most of your study in the shortest amount of time. But since I develop the method on the fly, matters are more complicated. So experiences of readers that do experiments themselves are appreciated. It can cut down on development time.
How many repetition is needed and into what detail? I don't know. Maybe I'm wasting time by doing too much or by going too deep with the wrong stuff.
Besides that, I work full time. Well, about 70% or so at the moment due to health issues, but the remaining 30% is needed for recovery and isn't available for chess. So any help is appreciated.
We watch your journey. I am on a similar path but somewhat behind you. > a couple of things come to mind. I wonder if there may be interesting thoughts in the Perpetual Chess Podcast . They have a series of interviews with adult improvers. Some who have made it to IMs . > I find myself in games thinking of how do I provoke certain situations ... How do I make an epaulette or dovetail pawn structure appear... Am I seeing the structure ? > I hope you are enjoying the journey. Happy travels .
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ReplyDeleteFor those interested. This is my problem set which appears as 25 squares . which contains the 32 mates and then some. Note that one has to scroll down to the earlier images to see where I am at and some answers in the position. ( My latest posts appear first and there is no instant way to view from the beginning ) It does take a few minutes to do. Source is CT-Art . which one can get for free at the Google or Apple store https://www.instagram.com/takchess1/
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