IM Silman has written an excellent article on "Picking an Opening Style". Here is a quote from the article: "Openings like 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 and 1.e4 c5 2.d4 (2.b4!?) 2…cxd4 3.c3 might prove appeali... Read more »
Have any of you tried this stuff: Jeremy Silman describes the gambit in an almost approving tone: "THE BLUMENFELD GAMBIT: This old line (popularized by Alekhine's brilliant win with it over Tarrasch in 1922) still has supporters to this day... Read more »
I use three different sites for tactics training and those sites give me quite different estimates of my tactics skills (approximately 1300, 1500 and 1700 at the moment). Ratings are just ratings but as a professional statistician almost any numbe... Read more »
“Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them in: but as a rule the purchase of books is mistaken for the appropriation of their contents.” Arthur Schopenhauer I am (sort of) guilty of that mistake and I plan... Read more »
How on earth did (s)he find that move? I will never be able to play like that! My grandmother used to say: “What wrong with talking to yourself? You get wise answers all the time”. Talking to yourself, an inner dialogue is very important dur... Read more »
I am so far pretty pleased with my silicon based Study Buddies (CD-discs from Convekta) but I am not at all pleased with my sparring partner (Chessmaster). It appears to be very difficult for software to play bad and humanlike ch... Read more »
It is that time of the year when you have to make plans and promises for the future. Well, "chesswise" I will go with: 100 minutes of chess studies per weekAt least one slow game (G/30+) per weekAnnotate most of my slow games (espe... Read more »
Does this sound familiar: "I really would like to read a few chess books but...." May I suggest a gentle kick in the butt? Here is my humble suggestion: Let's create a slow shcedule for reading a book (I mean really slow!) and... Read more »
Well, My Previous Training Schedule (see blog entry) failed. I have decided to try an even slower regime: 15+ minutes of Tactics every dayAt least two G/30 every weekWorking thru at least one of the semi slow games every weekMeasure "pro... Read more »
It makes a lot of sense to study Master Games but what about studying your own games? I do think self-annotated games can be a great way for the ambitious player to improve. The fact that I am a rather crappy player is not an obstacle.... Read more »
farbrorUppsala, Sweden
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