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Blunder Database Systems/Tips Inquiry Blunder Database Systems/Tips Inquiry

12-20-2022 , 01:42 PM
I am relatively new to the game (trying actively to get better) and am curious as to what others have found good ways to both keep and improve from their blunder databases.

From researching a bit, it seems most keep a sorted (by category) database. I have found some good taxonomies from various resources like Robertie's 501 chapters, Marc Olsen's "Pure Strategy" and youtube videos, Phil Simborg's teaching topics, etc.

My question is mainly around what format works well/best for retrieval and study. I have played with both folders on my computer and printing them on paper index cards...

I read somewhere Michy uses (or has used?) a kindle perhaps and studies some positions every morning. This seems like an upgrade but I am not quite sure of all the logistics... anyone know how this works in practice? I.e., randomly pull up slides? Are the move equities on a second page?

I feel that formally studying my blunders is a next good step in my learning journey and really want a good system.
Any pro tips or suggestions would be much appreciated!
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12-22-2022 , 12:20 AM
I always recommend Anki. It's just electronic flashcards but it automatically schedules the cards for increasingly long intervals if you get them right, and resets the intervals if you get them wrong. So it's a natural fit for positions (screenshot of position and match length go on the front, screenshot of evaluations + my written comments go on the back) as well as numbers you want to remember like takepoints, gammon values, match equities, numbers of ways of hitting shots, race formulas, pip count practice, useful quotes from books (where the front of the card might be the quote minus one or two words and I need to fill in the blank), so it's really flexible.

It's nice because once you really understand a position/concept you'll get it right a couple times in a row and won't have to keep answering it often. At the start it will show you each card on consecutive days, but some of the first cards I made (like "how to play an opening 31") won't get shown again for like 2 years.

You can make as many cards as you want, it's just limited by how long you want to spend reviewing all the cards that get scheduled each day. I've made 4743 cards since I started a little over a year ago, done a total of ~52K reviews, and I spent ~45 minutes a day reviewing the ~150 cards that get scheduled. If it ever feels like too much (I've gotten up to >200/day before) I just cool it adding new cards for a couple weeks and it settles back down.
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12-22-2022 , 12:19 PM
Fantastic! I will check this out today. Thank you.
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02-24-2024 , 10:45 AM
I use Anki cards to improve my backgammon skills as well.

After each match I have played I download the match, run it through XG, review the result and save the move / cube decisions that are marked red.

At the end of each month I create as set of Anki cards with a program I wrote. With the help of the program I drop a lot of cards and use only the top 100 cards as otherwise the stack of Anki cards I have to review daily grows too much.

I have made now the program available on blunderbase.com. Free trial period is one week, afterwards there is a one time fee of €10 (or the equivalent in other currencies).

Feedback highly welcome either here in this forum or as a comment in my blog.
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