tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-114416642011-10-09T21:58:58.411-04:00A woodpushers attempt to extend chess awareness by improving tactics, using repetition of tactics problems.psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.comBlogger651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1145138662193964552006-04-15T17:55:00.000-04:002006-04-15T18:05:41.546-04:00

For reference, here are my final results. Remember that I finished Advanced 2,3 and everything afterwards on the last day. My wife and I have plans, so I'll catch you later. setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%66%78%83%87%93%92%Beg.251%63%71%73%75%83%89%Beg.350%60%64%67%70%80%84%Int.172%58%69%76%77%85%90%Int.253% 53%57%63%68%75%77%Int.345%49%56%58%64%71%70%Int.447%50%52%55%66%74%-Adv.144%46%49%50%61%69%-

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1145137894776705452006-04-15T17:48:00.000-04:002006-04-15T17:51:34.790-04:00

Well, not entirely. Last night, I wasn't able to complete Circle #6 on time. As a result, this morning, I had to complete the remaining 200 problems. Today I have completed nearly 550 of the problems that are due for today, but life calls. I am bringing my journey to an end. It is up to you guys whether or not I should be marked as a quitter or as a finisher. Doesn't matter too much to me.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1144936120312591022006-04-13T09:47:00.000-04:002006-04-13T09:48:40.350-04:00

Now comes the real challenge. Three days left, 2000 problems to do. I'm not as excited as I should be. Don't have much to say.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1144694499993987062006-04-10T14:35:00.000-04:002006-04-10T14:41:40.016-04:00

Circle Three was the first circle that I finished on time, and Circle Four was completed a day early, seven days instead of eight. There was something that is not so alarming to note about this whole experience in these later rounds - headaches, big ones, during the tougher sessions. I am now on Circle Five, and I'm working my way through. Started on Sunday, completing 350 problems, and I need

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1144430593927087062006-04-07T13:19:00.000-04:002006-04-07T13:23:13.946-04:00

This is where things really get difficult, clearly. I am on circle #4, and the challenge of the problems are really starting to slam me in these later areas, and taking a crack at them at high speed, while they are so difficult, seems to be taking its toll. I have completed most of the circle, but I have only three days left (although I would like to finish in the next two days). I don't have a

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1143122829859950012006-03-23T08:54:00.000-05:002006-03-23T09:08:59.553-05:00

Hello. I have some new development on the way (because I like to write code... be it good or bad). The first piece of code produces these images that I've been using on my page, of an entire board. Let us say, for instance, we take the fen string for the beginning board: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR and we wanted to make an image of it. We would simply use the following url: http:/

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1142021336302774252006-03-10T15:08:00.000-05:002006-03-10T16:14:18.966-05:00

Well, it comes time that I post a game, and while over the last few days, I've been doing my circles religiously (I have about 50 problems in the final problem set for Advanced100-3.pgn, and it's kicking my butt), I have just started playing chess against the computer again. This is important because it allows me to really look at the position at my own pace. The following is a game that I

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1141401810742326992006-03-03T10:56:00.000-05:002006-03-03T11:03:30.776-05:00

I am behind by two problem sets, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to quit. I'm just going to take my time. Although I still lose games to tactics, I am catching quite a few more. I even pulled off a Queen Sac last night to snag an extra rook. Well, as I said before, I don't have to update so much here because of the automatic updates above, but thought that I might put something here just

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1140704651463317132006-02-23T09:16:00.000-05:002006-02-23T09:24:11.496-05:00

The current problem, for reference, is Advanced100-1.pgn #20. The tags are as follows: [Annotator "T3H"] [Black "Adamski"] [Date "1989.??.??"] [Event "Kopenhagen"] [EventDate "1989.??.??"] [FEN "1r6/4kp2/3n2p1/2KPp3/4P2p/2NR2P1/7P/8 b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "7"] [Result "0-1"] [Round "?"] [SetUp "1"] [Site "?"] [White "Christensen"] I scored 10% on this problem twice in a row, which is no good.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1140532035361732392006-02-21T09:17:00.000-05:002006-02-21T09:27:15.380-05:00

I'm off to a decent start, after finishing my last Initiate problem set last night. It got rather ugly and I'm disheartened by the apparent lack of growth, but having a solid mathematical background, I realize that my program's scoring system will show lack of growth when things are infact OK. My current problem shown above (Advanced 100 #1, Problem #3) has the following tags: [Annotator "T3A"

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1140108177405361592006-02-16T11:40:00.000-05:002006-02-16T11:42:57.406-05:00

The stuff that I have added above will make it so that I don't have to copy and paste that table ever again!!! That is linked directly to my Tools Site, where the program itself resides. The other item is the annoying problem of the day. With the one displaying today (Initiate100-4.pgn, problem #17), it is not the first move that got me, but instead some of the later moves, after the black

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1139409274890015782006-02-08T09:33:00.000-05:002006-02-11T17:30:39.293-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%66%n/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%63%n/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%60%n/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)58%n/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)53%n/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.144%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.236%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.333% :(n/an/an/an/an/an/a I didn't expect growth on the two that I did twice last time - the goal is not memorization but recognition,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1139247902039447122006-02-06T12:41:00.000-05:002006-02-06T12:45:02.073-05:00

I have seen two people join up for my application, and responses have been positive, which is good. Now, I have something like 1,400 problems in the system, and another 2,100 at home that I could add, but I think the current sets reach a high enough difficulty. That being said, if anyone has a good set of problems that are not necessarily tactical - mate in one problems or mate in two problems

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1139237170872783082006-02-06T09:38:00.000-05:002006-02-06T09:46:10.903-05:00

There is a reason I love chess. There are only, really, two people involved (of course, when you deal with the championship, you can deal with the crazy K if you want, but that's another story). There is not an official that can walk up and say 'you didn't advance that pawn properly, two file penalty, opponents move' on you. Given that there are situations where you will see people who touch

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1138990729221560012006-02-03T13:14:00.000-05:002006-02-03T13:18:49.246-05:00

I did a ton of problems yesterday (~60), then played a lot of chess after about an hour of break - and I found myself tired and unable to concentrate. This has to be like trying to compete in a marathon after doing a few hours of weight training. The goal must be to build up the muscle and stamina FIRST, then see results LATER. Last night was not a good night. setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%66%n/an/an

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1138765502991157822006-01-31T22:36:00.000-05:002006-01-31T22:46:00.763-05:00

It's a little difficult to get started, and I'll admit it aint wonderful, but anyone who is interested in trying out the developed tool that I've thrown together needs to do only a few steps: First, go to My tools site. I am working on things in the background for my wife, so the only publicly available module will be 'chess'. First, you need to create a new user, which is simple enough. Just

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1138739565677245102006-01-31T15:29:00.000-05:002006-02-01T07:50:40.296-05:00

Been splitting my time between code and this work. I have the public login system working, but I still need to plug my current system into it, and that is taking up a fair amount of time. That said... setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%66%n/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%63%n/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1138155141440650422006-01-24T21:09:00.000-05:002006-01-24T21:12:21.456-05:00

While playing chess, I've also been working on my renewed login system (cookie and database based, rather than based on .htaccess protocol on Apache). setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.144%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.236%n/an/

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1136826640624885302006-01-09T12:07:00.000-05:002006-01-09T12:10:40.646-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.144%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.236%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a I spent a lot of time on this last problem set, and the score was low. I am willing to accept this right now,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1135706684412665832005-12-27T12:59:00.000-05:002005-12-27T13:04:44.453-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.144%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.2n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a My score wasn't all that high, but man, these problems are getting tough. It's pretty bad because at my level,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1135260498184724742005-12-22T09:06:00.000-05:002005-12-22T09:08:18.196-05:00

I blundered away my queen yesterday. Does this still happen to the rest of you? I was playing a quick game with a friend (10 mins), and I was distracted because I had to be somewhere.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1134938565683685562005-12-18T15:37:00.000-05:002005-12-18T15:42:45.700-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.447%n/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.1n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.2n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a This is better than my runs (or first run, whatever), on my last two problem sets, so I'm happy that I seem to

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1134762314384935312005-12-16T14:45:00.000-05:002005-12-16T14:45:14.446-05:00

Salcido Set Demo Originally uploaded by psalcido. Based on input from the last set, and just for fun, I continue with a new set, and an FYI on this tactics problem displayed, White to move.I tried to make a queen that was more like the Queens of the standard chess set rather than the 'jester' hat, and I don't think that it works very well because it doesn't have the Jester hat that I am

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1134532973865157542005-12-13T23:02:00.000-05:002005-12-13T23:02:53.916-05:00

TestBoard Originally uploaded by psalcido. Hello all, I thought that I'd show you a set of images that I have made for use with Crafty (for that matter, I found an opening book for Crafty, if anyone is interested). Here is a basic image showing the game after 1. e4 h5 2. d4, just to show what the pieces will look like.First, I know that these are not perfect, and I have no intention of

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1134227462440456702005-12-10T10:07:00.000-05:002005-12-10T10:11:29.823-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.345%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.4n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.1n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.2n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aI have decided to continue moving forward with my circles despite the score of 45% on the last one. It was quite

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1133556037917367252005-12-02T15:35:00.000-05:002005-12-06T12:40:54.850-05:00

setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.172% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.253% (2)n/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aInt.4n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.1n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.2n/an/an/an/an/an/an/aAdv.3n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a The first time through Int.2, I got 43%, so I don't feel that this is the level of improvement that I wanted my

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1133455945175009472005-12-01T11:41:00.000-05:002005-12-01T11:52:25.193-05:00

Black to MoveI decided it would be fun to give a taste of what my tactics program has stored up. Here is a problem from Initiate problem set #2 (with 9 Initiate problem sets, and 5 or so advanced, I can't remember what I have stored up). This is the second problem. I had trouble with it, so I want to see, is it really so difficult? Am I just not able to think tactically yet?If the goal of the

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1132764750721412602005-11-23T11:43:00.000-05:002005-11-23T11:53:53.253-05:00

Hello all, I had to redo the last problem set, but that's alright, because the power to do so is coded in! Haha! The program isn't pretty, and its not click and drag (you have to type in the move in short pgn format, with checks, mates, takes, etc (i.e. Qxf6#) ). While that was because I didn't want to program a click and drag system, it also appears to be turning out for the best, because my

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1132584594338173442005-11-21T09:45:00.000-05:002005-11-21T09:49:54.356-05:00

Hello, all, I need to get in contact with all the people interested with my program, certainly, and I'm sorry that I haven't yet. First, I didn't understand the moderate comments portion of the app, and next, I've been super busy with my 360 page, where I received some recognition by the development community. setc1c2c3c4c5c6c7Beg.164%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.251%n/an/an/an/an/an/aBeg.350%n/an/

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1132087874065371972005-11-15T15:41:00.000-05:002005-11-20T19:14:44.673-05:00

Long time, no post. One of the major reasons that I quit working on chess was that I could find no decent over the board players. This time has ended. There is now a Marysville Chess Club (kind of) that consists of myself, a 10 year old, his dad, and Roy, who started up the club. I am ready to start up my circles again, but now I have a secret weapon... I have written an online program to do

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1122398356415333962005-07-26T13:10:00.000-04:002005-07-27T09:50:49.586-04:00

It is unfortunate, but I have many obligations these days, and after my two week vacation out of town, my run is at an end. I will not complete this, but I really enjoyed trying. I'm still not eating meat, still meditating and doing yoga, and still playing chess. And hey, I'm still a bleeding heart liberal, Celtic Death. A large reason that I believe that way is that I think that the

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1119534087480497892005-06-23T09:40:00.000-04:002005-06-23T09:42:43.183-04:00

I have a lot of games to put up... and I plan to, if I find time. Building up images and setting up the code is time consuming, but I'd rather it look good and be good than to put up absolute crap. setc.1c.2c.3c.4c.5c.6 0-10068%78%n/an/an/an/a 101-20060%68%n/an/an/an/a201-30031%n/an/an/an/an/a301-40034%n/an/an/an/an/a401-500n/an/an/an/an/an/a

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1119359802633664462005-06-21T09:14:00.000-04:002005-06-21T09:18:13.333-04:00

Just busy. I finished the first circle, but ran out of time to do all of the tactics. The first two are called 'easy', and the second two sets of 100 are 'medium'. The last is 'advanced'. There are also 'hard' and 'extra hard' and, if I'm not mistaken 'expert' problems out there, but here is my status: setc.1c.2c.3c.4c.5c.6 0-10068%78%n/an/an/an/a 101-20060%n/an/an/an/a201-30031%n/an/an/an/

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1118067086607569192005-06-06T10:08:00.000-04:002005-06-21T14:14:08.856-04:00

Hard at work in Problem Set 3, Circle 1: setc.1c.2c.3c.4c.5c.6 0-10068%n/an/an/an/an/a 101-20060%n/an/an/an/an/a201-30061% (inc)n/an/an/an/an/a301-400n/an/an/an/an/an/a401-500n/an/an/an/an/an/a I'm hard at work, but I have a limited amount of time (about 2 weeks) to finish the last 250 or so. I'm trying to stay up, but I have many other things to work on. Good luck on everyone elses circles

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1116595688711615222005-05-20T07:27:00.000-04:002005-05-20T12:49:53.490-04:00

This tournament is still not complete, but let's toss in a little bit of backstory to this before I get too deep into the game. When I first joined this site, I had an early setback against a very low rated opponent. This lowered my rating GREATLY, which is normal, especially with BCF ratings. BCF ratings are based only on your last 50 games, and that makes them fairly volatile, which is good

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1116438100468379962005-05-18T13:33:00.000-04:002005-05-18T14:03:33.970-04:00

Now that I have more info, I have restarted my circles. 500 questions. One month, 2 weeks, 1 week, 4 days, 2 days, 1 day is plan. setc.1c.2c.3c.4c.5c.6 0-10083% (inc)n/an/an/an/an/a 101-200n/an/an/an/an/an/a201-300n/an/an/an/an/an/a301-400n/an/an/an/an/an/a401-500n/an/an/an/an/an/a This is for several reasons. I wanted less problems to play more chess. I also have lots to do around the

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1115338028474172992005-05-05T20:02:00.000-04:002005-11-19T06:48:58.003-05:00

I haven't had as much time in my schedule to do the practices, but I'm still out there. I plan to do some catch up, but ofcourse, more to do. The one thing that I am really trying to do is set up an established rating on chessworld.net so that I have someplace to move forward from. It uses the BCS rating system. After 50 games, it marks your rating as non-provisional, and then after every 50

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1113247838244336202005-04-11T18:26:00.000-04:002005-04-11T16:17:15.383-04:00

I have been trying to play completely random openings, hoping to find my weaknesses in the opening. A huge tactical mistake in the opening almost lost me this game, but somehow, I came back to win. Take a look. [Event "www.ChessWorld.net server game"] [Site "www.ChessWorld.net "] [Date "2005.04.07"] [Round "NA"] [White "psalcido"] [Black "4/2/05UNDEFEATED*O-O"] [Result "1-0"] [Termination "

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112922575884662362005-04-07T21:05:00.000-04:002005-04-07T21:09:35.886-04:00

The greatest thing just happened to me, and it is something that you get used to when using Linux based browsers. My resign button on letsplaychess.com does not work from home. BTW, over the next few days, I will post some of my HORRIFIC losses on the server. Knights, I invite you to laugh with comic abandon to the things that I will prepare for your viewing. The reason for these horrific

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112805568529397662005-04-06T19:34:00.000-04:002005-04-06T13:28:26.760-04:00

I have just started playing Correspondence chess publicly, and while I just grabbed my first win, it looks as if some bad opening play as black with a QGA is going to bring me down to size right away. The great thing about these correspondence games is that sometimes you are coming back to a position you don't remember, forcing you to reformulate a plan for the position, and to decide what's

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112802167958502972005-04-06T07:32:00.000-04:002005-04-06T13:28:40.383-04:00

One of the major drawbacks to studying Grandmaster level games today is filtering out the massive number of early draws that occur. These are annoying and are bad for the popularity of chess within the chess community. Commenting on an April 1st article, Chessbase releases the emails of readers who do think that an article that the Sophia tournament would actually ban draws. First, banning

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112631610403626392005-04-04T07:06:00.000-04:002005-04-04T12:20:10.406-04:00

I have been doing something that I now think might be incomprehensible. I have been keeping a database of Errant Knight games. It is in Scid (.si3) format, and I have only stored five games so far (whenever one is posted to someones site), but I have failed to ask permission to do so. Even if they are in the public after having been blogged, I would like to implore among the Knights, does

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112496366735133092005-04-02T21:26:00.000-05:002005-04-02T21:46:06.740-05:00

Recently there was a question about the way that I placed images within my code. My attempt to explain it in a post was poorly recieved by the code for posting comments, so I'll try again right here, and that way, I'll know in the preview how it looks. First, how do I create my images. I'm using Linux, which you can consider less powerful in usability, but, hey, I think I'm doing fine. First,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112239241478919072005-03-30T21:55:00.000-05:002005-03-30T22:23:15.810-05:00

You know, sometimes games just feel so close that I just can only play one a night. I get so mentally worn. The excitement that I feel when I play is unlike anything else (but sex still wins). Last night I played against a higher rated player, but only barely, but he scraped away with a draw, with what I will call, willingly, a blunder. OK, so now, I need to show you the PGN, what fun! [

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112106919932633192005-03-30T07:28:00.000-05:002005-03-30T14:37:20.336-05:00

The problem is, I only got 41% right. I am keeping 50% as a prerequisite to move on, so I am preparing to redo this set of problems, and I have the next set of 100 (301 - 400, Considered 'Medium' difficulty) ready to go. I really don't know if I'm being judged on the same curve with the 'program' that I am doing. Sometimes, you will know that it's a mating variation, and I'll get up to move

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1112033462387319292005-03-28T13:05:00.000-05:002005-03-28T13:11:02.390-05:00

I don't know if this guy saw an opportunity to sell chess items within a group interested in chess or what. I personally have a wonderful chess set bought for me by my wife a birthday ago (It's FROGS!!!) and I have no interest in reading about expensive chess sets. Large plastic sets for a buck are enough for me. He has posted nothing of interest to us, and it is impossible to reach him, not

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111816463552767742005-03-26T00:20:00.000-05:002005-03-26T00:55:09.806-05:00

Last night I played a game, and I played some decent tactics, but I made a major blunder, but I was left with the one portion of the game that I was good at, a two pawns split by one file endgame, which is great for me. Here we go. [Site "http://games.yahoo.com/"] [Date "2005.03.25"] [White "Unpublished Opponent"] [Black "psalcido80231"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1291"] [BlackElo "1313"] [ECO "

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111761259323654892005-03-25T09:27:00.000-05:002005-03-25T09:38:07.606-05:00

Last night I played on Yahoo! Chess, and the game I played was interesting in the fact that I think my opponent really wanted to hold on to both of his rooks in the endgame, and therefore refused to challenge me on the open e-file. The open file was created in the opening, when I messed up and totally blundered away a pawn (and, in reality, two pawns, but he didn't take the second). Later on, a

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111688680636852012005-03-24T13:14:00.000-05:002005-03-24T13:24:40.636-05:00

I added a short vegan section to my blog, to encourage veganism within the Knights Errant, which I know will get me some flack, but I'm going to make logical arguments as to why you should become a Vegan, and why it's related to chess. Saturated fat reduces blood flow. The brain functions best with lots of blood. The only natural source of saturated fat is animal fat and

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111605089233868942005-03-23T14:04:00.000-05:002005-03-23T14:11:29.233-05:00

Bobby Fischer has been released to Iceland, and has been officially given citizenship to Iceland as well. The extradition to the United States has been discontinued. Is this a good thing? Yeah, I think so. As an individual, he did nothing that was all that bad by playing chess and making money in Yugoslavia at the time. We have lots of Corporations that do the same thing. But regardless,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111585610009021562005-03-23T08:44:00.000-05:002005-03-24T15:51:07.836-05:00

Nearly thirty yesterday, but I don't really know how much time I'm spending on this, and don't have a program to record that for me. But, I did much better yesterday on the problems, and got a very good number of them correct. I am currently storing (on paper) my responses and plan to determine whether or not I should continue to move forward based on 60%, or perhaps 65% passage on this level

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111503801651634442005-03-22T10:03:00.000-05:002005-03-22T10:04:57.863-05:00

Samarra and I Originally uploaded by psalcido. This is the little girl who takes my time away from chess. Hopefully one day she will want to spend time with me at the board, but her mother has little to no interest in doing so. She's just too damn cute.Well, I got stuff to do. I will try to do at least 20 problems today to make it up to 160, but I am currently getting less than 50%

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111503093345064812005-03-22T09:46:00.000-05:002005-03-22T09:51:33.346-05:00

Boy, could I just get a few more hours in the day? Waking up at 7:00, doing Yoga, eating, shower, and what not, leave for work at 8:30, leaving work at 5:30, getting home at 6:00 p.m., then spending as much time as possible with my wife and daughter, by the time I hit 8:00 I am pretty drained. I'm way behind on my exercises, but the second group of 100 is quite difficult for me, but I am

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111165321261551492005-03-18T11:52:00.000-05:002005-03-18T12:02:01.263-05:00

And now I'm on problem #108 with 76% correct. Because of the lack of themes, and because I am doing chess problems, my results rate is not necessarily comparable to those that are actually using CT-ART, but I am doing my best. One thing that I am finding that I am far better at now is spotting mate on the board, but most of my recent games have been G/10 against a computer opponent, and when

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1111087492257133022005-03-17T14:12:00.000-05:002005-03-17T14:35:15.610-05:00

With some of the comments posted on other blogs about the CT Art (I hope I got that right) application, and the way that it works, I wonder whether or not doing my exercises can work as well as the ones that have been designed by CT Art. One thing that I have noted that other people say works well is really getting into the problem, and not looking at the solution until you have it resolved.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110994999191322712005-03-16T12:34:00.000-05:002005-03-16T12:43:19.193-05:00

And you know what, it works great in Scid, in fact, it loads up the whole file very quickly, and the problems are in order of difficulty, with random themes as you go (which I think is a great idea, it keeps you on your toes). Please see the My PgnBase link on the right, and follow it to the set of pgn databases that I am putting together. Well, now I think that it is a good time to finally

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110983253191472332005-03-16T09:26:00.000-05:002005-03-16T09:27:33.193-05:00

It contains all of the same tactical puzzles, in PDF format, that you will find in the PGN file that I located on the Ozzimitz Chess Collections site and modified into PGN format. I am still working on publishing the piece, I will let you know when I am done.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110947863955387192005-03-15T23:31:00.000-05:002005-03-15T23:37:43.956-05:00

And any attempt to do so is futile and only brings suffering, much like pleasure (all things being temporary, the end of pleasure brings suffering, you get the picture...). Anyhow, I opened my little PGN of 3,517 tactical positions this evening and looked through the first 15 or so, and that's all I had time for. They were interesting, and I now understand that I still have a ways to go,

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110945464091938642005-03-15T22:34:00.000-05:002005-03-15T22:57:44.096-05:00

Yeah, I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight, especially after this mess. I tossed this game away, and seeing better moves is just one Crafty program away. First, the game, in plain old PGN format: [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2005.03.15"] [Round "?"] [White "psalcido80231"] [Black "LavaSoft jChess"] [Result "0-1"] [BlackElo "2000"] [ECO "A10"] 1. c4 Nc6 2.

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110943888435526622005-03-15T22:16:00.000-05:002005-03-15T22:31:28.440-05:00

Here is an embarrasing ending brought to you via ChessMaster, Personality Adam, Approx. Rating 1116. Please disregard comments on the last move. The correct move is clearly Rg1. I will probably lose sleep over that tonight. How embarrassing, but that's what this is about. It is worse than hanging a Queen. [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2005.03.15"] [Round "?"] [White "psalcido80231"] [Black

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110924234883243402005-03-15T16:58:00.000-05:002005-03-15T17:03:54.886-05:00

Because of the database that I have selected to use, I will have little control over the difficulty and themes of the problems that will result. Therefore, I implore, one must wonder what is the best possible way to study tactics. Are tactics problems acceptable if you cannot resolve them yourself? Is this more or less helpful than doing tactics that you can resolve? Well, enough on that. I

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110910297898127872005-03-15T13:07:00.000-05:002005-03-15T13:11:37.900-05:00

When I visit chess database lists, I notice that the vast majority of them are in ChessBase format, which is unnacceptable for those who do not have Windows. Well, I have broken through the mess, and created a PGN file with 3500 tactical positions on it, based on a tactical ChessBase file that can be found at the Ossimitz Chess Collections (please see the link to the right). If anyone has space

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110904249895948172005-03-15T11:20:00.000-05:002005-03-15T11:34:06.646-05:00

I don't have tons of time and money to devote to chess, but what I do have is a love of the game. While I had no embarrassing losses last night, I decided to devote my current post to the subject of chess programs for linux, how to install and use them. For those interested, I use Mandrake 10.1 right now, because it is easy for my wife to use. When I first decided to join errant knights, it was

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110830785491061912005-03-14T15:00:00.000-05:002005-03-14T15:06:25.493-05:00

My plans involve posting my most humiliating and perhaps even inventive losses here (Inventive losses are the ones where you hang a Queen to the opponents King at the end, when all he has is a pawn left, and your King is all the way on the other side of the board). I do this regularly. Note to those reading this: I kind of suck at chess. I also plan to post some interesting information on

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11441664.post-1110817255648817022005-03-14T11:17:00.000-05:002005-03-14T11:20:55.650-05:00

This is my first blog and blog post, with the idea of using this space to discuss matters of ethical importance, but on a more relevant note, chess. Upon hearing of the 'Errant Knights', and seeing their plans to increase their USCF or FIDE ratings by '400 points in 400 days', I decided to give the same a try (although I am not a member of USCF, however, I do play Yahoo! chess, which has to

psalcidohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01082177361411854215noreply@blogger.com