Hi Bill,
I understand where you come from. I have found that the videos by chess actor on youtube are really good. They go over each move and structures at a good pace while also not just giving you lines to memorize. Try the videos out and let me know what you think. Best-Chris
Chris- Can you give more info please? I cant find it via 'chess actor youtube' with google. Thx, Bill
Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessfactor
Sorry it was chessfactor
Videos can be used as a secondary source, but nothing beats getting out a physical board, 32 pieces, a well written book, and physically studying the old fashion way!
Videos can be used as a secondary source, but nothing beats getting out a physical board, 32 pieces, a well written book, and physically studying the old fashion way!
That's what I suspected. But I know so many who swear they learn solely with videos I wondered if there may be a special way to study with them I dont know. I wish people who make videos would also sell a thin book with their analysis and comments. - Bill
Get the game score of what is discussed in the video. Pause the video when you come to a point of interest. Play it out on a digital board (Chessbase maybe). Have a chess engine running as well. Make notes.
These points of interest are the places where you have questions about moves played or not played in the game score. Attempt to answer these questions yourself first. Then, give the chess engine a verifying role. Give yourself the last word.
Realize that older videos, where the host did not use an engine or had a relatively weak engine, may promote questionable moves. All of these are instructional moments for which you need to come to firm conclusions.
If the game contains a great educational or noteworthy position, you can make a digital or paper flashcard out of it. One side of the flashcard has the diagram of the position and a thought-provoking question about the it. The other side has the explanation. Put these flashcards in a file to be reviewed periodically.
Play the video forward. Repeat.
When the game is over, do an introduction to the game and a summary to the game.
That's it.
Get the game score of what is discussed in the video. Pause the video when you come to a point of interest. Play it out on a digital board (Chessbase maybe). Have a chess engine running as well. Make notes.
Play the video. Repeat.
When the game is over, do an introduction to the game and a summary to the game.
That's it.
Good advice in general. Very good advice part is highlighted.
better yet... play the moves out in the opening book creator at chess tempo and then you're good to go to study it! i remember begging and pleading for a book creator and trainer like that for YEARS in the early 00s. i still type my theory by hand using databases so i can add notes about performance and evaluation, but have also created opening books super quick just following videos.
it does get hard though because:
a lot of players go through the theory like it's 2 minutes blitz
most don't include playlists, NAME their moves eg. 17.BG4, or even mention them sometimes, then they jump back in theory making one get lost. it's easier entering the moves into my book where i can just scroll back until i find the next branch
get elbow deep in a theory, get interrupted by a commercial and lose your place... or even worse, wind up back at the start of the video. ohhhhhhhhh that's annoying!
if i could remember to look for a PGN to text converter, i'd rather create theory like that and add notes after the fact. that's another nice thing about tempo's book editor, you can export your books as PGN.
hope that helps
Videos can be used as a secondary source, but nothing beats getting out a physical board, 32 pieces, a well written book, and physically studying the old fashion way!
NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!
yes, i learned the smith morra gambit that way over a week, hiding my moves with a ruler to see if i guess right, but it's a very time consuming and cumbersome process. i quit playing chess a decade ago precisely because of that! no one would make a tree book editor! the guy that runs bookup is really nice, but the program works backwards in so many ways for me and DON'T get me started on that variations within variations within variations wall of indecipherable noise one gets lost in simply trying to play one line like bookup and chessbase do! anything BUT tree branching is an abomination as far as i'm concerned. study with a tree, and it's sooo easy to jump from branch to branch. you can see where you're actually going.
i don't agree with books either. i've had it with grandmaster books vomiting 8 variations instead of sticking to "the best one", suggesting untested lines, flat out IGNORING critical lines (nope... no 1...e5 scandinavian theory in my orange book... just a "don't worry about it", but i DID because getting trapped behind my pawns is a nightmare i couldn't get out of! i quit playing chess over that!
i'm finding much better theory at lichess looking at 1600-2000 rated games and following the wins. NOW there's no such thing as "out of book theory", i can hand pick my OWN repertoire one move at a time and best of all, i can see just how well a line performs in the real world as many plies as i want to dig... all based on crap i'll actually see over the board.
i FINALLY finished my (zeller) ice queen book, and 95% of the lines in it are +5 before move 15!!! that's what happens when you ignore GM recommendations to play other GMs you never will and start looking for the mistakes you PEERS make!
look at ANY variation that's something like 54:45 (as white) and then watch opponents drop like flies as you follow the smart kids' theory using an engine to verify... i don't like wishy washy engines either! i've seen a couple hundred or more by now stockfish #1s that actually lose over the board and become footnotes. i like that my theory is not only human based... but amateur attacker based so it's more likely to make sense to me as well as be ACTUALLY aggressive as opposed to wishy washy fractions of a pawn bean counting until a tactical opportunity arises where human gambiteers (the theory i'm studying) are ALWAYS looking to attack and aren't afraid of risks.
looking at amateur games is exactly the same as grandmasters looking through grandmaster databases. same idea, just lower ratings and way more FUN gambits. i stick my middle finger high at ALL gambit hating grandmasters. they're human too and make mistakes as well, you realize?
why take bobby fisher who ALLEGEDLY refuted king's gambit...
that's just how stupid and wrong EVERYONE IS that hates gambits, AND especially grandmasters ARE when it comes to arguing AGAINST playing gambits at the amateur level! king's gambit is so "unsound" it wins more than it loses. same goes for smith morra, blackmar diemer, and alapin gambit... ALL of which score better for white!
i always KNEW the haters were fidiots... trying to steer me AWAY from tactics and towards tepid positional crap i'll never understand, but now i have proof to beat them over the head with.
gambits SHOULD be studied by amateurs! i do sooooo much better in kings gambit than in positional mainlines and especially against hide behind their pawns hypermoderns. my record without studying is as good or better than the stats in the fisher defense and fisher deferred! nope, i don't feel refuted AT ALL there.
grandmasters need to stick with other grandmasters and stay out of my book as far as i'm concerned... unless nakumura writes a book maybe.
if i could remember to look for a PGN to text converter,
PGN is already text, you can open it in any text editor and make your changes there.
no... no you can't. not with library computers that won't let you change a file association.
i really do need to find a pgn to text converter if one exists.
If the library computer uses Windows OS: right-click on the file, choose Open With, select Notepad (or any text editor, but Notepad is available by default), optionally check the box Always, open. Then you can make your desired changes. If you need to rename or move it, click File, Save As, "new-filename.pgn" with the quotes to prevent Notepad from appending the .txt extension.
There are many other ways to open a PGN in Notepad. Attempted restrictions by the library will at most add one or two steps to the process. Anyway your desire for a "converter" makes no sense. If you are unable to figure out how to open it in Notepad, you will not figure out how to install a converter on the library machine. I'm not saying that can't be done, but it is an order of magnitude harder than just working with Notepad.
All, If you have tips on the question, please share! For me they go too fast to even take notes to review later. I'm now trying printing the lines to go over but moves wo comments are also uninsightful. Thanks--- Bill