I’ve known about it for a while, but only recently really started to get on a schedule of doing problems on it. (I just use Guest mode).
Anyway, I’ve notice that my ability to find the tactical solutions is going up, but the short time limit they have on the problems usually means I either gain a few points or lose a few points.
That notwithstanding, even if it takes a while to find the solution, if I disregard the rating I receive, I definately see some improvment when playing actual games. I see a definate trend when playing Chessmaster 11 personalities.
I think the short time span is for a couple reasons: geared a bit toward blitz chess and fast time controls, but also a way to limit cheating. The server say’s it can’t stop cheating, but at least try and make it so only more sophisticated cheating can exist.
What does anybody else think about the website?
Its a fairly simple interface, and the problems seem either come from actual games, or try and mimic “over the board” positions as much as possible.
Yes. I quite like it. I think you are right in basically ignoring the rating and concentrating on getting problems right. Speed comes after accuracy.
Be careful of doing a lot of problems on CTS before a tournament. I’ve found that it makes me prone to blunders from jumping on attractive-looking possibilities too quickly.
A number of people have demonstrated cheating methods; enough people that I assume the methods can’t be all that sophisticated.
However, I think the timing feature is useful. You need to wind up seeing tactics very quickly, or they do you little good when playing. If you don’t see a tactic at a glance with the position in front of you, you have no hope of spotting it while calculating at the board–3 moves deep in a variation, and for your opponent.
Right now, my specific CM personality I’m playing some games againt (G/15) is called Annie. Before I started using the Chess Tactics Server (less than 2 weeks ago), I definately seemed to be evenly matched, or it would win more.
Now, I seem to win most of my games, and occasionally draw. I definately can win a piece some games. I’m not sure any “C” player in OTB play would be dropping pieces like Chessmaster does, but I do have to look for the trap to find it. I give the programmers of Chessmaster great credit for at least trying have many personalities with a range of playing ability. In any event, if I do get a piece, it doesn’t mean the game is a dead giveaway, usually CM “wakes up” and starts playing better. Still its interesting.
I’ve tried personalites up to about 2200. I can say at 2200, CM isn’t giving any pieces away.
Someone, can’t remember where, said the difference between 2000 and 2100 is like the difference between 1600 and 2000. I guess at the 2100 level, you’re starting to have to use more subtle techniques to win.
Time to ramp up my opponent to the 1600 level now.
Bill, I believe that Mark Gickman actually tested real results of rated OTB play and compared them to the Expectancy Table and found that at the top end of ratings this was not quite true.
Ahh, interesting about the difference between 2000 and 2100. I was thinking from a statsical level, the difference between 2000 and 2100 couldn’t be as much as the difference between 1600 and 2000.
But clarifying that it can take as much studying to get from 2000 to 2100 as from 1600 to 2000 makes more sense.
The person that said the original quote didn’t really elborate on it. Think it was on FICS one night, and I picked up on it in the chatter.
On the original topic, I prefer chesstempo.com for tactics puzzles. They have a choice of “blitz” or “standard” modes, ie timed or untimed. Theoretically, you should do better against the untimed puzzles, so you’ll end up getting tougher puzzles that require more thought. The timed ones are still good for trying to catch easy stuff quickly.
A good augment to either server is the Fritz training modules (preinstalled in Fritz8 and above, not sure about below). Go to the Tools > Training menue and choose from Attack, Defense, or Check. Object is to see the most possibilities for both sides in the least amount of time. Opens your eyes to possibilities you didn’t see before b/c of captures, etc.
Actually, I signed up after reading mention of it here in one of the threads. I really enjoy using it a lot.
The bad habit I’ve gotten into is to look at the problem rating before looking at the board position. The problem ratings frequently tell me how deep I should be searching for the right move. Not to mention the limitation of any tactical study… the sure and certain knowledge that there is a tactic somewhere in the position. The harder part for me in game play is to create a position where tactics can happen.
It took a little while to realize that I could still improve my rating even if I took more than the three seconds to get the full credit for the problem. Some problems I do see before it’s my move, some I get within three to five seconds, some ten, and some I take as long as I need to. I also love the feature of trying it again unrated - it’s amazing how many problems, of those I miss, on the second pass. And then there’s always ‘view solution’ for the ones I can’t figure out.
I like the untimed puzzles: some of then you really have to think. With the Chess Tactics Server, your expected to find the solution in a very short time span, and if you don’t get it in a certain time frame you lose points and the next puzzle is easier.
Well, its ok that its trying to focus on your level of ablility, but the problem is that people can often learn more by trying out harder problems at a slower pace.
So with chesstempo, I"m able to find harder problems at a slower pace. The harder problems are still considered in the range of my ability, but with unlimited time, they have a lot more to consider in trying to solve them. So I do like the website alot.
In one unlimited puzzle, it must have taken me well over 5 minutes to solve it, but when I did, I had a nice feeling of satisfaction. I kept looking for a mate, but after I couldn’t find one, I decided to look for something else. Turns out I could chase the opponen’ts queen away from protecting its knight. Once I stopped looking for a mate, I actually found the solution pretty quick.
Wow, some of those puzzles are real ringers. I haven’t gotten any 1800 level puzzles solved yet, but I am getting some 1600 and 1700 level puzzles now. Really expands your thinking. I like the way Chesstempo.com gives you a fairly large range of puzzles. On the low end, 1300 level and at the high end 1800 (in guest mode anyway).
, but I have picked up a lot.
