
Pure and Applied Chess - okfine
https://theelectricagora.com/2020/08/28/pure-and-applied-chess/
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gringoDan
Enjoyed this - a lot resonated. I’ve become interested in chess in the past
few months (nothing crazy - just going from “knowing the rules and not being
4-move checkmated” to “above the 50th percentile on Lichess”).

A good move in chess is _elegant_. It’s impressive when you’re playing a game
and have to give your opponent credit for trapping you in a way that you
didn’t see coming. Conversely, there is no better feeling than when your
opponent makes a move you _knew_ they would make, and you have a better move
to counter.

~~~
gregorymichael
Would love to hear your plan of study to progress that far.

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no_wizard
When I played competitively (for reference I was USCF ~2200) the most
effective way to study was the following (as agreed upon by many coaches and
others in the field)

1\. Tactics tactics tactics. You should spend so much of your early time here

2\. Study the endgame. Those skills translate to all Parts of the game because
I’m studying how the end game works itnrellay opens your up to understanding
longer term strategy.

3\. Don’t focus on openings too much. Pick a few (like Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, or
KIA/KID) and learn them enough to recognize some basic patterns around them.
Consensus as I recall is that opening theory adds little value until you hit
~2100+ competitively

4\. Once you are consitently at 1850 or so, start really studying in depth the
middle game.

5\. Finally, analyze great players of the past - pick a few who’s play style
you like - and annotate those games yourself. Do this before you read the
break downs from the pros, and compare notes. You’ll rapidly get better at
this once you do it consistently. Also do the same with your own games

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Brajeshwar
I started playing whence I was about 15 years old, taught by my childhood-
neighbor friend. After playing for about 4-5 years, we drifted our ways.
Unfortunately, he passed away around turn of this century. I picked up playing
again but mostly against computers, and very rarely against physical people in
the real world.

Registered on Chess.com in 2007, never did not really pick it up until few
years ago.

I still do not play or learn to play the right ways (tactics, opening,
checkmating, etc). Mine is most brute-force and pattern recognition. I'd love
to learn and be able to keep up.

