I had two chess lessons with Yelena during this past week, one on Thanksgiving morning and the other on Monday morning as a way to celebrate the beginning of my 55th year on the planet. The first lesson left me quite frustrated and somewhat discouraged. I really haven't been able to work seriously at chess for a while, and to say that I did poorly at the "find the winning continuation" positions we examined would be charitable to me. I couldn't see much of anything, even fairly simple or obvious moves, and I found my thoughts to be swirling around in my head with no real cohesion and focus. I am sure that it was a frustrating experience for Yelena, too. One of the observations she made near the end of the lesson was that I need to stop defending myself, both in life and in chess.
The second lesson, yesterday, was somewhat better. I got into a lot of explaning myself and even making excuses why this or that move wouldn't work, all while neglecting simple, forcing moves that were the solutions. This theme of explaining, justifying, and rationalizing my thought processes is a specific manifestation of what I find myself doing in life right now, a "microcosm," if you will. My personal life has been tumultuous, and I have been blamed and scaprgoated quite a bit in recent weeks. Long ago, I told myself that I needed to stop justifying my existence on the planet - I am here, and if people don't like it, that's too bad. The recent relapse into a self-defensive posture has permeated my chess, too.
By the end of yesterday's lesson, I felt more like my old self, but only after repeated "reminders" that I don't need to explain my moves and to just play what looks best during these lessons. I am afraid to make a mistake, so I hesitate and vacilate between moves and ideas. Yelena said that all I really need to do is to tell her what piece needs to move to which square, and that words are not really necessary with these exercises. If it is the wrong move or idea, so be it. But losing a chess game is not an unpardonable sin, nor is making mistakes during lessons.
As I have accumulated from these lessons over 300 chess positions to study and review, I decided to begin doing just that with them in between lessons. I have saved every position in a database and now am creating a new one for endgames and another for themed positions. I review and play through each one carefully, then add it to the new database. Just getting back into looking at chess in this way has created for me a more positive outlook.
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8 comments:
Have put away chess since my accident 3 months ago. Emailed my coach to tell him I wouldn't be taking lessons for a while as I focus on my rehab.
Amazing how quickly one becomes deconditoned phsically after a short period of bedrest. I found this out first hand. It would appear that one's chess skills respond similarly to lack of use.
Loss of some skills after a break is obviously natural. I've found (in my limited experience) that 'breaking' is helpful in the long term. I find that after a break, I have a period of weak play followed by a strong comeback, to a stronger level of play. More advanced players may have different experience, but this has always been mine. Taking a break allows you to revisit and relearn the basics- always important!- when you get back, and also, is good for breaking bad playing habits (and isnt this is really 'the' weakness in chess)and for allowing you to see out of the box again. Dont be discouraged!
apollo17: It's really good to see a comment from you, amigo. I can only imagine how this recuperative period has impacted your fitness. I believe your last sentence is accurate, at least for me.
Eyepoke: This is an interesting point: much like one needs to rest muscles after vigorous workouts in order to strengthen them, this "comeback" phenomenon seems to suggest the same from a chess point of view. I am interested in what others think.
That one doesn't play top notch chess after a break longer then a week is understandable, certainly at our patzer level.
Our brain isn't used anymore to think in an ordened way we cultivated over the years. It's rusty and needs some training to get to the level we once were.
Sometimes a week of rest, total absence of chess, can be good to recharge the batteries, but a longer absence makes that our knowlegde doesn't dissepear but that it will take a bit longer to come at the horizon when we play a game of chess since its pushed further back in our memory.
It's great to hear I am not the only one who gets comments of Yelena. My recurring comment is that I have to stop saying 'but...' when doing such exercises with Yelena which you descrive. Second recurring comment is that I have to play active, although that part of my chess has improved recently.
The great US chessplayer Sam Reshevsky once said something like "to play winning chess you don't have to always play the best move just good moves."
If you eliminate bad moves and have a decent plan for a good move that's usually good enough and it takes a lot of the pressure off.
There's also nothing to defend, there a books and books of chessmaster games with notes and notes where they missed the best move (and still won).
chesstiger: Yes, I have earned a number of familiar "reminders" from Yelena abut my errors in thinking and in attitude. I once received many comments on my passive play and on my worry about not losing. Fortunately, she knows how best to present this feedback to me, so I do not get discouraged. :)
ChessClues: I think Karpov in his prime was a good example of Reshevsky's maxim. This is not to say that the former World Champion didn't play brilliant moves because he was more than capable of doing so. Kasparov mentions in some of his books that Karpov would play good moves consistently, which really is also a unique skill.
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