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Tal
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« Reply #2325 on: December 18, 2015, 08:58:34 AM »

my rating is between 1350-1400 and I cant seem to progress past that. Is there any like common mistakes or tips/ways of thinking that take you from a 1400 to a 1600 or is it just a case of playing lots/learning/studying etc?

I haven't forgotten about this. Will find time this weekend to give you a proper answer.
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« Reply #2326 on: December 19, 2015, 08:56:08 PM »

my rating is between 1350-1400 and I cant seem to progress past that. Is there any like common mistakes or tips/ways of thinking that take you from a 1400 to a 1600 or is it just a case of playing lots/learning/studying etc?

http://www.chess.com/article/view/three-key-ways-to-improve-at-chess-part-1

one thing you should do that most of dont is blunder check before you move ,
other thing is playing online , I play on the internet chess club but 3 / 5 mins games & end up in time trouble , some sites like chessworld.net will let you play like correspondence chess & give you time to work through moves
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Tal
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« Reply #2327 on: December 21, 2015, 07:32:34 PM »

Right, here goes.

my rating is between 1350-1400 and I cant seem to progress past that. Is there any like common mistakes or tips/ways of thinking that take you from a 1400 to a 1600 or is it just a case of playing lots/learning/studying etc?

The first thing to say is that, like poker, there is no substitute for studying, playing, studying, playing, studying, playing, studying and playing.

It's also difficult to give you a proper answer to your question without seeing some of your games. Say I approach you for some MTT advice one Saturday night at the Broadway. "I never seem to do any good in these $5 180 man comps. Any suggestions?" You could spend all day discussing GTO play, three bet percentages, VPIP and pot control and it turns out I can't fold a pair pre.

I'll have to resort to general principles, as it stands, then, to give some overarching themes of mistakes players of your level often make. You'll need to select which, if any, apply. I'll give you one opening, one middlegame and one endgame that spring to mind.

1. Poor development

There can be no simpler maxim than "get your bits out and castle", yet it is easily forgotten, while pursuing an errant knight or attacking the enemy king. Having control of the centre, all the minor pieces out and working and His Majesty safely out of harm's way is massively undervalued by novice players. The pieces have huge amounts of power in them but they need to be activated and, if left at home, can even get in the way.

2. Swapping off too easily

When faced with an exchange, decide whether it works for you. Having fewer pieces on the board might be what your opponent wants, so why give him that? You don't check-call against a nit; you punish their weaknesses by raising wider and putting them under pressure.

If the exchange gives you a tactical edge (say you can win material) or a positional advantage (like a queenside majority in the endgame, double his pawns, good bishop against bad knight), then go for it, but keep the pressure up if you can and do things only on your terms.

3. Accepting draws

A neat parallel with chopping heads up, lots of players (even at county level) will shake hands after 20 moves when little of interest has happened in the game or where they reach a level endgame. There's no reason to do so, because there's plenty of life left in the game. How many games has Magnus Carlsen won from a dull position against elite players?

Keep pushing, working on your positional and endgame technique and grind out the wins. They really help your rating. You don't have to attack like a madman. Just keep slowly improving your position and quietly build up your situation. The other guy may not cracking but let him earn his half.

Do any of these ring any bells?
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« Reply #2328 on: December 22, 2015, 01:14:21 PM »

Right, here goes.

my rating is between 1350-1400 and I cant seem to progress past that. Is there any like common mistakes or tips/ways of thinking that take you from a 1400 to a 1600 or is it just a case of playing lots/learning/studying etc?

The first thing to say is that, like poker, there is no substitute for studying, playing, studying, playing, studying, playing, studying and playing.

It's also difficult to give you a proper answer to your question without seeing some of your games. Say I approach you for some MTT advice one Saturday night at the Broadway. "I never seem to do any good in these $5 180 man comps. Any suggestions?" You could spend all day discussing GTO play, three bet percentages, VPIP and pot control and it turns out I can't fold a pair pre.

I'll have to resort to general principles, as it stands, then, to give some overarching themes of mistakes players of your level often make. You'll need to select which, if any, apply. I'll give you one opening, one middlegame and one endgame that spring to mind.

1. Poor development

There can be no simpler maxim than "get your bits out and castle", yet it is easily forgotten, while pursuing an errant knight or attacking the enemy king. Having control of the centre, all the minor pieces out and working and His Majesty safely out of harm's way is massively undervalued by novice players. The pieces have huge amounts of power in them but they need to be activated and, if left at home, can even get in the way.

2. Swapping off too easily

When faced with an exchange, decide whether it works for you. Having fewer pieces on the board might be what your opponent wants, so why give him that? You don't check-call against a nit; you punish their weaknesses by raising wider and putting them under pressure.

If the exchange gives you a tactical edge (say you can win material) or a positional advantage (like a queenside majority in the endgame, double his pawns, good bishop against bad knight), then go for it, but keep the pressure up if you can and do things only on your terms.

3. Accepting draws

A neat parallel with chopping heads up, lots of players (even at county level) will shake hands after 20 moves when little of interest has happened in the game or where they reach a level endgame. There's no reason to do so, because there's plenty of life left in the game. How many games has Magnus Carlsen won from a dull position against elite players?

Keep pushing, working on your positional and endgame technique and grind out the wins. They really help your rating. You don't have to attack like a madman. Just keep slowly improving your position and quietly build up your situation. The other guy may not cracking but let him earn his half.

Do any of these ring any bells?

thankyou for the reply and yeah sorry my initial question was very vague lol.

I think im pretty good at "gettin my bits out and castling" lol, id say its rare that ive made 10-12 moves without castling (too long still?)

I feel like people want to exchange with me all the time, so I'm guessing I'm making some pretty big positional errors early on?

I am also significantly better as white than as black (or my opponents are) id guess I overextend as black too much, is that a common mistake?
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I wouldn't normally try so hard, but didn't have another opportunity I could wait for. I wasn't ready to surrender what I WANTED SO MUCH, that easily, I couldn't guarantee a call with me staying stoic and relying on a flinch "top pair" calling reflex.
Tal
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« Reply #2329 on: December 26, 2015, 10:58:57 AM »

Right, here goes.

my rating is between 1350-1400 and I cant seem to progress past that. Is there any like common mistakes or tips/ways of thinking that take you from a 1400 to a 1600 or is it just a case of playing lots/learning/studying etc?

The first thing to say is that, like poker, there is no substitute for studying, playing, studying, playing, studying, playing, studying and playing.

It's also difficult to give you a proper answer to your question without seeing some of your games. Say I approach you for some MTT advice one Saturday night at the Broadway. "I never seem to do any good in these $5 180 man comps. Any suggestions?" You could spend all day discussing GTO play, three bet percentages, VPIP and pot control and it turns out I can't fold a pair pre.

I'll have to resort to general principles, as it stands, then, to give some overarching themes of mistakes players of your level often make. You'll need to select which, if any, apply. I'll give you one opening, one middlegame and one endgame that spring to mind.

1. Poor development

There can be no simpler maxim than "get your bits out and castle", yet it is easily forgotten, while pursuing an errant knight or attacking the enemy king. Having control of the centre, all the minor pieces out and working and His Majesty safely out of harm's way is massively undervalued by novice players. The pieces have huge amounts of power in them but they need to be activated and, if left at home, can even get in the way.

2. Swapping off too easily

When faced with an exchange, decide whether it works for you. Having fewer pieces on the board might be what your opponent wants, so why give him that? You don't check-call against a nit; you punish their weaknesses by raising wider and putting them under pressure.

If the exchange gives you a tactical edge (say you can win material) or a positional advantage (like a queenside majority in the endgame, double his pawns, good bishop against bad knight), then go for it, but keep the pressure up if you can and do things only on your terms.

3. Accepting draws

A neat parallel with chopping heads up, lots of players (even at county level) will shake hands after 20 moves when little of interest has happened in the game or where they reach a level endgame. There's no reason to do so, because there's plenty of life left in the game. How many games has Magnus Carlsen won from a dull position against elite players?

Keep pushing, working on your positional and endgame technique and grind out the wins. They really help your rating. You don't have to attack like a madman. Just keep slowly improving your position and quietly build up your situation. The other guy may not cracking but let him earn his half.

Do any of these ring any bells?

thankyou for the reply and yeah sorry my initial question was very vague lol.

I think im pretty good at "gettin my bits out and castling" lol, id say its rare that ive made 10-12 moves without castling (too long still?)

That sounds fine. Rapid development is important. Don't set a number of moves to do it by, but do keep in mind whether you've finished your development as you're going along.

I feel like people want to exchange with me all the time, so I'm guessing I'm making some pretty big positional errors early on?

Not necessarily. Novice players like exchanging. They'd do it against better and worse opponents. Some people like to be the one taking the piece first, so that they have the next move after the exchange. This gives them what's called a tempo, which is like having an extra move. It's only worth doing, though, if the move is good enough to justify the exchange.

I am also significantly better as white than as black (or my opponents are) id guess I overextend as black too much, is that a common mistake?

Tough to say. What is "significantly better"? Bear in mind White does start with an advantage. If you have set things you do as white and you're comfortable with that, it might be your openings as black aren't as good.

If you're developing well, you'll likely be setting yourself up well for attacks, so it might just be a case of not spotting what your opponent is up to.



I've put some answers there in bold. It'd definitely help to see some games, if you're comfortable posting them here.
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Tal
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« Reply #2330 on: December 27, 2015, 12:36:24 AM »

Great story, this.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/nigalidze-stripped-of-gm-title-receives-3-year-ban
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Tal
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« Reply #2331 on: December 27, 2015, 12:40:42 AM »

Chessbase's Christmas present:

 Click to see full-size image.


 Click to see full-size image.


Solution is here, but have a go without peeking first:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/chessbase-chrismas-puzzles-2015-2

« Last Edit: December 27, 2015, 12:42:59 AM by Tal » Logged

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« Reply #2332 on: December 30, 2015, 08:25:29 PM »

A rook is generally more valuable than a bishop or a knight, but the exchange sacrifice, where you make what seems to be a bad bargain, can be a long term positional advantage. It comes down to how effective the pieces are.

A gun may be more effective than a knife, but if your gun is locked away when the man attacks you, you're in for it.

A video of a game from the 2010 World Championship between Anand and Topalov

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Tal
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« Reply #2333 on: January 05, 2016, 10:21:56 AM »

Carlsen's masterpiece last week was reminiscent of a style of play dating back 120 years, to Wilhelm Steinitz:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/huffington-great-chess-minds-think-alike
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« Reply #2334 on: January 07, 2016, 01:37:03 PM »

Thoughts on this (obv bearing in mind it's a lol 125% book)?
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Tal
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« Reply #2335 on: January 07, 2016, 01:46:12 PM »

At first glance, Nakamura is in form but he doesn't win this tournament once every four. Topalov may be a smidge of value at 13/2. Tough to back Aronian in these elite events.

I wouldn't be enormously surprised if Anand didn't go close again. Just knows how to get things done.
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« Reply #2336 on: January 19, 2016, 09:36:53 AM »

From the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee yesterday, Mamedyarov v Elijanov:





Mamedyarov, one of the best players in the world, now played c5 and promptly resigned when Elijanov took the rook on b1.

In poker terms, that's the equivalent of Phil Ivey playing a flush draw, backdooring the nut straight and then folding the river.
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« Reply #2337 on: January 19, 2016, 10:00:47 AM »

Wow that's a humdinger.

It looks an easily winning position aswell.
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Tal
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« Reply #2338 on: January 19, 2016, 10:30:10 AM »

Wow that's a humdinger.

It looks an easily winning position aswell.

Completely crushing, yep.
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« Reply #2339 on: January 19, 2016, 11:04:49 AM »

Wow that's a humdinger.

It looks an easily winning position aswell.

Completely crushing, yep.

Ah blacks rook is tied to the back rank on defensive duties. A couple of accurate moves and black is in resignation territory.
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