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diagram training a waste of time?

diagram training a waste of time?

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c
THE BISHOP GOD

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Everyone above 1500 says studying tactical positions is the only way to get good at chess..

Now studying diagrams is fast and fun but will it be a complete waste of time?
What i mean is....is diagram training just as good as setting up each position on the board? The 3 dimensional aspect of a real board looks different than a diagram..
(set up a position on a board and look at the same position in a diagram and you'll see what i mean...

hope this makes sense..

w
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Originally posted by chessisvanity
Everyone above 1500 says studying tactical positions is the only way to get good at chess..

Now studying diagrams is fast and fun but will it be a complete waste of time?
What i mean is....is diagram training just as good as setting up each position on the board? The 3 dimensional aspect of a real board looks different than a diagram..
(set up a ...[text shortened]... look at the same position in a diagram and you'll see what i mean...

hope this makes sense..
I don't always, but when I can, I try to set up the puzzle on a board. Especially if it is a combination.

M

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Not really...you don't see people with a 2200 online rating but a 1500 otb rating just because the diagrams and boards are different

c
THE BISHOP GOD

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the actual question was......can i get away with just studying the diagrams instead of setting up each position....which believe it or not takes more time than you'd think....

In reality i know i should set up each position on a board...i'm just looking for excuses....its a dead thread.

h
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I have never set one up. If it helps to solve it or you learn better with it, then do it but I don't feel it's hurt my progress at all.

w
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Originally posted by chessisvanity
The actual question was...Can I get away with just studying the diagrams instead of setting up each position...
Sure, if you are able to visualize the moves involved in your head.

k

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i heard that people who became masters used this strategy they hit 1800 and 1900 then looked at the book only and visualized what they could in there head. why not plug it into here if thats what your use to playing on anyways? go as many moves ahead as you can go. then set up the board to that position. then do it from there. i have set up the board only sometimes, i use the computer a lot too.

k

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p.s. i've grown lazy from reading books once you get to a certain level then you really hate to read.

c

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I thought this thread sounded familiar, so I did a quick search and found out he posted the exact same question a few months ago. Plenty of answers back then...

c
THE BISHOP GOD

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i'm flattered that i have a stalker.

w
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Originally posted by chessisvanity
Everyone above 1500 says studying tactical positions is the only way to get good at chess..

Now studying diagrams is fast and fun but will it be a complete waste of time?
What i mean is....is diagram training just as good as setting up each position on the board? The 3 dimensional aspect of a real board looks different than a diagram..
(set up a ...[text shortened]... look at the same position in a diagram and you'll see what i mean...

hope this makes sense..
tactical vision is more abstract than that. the neural machinery you're building into your brain, will process different kinds of 'graphics' similarly.

there is a small period of adjusting to different 'graphics', but nothing drastic. a couple orders of magnitude shorter period than required to actually getting better at tactics.

for example, I played a couple of otb games a few weeks ago. before that, I had played a total of 4 games otb about a year ago, in my whole life. everything else has been 2d on a monitor. -when we started playing, I could see absolutely nothing on the board. it was just a wild jumble of pieces, and I had great difficulties even in telling pawns from the bishops. - I got kicked around like a retarded rock the first couple of games. around the third one I started getting some chances, and I think it was the fifth game that I won. my opponent is slightly better than me, so I'd guess that's the point where I was playing about the same level as in 2d. took about 5-6 hours I think.

there are probably other beneficial things in setting up a real board though. namely that you'll get more senses involved (touch, muscle memory) in the process, which means stronger memory imprintation. I would suspect that it would make a difference especially in learning intuition from master games.

could be a help in visualisation as well, as it is known that even seeing someone else performing a physical movement, say throwing a ball, will activate exactly the same regions of brain that would if you actually threw the ball yourself. so, I would suspect that the inverse would also work. that is, actually moving the pieces would train the area responsible of coherent visualisation of the movements. which doesn't necessarily mean that you'd get better at tactics though, but maybe only at visualisation.

but at least it can't be bad for you I'm sure. it's a lot slower to move physical pieces though, so the intake of positions will be a lot slower.

c
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I'm gunna take that as a yes to setting up each position

c

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Originally posted by chessisvanity
i'm flattered that i have a stalker.
Not really stalking, lol. The question sounded familiar so I was about to link to the older thread so people wouldn't be giving answers already posted in the past. To my surprise your name popped up. That's all.

c
THE BISHOP GOD

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its ok......wormwood told me everything i need to know.

l

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When im whooping on 1100's on Playchess, during 90+5 games I set up a real board. All my one move anylasis is done on the real board. The computer is only used to enter the moves like 2.Qh5 and the like. I have found this to be very beneficial when I am taking a break from OTB games. The only problem having the real board set up is that sometimes when you see a really nice two move combo, you are very tempted to move the pieces to see if it works. Trust me! Do not move the pieces. When you finally reach 1200, you will feel dirty.

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