Martin
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Martin posted an update 10 months ago
I did the course the first time round and have oh-so-slowly, improved my rating from 893 to, now, 1016. More importantly, I have won 70% (plus two draws) of my last 23 games (rapid), 67% of them as white using either the London or Stonewall Attack, and 73% of them as black using either the Owen’s Defence against e4 or Pirc/King’s Indian…
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Martin posted an update a year ago
Now that Nelson is going to open up the course to new students, what happens to us oldies? Do we get access to any changes made to the new course?
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If I remember correctly we get all updates forever now. However I’m not entirely sure, and would like confirmation on this.
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Well , you’d think so since no one is going to pay for a complete course again, just for a few changes.
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Martin posted an update a year ago
Been at this course for about two months now. I haven’t forged ahead with it but am just taking my time. My rating at the start of the course was 893 and now it is 908. This doesn’t sound very good but in that time my rating dropped to 854, so I’m pulling back now.
I feel I’m winning more games but it’s through blunders by my opponent as…
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Keep at it Martin. I found module 7 extremely good and have just re watched the module today to brush up on it. It covers the basic ideas around the middle game (other than tactics). Try and plough through the lessons as you’ll have a grasp of all the ideas in the course and then rewatch ones as you struggled with or are relevant to faults…
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Can only echo Stuart’s comments ! Defo keep going
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Martin posted an update a year ago
In the Stonewall, one of the aims seems to be to get the knight to E5 but when to do it. Should I leave it if black has a knight defending and let them go to the square first (or leave it empty) or is it best to take the initiative and move there, re-taking black’s taking knight with a pawn? I know there are many answers to this but I’m…
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This is how I try to play that situation
Check out this #chess game: RyanLLeBlanc vs mtahana993 – https://www.chess.com/live/game/114894517495
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Martin, if you’ve developed everything else and that’s the next step, it’s okay to initiate and recapture with the f pawn.
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Martin posted an update a year ago
Lesson 4.1 tactics. I must be a grandmaster as I saw the checkmate in three instantly. But then, since I joined chess.com I have done over 11,000 puzzles and this is one that comes up fairly often, so not really a GM (a 900 rated GM, I think not). While I don’t think puzzles are the answer to everything (anything, perhaps) I do find them…
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I too have never seen a smothered mate in real life. I’d be interested in seeing a full game where it happens 😂
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You’ll get it eventually, Martin!
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Martin posted an update a year ago
Never even heard of the Owen’s Defence and even while I was watching the video I was playing it against a 1500 bot on Chess.com and won! I’ve always struggled to find a black opening and have previously used the King’s Indian or Caro Kann mostly, but with limited success because I didn’t really know what I was doing with them. Think I’ve found…
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Awesome, Martin!
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Martin posted an update a year ago
Because it is the easiest section to get a lot of games, I try to play in the 10 minute arena, but the number of games I lose on time, even from a completely winning position, is totally unacceptable. All I need is an extra five minutes and I’d be ok but the only option outside of just random games choice, is to play tournaments of 15 + 10 or…
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Martin, I would just play 10 | 5 or 15 | 10 rated games but not part of a tournament. The nice thing about that is you will get players of a similar rating to you. In tournaments you can get very high or very low rated opponents. Hope that helps!
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One problem with longer time controls is that your opponent also has more time hence they are likely to play better moves and blunder less. I’ve been there haha and even though I still lose on time occasionally I’m sticking with 10|0
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I played a 15 10 game last night and lost but this time it was because I blundered my rook in the endgame and still had nearly five minutes left, so that does remove one barrier to winning.
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