Status: Active
Yes, I'm still alive. I was a little side-tracked after the tournament, but rest assured I'm still in the game. My chess rating should be updated with the CFC tomorrow and I'll see how I fared from that tournament. For some reason the first update didn't change anything; perhaps the tournament results didn't arrive in time.I have obtained some new training materials and I'm interested in trying out the Russian's systematic training, as per their "The Manual of Chess Combination" series. The first volume contains about 1320 tactical positions and as I understand should bring a beginner up to a 1600 level. The second volume supposedly takes you from 1600~2200 elo. The remaining two volumes of the four volume set are written by different authors and focus more on improving calculating ability or ending tactics.
I've been doing 30 puzzles a day for a bit now and I'm interested in seeing if these tactical exercises are perhaps more beneficial to know for lower rated players. I believe my older plan would be better suited for a higher level than I am at, and would probably take longer to see results. I also obtained a copy of the Combinative Motifs book, which I also plan to use when my rating is higher (i.e. after the first Chess Combinations volume if it can really bring me up to ~1600 level).
Why do we do tactics? I think it's to expose oneself to many challenging positions or thematic positions, which may happen at a much less recurring basis in real games. This has the effect of isolating your skill for tactical ability, much like how weight-lighting isolates specific muscle groups. So it should be logical that how efficiently you train those will be related to the quality and tactical motifs you study.
If I were training with the Polgar book alone, I believe it would take a longer period of time to notice larger gains, particularly at my lower, foundational stage. I will still use it some point but not right now as the sole training material.
posted by Board Scholar @ 2:28 PM
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