I played in a four-round G/55 Swiss today. It’s been maybe three years since I played at that time control. I scored 3/4 in the Under-1600 section, which was good enough for second place and a few rating points. Plus I won back my entry fee.
I’ve done about 550 problems from CT-ART in the last three weeks. In my last game today, a position popped up on the board that reminded me strongly of these tactics problems. I’m playing Black and have the move:
It was tempting to just take the rook with the bishop, and it should be an easy win. But since I only had about 1.5 minutes left on my clock, I was happy to see a quick mate instead. After 44…Rh1+ 45.Kxh1 Bxg3, White can’t avoid mate.
It’s very clear to me that the tactics practice is helping me recognize patterns like this more quickly.
3 Comments
Way to go Steve!
nice finish; i didnt see it initially but went for increasing the pressure on the pin….
I am back to doing the “circles of death” with CT-Art. After completing the seven circles ( de la maza) I was tactically sharp. Then I practically stopped ALL tactical training and saw a decline in my calculation ability and pattern recognition. Decided to get back into the grind and I must say it helps. I think my “slump” is behind me now.
–George