People always seem to be asking how to prepare. They ponder over what books or DVDs to buy, what openings to study, or perhaps, which endgames are worth having down. Many of these resources are useful for the advanced player, but for the up and coming player (usually below 2200) there should be one thing that trumps the use of all of these resources. TACTICS!!!!!
Although solving tactical puzzles seems like hard work, it is in fact the fastest way to improve (yes it will help you improve more than memorizing the 20 moves deep variation of the King's Indian). There are three parts of preparation that are important for a chess player to improve: Theoretical preparation, Analytical Preparation, and Application-based preparation. Theoretical preparation encompasses understanding opening ideas/lines, knowing endgame positions, etc. Analytical Preparation deals with practicing the important skill of problem solving. Application-based preparation involves playing games online or with a computer to practice the skills you have studied, and to evaluate your weaknesses. Funny story, theoretical and application-based preparation are often well practiced, while analytical preparation often takes the backseat to the typical chess player's study routine.
Good News! It isn't too late to start. There are many free sites out there that offer tactical puzzles to your heart's content. All you have to do is start solving! Now you are probably asking, what is so special? How is this going to get my rating up 100 points? Well here is what you do:
1. Set up a time slot to work on tactics (at least 30 min)
2. Solve (focus on quality rather than quantity)
When you are solving puzzles, take as much time as you need, but do not let yourself answer a puzzle incorrectly due to frustration. Believe me, the more you do this, the faster you will begin to see these stronger combinations. Most importantly, be honest with yourself. If you put in the work, the 100 point jump will come much quicker than you realize. Here, let this puzzle warm you up to the many puzzles you will solve in the future.
http://en.lichess.org/analysis/1b1qnr2/4p1kp/pp1rQpp1/2p1N1B1/P4P2/2P5/2P3PP/3R1R1K_w_-_-
Just kidding, you should consider becoming a professional if you see the entire combination on your first go. I put this puzzle here to show players who think that they are too strong to need to solve tactics that engaging in such a practice can have a positive influence on their game. In a game, it is not so much what position you get to play with, but rather how you play with the position that you get. Tactical training teaches how to play with the position, and as a result can boost the rating of any player who wants to improve. After all, look at what it did for Garry Kasparov or Wei Yi!
Join the team Chess Learners if you want to improve your game.
Here is the link to join: http://en.lichess.org/team/chess-learners
And what is the point of your puzzle? Neither me, nor Lichess Stockfish see anything.
The purpose of putting that puzzle up was to show that everyone (even very high rated players) have the ability to improve by working on tactical training. Pm me if you want me to give you the answer.
We are actually discussing this puzzle with MQBlank in pm. Thanks to him I finally understood the point. My opinion is however (I copy it here with a small editions):
"No, ... is not obviuos unless you see a perpetual check after 9. ... . Otherwise you just lose a piece. Remember, in the game you don't know that this is "a puzzle" and ... with further ... is very dangerous to lose immediately instead of having normal game with a pawn for a piece (which comes out of the most logical Rxd6) or even a rook for two pieces.
So I am not sure if this is a good example of a puzzle, when after 9-moves combination you just improved from -2 to 0. The solution is interesting, maybe, but not practical, unless you are IM trying to safe the game with 90 minutes time control at least."
The puzzle I put up was meant to be more of a joke rather than an actual puzzle to attempt. Often times players who believe they are too strong to continue solving tactical puzzles (around 2100 or so) make the mistake of diving into opening variations. I put this up to show them that tactics still play an important role in determining the outcome of the game.
I understand your sentiments about the difficulty of this puzzle. However, it was in fact taken from a game played in 1983 in the USSR between Lelchuk and Voronova. Lelchuk, who had the exact position with white, went on to win the game by finding the winning combination.
I also understand the difficulty experienced with stockfish. This puzzle in fact required stockfish and other strong computers to sit with the position for up to 10 minutes. Computers tend to not be so strong at finding long. unclear variations.
That being said, I will not deny that this puzzle is very difficult for a majority of chess players, hence the joke. Believe me, if you still want to figure it out, there is a clear win for white, although it is VERY difficult to find. For most people, it might not even be practical to go into the variation. However, if Lelchuk could get her tactical vision to win with the combination, I don't see why anyone else with the determination can't.
Best of Luck in Your Chess Endeavors.
TitleKiller I see what you think. but I think tactis are less inportaint then piece play and positinal play becuase you don't get a tactical ravage every game. and when you have 60 minutes on your clock to find a tactical blow you can. But if you arent good in positinal chess you wont magically be good in it with 60 minutes on the clock
I guess the solution is 1 B h6 K xh6 , 2 Nf7 Kg7, 3 Nxd8 Rxe6 4 Nxe6 Kf7 5 5 Nxf8 Kxf8 Where is the difficulty?
azuaga you dont play Kg7 you take the knight
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