PROMISE

May 26, 2008

MORE CHESS & EDUCATION
snippets of my & other people's ideas

ONE DOES NOT LEARN BY MEMORIZING ERRORS/MISTAKES.
ONE LEARNS BY MEMORIZING WHAT IS "CORRECT/TRUE/RIGHT".
NOTE: "MEMORIZE" WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTANDING;
EVEN IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEMORIZE BUT
IF YOU MEMORIZE ALL & ONLY THOSE THAT ARE "CORRECT" STILL THIS IS GOOD EDUCATION. THERE IS SUCH A FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE CALLED "ERROR ANALYSIS" (STAT., ENG'G) BUT GOOD LEARNING DOES NOT EVEN BOTHER ABOUT THE SLIGHTEST MISTAKE/ERROR. A SINGLE, TINY ERRONEOUS "INFO" IS A BURDEN ON ONE'S MEMORY WHICH IS A LIMITED RESOURCE. IF ONE LEARNS VIA MISTAKES THEN THAT'S LEARNING BY TRIAL & ERROR = Stupidity. OF COURSE IF YOU LEARN THRU OTHER PEOPLES' MISTAKES THAT'S BETTER.
(THERE'S ADVANTAGE IN JUST BEING A "MIRON")

EXPERIENCE IS WHAT WE CALL OUR MISTAKES IN LIFE.

I believe I have now gained enough "EXPERIENCE" or accumulated "wisdom"
to act as a useful guide or genuine teacher to young people....

CHESS ANECDOTE
Once in a lobby of the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union Center in Moscow a group of masters were analyzing an ending. They could not find the right way to go about things & there was a lot of arguing about it. Suddenly Capablanca came into the room. He was always fond of walking about when it was his opponent's turn to move. Learning the reason for the dispute the Cuban bent down to the position, said 'Si, si,' & suddenly redistributed the pieces all over the board to show what the correct formation was for the side trying to win. I haven't exaggerated. Don Jose literally pushed the pieces around the board without making moves. He just put them in fresh positions where he thought they were needed. Suddenly everything became clear. The correct scheme of things had been set up & now the win was easy. We were delighted by Capablanca's mastery. – Alexander Kotov

Comment - (CHESS PSYCHOLOGY)
This anecdote supports the view that masters rely on SCHEMATIC THINKING or PATTERN-RECOGNITION rather than CALCULATION of possibilities. Masters have an enormous database of POSITIONS stored in their memory. And they simply "weed out" what is not relevant/not needed. SELECTIVE simplification rather than BUILDING UP complication

I have known many chess players, but only one chess genius, Capablanca. – Emanuel Lasker

I think Capablanca had the greatest natural talent. – Mikhail Botvinnik

Capablanca was possibly the greatest player in the entire history of chess. – Bobby Fischer.

What others could not see in a month's study, he saw at a glance. – Reuben Fine (on Capablanca)

I see only one move ahead, but it is always the correct one. – Jose R. Capablanca

Capablanca invariably chose the right option, no matter how intricate the position. – Garry Kasparov.

Capablanca’s games generally take the following course: he begins with a series of extremely fine prophylactic maneuvers, which neutralize his opponent’s attempts to complicate the game; he then proceeds, slowly but surely, to set up an attacking position. This attacking position, after a series of simplifications, is transformed into a favorable endgame, which he conducts with matchless technique. – Aron Nimzowitsch

You cannot play chess unless you have studied his games. – Mikhail Botvinnik (on Capablanca)
[NOW I HAVE SOMETHING TO "WORK ON"!!!]

I did not believe I was superior to him. Perhaps the chief reason for his defeat was the overestimation of his own powers arising out of his overwhelming victory in New York, 1927, and his underestimation of mine.
– Alexander Alekhine (on Capablanca)

Capablanca is smart; Alekhine is clever. – Source Unknown

(So CLEVER beats SMART!)

COMMENT: Many overuse the term "genius" BUT if ONLY ONE person must be called such in CHESS, it was CAPABLANCA. (Alternative candidates: Morphy or Fischer. There are many "child prodigies" like Reshevsky)

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From the American FOundation for Chess website:

WHY PLAY CHESS
* is fun
* is easy to learn
* is a game for everyone
* improves concentration
* develops critical thinking
* develops logical reasoning
* allows you to meet interesting people
* teaches independence and personal responsibility
* opens the world to you
* inspires self-motivation
* helps you plan ahead and foresee consequences
* develops calculating ability
* develops self-confidence
* develops memory
* is cheap
* promotes scientific thinking
* helps kids perform better and raise their grades
* helps you live a longer, healthier life
* promotes imagination and creativity
* teaches that success rewards hard work
* builds self-esteem
* increases patience
* encourages good sportsmanship
* encourages respect for ones self and others
* relates to Math, Reading, Writing,
Social Studies, Science, Technology and Art

Chess is powerful!
================================

CHESS inculcates CIRCUMSPECTION, PATIENCE, FORESIGHT, TENACITY OF PURPOSE, etc etc etc CHESS REQUIRES STRONG CHARACTER, TREMENDOUS WILL, COMPETITIVE URGE & STRONG HEALTH & MEMORY There exists THE BEST/CORRECT/PROPER way/method/technique of learning/teaching CHESS. But this knowledge is known only to an ELITE few & they can "mass produce" GRANDmasters! A child who learns the game at age 4-6 has great chances of becoming one.

My personal challenge is to train an 18-year old MOTIVATED ordinary person to become an EXPERT or even a MASTER or an older experienced player to add 100-200 points to her rating. - This includes ME! My prerequisite is she should LIKE/LOVE the GAME, really seek the GOAL & must REALLY WANT TO LEARN/IMPROVE "DO WHAT YOU LOVE LOVE WHAT YOU DO." For as long as a person LEARNS or SEEKS LEARNING there remains a chance for progress & improvement... Some claim learning ends at 18 but people like Korchnoi, von Humboldt, Fischer's mother, etc show otherwise

People are governed with the head;
kindness of heart is of little use in CHESS.
Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort
1741-1794, French Writer, Journalist, Playwright

Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever, when they are only wasting their time. – George Bernard Shaw

Chess, like mathematics and music, is a nursery for child prodigies.
Jamie Murphy

I'm like Bush, I see the world more like checkers than chess.
Dennis Miller

Compared to GO & SALPAKAN (GG), CHESS remains a more accurate MODEL of Struggle in Life for it involves the crucial TIME factor - everything we do involves TIME. (One cannot play BLITZ Go or GG.)
GO & SALPAKAN are STRATEGIC games. CHESS is fundamentally TACTICAL.
CHESS is "RACIST" because WHITE always moves first unlike in GO...

CHESS, GO, SALPAKAN, REVERSI (OTHELLO) are THINKING GAMES/EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL TOOLS & can lead to SERIOUS combinatorial game theory for those interested in MATH & mathematical modelling/games programming in COMPSCI not to mention PSYCHOLOGY of thinking, Theory of Contests/War in POLITICS ECONOMICS ETC ETC

CHESS is a combined THINKING & FIGHTING game, a rare combination... The most efficient MODEL OF POWER PLAY???!!!
I cannot remember but the British have an EXACT English term for all these stuff: board games, puzzles, smart/quick thinking contests, etc (MENTAL CALISTHENICS?) I FORGOT...

"I LOVE THE VIGOR, THE HEALTHY VIGOR THAT RISKS THE UTMOST TO ATTAIN THE ATTAINABLE."
- LASKERR or BOGOLJUBOW??? I FORGOT!!!

PROMISE: THis is my LAST POSTING ON CHESS in this BLOG.

ADDENDA:
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions,
their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. - Oscar Wilde

Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. "Yes" is the answer. - Swami X

The Trouble with Time
The trouble with time is that it only goes forward. -chessninja.com

"Life can only be understood backwards. But it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkegaard

http://www.scribd.com/doc/186721/1940-H-G-Wells-The-New-World-Order
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/increaseiq.html
IF YOU DON'T USE, IT YOU LOSE IT. (i.e. THE COCONUT)