Um, would you say chessable is a good resource? I think I need to study and understand the moves, but I think it's a good resource. Have you even heard of it? It's Magnus's creation so I think it must be good. Dang this game is hard to learn, I just don't want to do the work. Most of the resources from chesable.com are originally from books, but there are a lot of courses created by the average person. I just don't think I can play the moves from memory. I think that must be because I don't take the time to understand the moves. When you try to understand the moves, you start to realize that you have to understand the variations, and then you realize there might be frickin sideline variations and etc. I'm just glad I decided to read Rich Dad Poor Dad so I don't have to work for the rest of my life. I will be able to find a lot of time to do this, I just need to read more finance books and resources. It's all a matter of finding the time to actually study what you want to, like me for instance I like chess, music, and I enjoy several hobbies such as agate collecting or fish keeping. There's so much time that goes into this and the necessity is that I need to find the time, so I am going to. I don't know about you people but you can go ahead and do whatever you want.
I really enjoyed this read. Really it felt too short for me....
However, as someone who played the Benoni quite a bit, and who likes the idea of "cross-polinisation", I really wonder how the Najdorf helped you understand the Benoni.
I felt I gained a tremendous bit of understanding Benoni structures by starting to finally play 1.e4 e5 (after 2O+ years of avoiding it), more specifically the Keres variation of the Closed Spanish (9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 ed4 13. cd4 Nc6 14.d5 as a clear cut exemple). Would you be kind enough to share your understanding further please ?
Cheers, and thanks again for this great post !
However, as someone who played the Benoni quite a bit, and who likes the idea of "cross-polinisation", I really wonder how the Najdorf helped you understand the Benoni.
I felt I gained a tremendous bit of understanding Benoni structures by starting to finally play 1.e4 e5 (after 2O+ years of avoiding it), more specifically the Keres variation of the Closed Spanish (9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 ed4 13. cd4 Nc6 14.d5 as a clear cut exemple). Would you be kind enough to share your understanding further please ?
Cheers, and thanks again for this great post !
Would you recommend chessable to anyone if you used it Voj?
@SilentGhost3625 said in #10:
> He is definitely good with the fact that he made no apologies over the length of the article. Instead, he decided to write a book. lol
Yes, I have written 2 books. I am currently writing another, and my blog will probably turn into another! lol
Writers write!
> He is definitely good with the fact that he made no apologies over the length of the article. Instead, he decided to write a book. lol
Yes, I have written 2 books. I am currently writing another, and my blog will probably turn into another! lol
Writers write!
Epic. Have you used chessable or no? I think you should try it if you didn't but it's kinda pricey. I decided to follow you on lichess after reading your article.
@SilentGhost3625 said in #11:
> Um, would you say chessable is a good resource? I think I need to study and understand the moves, but I think it's a good resource. Have you even heard of it? It's Magnus's creation so I think it must be good. Dang this game is hard to learn, I just don't want to do the work. Most of the resources from chesable.com are originally from books, but there are a lot of courses created by the average person. I just don't think I can play the moves from memory. I think that must be because I don't take the time to understand the moves. When you try to understand the moves, you start to realize that you have to understand the variations, and then you realize there might be frickin sideline variations and etc. I'm just glad I decided to read Rich Dad Poor Dad so I don't have to work for the rest of my life. I will be able to find a lot of time to do this, I just need to read more finance books and resources. It's all a matter of finding the time to actually study what you want to, like me for instance I like chess, music, and I enjoy several hobbies such as agate collecting or fish keeping. There's so much time that goes into this and the necessity is that I need to find the time, so I am going to. I don't know about you people but you can go ahead and do whatever you want.
Yes, Chessable is a good resource. My main criticism of Chessable is that they have several metrics that make you feel good but don't really do much. One example is last I checked they had a metric that was called "Openings Learned" or "Lines Learned" or something like that. Totally useless. It makes you feel like you've learned openings but in reality all it means is you played through some moves in a course / book.
But overall, I think chessable is a good resource and very useful for people, especially if people do not like physical books and prefer to learn online.
When looking at courses, make sure they are by a titled player at least. The everyday person certainly has things to teach, but titled played above "CM" are usually worth listening to.
> Um, would you say chessable is a good resource? I think I need to study and understand the moves, but I think it's a good resource. Have you even heard of it? It's Magnus's creation so I think it must be good. Dang this game is hard to learn, I just don't want to do the work. Most of the resources from chesable.com are originally from books, but there are a lot of courses created by the average person. I just don't think I can play the moves from memory. I think that must be because I don't take the time to understand the moves. When you try to understand the moves, you start to realize that you have to understand the variations, and then you realize there might be frickin sideline variations and etc. I'm just glad I decided to read Rich Dad Poor Dad so I don't have to work for the rest of my life. I will be able to find a lot of time to do this, I just need to read more finance books and resources. It's all a matter of finding the time to actually study what you want to, like me for instance I like chess, music, and I enjoy several hobbies such as agate collecting or fish keeping. There's so much time that goes into this and the necessity is that I need to find the time, so I am going to. I don't know about you people but you can go ahead and do whatever you want.
Yes, Chessable is a good resource. My main criticism of Chessable is that they have several metrics that make you feel good but don't really do much. One example is last I checked they had a metric that was called "Openings Learned" or "Lines Learned" or something like that. Totally useless. It makes you feel like you've learned openings but in reality all it means is you played through some moves in a course / book.
But overall, I think chessable is a good resource and very useful for people, especially if people do not like physical books and prefer to learn online.
When looking at courses, make sure they are by a titled player at least. The everyday person certainly has things to teach, but titled played above "CM" are usually worth listening to.
@VojFromMars said in #12:
> I really enjoyed this read. Really it felt too short for me....
>
> However, as someone who played the Benoni quite a bit, and who likes the idea of "cross-polinisation", I really wonder how the Najdorf helped you understand the Benoni.
>
> I felt I gained a tremendous bit of understanding Benoni structures by starting to finally play 1.e4 e5 (after 2O+ years of avoiding it), more specifically the Keres variation of the Closed Spanish (9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 ed4 13. cd4 Nc6 14.d5 as a clear cut exemple). Would you be kind enough to share your understanding further please ?
>
> Cheers, and thanks again for this great post !
I cut material, because I had more to say. In fact, for every single article I write, I cut material. I am concerned I write too much sometimes, but I think I might just stop being concerned about that.
Yep, I can share what I meant.
Basically, the fianchetto structures and ideas on the kingside in KID feel similar to that of the Benoni. And the queenside plans in the Najdorf helped me understand how difficult the queenside problems are in the Benoni. If white isn't keen, black will get the best of the KID and the Najdorf when playing the Benoni. But the PROBLEM with the Benoni is against people who understand it, one of your queenside pieces will have trouble for a long time. You have to be REALLY knowledgeable to play the Benoni. Mikhail Tal, and others, played the Benoni, but preferred calling it the Boloney because it often leaves black with difficult positions.
Grandmaster Gashimov had some amazing innovations in the Benoni, but he tragically died suddenly, which made me sad when I realized I might like the Benoni. His games are worth reviewing if you haven't seen them before.
> I really enjoyed this read. Really it felt too short for me....
>
> However, as someone who played the Benoni quite a bit, and who likes the idea of "cross-polinisation", I really wonder how the Najdorf helped you understand the Benoni.
>
> I felt I gained a tremendous bit of understanding Benoni structures by starting to finally play 1.e4 e5 (after 2O+ years of avoiding it), more specifically the Keres variation of the Closed Spanish (9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 ed4 13. cd4 Nc6 14.d5 as a clear cut exemple). Would you be kind enough to share your understanding further please ?
>
> Cheers, and thanks again for this great post !
I cut material, because I had more to say. In fact, for every single article I write, I cut material. I am concerned I write too much sometimes, but I think I might just stop being concerned about that.
Yep, I can share what I meant.
Basically, the fianchetto structures and ideas on the kingside in KID feel similar to that of the Benoni. And the queenside plans in the Najdorf helped me understand how difficult the queenside problems are in the Benoni. If white isn't keen, black will get the best of the KID and the Najdorf when playing the Benoni. But the PROBLEM with the Benoni is against people who understand it, one of your queenside pieces will have trouble for a long time. You have to be REALLY knowledgeable to play the Benoni. Mikhail Tal, and others, played the Benoni, but preferred calling it the Boloney because it often leaves black with difficult positions.
Grandmaster Gashimov had some amazing innovations in the Benoni, but he tragically died suddenly, which made me sad when I realized I might like the Benoni. His games are worth reviewing if you haven't seen them before.
Okay, thank you for your excellent opinion. I already own chessable, which is a plot twist. I used to use it and had a 30 day streak or so, but unfortunately learned nothing from all those wasted hours because I may have failed to understand what the moves were trying to tell me. I find the opening phase of the game more important than endgame principles because you don't want to lose right out of the opening. Endgame principles are for players rated higher than 1700 in my opinion. I really want to develop an opening repertoire but I find it extremely difficult retaining information I learn for actual games. I think that is because I don't take the time to understand why the moves are made. I am also increasingly frustrated by the fact that the only opening I am faced with at the 1550 level is the Ruy Lopez. Can we play something else please lol. My puzzle rating is 2247 if that means anything at all.
@SilentGhost3625 said in #15:
> Epic. Have you used chessable or no? I think you should try it if you didn't but it's kinda pricey. I decided to follow you on lichess after reading your article.
I am a huge fan of ACTUAL chess books lol So, I have not tried Chessable too much. I have tried it a little, mostly for some students to verify things for them. I definitely think Chessable is good. I might take you up on it and try chessable out to become more familiar with it. I am most familiar with John Bartholomew's stuff on there as I have seen some of that (and the Checkmate Bible as well).
> Epic. Have you used chessable or no? I think you should try it if you didn't but it's kinda pricey. I decided to follow you on lichess after reading your article.
I am a huge fan of ACTUAL chess books lol So, I have not tried Chessable too much. I have tried it a little, mostly for some students to verify things for them. I definitely think Chessable is good. I might take you up on it and try chessable out to become more familiar with it. I am most familiar with John Bartholomew's stuff on there as I have seen some of that (and the Checkmate Bible as well).
Yeah I think you should try chessable because it does allow you to recognize positions but then you become confused because so many positions are so similar that you don't know which move to play anymore without a hint. How do I use chessable or books? I think I should use a notebook. Actually a better question is, how do I use notebooks for the game?