Thoughts for May 30, 2020

I don't ever remember the Chicago Open being canceled.  It has been a long tradition of mine. Well, it was canceled this year (2020).  I had hopes of getting my rating into the next rank this year.  I'm currently in Class B.  I was hoping to make it to Class A.  That surely won't happen in 2020.  How sad :( 

I'm still practicing blindfold chess at lichess.  I had the thought today, "Why don't I just focus on getting better at regular chess instead of trying to play blindfold everyday?".  The truth is, solely focusing on blindfold chess can throw off your game.  It requires a totally different mode of thinking.  In blindfold chess, a large part of success is being sharp with your short-term memory and focusing on tactics rather than strategy. At least from my experience this is the case.  If I improve my non-blindfold game, then my blindfold game will improve.  Generally, the stronger the player, the stronger his blindfold game will be.  Most Grandmasters can play just as strong blindfolded as they do regularly.  I will still practice blindfold, just not so much.

Do you want to know what makes a great chessplayer a great chessplayer?  An unusual mind.  It doesn't take so much a brilliant mind, just unusual.  Something about great chessplayer's minds is a talent for remember chess patterns (moves) on a 64 square board.  This implies at least three talents:  pattern recognition ability, a powerful memory and spatial awareness.  But having a powerful memory is one thing - being able to remember pieces (and how they move) on a 8x8 square board is quite another.  I have the spatial ability and a powerful memory (actually photographic), but it's just not designed for remembering so many patterns on a 64-square board.  Can I get improve that time of memory?  Not really, but what I can improve is the literal memorizing of pieces on the board simply by studying my mistakes over and over until my mistakes are engrained into my mind.  Some people need to work hard at memorizing their mistakes, some don't.  It's mostly concerning natural talent.

I dedicate about 1 -3 hours of study and play per day towards chess.  If I really want to improve, I probably need to dedicate more hours than that, daily.  Here is where passion comes in!

- Lizzi