@simianmusings saidI met a Master in Boston long ago who said that is how he got good.
Personally, I've been printing out old games (pre computer era), no annotations, no computer analysis, and playing through them on my chess board slowly and trying to understand what the players were trying to do. Not sure how much it will help me "improve" my play, but it's part of my rehab from the last two strokes I had. Neurologist told me to play more Chess to rebuild neural pathways in my brain.
He plays over the game. No annotations...No analysis...He figures out the moves himself.
He said over time you get better and better at understanding the games.
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23 Feb 22
@contenchess saidI do a slight modification to that same drill. I use books that have reasoning behind each move, but the commentary is placed where it can be ignored. I often use a notebook to scratch out my own observations and thoughts. After a while, and the time definitely varies, I compare my thoughts with the commentary.
I met a Master in Boston long ago who said that is how he got good.
He plays over the game. No annotations...No analysis...He figures out the moves himself.
He said over time you get better and better at understanding the games.
So very, very often the truly great players make moves for reasons I never considered. When I encounter these moves, I usually spend some time trying to teach myself more about total board awareness.
Sometimes it will take me several sessions to work through one mid to end game.
An example of the kinds of books I like to use for this “exercise of futility” is Irving Chernev’s “The Most Instructive Games Ever Played.” It contains 62 sample games by some of history’s very best players.
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@schlecter saidOh, there are so many! If you’d like to witness a fascinating game that features the king actually being used as a major offensive piece, check out Tal vs Lissitzin, in Leningrad, 1956, Sicilian Defense.
So what are examples of classic games, good for study and improvement?
To see the absolute devastation of a pwn-rook endgame in which a true master can maximize the use of a rook in the 7th rank, check out Casablanca vs Tartakover, New York, 1924–Dutch Defense.
For a 37-play masterpiece in which the winner almost magically uses a single knight for 13 moves, see Tarrasch vs Vogel, Nuremberg, 1910, Ruy Lopez.
There are so many more! How to maximize effectiveness of passed pawns. Want to see the Master of Chaos confuse everyone watching while brilliantly teaching the world of chess a thing or ten about position—probably 50 years ahead of the times in which he played? Check out Steinitz vs Sellman, Baltimore, 1885, French Defense. Laugh at the crazy man with the crazy moves—right up to the quick resignation of Sellman.
Delicious stuff. You will almost certainly greatly benefit from expert commentary.
@schlecter saidThis may sound all too obvious but playing slowly through games in the Informants (even the old one's) that use openings you prefer can be of great help for anyone wanting to improve. These games have been hand-picked for their instructional value from the top tournaments around the world. As you're doing so, play through the annotations by the GM that wrote them, this will give the ideas behind the moves which can be just as important as the game itself. I've always believed that the best value in chess literature is older Informants, they're a wealth of chess info. for very little money.
So what are examples of classic games, good for study and improvement?
P.S. Don't forget to study the middle and endgame exercises in the back. 🙂
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02 Mar 22
I've liked game collections by Irving Chernev for this kind of thing. I've got "Logical Chess Move by Move" and "Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games." Now he does annotate the games, but it's mostly plain English that's easy to understand and he often put quotes by other famous players on basic chess principles. Kind of like having someone play over the games while explaining why the moves are good or bad.
Most of my games I play and study are from collections of PGN files I've collected focusing on the older masters.