tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post5735937654508628434..comments2023-12-28T02:11:22.501+00:00Comments on The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog: Improve Your Chess IV: Read RowsonTom Chivershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-19553247603030670882008-07-28T21:17:00.000+01:002008-07-28T21:17:00.000+01:00Thanks for the great series of articles Tom, some ...Thanks for the great series of articles Tom, some very useful ideas!<BR/>DeanDeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00064456418674282162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-54116440150595938672008-07-28T17:29:00.000+01:002008-07-28T17:29:00.000+01:00DJ Yoda's my age - I went to uni with him!It was m...<I>DJ Yoda's my age - I went to uni with him!</I><BR/><BR/>It was more the use of the term 'mash up' I was thinking of.<BR/><BR/>Tell me ... are Kajagoogoo still considered hip?Jonathan Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00293162543015231439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-57369701586051884812008-07-28T14:23:00.000+01:002008-07-28T14:23:00.000+01:00Goodness - I hope that they prove useful then! Let...Goodness - I hope that they prove useful then! Let us know what you think either way!Tom Chivershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-89947189331410644822008-07-28T14:20:00.000+01:002008-07-28T14:20:00.000+01:00You had me at "Bye, bye". Seriously, I ordered th...You had me at "Bye, bye". Seriously, I ordered the books. I still have not read the whole post.Glenn Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06098720545929557126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-2498700997455099082008-07-28T13:50:00.000+01:002008-07-28T13:50:00.000+01:00DJ Yoda's my age - I went to uni with him!DJ Yoda's my age - I went to uni with him!Tom Chivershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-15624392713804215002008-07-28T13:30:00.000+01:002008-07-28T13:30:00.000+01:00imitating DJs like DJ Yoda who have a real "mash u...<I>imitating DJs like DJ Yoda who have a real "mash up" style.</I><BR/><BR/>You're so down with the kids T.C.Jonathan Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00293162543015231439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-757065104900631732008-07-28T12:19:00.000+01:002008-07-28T12:19:00.000+01:00I actually prefer Zebras, partly because I think i...I actually prefer <I>Zebras</I>, partly because I think it's better thought-out and because it cut down on the habit of providing too many quotations of doubtful relevance (a habit I associate with people like Jon Savage).<BR/><BR/>I'm particularly interested in the books, not just because they're fine and original and readable, but because it's my contention that for the good club player, the key to improving one results - technical matters like endgame and opening knowledge aside - is acquiring a sense of objectivity. At our level far more games are lost than are won, because people lack that objectivity. Rowson, I think, investigates a number of ways in which we manage to lose a sense of objectivity, and I'd think immediately of his thoughts about "narrative" and punishing".<BR/><BR/>It's amazing, in a post-mortem, how often club players think they were better long beyond the point that they actually were, if indeed it ever existed - and below average strength, you can often find people stubbornly insisting that they were fine quite some way beyond the point where their position was approaching the resignable.<BR/><BR/>I ended up formulating a thesis that the point at which we are first significantly worse is usually the point at which we think we are significantly better, and I don't think that's purely my sense of humour operating there.<BR/><BR/>Of course it's far easier to say this stuff than to put it into practice, and in actual, real games, we very often underestimate our opponent's moves, position and resources, even though we're determined not to. One reason for this is that our opponents do, in fact, play a lot of moves that would suit a narrative of "they are not a very good player" and a desire to punish their mistakes. The thing is, of course, that our moves may also have been less than perfect - and our opponent's moves, though imperfect, may not have been <I>all that bad</I>. Personally I wonder whether a useful phrase to remember might be "my position is never better until the tactics prove it so". Until then, it is wiser, perhaps just to assume that you're equal and, like Conquest, find <I>ideas</I>. But of course those ideas <I>must</I> be about what your opponent is doing as well as about what you would like to do.<BR/><BR/>I think this also has relevance when one asks the question "now my rating has gone up, how do I keep it there?" Perhaps the most dangerous of all narratives, and one that costs me several points a season even though I'm aware of it, is the one that begins "I am better than the other player and therefore...". I am in fact only better than the other player if at the end of the game, I have acquired the full point. But the more one's rating goes up - and especially if it has gone up a lot, and recently - the easier it is to fall into that trap. Beware.ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.com