Up and down
Nine more games played today. All with 2 12, my favorite time control. Lost 4 games in a row, then won 5 games in a row, to get back to the rating I started the day with: 1356. What a patzer....players with more than 100 rating points below me seemed to have an easy time today, beating me. And I didn't even hang my queen for them, as I usually do. Not noticing mate in 2-s, easy forks, sudden checks...these are my plague. Is there any remedy? Well, Dan Heismann says there is. In his Novice Nook columns, he has some good advice. But I don't have the time to play longer games, and besides...losing a long game is much more painful than losing at blitz.

Not that losing at blitz is fun. In fact, I already swore to myself, several times, that I'm not going to move any chesspiece ever again. That I don't want to see a checkered board ever again. And still , here I am...fortunately, after a string of painful losses, there is somebody who gives away a piece or the queen for me, and I'm back again on track. Only to lose another string of games, until I meet a patzer just like myself...

Well, I guess that, instead of paying huge sums of money for chess training, people should just pay some fellow to let them win over the board now and then, to get back in the mood.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 9:31 PM 0 comments

 
Commercial chess software
1. Fritz - One of the strongest, most complete chess programs out there. It is currently on version 8, and it seems to be the de facto standard for computer chess engines. The best feature of the program, in my opinion, is the annotation. People frequently call this feature "annofritzing". :)

2. Chessbase - a chess database application. It offers the same features as Scid does, only in a visually more pleasing way.

Both Fritz and Chessbase, along with a lot of other chess software, are available in the Chessbase store.

3. CT-ART 3.0 - a very good tactical trainer. Although the Elo values it assigns do not seem to reflect reality, making your way through th 1000+ tactical exercises is bound to increase your chess muscles. One of the funniest features it has is when, after asking you to deliver mate with white, it reverses the board, and asks you to find a win, from the same position, for black this time! Available at Convekta.

4. Chess Mentor. A unique trainer. It has a lot of modules, each covering different aspects of the game. Has very good explanations. Too bad the price tag is a hefty one :(. However, a free demo is availabe at Aficionado's site.

Well, this is just a selection of the chess products I consider best. There is literally tons of material for sale. However, with so much good and free software available, I guess there are only a few commercial products worth their prices.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

 
Free chess software
If you're an amateur, but starting to get serios about the game, there are a few things you should definitely have. Here is my list...

1. Scid - the best free chess database application. In fact, I don't think it has any serious competition in its category. If you don't have it yet, go and grab it. You've got nothing to lose.
Unfortunately, Scid uses a GTK based interface. Which means, it doesn't look too good. I know that one shouldn't complain about things like that when it comes free, but I really do think interfaces matter. Someone should rewrite it using Qt, for instance... Anyway, Scid does the job, and does it well, too.

2. Chess database - well, Scid alone doesn't do too much. You need some databases, too. Here it is one, that's free, and it has 1.5 million games. Pretty impressive, for $0. But of course there is a "but": the games there are not too new, the latest is from around 1994. Not that it would matter, for an amateur like me :D

3. Crafty - one of the strongest free chess engines around there, developed by Robert Hyatt. After getting Scid, and the chess database, Crafty is the next thing to download and install. It is extremely useful in analyzing the games in the database. It seems however, that right now the site only contains the sources of Crafty, there are no precompiled binaries...too bad, but there are other places one can get them.

4. Babaschess - I tried a few interfaces to connect to FICS, and this one is the best I've seen. Register a handle on FICS, get Babaschess, and the world of online chess is ready for you.

5. Arena - one step further....it's a very nice looking interface to chess engines. You can use it to pit chess engines head-to-head (there are loads of chess engines available for download on the site, all working with Arena), to play against the engine of your choice (there are also some weaker chess engines, not just GM strength!), or it can serve as an interface to chess servers. Good to have.

Well, these are the first things that pop into my mind when it comes about free chess software. Have a look, try them out, have fun.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 3:47 PM 2 comments

 
Introduction
I mostly play blitz, on FICS . My rating there varies between 1350 and 1450 (yes, I know I'm weak), my best ever rating there was 1500. But I can't maintain that :(

I don't play any "real" , over the board chess. Just online. In fact, I could have entirely passed by this beautiful game and live my life without it, had it not been online chess. Some 5-6 years ago, I did a search on Google for "chess", discovered FICS and online chess, and my life changed. So, I'd like to document those changes from now on. And also, share a little bit of the knowledge that I acquired. Because even if I'm just a patzer, I did read a lot about the game. Just that, because of lack of time or determination, it was all superficial, I guess. Read on, maybe you'll use all those resources way better than I did...
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 3:04 PM 0 comments

 
Purpose and intended audience
Who I am writing these pages for? Well, excuse me for being selfish, but I'm writing this primarily for myself :) But anyone is welcome to read my rants. Especially if you like chess, are a novice/intermediate amateur. Of course, masters are not excluded...
If you have any criticism or encouragement to say, or you just want to share an idea, please comment. I'd like to hear from you.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 11:44 AM 1 comments

 
First Post
Hi there and welcome! My name is Levente, and I'll use these pages to document my chess-path. I'm a (very) amateur who's hopelessly in love with the game, trying to improve my game, and having a life, too. I am completely aware that I'll never make it to mastery, but it doesn't matter. It is just plain fun.

If you are in the same boat, maybe, just maybe, you'll benefit from reading this blog. I won't give any advice, because I'm not in the position to do so, but I will quote others. And give relevant links. And, why not, some insight into the life of someone just like you, struggling with the habit of hanging the queen or giving away pieces for free on the board. Don't fret, you're not the only one.

So, just stay tuned, there's interesting material to follow.
- posted by Időbeosztás-guru @ 10:48 AM 1 comments