Originally posted by ivan2908 What is your result ? It is very easy to learn it well... odd numbers on a c e g are white and even numbers on b d f h are black.
There are many shortcuts it is useful when you know what squares belong to the same diagonal etc.
Interesting stuff.
I think I got something like 49 seconds? I'll try it again when I've slept more than 2 hours... 😛
Originally posted by wormwood I think I got something like 49 seconds? I'll try it again when I've slept more than 2 hours... 😛
That's cheating!
I don't even dare to try... One of the things I would really worry about if I'd try to play OTB is notation. It takes me ages to figure out what the squares are called.
I don't even dare to try... One of the things I would really worry about if I'd try to play OTB is notation. It takes me ages to figure out what the squares are called.
are you serious? how do you read annotations or books? (since you are a strong 1700, I'm assuming you've read many by now.)
Originally posted by diskamyl are you serious? how do you read annotations or books? (since you are a strong 1700, I'm assuming you've read many by now.)
Unfortunately I am serious. Reading annotations or books is slow work, and I usually need to set the game up on a board because my visualisation skills are so poor, and even with a board I am prone to make mistakes. I know it sounds ridiculous, after all it's not exactly complicated, but it may be less surprising if you consider the fact that I still sometimes manage to mix up 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock on a clock without numbers because I mix up left and right (I will notice my mistake after a moment, but I can't trust my intuition). That's one reason why I rarely read annotations or books. You don't really need it to get to 1700 here. I learned the basics with the Chessmaster Academy - no notation or visualisation skills needed. I have been playing for a while now (over three years), I move very slowly, I use the analysis board excessively, I use databases for the opening, and I play a very small number of openings. I have read most of Silman's "How to Reassess your Chess" and a little bit of Vukovic's "The Art of Attack", but I don't think that has done all that much for my rating.
Originally posted by Nordlys Unfortunately I am serious. Reading annotations or books is slow work, and I usually need to set the game up on a board because my visualisation skills are so poor, and even with a board I am prone to make mistakes. I know it sounds ridiculous, after all it's not exactly complicated, but it may be less surprising if you consider the fact that I still sometim ...[text shortened]... s "The Art of Attack", but I don't think that has done all that much for my rating.
Notation is something where is plenty space for improvement. Chess visualization is important for reading books too. I hate when I set up position for Reasess position or some other book and then I have to follow the moves. Every once in a while there is some alternative variation so you have to think backwards to set board to a state from three or four moves before. Therefore, it is nice if you are able to follow some of that variations (at least the shorter ones) without the need to mess up with the pieces..
Chessmaster "follow the game" drills are good for developing that.
I think I have minor OCD and I know whether every letter of the alphabet is even or odd which makes this much easier since when they're the same it's dark (both even or both odd) and when they're different it's light.
23 Mar '08 16:11
Chess colors speed quiz
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