February = Tactics
My sole focus on improvement this month is tactics. After a less-than-spectacular showing in my Jan. 29 OTB tournament (Peoria Winter Tornado), I realized that I'd been really focused on strategy, openings, and endgames to the detriment of what I perceive as my core strength - tactical ability. Sure, I'd been regularly working CT-Art 3.0 level 50 problems after having worked to death levels 10 - 40, but when I sat down to play in the last tourney I realized that something was missing from my game. I was lazy at the board. I also allowed too many tactics to be played against me. It took me until the 3rd round before I had settled down enough to play a reasonable game.
So, I'm taking somewhat of a break from CT-Art 3.0. I still work the level 50's on my lunchbreak, but I've gone a different route. What I began last week was to dig out my old Fred Reinfeld 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations book and go through, De La Maza style, each chapter. I began with pins last week and did 4 circles over most of the week, making sure that I analyzed each position and looked for breaks in the solutions. Once I'd satisfied myself that the solution indeed was the best and that there were no good saves for the other side - only then would I move onto the next puzzle. My last 3 circles for the Pinning chapter were all done on Sunday morning. These were for pattern reinforcement, and I spent about 1 hour on the 4th circle cranking down to about 20 minutes for the last circle of the total 108 problem set.
Last night, I began my 1st circle on the 2nd chapter - knight forks. I must have an affinity for this type of tactic, because I'm finding them much easier than I found the pinning puzzles. I plan to finish my 1st circle of knight forks tonight (around 70-80 problems) if possible. I don't want to sacrifice quality for speed, however.
So, I'm taking somewhat of a break from CT-Art 3.0. I still work the level 50's on my lunchbreak, but I've gone a different route. What I began last week was to dig out my old Fred Reinfeld 1001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations book and go through, De La Maza style, each chapter. I began with pins last week and did 4 circles over most of the week, making sure that I analyzed each position and looked for breaks in the solutions. Once I'd satisfied myself that the solution indeed was the best and that there were no good saves for the other side - only then would I move onto the next puzzle. My last 3 circles for the Pinning chapter were all done on Sunday morning. These were for pattern reinforcement, and I spent about 1 hour on the 4th circle cranking down to about 20 minutes for the last circle of the total 108 problem set.
Last night, I began my 1st circle on the 2nd chapter - knight forks. I must have an affinity for this type of tactic, because I'm finding them much easier than I found the pinning puzzles. I plan to finish my 1st circle of knight forks tonight (around 70-80 problems) if possible. I don't want to sacrifice quality for speed, however.
posted by CelticDeath at 3:10 PM
2 Comments:
Sorry for bothering you, but I've played with Reinfeld puzzles in the past, and my main concern is not all of them were solvables. Specifically I could point to the 3rd. problem on pinning, where any move seemed to be easily refuted by Fritz.
What I'd like to know is how did you handle this sort of problem, so that it won't disrupt your studying process.
Just for the record, I'd like to set clear that there was also a refutation even for the suggested solution.
Post a Comment
<< Home