Simply marvelous

Again mishanp posted an excellent translation on great Vassily Ivanchuk interview.

Quite confused

Ok. I am still loving Visualwize. I am thinking how to achieve something similar by my own means but still haven’t come up with one complete idea. Somehow I think Chessbase manouvre search when you can have couple of moves in between something specific like mate and the current position could do. But how do I check if both players played best moves or not? Maybe this is not a problem as you try to work out the mate anyway and get to visualize while doing it.

Anyway here’s when it gets confusing:

White to move.

This is a position we are asked to visualize from couple moves back. This is a game between Jan Timman – Artur Yusupov 1987.

In actual game the move given as right answer actually worked. As Nxd4 Qxd4?? You see why the queen takes is a blunder? It’s quite typical ladder. You make the “ladder” of queen and rook fall down with fork - Re8+! After this it’s quite simple. If Rdxe8 Qxd4 and if Kh7 Qxd4 Rxd4 we win the second rook on a8.

But. What if Nxd4 Rxd4!? isn’t this just equal? What am I missing?

Edit: Got a quick response from Louis Holtzhausen that confirmed that Rxd4 just had slipped his attention and he promised to correct the problem and send to link for that one to me. Soooo. Now I feel pretty good about spotting that one!

Visualization time

White to move.

I don’t think I want to give too much hints on this one.

Since I begun with the visualization exercises some tactics seem to get simpler and feel natural . You have to look at white moves three moves forward.

Edit: It's still win but of course black doesn't have to give fast win. But still you need to work out the lines to see how and why white wins.

Really neat visualization exercise

UPDATE: Demo version is worth the time in itself. After the purchase though, you get quite extensive visualization training. The payment is through paypal so it seems it should be safe. The visuals look a lot like they are from Peshk  but I could not find such a course in the ChessOk site.

Beauty

Here’s a position from my morning exercise with Chessmaster Grandmaster Edition.

This is mate in two.

1K6/2N5/3k3B/8/8/5N2/5Q2/8 w - - 0 1

I find these exercises quite rewarding actually. I feel they improve visualization and calculating. I guess it is question of what motivates you. Finding mate is such a concrete reward I guess it just gives me some determination not to give up.

Even little improvements on visualization show as you find it easier and easier to work out variations at least a bit deeper.

Bunch of live games

On this third video my opponent plays me out of book and ignores own development.

In the fourth game my opponent was fast and accurate and I was in big trouble.

The fifth game is finished fast.

In the sixth game my opponent sacrifices or drops a piece.

I save the seventh game by miracle.

On the eight game I rule.

Everything in right place at blitz

Out of a whim I recorded couple of live games on FICS.

On first one I trapped my opponents queen by miracle.

On this second one I had serious time advantage and hold enough material to mate and won on time.

The big fish that got away

Here’s a first video of two from my sunday game against NokiaTwenty.

EDIT:

I recorded and released the second part today.