Farbror the Guru

Long Term Condensed Simplicity

2011-11-16T15:33:00.001+01:00

A friend shared a nice little story:

"Thanks farbror, I appreciate the kind words. Yea I agree. Big difference between learning and having practical knowledge. I'm a martial artist and my master taught me a lesson. He stated now that your advanced what is the greatest lesson I've taught you. I stood there for about 3 minutes thinking (scared in front of a huge crowd) and then said a black belt knows that simplicity is best which comes from the mind. He stated exactly. The 4-5 th degree black belts used to beat me with the simplest of moves. Mastering the basics is so important. He said right, you can know a thousand moves and not know how to use one in a real life situation or have one technique that you can always use to great effect. Thats why we see in cage fighting usually same moves over and over because they are practical. In chess same applies. My trainer now finds small little things in my game and adjust them and it's like wow! I notice the improvement right away." (My Boldface)

This very clear example of the importance the basics and not rushing things is very much in tune with solid instructions posted at www.chessville.com "The Path to Improvement"

So, here is my New Single(!) Long Term Plan. No more Meta Pseudo Training wasting a lot of time and energy.

The (Re-)Reading Project
A list of books to read or re-read. I strongly consider to write short reviews of all the books along the road.

Everyone's Second Chess Book (Heisman)
Learn Chess Tactics (Nunn)
Silman's Complete Endgame Course (Silman)
Chess Openings (Basman)
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach (Weeramantry & Eusebi)
Lasker's Manual of Chess (Lasker)
New Ideas In Chess (Evans)
Logical Chess Move By Move (Chernev)

The "Guess-the-Move" Project

In parallell with the reading project I plan to replay all the games in the excellent collection "The Mammoth Book of The World's Greatest Chess Games" in chronologic order.

The Openingphobia Remedy

Opening Worries or Openingphobia is another energy drainer. No more reconsidering opening choices for at least a ......long time. I think Dan Heisman has a solid point when he suggests that playing openings that suits your style might slow down your development. Playing stuff outside of my comfort zone will force me to work on my weak areas. I will use the recommendations from:

"An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player" (Gufeld)

Midchesslife Crisis

2011-11-10T16:10:00.000+01:00

My, in lack of better words, career has been ongoing for about four years. Early on I set a long term goal for my activities: Play at a 1750 level before the age of 50.

I am more than halfway there, the due date is a little more than three years away, and progress is slim to none.

What has gone wrong?

The time budget has always been infinitesimal and I have not been able to play enough slow games. That is no surprise and part of the equation from the very start. I honestly believed that my chess muscle would grow and a steady diet of tactics puzzles. The tactics muscle has improved (around 1850 at Chesstempo today) but I see no traces of improvement in my few games or in my rating.

Obviously, a lot of time have been wasted in illusionary fake training which comes in many shapes:

Reading Chess news instead of something beneficial
Planning, Documenting or changing your training instead of training
Not spending enough time on a topic and not learning it properly
Developing knowledge instead of skills

Sounds familiar?

Well, it is time to be more concrete, condensed and minimalistic. Will it help? We will see!

Goals for December 31, 2012

40+ slow games played and analyzed
Three Books
Daily Chesstempo problem(s)
Monthly Chessmagnetschool rating tests (November 11, 2011: Rating Test. Score: 1487)

Do-it-yourself Chess Publishing

2011-11-06T13:27:00.001+01:00

I have wild plans for a minor pamphlet on chess training. What would be the easiest tool for creating something like that? ChessBase? Any tips and advice are appreciated!

Another Grinding Affair

2011-11-06T06:30:00.000+01:00

Another morning work-out grinding affair and another fine example of my weak endgame skills. Please note that you can make the moves with the arrow keys after making the first move.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

WeakDelfi - Farbror

0-1, 2011.11.06.

[#] 1.e4 b6 2.Bc4 Slightly surprising as the bishop often is needed to defend the pawn center 2...Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.O-O Bxc3 6.bxc3 Bxe4 =A pawn and a slightly messed up pawn structure should compensate for the bishop pair 7.Qe2 Nf6

[7...Bxc2 8.d4 Ba4 = Another won pawn but at the cost of many tempi. The pawn defect will not go away easily and could be used as a target after finalizing development.]

8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 O-O 10.Ba3 A few tempting alternatives. Unclear which to choose. 10...Re8 A natural looking move as Re8 is likely to be played soon anyway

[10...c5 Restricting the bishop and grabbing space;

10...d6 Increasing control over the center and clearing the d7-square for the knight.]

11.Rfe1 c5 12.Qd6 Qe7 13.Qg3 Nc6 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 d6 16.dxc5 dxc5 17.Bb2 Red8 18.Bc1 ?! Hiding the Bishop? 18...Qd6 19.Qxd6 Rxd6³ Better pawn structure, a pawn ahead and better activity adds up to an advantage for black 20.Bb2? Rxd2µ and Black has a won game. 21.Rec1 Nd5 22.Rab1 Nb4 ? Misscalculation. The c2 pawn can not easily be won right now 23.a3 Nc6 24.Bc3 Rd5 25.Rd1 Rad8 26.Rxd5 Rxd5 27.Kf1 Nd4 28.Rb2 Re5 29.Bxd4 cxd4 30.f4 Rc5 31.Rb4 Rd5 32.Ra4 a5 33.Rc4 g6 34.Rc8 Kg7 35.c4? Rc5 36.Rb8 Rxc4 37.Rxb6 Rc5 38.Rd6 Rd5 Not as strong as I thought. White's King is a little to close to the doubled pawns 39.Rxd5 exd5 40.Ke2 Kf6 41.Kd2 Ke6

[41...Kf5 Stronger! 42.Kd3 Kxf4 43.Kxd4 h5! ]

42.Ke2 Kd6 43.Kd3 Kc5 44.g4 a4

[44...h6 Control over g5 is important]

45.g5 Kd6 46.Kxd4 Ke6 47.h3 Kf5 48.Kxd5 Kxf4 49.h4 Kg4 50.Ke5 Kxh4 51.Kf6 Kh5 52.Kxf7 Kxg5 53.Ke6 h5 54.Ke5 h4 55.Ke4 h3

[55...Kg4 ]

56.Kf3 Kh4 57.Kf2 g5 58.Kg1 g4 59.Kh1 Kg5 60.Kg1 Kf4 61.Kf2 Ke4 62.Kg3 Kd3 63.Kh4 Kc3 64.Kxg4 h2 65.Kh5 h1=Q 66.Kg4 Qf1 67.Kg5 Kd4 68.Kh4 Qg2 69.Kh5 Ke5 70.Kh6 Kf5 71.Kh5 Qg5# [0-1]

Generated by Aquarium

Testing My New Toy

2011-11-05T06:52:00.001+01:00

The game was a little interesting an also very frustrating. After consulting with my silicon friend I realize that winning the won position was really hard work and probably beyond me. However, the loosing blunder was found amazingly fast.

Please note that you can step through the game using the arrow keys.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

WeakDelfi - Farbror

1-0, 2011.11.05.

[#] 1.e4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.Nge2? +0.11

[3.d4 Nf6 +0.64]

3...e6 4.Nf4 Bb4? +0.48

[4...Nf6 -0.07]

5.a3 Bxc3 6.dxc3 Bxe4? +1.07

[6...Nf6 7.e5 +0.48]

7.Qd4? -0.22

[7.Nh5 Nc6 8.Nxg7 +1.07]

7...Nf6 8.Bd3? -1.06

[8.Nh5 Nxh5 9.Qxe4 Nc6 -0.22]

8...Bb7? -0.18

[8...Nc6 9.Qa4 Bxd3 -1.06]

9.Be3? -0.80

[9.Qe5 -0.18]

9...c5 10.Qe5 Nc6 11.Qg5 O-O 12.O-O e5 13.Nh5 Nxh5 14.Qxh5 g6 15.Qg4 f5 16.Qc4? -1.02

[16.Qh3 f4 -0.48]

16...d5 17.Qa2 e4 18.Be2 c4? -0.44

[18...f4 19.Bd2 -1.36]

19.Bh6 Re8 20.b3 b5 21.a4 a6 22.bxc4 bxc4 23.Rfb1 Bc8 24.Rd1 Be6? +0.76

[24...Qh4 25.Be3 -0.64]

25.Qa3? -0.68

[25.Bxc4 Qd7 +0.76]

25...Qe7 26.Qxe7 Nxe7 27.Rab1 Bd7 28.Rb4 Kf7 29.Rb7? -0.89

[29.Bxc4 dxc4 30.Rxd7 Red8 -0.29]

29...Ke6? +0.11

[29...Bc6 30.Rb2 -0.89]

30.Rb4? -0.89

[30.Rb6 Kf7 31.Bxc4 Bxa4 32.Rxd5 Nxd5 33.Bxd5 Ke7 34.Bg5 +0.11]

30...Rab8 31.Bf4? -1.55

[31.Rxc4 dxc4 32.Bxc4 Ke5 33.Bg7 Kf4 34.Rxd7 -0.68]

31...Rxb4 32.cxb4 Bxa4 33.Rd2 Nc6 34.c3 Bb3 35.Be3 Ra8 36.f3 a5 37.b5? -2.13

[37.fxe4 dxe4 38.Bc5 -1.36]

37...Ne7 38.b6 a4 39.fxe4 dxe4 40.Bf4 Nc6? +2.88

[40...Nd5 41.b7 Rh8 42.Bg3 e3 -1.75]

41.Rd6 [1-0]

Generated by Aquarium

Book Review: "The Slav: Move by Move"

2011-10-30T16:26:00.001+01:00

Chess books on openings have been around for a while but they all look more or less the same. Very little thought have been invested in improving the layout or the usefulness of the opening books. There are a few gems out there but they tend to be opening books of a more general nature.

The development of endgame books took a gigantic leap some years ago when Silman's excellent "Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master" was released. Silman's daring approach to present the material by "need-to-know basis" by rating class was indeed a success. Finally a book on "The putting of Chess", as Purdy phrased it, that would guide the improving chess player to better results.

So, Will the Move by Move Series by Everymanchess have the same impact on Opening studies as Silman's book had on studies of endgames? Not quite, but I think the series has potential to stay head and neck well above the rest of the books in the genre. The perfect opening book in my world would be a blend of Everymann's "Move-by-move approach" and the structure often used by Chess Stars Publishing which is a little along the lines of Silman's "by rating approach". The Chess Stars Publishing books start off with a few pages on each topic called "Quick Repertoire" which is more or less to get started (and for many improving players all you need!) and the add two more layers of knowledge called "Step by Step" and "Complete Games".

How about this specific book: "The Slav: Move by Move" by Cyrus Lakdawala? In short, a good book! I like the Questions and stuff to make you read actively. I like somewhat chatty and easy going prose in the book. It might be a good thing to read a few sample pages before you decide to buy the book. The slightly unorthodox tone in the book is most likely not for everyman.

A Chess Date?

2011-10-21T16:20:00.000+02:00

I need to play more slow games on a regular basis. Games against Human flesh and not silicon! So, I encourage everybody will a similar correlation between Chess Passion and Chess Skills to contact yours truly to arrange a match series.

My current estimate of the correlation mentioned above is in the neighborhood of -0.83. I do pretty OK solving tactics problems really slow at Chesstempo but I have never managed to break to 1300-ceiling at ICC.

Again, if you feel like arrange a match series of weekly/biweekly slow chess games against a certified patzer,then make some noise and drop me a note.

Grob Challenge

2011-10-09T10:37:00.000+02:00

A few years ago we had a nice bet among chess friends with health improvement ambitions. The idea was to set individual goals and those of us who did not reach the goal would have to play the Grob (1. g4) and nothing but the Grob for a full year.

A nice article with connections to Henri Grob and the Grob Opening can be found here.

My clothes have started to shrink again and I would very much like to take part in another Grob challenge. Please note that your own goal can be anything you like. It should be suitable to reach before December 31.

Chess Goals Galore

2011-09-23T19:47:00.003+02:00

It is about time to evaluate the progress towards to the Fall Seaon Start-Up Goals. I am on par with everything but my reading and book review. Still, I am confident that I will finish it in time.

How about my Chess Buddies? On Target?

I could use a few more cc games. Any takers? There are a silly amount of rating points on my accounts to be won.

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 3 (Capablanca)

2011-09-21T15:33:00.002+02:00

Capablanca vs Tartakower, 1924 (score: 115 par = 103)

A nice logical grinding affair. Very much in line with what I in lack of better words would call my style. I is probably better training to study sparkling tactical games but it has a homely feel to replay games of this type.

Capablanca vs Marshall, 1918 (score: 54 par = 51)

Marshall is all over Capa in a wild attack and then Capa moves a few pawns and it is all over. Amazing.

Lasker vs Capablanca, 1921 (score: 127 par = 139)

A long and often confusing game. Very energy draining!

Shine on You Rusty Piece of Coal

2011-09-06T16:29:00.000+02:00

So, I made another blunder! But I somehow think that this position has more challenges than I first thought. My first alternative was to throw a knight into e5 but my shallow calculation didn't promise any future in that line. How I finally decided to push the pawn to fe is a mystery to me.

Playing small tournaments against Chessmaster profiles is my bread and butter these days. You have to see a lot of silly engine-trying-to-play-bad-moves but on the other hand you cet which is absolutely necessary for my to get close to the chess board.

The b6-repertoire is still tempting but I have decided to give the Fort Knox/Weird Indian stuff-combo another chance to win my heart. Here are a few articles which I have enjoyed reading:

Stonewall Attack

Weird Indian Stuff (part I)

Weird Indian Stuff (part II)

Improve Your Chess Game

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 2 (Lasker)

2011-09-04T11:24:00.000+02:00

You can read about the achievements of the second world champion Emanual Lasker many times and be surprised everytime about his results. There are so many legend making results. It is possible to ignore 90% of what he did and Lasker would still be one of the Greatest chess players ever!

I strongly recommend a look at his chess biography at www.chessgames.com.

1. Pillsbury - Lasker, 1895 (score: 24 par = 40)

Another fine game. I think I was punished a bit hard in the Opening and lost quite a few points. In the end, the score was probably fair. There are a hanful of moves which I cannot tell if they are blunders or pure magic.

2. Marshall - Lasker, 1907 (score: 94 par = 99)

3. Tarrasch - Lasker, 1908 (score: 46 par = 51)

A game worth a second look and then another glance. Lasker sneaks in a bishop in the enemy camp and the Tarrasch just runs out of oxygen without any obvious errors. Amazing.

Start Up Goals

2011-08-30T16:40:00.008+02:00

A few days ago, I posted the following question to my two closest chess buddies:

"In the next two months I will..."

"My goal will be evaluated by......"

"Should I fail to reach My goal, I then promise to...."

Here are the responses:

ScotchYeti

Goals:

- 10 "Guess-the-move", analysis shared on my blog (selected positions) or with AndreaCoda/Farbror

- no Blitz nor 5min games from next Monday onwards, Sunday rating will be sent by email and must not change

Penalty:

- one item from the Amazon wishlist (com, uk) for my buddies AndreaCoda and Farbror

AndreaCoda

Goals:

Complete at least 50% (16/33) of "Logical Chess Move by Move", both in GTM mode on chessgames and through thorough analysis

My goal will be evaluated by......

Farbror, through snapshot of chessgames window which I will send

Should I fail to reach My goal, I then promise to....

Get to both Farbror and ScotchYeta a book of their choice from Amazon.com

Farbror

Chess Goals for August, September and October:

Goals:

8 slow games and analysis (some to be posted at my blog)

8 “Guess-the-Move” (to be commented on my blog)

(Re-)Read a Chess Book I have not yet reviewed (Review to be posted)

Penalty:

Should I fail to reach the goals, I will then pay for the next six months of membership at ICC/Playchess etc for my Chess Training Buddies

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 1 (Steinitz)

2011-07-31T19:45:00.012+02:00

Using the "Guess-the-Move" application at Chessgames.com, I will replay three games of each of the twelve first undisputed world champions. In order to somewhat normalize the scores, I will focus on my achieved percentage of the par score of the games in question (unless someone comes up with a nicer idea). The first world champions are of course:

Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker and José Raúl Capablanca

This post will be updated with games replayed and my score.

Replayed Games:

1. Steinitz vs Lang, 1860 (score: 17 par = 25)

This was a highly tactical King's Gambit game which was clearly beyond me. Once upon a time I believed that tactics was my strength. This was an illusion caused by much higher test scores on tactics servers than my never increasing ICC rating.

2. Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1892 (score: 35 par = 43)

Here I scored a lot of easy points suggesting to castle but on the other hand completely overlooked Steinitz amazing attack.

3. Steinitz vs Zukertort, 1886 (score: 30 par = 23)

Another wild tactical game in the Vienna gambit (C25). This time the attacking moves felt pretty natural. I am not claiming any progress. I have probably seen the positions before.

A Chess "Who-Are-You" Experiment

2011-07-30T14:39:00.003+02:00

A fellow chess blogger started a nice project. I am sorry but I cannot remeber who did it. Please remind me!

The Experiement was to "Guess-the-Move" a handfull of games from all World Champions to get a feel for his or hers chess style. Agreed, a chess low life such as your truly has no style but Blunderistic but I like the approach. I tend to need to fool myself to work hard and in a steady direction. So, my project of the day will be to replay 3+ games of the ten first World Champions and to create a clever way of comparing the results. Suggestions appreciated! Join the Movement!

A Neat Little Tool

2011-07-30T03:17:00.003+02:00

So, you have had trouble to get started using SCID? Or, not ready to pay a hand and a foot for Chessbase? This might be what you need to a price you will like: ChessPad

I have not been working with huge databases using ChessPad so I cannot tell for sure of the Search works efficiently but for the DIY Chess Improver, I think it works perfectly.

Hey, I even managed to add Stockfish (also free!) as an engine so ChessPad must be really userfriendly. My computer knowledege ends just beyond the power switch.

Join the Fun! Get the T-shirt!

2011-07-25T13:11:00.000+02:00

The Never Ending Story

2011-07-18T14:02:00.002+02:00

Yes, I have spent almost as many hours contemplating chess openings as actually playing the Game of Kings.

Yes, I realize that most games stays within theory for at most 4 moves.

Still, I cannot resist to go into the "what-to-play-loop" yet again.

So, I have been faithful to the Good Old London System for some time but I am getting bored with it. Rumor has it that David Rudel is working on a new Colle book. Changing from the London to some version of Colle is perhaps not as refreshing as I would like. I feel "1. e4??" is coming my way. "Chess Openings for Kids" will be my compass into the hopefully revitalizing world of double pawn openings.

Blog readers with a sweet tooth for betting should know that the Total for number of months until the next Opening Phobia Attack is 3.5.

The Only Opening Book You Will Ever Need?

2011-07-14T21:00:00.003+02:00

"Chess Openings for Kids" by John Watson and Graham Burgess

Too many opening books on the book shelves? Still wondering what you would like to play? Well known chess authors John Watson and Graham Burgess might have written the perfect introduction to 50 well known openings and at the same time the only opening book most of us will ever need!

Burgess' "The Mammoth Book of Chess" is a wonderful book. Perhaps the most useful section of that book is the personal and opinionated short introductions to a great number of openings. In "Chess Openings for Kids" Burgess and opening expert John Watson takes it one step further by focusing on fewer openings and adding a little more depth.

After reading through all of the introductions to the 50 mighty opening systems if feel that I want to try them all at once. To be able to provide both enthusiasm, inspiration and basic knowledge is a praise worthy effort.

Highly recommended as a first book on openings and maybe as the book that will replace all the unread opening books in your chess library.

Great Stuff!

2011-07-11T21:30:00.001+02:00

Check it out: 100 Chess Book reviews, part I

Book Review: 1000 Checkmate Combinations

2011-06-23T10:37:00.000+02:00

You have heard it. You have said it. You have ignored it. Tactics-Tactics-Tactics is the bread and butter for improving chess players. Still, it is hard to follow this fine piece of practical advice. Too many chores and privileges compete for our attention and use up our Time Budget.

There are many different online tools available for tactics training. Is there really need for yet another book with tactics and combinations? Well, that is of course to some extent a question of personal taste. Personally, I enjoy carrying around a book in my backpack in order to be able to feed my brain a healthy dose of exercise whenever I get a break. For this very purpose I thing "1000 Checkmate Combinations" is an excellent alternative. The author himself stresses that the problems should be solved without a chess board and that it might be good practice to settle for just a few combinations per day.

The only thing I can hold against the book is that it is too old or, if you like half full glasses, too good! How is that? Well, almost all of the problems have been used in other books. A well read chess enthusiast might find it a bit annoying to see the same classic problems yet again but on the other hand to repeat what you have already learned is not necessarily a bad thing.

In all: A fine book.

New Blog in Swedish

2011-06-09T06:07:00.001+02:00

Finally a fellow swede in the Chess Improvement Blog Sphere. Check out: 64 fält

Chessvibes Training Magazine

2011-04-19T05:49:00.002+02:00

This sounds very good! A weekly chess training magazine from Chessvibes. Eight pages of stuff (PDF+PGN) delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It will be interesting to have a look at the first issue to be released within the next two weeks.

Simple, Simpler & Doable!

2011-03-30T10:27:00.006+02:00

It is a common trap to try to be efficient doing something and to try form a new habit of doing the very same thing at the same time. Simplification is the order of that day and quite often things must be much simpler than expected.

One minor success story of mine was to choose “Playing 50 slow games” as a goal. This is a clear and well defined goal which just might be possible to reach for a proud father. Another goal was to “Read 3+ chess books”. This goal will have to be clarified and maybe simplified. I have tried to read three books at once and that clearly isn’t efficient. I do not have time to read decent “chunks” of any book in a single session and jumping back and forth between several books makes it all to “chopped up”. So, the first change will be to read the books one at the time.

A nice strategy for forming a habit: The 6 Changes Method I will try "The 6 Changes Method" and keep you posted on the minor steps and ground covered.

PS. Yeah, Silman's Endgame Course is great but which is your favourite portable endgame book? DS.

Play Chess on Twitter

2011-03-21T03:17:00.004+01:00

ChessTweets is pretty cool if you want a game of chess against a "tweet pal" without signing up to yet another chess site. There are also ongoing "vote chess games".

Top marks but room for minor improvements! It would be even better if the pgn-file included your comments during the game.