23 Jul 07
it does not matter what your opponents strengths are. play for better position. if they favor knights but have an open position what does that matter. gain doubled bishops if possible get better positions force them to think often the people who are forced to think because of threats fall up before you do!
23 Jul 07
Originally posted by kmac27Well yes, play the board not the man - unless you know their weaknesses.
it does not matter what your opponents strengths are. play for better position. if they favor knights but have an open position what does that matter. gain doubled bishops if possible get better positions force them to think often the people who are forced to think because of threats fall up before you do!
I'll just play my usual way.
Develop quickly.
Look for tactics
No tactics = positional play (strategy)
23 Jul 07
2 edits
Originally posted by JusuhI find after a few beers I am far more amiable to some thrilling combinations. Vodka and Red Bull is especially useful.
well thats something I would not recommend following. Drink coffee, drink coca-cola. You need sugar and caffeine.
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Many vodkas later and you discover those combinations were unsound but whatr the heck they were thrilling.
Of course this rule applies equally to correspondence chess.
26 Jul 07
Originally posted by SquelchbelchYes, lots of small things to remember concerning etiquette, like shaking hands before and after the game. But rather than trying to remember all of them, you might be better off just mentioning to your opponents before the game that you're new to OTB and haven't learned all of the ettiquette yet. As long as they know you're not violating any laws of etiquette on purpose, I'd think they'd be forgiving of any transgressions.
Are there any laws of OTB etiquette I should be aware of?
27 Jul 07
Originally posted by SquelchbelchI only started playing otb 2 years ago (after a few years on the internet), and found it very different, my first league game was the first time I had ever recorded moves and only about the 5th time I had used a chess clock, I found both very distracting from the game itself which obvioulsy didn't help, but in the end I lost that game (from a winning position) because I didn't centralise my king earlier enough in the endgame. If I could go back to the start of 2 seasons ago I would do this:
Anyone here who plays chess regularly at their local clubs, I'd appreciate some basic tips on how to approach OTB play as opposed to C.C.
I used to play OTB in a local juniors club, but that was over 20 years ago! Since then it's been the odd game against mates & games here.
I'm planning on joining my local club when play starts in September & I'll ...[text shortened]... I expect when I play at club level & how should I best prepare?
Thanks in advance
🙂
play plenty friendly games with a clock and record the moves until it feels like second nature, use the time you have wisely (because I knew the openings quite well I tended to move faster which is fair enough in the opening but the mistake I was making was not slowing down when getting to the end of my opening knowledge and end up making a poor move. I think my biggest error though was (subconciously) underestimating lower rated opponents and more or less just waiting for them to make a mistake rather than developing a winning plan, ironically I played much better against the higher rated of my opponents but lost to players that I should not have. In cc i tend to rely on extensive analysis in the endgame, but otb you have to rely on experience and I found my reliance on extensive analysis of the endgame in cc left me with shortcomings otb. So consequently I feel quite dissapointed with my first 2 seasons.
27 Jul 07
I understand about the analysis problem.
I use the feature heavily on RHP & despite doing some tactics training, I'm still slow to spot some fairly basic tactics.
Do you have to hit the clock with the same hand as the one you use to exchange/move pieces? I'm sure I read that somewhere.
27 Jul 07
Originally posted by Squelchbelchyes I was (politely) told to stop using both hands in my first friendly game with a clock
I understand about the analysis problem.
I use the feature heavily on RHP & despite doing some tactics training, I'm still slow to spot some fairly basic tactics.
Do you have to hit the clock with the same hand as the one you use to exchange/move pieces? I'm sure I read that somewhere.
27 Jul 07
Originally posted by SquelchbelchI don't think this is strictly true. I believe the rule actually states that you have to press the clock after you have completed your move. The easiest way to ensure that is to press the clock with the same hand as you moved the piece with. However I think you are allowed to use the other hand as long as it's very clear that the move has been completed.
I understand about the analysis problem.
I use the feature heavily on RHP & despite doing some tactics training, I'm still slow to spot some fairly basic tactics.
Do you have to hit the clock with the same hand as the one you use to exchange/move pieces? I'm sure I read that somewhere.