I think some “instructional” chess videos teach the wrong thought process

I've watched quite a few videos by masters and grandmasters where they explain how they think during a game, and I'm beginning to think some of these videos might give you the wrong idea about how strong players actually find moves.

What seems to happen is the strong player recognizes a pattern or opportunities for tactical combos very quickly, does some calculation, and only then explains the move in terms of some chess principle.

For example, they'll say something like "Developing our pieces is important, so let's develop this piece” only when they don't see a tactical pattern they recognize. Or, on the other hand, after they recognize a tactical pattern, they are like "It's important to look for weaknesses. This pawn is defended once, and I can attack it twice.” But right when he is saying that, I notice that in his army there are like two undefended pawns and his bishop is under defended too.

I feel the real trick is being able to see why in this particular position this weakness in the enemy pawn structure is one I should carefully look at it. And not something else. The player only starts talking about it after they've already noticed the tactical opportunity involving the pawn, so that's why the point it out.

Here's another example. Another video I saw was a player thinking for a few seconds, then explaining that you should always look for forks and that he saw a good combo based on the fork. He then made a preparatory move and then the second one that forked two pieces. But then his opponent immediately made a move that forked two of his pieces in return. The player said calmly that of course he had seen the opponent's fork, but had calculated that he would still come out a piece ahead. But he had not told the viewers that this is what he had done.

So in my view, after you learn the basic principles, you just play a lot of chess puzzles and chess games (with analysis) until you get to recognize patterns. So watching these videos is not very helpful because the question is often not what the principles are but when and how to apply them. It's inevitable that some of your pieces will be undefended in the middle of the game. That your king may not be fully protected. That you will not develop all your pieces robotically one after another. But if you have a good grasp of the position, after many hours of intentional practice, you will have a feeling what candidate moves are. You can then explain them however you want, in terms of whatever principle, but it's really just recognizing patterns.

So I would think time is better spent doing puzzles and analyzing your games than watching speedruns and whatever.

This is just my experience and I understand some people find these videos helpful or at least entertaining. After all, "competency porn" is attractive.

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u/phantom-ego — 8 days ago

I wish every chapter in Ulysses was the same as the first

I’ve tried reading Ulysses a few times now. It’s obviously an encyclopedic work of literature that has topped so many “greatest books” lists, and I can see why it’s rewarding for people who enjoy figuring out all the the references and appreciating what Joyce is doing at the level of language. But for me, it’s just overwhelming so far.

Every time I’ve ended up giving up, usually after the third chapter, sometimes after a few more. And each time, getting through it has felt like such a chore.

The only chapter I’ve thoroughly enjoyed is the first. It’s funny, and I really like Buck Mulligan. And even though the chapter is dense with references to religion, politics, Joyce’s personal life, and much else, somehow I enjoyed putting in the work to understand it better.

I thought the second chapter was okay too, not great, but then Joyce completely loses me with the intensely intellectual and elusive third chapter. I did get through it once, and once even made it perhaps a third of the way through the book, but I can’t say I was enjoying myself.

I know Ulysses is supposed to be difficult, and that Joyce is experimenting with limits and possibilities of language and narration (and took that even further with his last book), but I’m wondering if is there a point at which it “clicks”? Did anyone else struggle this much with it and eventually come to love it or at least appreciate it, or is this just the wrong book for me?

Btw, I did quite enjoy Dubliners.

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u/phantom-ego — 1 month ago

What's been your AHA! moment in your training to improve your chess game?

I remember a friend of mine who was studying Einstein's theory of relativity telling me that for so long he just couldn't get it. Then he finally had an aha moment and suddenly things clicked. He could see how the different equations made sense in the bigger picture.

His explanation of the moment the physics clicked was all Greek to me of course but got me thinking about chess: Have I had one or more moments like that in my chess training?

Mine might seem trivial, but to me it was a big one. For a long time I saw chess as a game where I was going to trick my opponent and mate them in a couple of moves, and it drove me crazy when they didn't fall for it. It's like I had Plan A, and I would make sacrifices and do all kinds of things to make it happen. But my opponent was basically like, "I don't think so buddy." And then I'd lose because of the sacrifices and also not having any other plan.

My aha moment was realizing that you can't win a game of chess with a single plan. You have to constantly modify your plans or come up with new ones. Look at the board NOW and plan accordingly, rather than based on what you thought was possible 6 moves ago.

That really changed my perspective on the game.

What's been your aha moment or moments, if you had any?

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u/phantom-ego — 1 month ago

I hate doing chess puzzles, yet I know that without them you can't get better. How do you stay motivated to do them instead of playing games?

There’s something about the rush of playing a game, which I guess is true with a lot of competitive activities. You come up with a plan, try to outsmart your opponent, find some cool combination (often by chance, in my case), and get that satisfying feeling of winning (or the crushing feeling of losing). When you win, you want more wins. When you lose, you definitely want a win. So either way, you go back and play another game.

But puzzles, especially for me, are completely different. It’s like 5 minutes of staring at some random position, trying to figure it out (or not), and then moving on to another random position. I just find it really hard to make myself do puzzles instead of playing games.

The annoying part is that I know my game isn’t getting better and I need to work on spotting tactics to use and tactics by my opponents to prevent. I keep making the same blunders over and over again, so my Elo is stuck for a reason.

Anybody else relate to this? How do you actually motivate yourself to set aside time and grind puzzles without losing interest and just going back to playing games?

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u/phantom-ego — 1 month ago

What do the evaluations by chess engine really mean? Here I moved a pawn and the eval suddenly dropped by 5 points.

I'm a beginner so excuse the stupidity of the question.

After c3, the evaluation which was mostly equal till now, dropped by 5 points.

Such a huge drop usually happens with me when I make an obvious blunder, like my rook is about to be captured. So my immediate thought was that in order to break up Black's pawn chain, I moved my pawn thoughtlessly and it was defending the knight so I figured if the knight will be captured, that means eval would go down around three points, given the approximate value of the knight.

But the thing is my queen was defending my knight and since it was attacked only once, by Black's queen, I didn't understand the problem with my move. So how to explain the five point drop?

Now to be clear I did lose this game and this move was certainly bad in retrospect after the next series of moves by the opponent. And furthermore I am also beginning to understand engine evaluation is more complicated than piece value. But having said that, I still don't understand how to make sense of an engine evaluation. Appreciate any help.

u/phantom-ego — 1 month ago

French learners, what do you have bookmarked?

Trying to create a bunch of bookmarks to help me learn French. I don't really know what to include. Could be dictionary, thesaurus, translation, instructional sites or other websites (French newspaper or news, entertainment, etc), Youtube series, TV shows....

Can anybody share what they got bookmarked? Thank you.

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u/phantom-ego — 2 months ago
▲ 2 r/French

Verbs of movement toward/away confusion

Hi, French has a number of verbs related to leaving or returning, such as Aller, entrer, rentrer, arriver, sortir, partir, venir, retourner, revenir, quitter, etc. I keep getting the meanings confused but more importantly, I get confused about the reference point, like whether we mention the place we just left or the place we are moving toward. Like I'm arriving from or arriving at some place? Or what verb to use when you going home after work or after a vacation. I found some answers here and there but then I read something that negates a previous answer and my confusion returns. Are there particular sites or books that really explain it?

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u/phantom-ego — 2 months ago

Anybody with disabilities work in this field?

Hi everyone,

I’m considering a career change and am exploring the possibility of working in accessibility/disability services, particularly in higher education, but I'm open to other options.

A while back, I experienced a severe health issue that interrupted my education and pretty much changed my whole life and gave me a greater appreciation for the obstacles that people with chronic health conditions and disabilities can face in education and other areas of life. As I'm starting to rebuild my life, I have began exploring whether I can work in this field in some capacity, to the extent my health allows, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. I have a bachelor's in psychology but no experience in this field.

I’ve also reached out to a few colleges to learn more about their accessibility services to find out how someone can get into this line of work but haven't received any replies so I thought I’d ask here too.

I know this is a big field but I'm generally interested in questions like:

What does a typical day look like for you? What do you enjoy most/least about the work? How did you get into the field? What education/experience helped you most? For someone starting all over again, what path would you recommend? What is the job market like, especially in Canada (that's where I am now)? I mean in terms of future growth, demand, competition, income, etc. Any advice appreciated.

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u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

Does anybody work in accessibility and disability services?

Hi everyone,

I’m considering a career change and am exploring the possibility of working in accessibility/disability services, particularly in higher education.

A while back, I experienced a severe health issue that interrupted my education and gave me a greater appreciation for the obstacles that people with chronic health conditions and disabilities can face in education and other areas of life. It has made me interested in work that helps improve access and quality of life for people with disabilities.

I’ve also reached out to a few colleges to learn more about their accessibility services, but I thought I’d ask here too.

If you work in accessibility services or a related student affairs role, I’d appreciate if you coul tell me:

  • What does a typical day look like?
  • What do you enjoy most/least about the work
  • How did you get into the field? What education/experience helped you most?
  • For someone starting all over again, what path would you recommend?
  • What is the job market like, especially in Canada? I mean in terms of future growth, demand, competition, etc.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you!

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u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

Considering a career in accessibility. What is the work actually like?

Hi everyone,

I’m a middle-aged guy in Canada who is considering a career change. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and I’m currently taking an introductory social work course. I've begun exploring my options and one area of interest is accessibility work. For example, accessibility services in universities, workplaces, or other organizations. From what I understand, it's interdisciplinary, and overlaps with areas like disability studies, social work, technology, law, etc.

I contacted a couple of places to learn more about their services and how someone could enter the field but have not received any replies. So I've been googling it and decided to post here as well.

Part of my interest comes from my own experience living with significant health challenges that interrupted my education and affected many parts of my life. I’ve been thinking that helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life could be the kind of meaningful work I’d find fulfilling. At the same time, I realize this field can be emotionally demanding, and because I have my own health considerations, I’d really appreciate hearing what the work is actually like.

If you work in accessibility, I’d appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience:

  • What does a typical day look like for you?
  • What do you enjoy most/least about the work?
  • What are the biggest challenges?
  • How did you get into the field? What education or work experience helped you most? Like, did a social work background was the reason you were able to enter this field?
  • FOr someone in my position, what path would you recommend?
  • What is the job market like, especially in Canada? Is demand growing? How competitive is it?

Any experiences or advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

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u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

What is it like to work in accessibility and how to get started?

Hi, I'm a middle-aged guy living in Canada who's thinking about changing careers, and I'd love to hear from people who work in accessibility.

Quite a long time ago, I developed a serious chronic health condition that has completely changed the direction of my life and left me with a significant gap in my employment. As my health has improved, I've started thinking about rebuilding my career through volunteering, education, and eventually work (not necessarily in that order).

One field that I've been thinking about is accessibility. After living with my own health challenges, I think helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life could be meaningful work that I'd enjoy. At the same time, I know it can be demanding, and because of my own health, I'd likely need to start part-time and make sure I got solid work-life boundaries. But before going down that path, I'd like to get a realistic picture of what the job is actually like.

For instance, I already have a degree in psychology, but need to figure out what additional education would be most useful

For those who work in accessibility (especially as an accessibility advisor), I'd really appreciate if you could answer any of these questions:

What does a typical day look like?

What do you enjoy most about your job and what are the biggest challenges?

How did you get into the field? Like in terms of education or other related work.

What educational path or work experience would you recommend to someone in my situation starting from zero?

What is the job market like (bonus if you know also specifically about Canada's market)? Is demand growing? How competitive is it?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated and help me narrow things down. Thanks.

reddit.com
u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

What is it like to work in accessibility and how to get started?

Hi, I'm a middle-aged guy living in Canada who's thinking about changing careers, and I'd love to hear from people who work in accessibility.

Quite a long time ago, I developed a serious chronic health condition that has completely changed the direction of my life and left me with a significant gap in my employment. As my health has improved, I've started thinking about rebuilding my career through volunteering, education, and eventually work (not necessarily in that order).

One field that I've been thinking about is accessibility. After living with my own health challenges, I think helping people with disabilities improve their quality of life could be meaningful work that I'd enjoy. At the same time, I know it can be demanding, and because of my own health, I'd likely need to start part-time and make sure I got solid work-life boundaries. But before going down that path, I'd like to get a realistic picture of what the job is actually like.

For instance, I already have a degree in psychology, but need to figure out what additional education would be most useful

For those who work in accessibility (especially as an accessibility advisor), I'd really appreciate if you could answer any of these questions:

What does a typical day look like?

What do you enjoy most about your job and what are the biggest challenges?

How did you get into the field? Like in terms of education or other related work.

What educational path or work experience would you recommend to someone in my situation starting from zero?

What is the job market like (bonus if you know also specifically about Canada's market)? Is demand growing? How competitive is it?

Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated and help me narrow things down. Thanks.

reddit.com
u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

Those of you whose progress have been slow and difficult, do you have any tips or tricks or exercises for the rest of us beside just doing a lot of puzzles?

I emphasize people whose progress has been slow or difficult because some people are more gifted in some areas of chess and I don't think their advice really has been helpful for me. Like someone I know who is great at visualization told me how he uses his ability to visualize and manipulate chemical elements and their bonds in 3D (he is a chemistry major) and apply it to chess. So after a month of practice he could easily visualize a couple of moves ahead and his ratings improved substantially. I don't have a similar ability.

I just try to do puzzles every single day. Like find the pin in the next move. Or mate in one. Sounded easy in theory, and it IS very easy when you have like three pieces on the board. But when most pieces are there, there were positions that took me up to a minute to be able to see it, especially mate. And a few I wasn't at all. But I keep practicing. But no improvement in my games so far after a month.

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u/phantom-ego — 3 months ago

What's your favorite chess game under 20 moves?

I was just looking at this game called Fatal Attraction and it's quite astonishing. It's amazing to think Lasker had calculated that far ahead. Frankly at this beginner stage I'm lucky just not getting checkmated in two. I make a lot of blunders. But this is such a beautiful game, crazy watching the king get chased around after that magnificent queen sacrifice.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1259009

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u/phantom-ego — 4 months ago

Anyone else over 40 finding it surprisingly hard to make friends online? I have almost given up.

Hi. I'm a guy, in my 40s. I'm pretty introverted and kind of picky when it comes to friendship. I become real invested in friendships so I don't take it lightly. When I was younger, making friends happened a lot more naturally, like through school and with neighbors and relatives or whatever.. As I got older, though, especially more recently, mental health issues and some other problems came up, and I became very isolated.

I've had a few weird interactions trying to make friends these days, so I've become more cautious about opening up to people. I know that probably makes it even harder to make friends unfortunately.

A lot of people my age already have full lives and very little time for new friendships. So I've joined a bunch of Discord servers, but that mostly went badly. They were just full of younger people, typing jokes and memes all day, and the servers for older adults seemed pretty dead. One I joined even turned out to be more of a porn server.

I also tried hobby groups, but didn't go much better. A couple of the people I talked to only wanted to discuss the hobby, nothing that could turn into an actual friendship. I mean I like movies but I can't talk about movies 24/7.

Now I'm trying a few iPhone apps with chat or voice, but so far nothing.

I'm not looking for hundreds of friends. I'd honestly be happy to find one or two genuine people around my age to chat, getting to know each other, talking about life, work, hobbies, whatever. But we have to click at some level. And that's not easy to find.

Anybody identify? If you eventually found a good online community or made friends later in life, I'd love to hear how it happened.

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u/phantom-ego — 4 months ago