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magicfish Inner circle 7004 Posts |
Horrible site
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 14, 2015, Theodore Lawton wrote: What's your username if nobody wants to play? |
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
If nobody wants to play with me my username is: Charlieinthebox.
I was hesitant to start this thread for some reason, but I'm glad I did. I'm already in touch with 2 Café members on chess.com. This is going to be a fun journey, getting my butt whipped as I learn this game.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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seneca77 Loyal user Tampa Bay, Florida 201 Posts |
Theodore, several years ago I immersed myself in chess. Played and practiced, read and studied. One of the best books I came across was Irving Chernev's "Logical Chess: Move by Move - Every Move Explained."
It takes you through 33 complete games of chess and explains the rationale behind every single move. I would follow along with a physical chessboard in front of me, making the moves and understanding why it was the best move (or not so good). Amazon has it for $15 and I highly recommend it. It will definitely improve your game. Good luck! - Bob |
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Thanks Bob, it's on the list!
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Chernev's book is on many player's "must have" lists. Interestingly, Chernev was not a very good player, but his book remains popular. It's a good model for chess thinking, but also keep in mind that the book is almost 60 years old, and chess thinking has changed somewhat since then.
Chernev originally wrote in the old-fashioned descriptive notation, and most editions follow. I believe the Batsford version of the book has been translated to modern notation. e.g. the original might start a game 1. P-K4 P-K4 2. N-KB3 N-QB3 3. B-N5 In algebraic notation it would go 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 If you stick with chess, you'll want to be completely fluent with algebraic notation. Other good starting books are The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess – Patrick Wolff Comprehensive Chess Course - Lev Alburt If you have some chess knowledge, then probably the most celebrated (reasonably recent) book for the beginning-intermediate player is How to Reassess your Chess - Jeremy Silman
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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Chessmann Inner circle 4242 Posts |
2 of my favorite books - old school, on these -
"Winning Chess: How to See Three Moves Ahead" by the dynamic duo of the mid-20th century, Chernev and Reinfeld. I really did learn a good deal from this book when I was young. "The Fireside Book of Chess". This one has games, short stories, humorous, "New Yorker" style comics, fun facts... Just a great read for simply enjoying the game in a few different ways. Material in the book selected and edited by the same dymamic duo as above Probably won't find this one new...but that's just a guess.
My ex-cat was named "Muffin". "Vomit" would be a better name for her. AKA "The Evil Ball of Fur".
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magicfish Inner circle 7004 Posts |
Is it possible to play a normal chess match on this awful site?
Ive lost 14 in a row because of time. Is this speed chess? WTH? |
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
You can choose your response time for the correspondence chess. Mine are usually 3 days to move.
And thanks for the added suggestions all.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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RogerTheShrubber Veteran user 301 Posts |
My recommendations are as follows - three books, and only three, which will make you a force to be reckoned with:
1.) Find any halfway decent book which explains the concepts behind openings. Do NOT waste a ton of money on books which are dedicated to particular openings, because a.) openings go in and out of style as chess champions and theory change (even variations of certain openings go in and out of style), and b.) extended opening theory has the shelf life of a ham sandwich. Chess Openings for Dummies will do just fine. All you need right now is to understand the concepts so as to pick openings that suit you and understand the concepts of openings being thrown at you by your opponent. Make sure you go through a good sample of king pawn openings, queen pawn openings and hypermodern openings (which are basically openings which are designed to attack the center instead of claiming it). Then go with the ones you're comfortable with to start, take your lumps and adjust from there. 2.) Study tactics and the concepts behind them. I cannot stress this recommendation strongly enough: Susan Polgar's "Chess Tactics for Champions." She explains the concepts behind a long series of tactical concepts (pins, skewers, intermediate moves, double attacks, back-rank attacks, discovery, attacking a castled position, and so on) and then gives you 20-25 puzzles for each one, along with well-explained answer keys to each chapter. For a comparitive novice such as the way you describe yourself, I am absolutely convinced that this book will improve your play faster than any book I know of. It's an absolute gem. 3.) Study endgames. This is the most boring and least sexy part of chess, but you'll gain a huge edge on most players because most don't study endgames at all. The book which most people would recommend to you that I do NOT is "Basic Chess Endings" by Reuben Fine - it was the bible of chess endings for novices for years and years and years, but a fair number of its concepts have been refuted. Instead, I recommend "Winning Chess Endings" by Yasser Seirawan. Those three books alone will turn you into a more than competent club player who wins far more often than he loses, so if studying books is your thing, this is the best combination of a fast/painless/cheap path to getting good that I know of without a tutor rated Master or above. I've recommended it to many a player (I've been an avid chess addict since before Fischer was champion) and all of them who stuck with it saw their ratings go up 400-700 points. I know I'd have been a lot better a lot earlier if these books had been around when I first got bit by the chess bug. I grew up studying a lot of books, to include a ton of the mass-produced book-of-the-month crap churned out by Fred Reinfeld. I spent a lot of money on a lot of crap. If you're serious about chess, get a cheap smartphone just for the apps. You don't even have to tie your number to it, just use it for apps only when you're anywhere where there's free Wi-Fi (that's what I do - I have a $25 Android with no phone number attached to it which I use specifically for chess and cribbage). You can get easily a prepaid smartphone for twenty or thirty bucks these days (keep in mind that the difference between 3G and 4G is night and day - you want 4G). This will allow you to practice when you can't bring your books with you. If you get one, let me know and I'll recommend the apps I like (I've tested a ton of them), most of which are free. Lastly, if you play online at chess.com or anywhere else, don't get discouraged if you lose a lot. I believe that over half of those folks use a computer to help them with their moves. I know of no other way to explain a player rated 1400 following Najdorf Sicilian theory perfectly for 18 moves and still losing. Good luck. By way, if you're wondering what my experience with books is, let me say that I own 233 chess books in English, and another 108 in foreign languages, and I've read them all - the good and the crap. When you get good and decide you want to really sharpen your knowledge of particular openings, THAT is when you spend money on a book that focuses only on one opening or one variation thereof. Until then, try my advice. I know for an absolute fact that I'm not steering you wrong. |
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Sweet! I appreciate the advice and will take it.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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seneca77 Loyal user Tampa Bay, Florida 201 Posts |
Not to hijack Theodore's thread (lots of great advice, BTW), but can anyone recommend a chess app for the Mac that allows me to play correspondence chess. I don't need a high powered chess engine. I don't need a chess engine at all, actually, as I don't want to play the computer. I just want a platform that will allow me to record moves against a human opponent. I'm running Mavericks, BTW.
Thanks! - Bob |
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Kabbalah Inner circle 1621 Posts |
A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent
tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why," they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer." Try the veal!
"Long may magicians fascinate and continue to be fascinated by the mystery potential in a pack of cards."
~Cliff Green "The greatest tricks ever performed are not done at all. The audience simply think they see them." ~ John Northern Hilliard |
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 17, 2015, seneca77 wrote: If all you want is to record your games, there are a number of free pgn (Portable Game Notation) editors that will work just fine. I'm not sure which are best for Mac, but there are plenty available. If you want a more powerful (but still free) solution, I recommend SCID (Shane's Chess Information Database). You can enter and examine any game you'd like, and you can organize all your games in a database. More than that, you can download external databases of games for study (pgn notation, again) and if you're really into deep analysis, you can run an analysis engine (e.g. Stockfish is excellent, very strong and free). SCID is at scid.sourceforge.net Oddly, the sourceforge site is down as I type this. Hopefully the whole system will be up and running soon. John
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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magicfish Inner circle 7004 Posts |
Ive lost 14 games in a row because I only have a zottosecond to make my move. It's so frustrating ive given up.
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 18, 2015, magicfish wrote: Play a slower time control.
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
I just ordered 2 books. Chess For Dummies; I think I'll get the openings one later, and Chess Tactics For Champions. I had a 10 dollar off coupon for eBay so I got them both for 15 bucks with shipping.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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RogerTheShrubber Veteran user 301 Posts |
You'll be ecstatic with Chess Tactics for Champions. Just as they say that pitching is 80% of baseball, they say chess is 99% tactics. I know of no book that will improve your game faster.
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
I can hardly wait. Another one on my short list happens to be by Susan's dad, Laszlo Polgar, called Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games. It's crammed full of tactical puzzles and stuff, which I definitely need to improve upon.
I read an interesting quote from Susan last night where she says her dad taught her chess by teaching her tactics and giving her tons of puzzles. It seems logical to follow the advice shared by the first women's GM. I figure it can't hurt to have her tactics book and her dad's puzzle book. And the puzzles will just be fun! Then, when I get some more experience I want to get that book on openings just to give me some general experience with them. I love the fact that I've found a new hobby for life. I can easily see where a person's chess library and set collection could get out of hand. I'm sure the wife will help keep me in "check."
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Quote:
On Jul 21, 2015, Theodore Lawton wrote: Picked this up in a remainder pile a few years ago. Excellent to set in some place where you have a few quiet minutes. Solve a couple of problems and move on. Quote:
I read an interesting quote from Susan last night where she says her dad taught her chess by teaching her tactics and giving her tons of puzzles. It seems logical to follow the advice shared by the first women's GM. I figure it can't hurt to have her tactics book and her dad's puzzle book. And the puzzles will just be fun! Fascinating that you reer to Lazlo as Susan's father. Susan's sister Judit is the greatest female chess player of all time. I think of Lazlo as Judit's daddy
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
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