1500

So I was writing about my goals for chess earlier and I just hit 1500 at CTS after doing all the mates-in-one in the Polgar book in one sitting a couple times. Of course, this just means that my next big goal is 1550 and my next minor goal is 1510. NOTE: no correlation to real ratings. I noticed some web-logging discussion of correlations of CTS ratings to real ratings, such as Mousetrapper's anecdotal data, but I would discourage such speculations. I mean, yes, the people rated over 2000 on CTS are pretty intense, and even people rated 1700 are fairly intense, but I highly doubt that I'd be at even 1500 in real ratings at the moment, much less 1500+200 or 1500+300 as some people's discussion seems to suggest! It's a number to note and not take much stock of. The only real numbers that matter are the ones involved when you crush the ego of your opponent. There is some value to CTS ratings: they measure one narrowly-defined set of skills which might be valuable to have and having a higher score is better than having a lower score.

EDIT: 1530 would put me in the top third of active players, so I'll take a week off and shoot for that.

What I'm up to

Still more chess. I thought some people might be vaguely interested to hear this stuff, the others will be driven off by boredom. There are only 5 readers here, anyway.

Oddly, Iowa seems to have a more accessible chess scene, just by number of tournaments and the existence of regularly-meeting chess clubs I could find, than Chicago, unless somebody would care to enlighten me. Enough so that I may plan trips home around tournaments in Iowa if I do get seriously back into things. I mean, there's North Avenue Beach, I suppose, but I'm looking for something structured where you could get in a G/60 or G/45 at minimum, hopefully downtown. I think the University's chess club may be open to people like me, but it would be on hiatus for the summer right now. I could look into playing with those random guys at that convenience store or McDonald's, but I'd feel awkward approaching them, just like at North Avenue. So for now I'm just dinking around the Chess Tactics Server, playing occasional blitz, and will soon have a nice little pocket chess game that plays at around 1750 for the bus ride, a couple G/15 every day on the bus or something should be helpful, but not ideal. Should I ever get that Windows box working again, I may be able to play some computer chess with reasonable time controls. Also working heavily on visualization exercises and, soon, endgames.

I seem to have hit a wall on CTS (fluttering around 1450, no correlation to real ratings), so I'm backing off for a few days and instead devoting my time to solving hard problems slowly. Then, Vukovic. Then, CTS with gusto. I will break 1500 (no correlation to real ratings)!

So, tactics, endgames, and visualization. There's a lot more to the game, but I figure that, at my current level of strength and rustiness, those will be the most valuable and pay the most dividends. Fortunately, they're also the easiest to make some quick headway into.

two things: chess and wings night.

1. I am addicted to the Chess Tactics Server. Specifically, I'm trying to climb as I prepare to make my glorious comeback in the world of chess. Right now I'm at 1445 and in the top 50% and my end goal is to scrape my way over the big hump at 1500. I started rather low and had to fight my way up 10 points at a time. It's hard to climb over 1300 if you start down there with a low RD because they give you lots of easy problems to solve quickly and very few of a rating level that makes real gains possible, so you have to fight for every .05 points or whatever, solving a dozen easy problems flawlessly in no time and then nailing the one reasonable problem you do get.
   
2. I encourage everybody in the HP area to make it to Wings Night at The Pub tomorrow, even if you are vegetarian or a teetotaler, even temporarily. When else would I see you? ANSWER: never.

usage notes

How to speak correctly.

• Ukraine, not the Ukraine.
• Czechia, not "Czech Republic". This isn't absolute, and even the official government web pages backed off from that usage in 2005, but it's a shame. Mr. G. Z. T. is on a one-man crusade to revive it and will defenestrate anybody who disagrees.
• "How do you do" during introductions is not a question and should not be intoned or answered as such.
• A recent editorial decision at The Panheresy was made to always say Godspeed and never good luck nor other such degenerate secularized benedictions save in contexts with enforced laïcisme. The Panheresy encourages you to do the same.

fingers in ears

"Life, life, eternal life?"

because nick asked for it

I am forced to admit that I once got something worthwhile from a log. But anyways: this was brought up because I got tricked into agreeing to go to some dance performance like Charlie the Unicorn and I think I need somebody to chaperone me as both dancing and the theatre are immoral. Any takers?