What is the Purpose of the Drills????

I have spent some time going over the DRILLS.  Aside from teaching me that positional chess is a very beneficial thing, these are nothing more than an exercise in frustration.

Every angle is covered, every move you make is countered and by and large, they are NO WIN situations.  So, what is the POINT?

These seem brilliantly configured by the computer so you can't possibly win. I am not sure what lesson is to be drawn from these.

Just a rant, but feel free to enlighten me.

Signed, 
Future Grand Master

See the smiley!

OK, if you say so. I will keep trying.  I have found them all stacked 100% the other way.

Still playing these, still haven't changed my opinion. I almost find them a complete wasted of time.

The drills are winning positions. The idea is you learn the techniques and use drills to hone the skill.

There's a quote about amateurs practicing until they get something right, but masters practice until they can't get it wrong. That's what drills are for.

From some positions I've seen posted in the forums, some of the drills are pretty hard... vs the highest setting engine you have to play at a very high level even though the position is technically winning.

Once a position is 'won', what remains comes down to technique. 

Drills cover techniques that are needed and would often not be easy to find over the board with the clock ticking away. 

A trivial example would be knowing how to win with K+R v K If you know the method, 20 seconds on the clock is more than enough but if you have to figure it out over the board, you might not succeed. 

I don't disagree.

Look, I am not a complete amateur at chess.  I have been playing since I was 8 and have always loved the game. And, I am tenacious.  I have played some of these drills over 15 times. One, I used StockFish to see if it was even possible to beat it. The positions are two perfect.  Anything you do is immediately countered and you are screwed.

I understand it is a Drill. Don't misunderstand my little "hissy-fit". My point is, at what point is it a drill and you learn something and at what point is it a waste of time.  I am finding them a waste of time.

This is just my opinion as I welcome yours.  I most definitely welcome yours, because if I am missing something, I am hoping you enlighten me. I am hear to learn.

I also do the puzzles religiously.  I also find some of them to be, bluntly, "STUPID". Most are excellent.  Some seem to be put there for now reason other than they couldn't find a good on and so they throw in a completely useless or stupid one.

Well, I have to agree, it is pretty high level.  I have yet to win one. I will admit, it is fascinating to see positions like some of these presented where anything moved can be countered.

Thank you, I appreciate answers from some of you higher rated players. 

I will continue to plow my way through them. 

I agree.

It is preposterously preposterous.

Well... probably you shouldn't think of it like every move has a counter move. It's better to know the winning ideas in the position. After that all you have to do is be sure to preserve the winning elements that exist for your side, and disallow the opponent to generate winning elements for their side.

For example

-

-

This is winning for white because white's kingside majority force the creation of a passed pawn while black's queenside majority cannot.

White doesn't have a counter to each of black's moves. White should activate his king as much as possible, and make sure black isn't able to generate counterplay by e.g. infiltrating with his king to the queenside, or generate drawing elements by blockading both the queenside and kingside pawns.

The drills are a ridiculous exercise in madness.  The most frustrating part is when you ask for a hint and are given a move that is immediately declared an "inaccuracy".  Why in the world would the computer lead you astray and give a hint that is an inaccuracy?  Or even worse, a repetitive move that ends a winning game as a draw! It's like some sort of twisted joke on the part of the programmers.

But also the website does not help you learn anything from the drill.  They offer little-to-no explanation of the underlying idea; no guiding principle or advice.  It's basically "a grandmaster should be able to win or draw in this position.  Figure out how and don't blunder".  Even on the rare occasions that I complete one of the drills, I rarely feel that I learned anything that will help me solve the same drill a second time.

The hint feature is just a hint, it's not the best move... it's because "hint" uses a low depth / short thinking time, so even though it comes from the engine you're unlikely to get the "best" move. The engine that grades some moves as inaccuracies thinks a little longer (but even it can be wrong if you use an even higher depth / thinking time).

Anyway, use chess books to learn.

Depends on what drill it is. If its about basic checkmates like K + Q r K + R, definitely worth it. Almost every other drill, uhhhhh

I agree. The drills seem pointless because the computer makes the best possible move every time and there's no "solution" like in the puzzles for how it should go, so it's just pointless.

Very frustrating.