Fromper's 2009 improvement thread - Page 18 - Chess Forums

mifs adaro · 06-29-2009, 02:56 AM

uhm, mr fromper, just to return your favor, a line against the caro-kann which worked for me always (i never lost against it!) is the panov-botvinnik attack, i.e., 1e4 c6 2d4 d5 3ed cd 4c4...even against the scandinavian i transpose to it, i.e., 1e4 d5 2ed Nf6 3c4! c6 4d4 (don't even think to take the pawn on c6 for free..you'll give the caro-kann an early advantage in development, i.e., 4dc?! Nxc6 when you can't establish a pawn centre with d4) 4...cd 5Nc3. good luck to us! ahyway, do you play at chess.com?

Schaakhamster · 06-29-2009, 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by Fromper

Hmm... been a couple of weeks since I posted. This thread even dropped to the second page.

Life's been pretty busy, and it's cutting into my chess time again. I've actually had free time, but I've been borderline sick for the past week. So I've ended up sleeping extra or just vegging in front of the tv, because I don't have the mental energy for chess after a long day of work when I'm not feeling 100% anyway. So I haven't really done much chess study.

Of what little study I've done, I finally read the first three chapters of Zuke Em, and I tried it out a few times in blitz games on ICC. Unfortunately, my blitz rating is so low because I blunder in those games that my choice of opening is pretty much irrelevant against opponents around my own level. I think I have yet to win a game against anyone with a blitz rating above 1200 on ICC. I know that I know a LOT more about the game than these people, and I'd slaughter them at slow time controls, but when I leave pieces en prise for no reason, I'm not going to win against anyone.

On the up side, the opening looks interesting, and I'm looking forward to trying it at slower time controls. I'm just nervous about playing it in tournaments without some prior experience with it, which is why I wanted to try it on ICC first. I think I'll have to find time to play some slower ICC games to try it out. In the mean time, I'm still sticking to 1. e4 in tournaments.

Playing in the local club on Saturdays, I lost to another low rated player last weekend, though it's a rapidly improving kid, so I don't feel as bad as the stupid blunder that cost me a game against a 1400 a few weeks earlier. At least this one was a real game. So my rating's down to 1702, which is still ok. I'm not overly worried - I predicted that my rating would hover around this level for a while, and that seems to be turning out to be true. I've already been rated in the low 1700's longer than I was in the 1600's.

Actually, my big concern right now is tactics. I seem to be improving in other areas, but I'm just not seeing as deeply as I used to tactically. And I think this is directly related to my inability to play a reasonable blitz game. I think I just need to put everything else aside for a bit and just do a ton of tactics puzzles for the next couple of months. I really haven't been doing very many - as I said, I haven't been studying much at all.

Anyway, I really need to figure out what's wrong with me physically first, though I'm waiting for July 1, since that's when my new health insurance kicks in, so I need to switch doctors. But I've been almost/kinda/sorta sick for a week now, so it's time to get checked out. Once I get over whatever it is, hopefully I'll be able to do more chess study, starting with a ton of tactics puzzles.

--Fromper

the tactical problem: a possible source of the problem, in my experience, is the fact that on's game has improved on other levels. Before one would be only looking for a tactical shot, even down to playing suboptimal moves to get an easy trick in (what works wonder in blitz).

Blitz is a weird game. I never considered myself a blitz player (for instance I hardly play blitz online) but lately I'm getting a bit of a reputation. Not sure what it means but it isure is fun sometimes.

Fromper · 06-29-2009, 04:18 AM

Originally Posted by Schaakhamster

the tactical problem: a possible source of the problem, in my experience, is the fact that on's game has improved on other levels. Before one would be only looking for a tactical shot, even down to playing suboptimal moves to get an easy trick in (what works wonder in blitz).

No, in my case, I've actually gotten worse at tactics. I think I have to do a ton of tactics problems to stay "in shape" at it. When I stop doing tactics regularly, I actually get worse. And as I said, I haven't been doing much chess study at all lately, and my game's starting to reflect it.

I had a pretty good study day today after writing my earlier post, though. I got through 20 tactics puzzles. I'm almost done with the relatively easy set of puzzles that I started 6 months ago that I thought would only take me 3-4 months. My goal is to finish that set (only another 30 or so puzzles out of 500+) by Wednesday at the latest.

After that, I'm thinking of going back to some of the older sets that I already know like the back of my hand from doing them repeatedly and doing a quick run through on those, just for a refresher, because I can probably do those pretty quickly. So I won't spend more than a week going through one or two whole sets of 250+ puzzles each, just because I know them well enough to fly through them.

Then, I'll probably go through the set I'm just finishing another time. I want to go through this set enough times to be able to spot all the solutions instantly like I can with the others that I've done in the past. This is already my second time through them, though the first was 5 years ago, so I don't remember them very well, and I'm mostly figuring them out as I go. They're relatively easy 2-3 move puzzles, though, so I'm hoping it won't take me long to go through them again another 2-3 times to really memorize them. Then I'll probably start on some tougher puzzles.

--Fromper

Schaakhamster · 06-29-2009, 12:06 PM

well you seem to have an idea how to cure the disease

Just remember: after a period of improvement there can be some backlash. And taking in account you psychical shape I wouldn't read too much into it. Still retreating to some familiar ground doesn't seem to be a bad idea.

Fromper · 10-25-2009, 04:49 AM

Hi all. Remember me?

Wow... been 4 months since I've been here. I knew it had been a while, but didn't realize it had been quite that long. And it's not just this site. I haven't played chess or studied the game at all in that time, either.

My job's just been insane with a major project for the last few months, and at some point I realized that trying to keep up with chess while working that much overtime was just making me even more tired and stressed. So I said "screw it" and took a break from chess. And now the last few days, I've finally started to miss the game and want to get back into it.

Unfortunately, this huge project at work is coming to a head this week, so I'll be going from working 50-60 hours per week to working 80+ hours per week for at least the next two weeks. If it goes well, the project will pass its peak in about two weeks, and I should start to have free time again. Or at least, I'll go back to only working the insane of hours of the last 4 or 5 months instead of the panic mode hours of the next two weeks. So hopefully, I'll have time to start playing regularly again.

There's actually a major annual tourney here in my part of Florida later in November, and I should be back to having some free time on the weekends by then, so I'll have time to play. Unfortunately, I'm likely to be so rusty after 4 months off that I'll get clobbered. The sections are U2100 and U1700, and my current USCF rating happens to be EXACTLY 1700. For once, I wish my rating was 1 point lower, so I could play in the easier section. Being this out of shape, I expect I'll lose every game in the U2100.

Anyhow, I'm glad to be back. Now if I could only remember what openings I used to play...

--Fromper

ketchuplover · 10-25-2009, 12:04 PM

Hope it all works out

granturismo4ad · 10-25-2009, 05:05 PM

Wow. 50-60 hours a week?

Are there any rated tournaments or events before the November tourney?

Off the top of my head, I remember you played the Dutch against d4, 1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5.

Fromper · 10-25-2009, 06:40 PM

That weekend of the big tournament is Nov 13-15, so it's only 3 weekends away, and I know I'll be working next weekend. The week after that at work is the aftermath of the big project, so I don't know if I'll have to work the following weekend (Nov 7-8). It depends on if we're still recovering. I may have to work the weekend of the big tournament if this project goes well enough to reach completion (which is starting to look unlikely) and badly enough to require lots of recovery afterward (which is very likely if the project succeeds). So I may not be able to really start playing at all for another month if things go badly.

Actually, I looked up the details of that big tournament, and they changed it on me. Not only is it further from my home this year than the usual 15 minute drive, but the sections are changed to U2000 and U1600 instead of U2100 and U1700. So I won't be at the very bottom, but I'm so rusty that I'll probably be the weakest player in the section.

And I was joking about not remembering my opening repertoire... mostly. I remember which openings I play - I just don't remember any of the details on how to play them well. Actually, I'm not 100% sure I even remember which lines I play against one or two things.

So we'll see. I figure if I can start squeezing in 10-15 minutes of tactical puzzles during breakfast or before bed every day for the next couple of weeks, then maybe I'll be ready to play at that big tourney. I doubt if I'll have time for much more than that until maybe the week before the tournament (two weeks from now).

--Fromper

granturismo4ad · 10-26-2009, 03:55 AM

I kinda thought so, but four months is a LOOOONNNNGGGG..... time.

Whatever you can get in, then that's all you can do.

Abba · 10-26-2009, 01:14 PM

Fromp, chess improvement is a funny thing and different for everyone, so it's hard to say how your play will be after the 4 month break. I remember I barely played for 4 YEARS (!) in college, and then when I returned to the game, a lot of things I had studied before had sunk in and made more sense to me and I made an almost immediate jump from 2000 -> 2100. It's possible that you'll be stronger than ever before now once the rust wears off. One thing that's very important is it sounds like your hunger for chess is pretty high, and in my personal opinion that's one of the most important components to having good results.