Action Plan

Given my performance on the tactics test, I decided to pick up the Chess Combinations Encyclopedia so I could work heavily on those areas where I am deficient. It seems to have the ability to slice and dice the way I would need. My other deficiencies, as pointed out in the previous test, are adequately addressed in the materials I already have. I'll provide a review and results when I get it.

more chess

Based on my results on the overall test (which were illuminating), I decided I should take the tactics test. The results were amazing (as opposed to merely illuminating). They were, overall, quite good (around 1800ish), but, on drilling down, that figure proved very misleading. I was rated over 2000 (!) in several areas, peaking at 2360 (!!) on one, but had abysmal scores on others (low of around 1270!!). That, my friends, is a big variation. It also clearly indicates where the least application of effort will yield the biggest results and where it would be fruitless, at the moment, to push forward.

EDIT, FURTHER RESULTS: After looking more carefully, it seems I'm very good at immediate tactics and not very good at preparatory tactics. That is magnificent. Brilliant! That is my problem in a nutshell. Good at the quick, easy, superficial things, not good at the stuff that requires a little more depth and complex synthesis. Illuminating, revealing, and completely thematic. The scales have fallen off my eyes.

Stuff Orthodox Converts Like

So, the other day, I discovered Stuff White People Like. If you're not familiar with it, apparently white people like Graduate School, The Idea of Soccer, Whole Foods, Wrigley Field, and Coffee. Well, fair enough. I had the brilliant idea of doing my own spin-off, "Stuff Orthodox Converts Like", but, alas, Lent begins tomorrow, and that sort of commentary is really not appropriate during a penitential season. You will have to wait until after Pascha to see why Orthodox converts like monks, antinomianism, and making fun of the West.

Chess is such a difficult game

There's so many pieces.

Well, I've been playing chess again. I took I am Coach's chess exam to get a good gauge of where I stood in terms of playing facility, and I'm apparently playing a little over 1600 these days
(respectable, but not particularly good). Honestly, though, the best advice I got as a result of this was that I should be doing 80% playing and 20% studying, but I simply don't have the time or will to get a good game in. It's easier to spend 20 minutes on the train reviewing. Which is fair enough, because 20 minutes is too fast to play a serious game. Blitz will only ruin you. The results indicated that I was quite good at "standard positions" (that is, the typical textbook endgame positions), calculation, and endgames, in that order, which is what you'd expect from somebody who sits reading endgame manuals and twirling through long variations on the train. However, I did rather dismally at strategy and the middlegame. Though I know the theory and have worked a bit on it, that really is the sort of thing that comes with practice, with actually sitting at the board for a few hours playing a game several times a month. Despite all my tactical practice and bouncing around on that problem site, my tactical score was also fairly shoddy. That may be from a couple months' worth of rust, however. Time will tell.

UPDATE: I think this really has been helpful, because it does really show me that my work yields results. I was working on endgames, particularly standard positions, and my results indicated that I am strong in those. There we go. Action does, in fact, lead to results.

a love letter to SUMPRODUCT

With shoutouts to INDEX, MATCH, and OFFSET.

All seriousness aside, it is amazing how much a smart application of a few simple functions in tandem can make you appear smart and efficient without requiring you to be so.

News for the curious

My progress in Russian lit continues. I'm on Pushkin at the moment, just his short stories. I should do Onegin and Godunov, I really should, but I'm not. Which reminds me, I just noticed that the name of the band "Modest Mouse" is probably a play on Mussorgsky. My chess has waned slightly, but I'm back to playing a little again. I sort of stopped while studying for that exam and did not quite get back on the ball. I played on the train previously, but now that time is reserved for reading. Such is life. I've been thinking about breaking out my guitar and that book again, it's been a few years and the neck is slightly warped, but I should be able to manage until I can fix or replace the thing. I suppose instead of this new project I should be learning more financial mathematics and looking for a new job in case they don't give me enough giant sacks of cash at my current one. Well, fair enough. Maybe. But I already own the books, the guitar, the chess sets, and what-have-you. If it comes down to it, it won't cost me anything to lay them aside temporarily since I didn't just go out and buy them.