I'm rated 2110 on standard chesstempo, and it takes me 10-15 minutes to solve a problem in that rating range. The problems just become brutally difficult when you go over 2000.

kingstalker — That is very helpful to know. It doesn't help that it mixes in some 16XX problems on me which I potentially could see relatively quickly. I feel if I knew the strength of the problem to start with I'd approach it much better. But of course, everyone would and the problems would all be easier, lol. If you don't mind me asking, what is your chess playing strength in longer time controls?

If I can get up close to 2000 I should probably just start doing blitz ones. Otherwise I'm not sure it's tactics training any longer and simply "really tough problem solving."

Speaking of which....I played some more chesstempo problems, lol. I may have a problem.

5/7. I missed two problems in the high 19XX and got the rest of them 16XX-18XX. There was one pretty neat two move problem where there are only two legal moves for each move. It took me surprisingly long for each move to see how one of the moves lost.

The hardest problem's solution (that I missed after thinking for many minutes) was to just take a hanging piece, lol. Turns out the opponent has one check and that's it even though the position looks scary as hell.

GAME ON. LET'S DO THIS.

haha

I am rated 2010 on Chess.com standard with the handle "war-profiteer"

Awesome, .

So...I have no idea what that translates to in terms of OTB but ok, sometime soon after playing some standard games maybe I will. Seems 2010 chess.com standard is very good. From estimated stuff I've seen it means you may be anywhere from ~2000 to 2200 FIDE or even higher USCF.

Wow, I had no idea Wesley So lived in MN. Obv should have just gotten him as a coach, ldo.

I have a hard time imagining him playing in any local tournaments at this point in his career but it seems there would always be some sort of chance!

I also just found this training series that did not exist 10 years ago: https://www.newinchess.com/The_Funda...ed-p-2951.html. I remember being a fan of Yusupov b/c he plays The Zukertort but never realized he wrote these books until now.

I'm not sure trying to liberate these books will be very helpful since I'd want to follow them as intended which involves playing out on a real board so some sketchy PDF version is going to be counter productive imo. ~$20/book seems solid value even if I end up going through 9 of them (one can only hope I make it that far, lol).

Perhaps this is actually what I should be training with to supplement playing games and coaching. It definitely will give me better focus of what to do each day. I will for sure discuss with YKW in terms of available approaches. Another idea is to keep this on the sideline until after the National Open and then perhaps use it after then when I'll need a new goal on my horizon to prepare for or work through.

3/25 log

chesstempo 13/19. I also realized I could set it to "hard" and wouldn't have to see so many problems ~100 points lower than my rating which makes me hunker down a bit more and calculate them all out properly (rather than worry I'm wasting my time calculating out what looks like the right tactic).

Banged my head against a wall for 30-60 minutes trying to use chessbase and realized that b/c I had Reader installed before installing 13 it was causing issues. I really think their Reader product is a huge piece of **** b/c it is missing some functionality but still has a bunch that is useless without being a full version. In other words, I kept not realizing I was in Reader simply b/c it's fairly close to 13 anyway. Got all of that sorted now, though.

He played in a weekender tournament in Ireland recently. I doubt the organisers paid his normal rate, he seems to just enjoy playing chess.

While that's just a "weekender" tournament, this is MN, there basically aren't any other GMs here. That Ireland tournament had a much stronger field than any regular MN tournament. Nagle wins the open every year and is an IM. So it's just very hard to imagine So would concentrate on a tournament here when he basically could only lose rating points since his goal seems to be 2800.

Seems like I have better odds of seeing him if I just start stalking the Ridgedale library, where it seems he may study regularly with Nagle, lol.

Of course as a counterpoint to the bolded: So probably doesn't care much about his USCF rating, so a random local event that isn't FIDE rated might be zero risk for him.

While that's just a "weekender" tournament, this is MN, there basically aren't any other GMs here. That Ireland tournament had a much stronger field than any regular MN tournament. Nagle wins the open every year and is an IM. So it's just very hard to imagine So would concentrate on a tournament here when he basically could only lose rating points since his goal seems to be 2800.

Seems like I have better odds of seeing him if I just start stalking the Ridgedale library, where it seems he may study regularly with Nagle, lol.

3/26 log

chesstempo 2/3. The one I missed I didn't see a mate but I thought it was a "very strong attack that probably was mate somewhere" so played the move. It certainly did not lead to mate and the tactic that does work I never properly considered. Knights can be tough sometimes.

Stalked Wesley So online. So while Yusupov may be my favorite semi-active player, I think So has to be my favorite player right now given he lives here. Plus he seems hard not to root for, dude has been a machine the last year mowing down almost everyone.

BBJ — Honestly that hadn't occurred to me but, yeah, I can definitely see him just doing it to "screw around" if he has a lull in his travel calendar. Very good point, I will not give up hope of seeing him in a local tourny! I probably need to play in them for that to happen though, :/.

3/27 log

chesstempo 5/8 - Back over 1900. Feels good. Still missing probably > 50% of the high 1900s and 2000s problems. Misses:
- One I started the tactic correctly and screwed up the follow-up.
- One I didn't think the correct tactic lead to mate so guessed at a different idea.
- One I completely missed b/c I didn't recognize a possible queen and knight mating pattern.

It's actually quite helpful to just set up the positions quickly in chessbase when I'm curious about certain lines if I miss a problem or even get one right to see different responses quickly. The chesstempo comments are generally good at this but often I'm curious about something else but want to know the sharp answers rather than just try to figure it out myself and possibly miss things.

I plan to switch to blitz for the next week and see if I think that is more helpful at this point. Then actually be able to only spend some time each day on problems and concentrate on other things too after I get some guidance from coach.

3/28 log

chesstempo 29/43 - blitz problems (1370 -> 1500+). Went on a 15/17 run at the end of the session. It definitely took me ~20 games just to get any sort of feel for taking too long and getting yellow and also not just spazzing out immediately b/c I am super worried about taking too long.

I'm really not sure how helpful these for standard OTB play. Probably very useful for blitz/bullet chess.

Perhaps these are good for just quickly seeing and reinforcing a bunch of tactics in 10-15 minute. Rei — Is that the point you were trying to make when discussing how I was likely training calculation more than tactics?

chess.com went 2/3 on 15/10 games. My openings need a lot of work. I probably will just keep saying that until I brush up on them, lol.

3/28 log [cont]

Yesterday I also went through the first chapter on classical lines in the black repertoire vs. 1. e4. Accelerated dragon lines mainly vs. white playing Be3 and Be2. A lot of other linese where white instead plays and early Bc4, NB3, late f4, , along with analysis of other moves instead (early Bc4, Nb3, f3, Nde2, f4 - not grand prix, and some other stuff).

I am happy that what I went through was vaguely familiar and very little seemed completely foreign to me. Although without playing a bunch of blitz or standard games with "classical" lines I'm not sure I will be able to remember certain move order themes and stuff like that.

3/29 log

chesstempo 21/31 blitz problems. Rating went up ~30 points. Still getting used to the feel of doing blitz problems not too quickly or too slow.

chess lesson — This went well although it is hard to know. I definitely think my coach does a good job explaining and highlighting certain things so I hope it will help a bunch! Here are some general notes I took from it:

- Out of positional openings and in general, I should be more patient in terms of not forcing some sort of plan when I can be content with playing improving moves that don't force action. If I don't have a clear plan that looks clearly good yet, keep prepping for it and/or improving my pieces until I can more clearly see a solid plan.

- I think I need to assess the actual position and options at my disposal better rather than tunneling into one idea and then going that route simply b/c I've thought about it more.

E.g. Just thinking "oh, my knight is on a good square and his bishop is on a bad square" rather than taking a quick look at the actual result of exchanging them or thinking about what squares they will end up on in the future is an incomplete assessment.

- Refamiliarize myself with the main themes of the openings I'm playing.

E.g. If I plan to play the Accelerated Dragon I really shouldn't miss an opportunity to play d5 after I've castled. In the game I don't even think I considered it which is pretty lol.

E.g. If I plan to play the Zukertort I shouldn't ignore the benefits of c4 or first supporting a kingside foray properly. No need to rush anything when the whole point of white's setup is that it's solid and black doesn't have very good options until white commits to a plan.

I also spent some time going over Accelerated Dragon vs. Bc4 main lines. Nb3 and Bb3 lines have a lot of theory in the book I have and I'm thinking about skipping it or just quickly going through a couple of main lines since I don't remember running into white players who crushed me with it in the past. I think I need to go over the Smith Morra, Rossolimo, Grand Prix, and Maroczy Bind at least quickly so I remember again wtf setup to even go for against them first.

In fact, now that I've gone over the most "main" classical lines I probably should just go over everything somewhat superficially and then go back over them more in depth for reinforcement b/c right now I barely remember what to do against many of white's systems.

3/30 log

chesstempo 24/38 blitz problems. 2 yellow. Completely missed a few and am not sure if I would have seen them with lots of thinking. Plenty where I just spazzed out b/c I felt I was taking too long or missed the continuation of my idea.

Going to go over Accelerated Dragon Smith Morra Gambit now. I think the setup I play against it isn't too difficult to learn but if I don't play it properly it kind of becomes a problem so right now it's a problem lol.

I didn't do much blitz back when I still worked with Chesstempo. I can't say how useful it'll be.

I like Winning Chess Exercises for Kids. This is one of the easier problems.



The harder ones aren't a lot harder, but some are tricky.

I'll respond to this post from that tactics thread here.

I don't think it's a "problem", but you should be clear about what you want to practice. There's a lot of overlap between calculation practice and actual in-game calculation, so doing a lot of both and no pure-recognition stuff is a reduncancy risk, and you might still end up messing up the easy stuff in-game. (Or not being as fast with it as you should be. After all, spotting easy tactics ultra-quickly is a good foundation for doing harder calculation-intensive stuff efficiently.)

Ok. I've asked my coach about this whole thing. I realize your main point may simply be "don't call it tactics training if it's mainly calculation training" and not anything more than that.

But I have heard how important it is to "study tactics" and feel that was a weak part of my game and weakness in general. So I'd like to incorporate it somehow.

Chesstempo problems all train tactics to some degree imo and I think blitz may be slightly more efficient in terms of time spent for just training tactics. But standard seems just better overall b/c they simulate an OTB game more closely where you would think a few minutes in a complex situation.

This was pretty tricky for me. I assume it's:



I saw both of those different moves well before I put them together (the "hard" part of tactics imo or maybe the part you call "calculation" that indicates that tactics pattern hasn't been trained enough). So I might miss this as a chesstempo blitz problem but for sure get it as a standard one.

Do you have any more specific advice or thoughts on how I seem to be studying overall? I mean, I can call what I'm studying whatever I want but do you feel it's a big leak if I'm not buying that book (or a similar resource, although I don't know of any others - I thought chesstempo was "the" way to train tactics until you weighed in) right away and adding it to my weekly study plan?

3/31 log

I'm sick (seems like a sinus infection is coming on although I don't feel worse today) and didn't do much chess related.

chesstempo 1/2 standard problems (just did these so I could send them as examples to my coach since we were discussing how helpful doing chesstempo problems might/might not be)

I also found out my cousin passed away unexpectedly in her sleep the night before. She is the one who inspired me to get back into chess (which in turn is why I created this log). Still in shock (she was only 51 but had been battling MS for years). Not sure if this means I won't go to the National Open or not. But I for sure want to keep playing even more now for myself but also for her since she no longer can.

Here we are at the 2010 National Open (I cut out other family members but 8 of us played in it that year together):

If you have a paid chesstempo account ($4/month) you can create custom problem sets. A set of all problems rated 500-700 points below your chesstempo rating coupled with a goal of solving everything in a couple seconds can be a great way to train rapid pattern recognition, with minimal calculation needed.

Ahhh, now this is the type of thing I was looking for advice on. That seems much more like the way to go to properly train tactics with an easy online resource.

Correct. They are related but different.

Compilations of basic/intermediate tactics are mostly interchangeable as long as they don't suck. The "Woodpecker Method" in Pump Up Your Rating doesn't specify any particular book -- you just need a problem set that's big enough that you aren't able to solve repeated problems purely from memory. 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games isn't good because a lot of the problems are unrealistic. BJJ's recommendation sounds best imo.

If you want to work with ChessTempo standard a lot, you should probably learn various important calculation techniques. I thought this book was great. Disregard the reviews.

4/1 – 4/5 log

Was sick (now better) and also hit hard about my cousin's death. Service is Thursday and I'll be going but I'm out of state and so the logistics were really stressful to set up.

Didn't make as much progress on chess training as I had planned but pretty happy overall:

Tractics:
Purchased gold chesstempo.com account (probably should've gotten silver but w/e). Thanks for the recommendation BBJ!

Set up a custom tactics set per Dan Heisman's "bain" recommendation: 900-1250 (standard rating). The idea is to solve problems on average in under 15 seconds @ 85%+ accuracy. Went 70/77 at 91% accuracy in an average time of 16.6 seconds before realizing I had mates in the set and doing non-mate tactics is more recommended.

So created another set that excludes mates. I also think I have only 2-3 move tactics or some move setting like that. Went 56/60 on this new problem set with 93% accuracy but average time is 20.7 seconds.

Opening:
Also went through Maroczy Bind variation of Accelerated Dragon. Still left:
Rossolimo
Closed
Alapin
Grand Prix
Odd lines

The good news is I think I'm retaining *some* of this. At least I'm not as likely to get completely different lines confused. But I've never been very good at memorizing openings, :/.

Play:
Played some Blitz with meh results although I still may have been a bit sick. I still seem to not do very well in the opening and then am playing catchup too much.

Played a 30/5 game yesterday and felt it went really well. My opponent took almost no time to think on moves but I used almost my entire clock. At the end I had ~2:30 left and he had ~20 left. I spent most of my time getting and adding pressure to a pinned piece in the middle of the board. Then as my time got somewhat down I didn't continue super precisely but he eventually chose to trade his rooks for my queen to get out of it but his minor pieces were pretty far away from his king and my rooks + bishops sliced and diced him up pretty easily.

I added that to my Amazon wishlist so at some point I may end up getting it. Definitely a great recommendation but at this point I have plenty of things I think are more practical to work through.

4/6 - 4/7 log

Tactics. It looks like I set up the problem set with spaced repetition which I like the idea of but am not positive if it's way better than no or less repetition. Anyway, I have a better feel for how it works now. The one thing I changed in its settings is "target seconds/problem" to "15 seconds". Since that is the recommended goal set out in that book by Bain and recommended by Heisman.

Anyway, I think I missed doing tactics for a couple of days and there were a lot of planned problems rather than new ones. But hopefully if I keep up with this I will do more and more new problems of the 2,000 problem set. Then my plan I guess would be to increase the average rating of the problem set upwards.

Anyway, both days I did 15-30 mins of tactics problems.

Flying out later today to CA, going to bring my travel chess set (I really gotta remember to pack it!) and plan to look at openings a bunch on the plane.