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**Patrick** · September 29th 06, 03:33 AM posted to rec.games.chess.computer

wrote:
Patrick wrote:

Watching grandmaster games is entertaining and instructive, but a
computer should not be your primary source for annotations. Computers
are tactical by nature--they easily spot hanging pieces and knight
forks, which decide many beginner-level games.

However, they are clueless at evaluating positional characteristics
such as a lead in space or development, pawn structures, etc. If you
want good annotated games, I recommend Chernev's Logical Chess: Move by
Move or Nunn's Understanding Chess: Move by Move.

That rings true. Interestingly, Chernev's book was one of the first I
ever bought--almost forty years ago. I'm surprised to see it still
frequently recommended.

But I'm wondering what more I can do to get the most out of CM 9000

Well, it offers a variety of computerized opponents and many tutorials
/ quizzes. What else are you looking for?

Not sure. Maybe nothing really. I guess I was kinda hoping for a
computerized "mentor" to take me by the hand and walk me step by step
through what all I need to do to play better and enjoy the game even
more. Or maybe some advice on how to best take advantage of the
database of famous games. I mean, if they're so poorly annotated,
what's the point of running through them? Half the time I have no idea
why a certain move is being made.

I was impressed with Fritz's 250K-game database when I first installed
it. Then, after loading a couple games and looking at them, I suddenly
realized I had no use for all that.

Anyhow, I popped into the Chess Cafe earlier today and also read an
article at Chessville. Between the two, I think I'm now oriented to
what I need to do.

Taking the advice of the Chessville article, I ordered three books:
Polgar's chess problems, Everybody's Second Chess Book, and
Pandolfini's endgame course. I figure the problems can be daily
exercises and the other two books can help ensure that I've got the
basics down.

Right now I'm re-studying Seirawan's "Play Winning Chess," which I
finished a year or two ago. I was in the middle of his "Tactics" book
when my interest in chess petered out last time. Figure that will be
good to get back to after the Pandolfini book.

Another big question right now is time controls. In tournament mode
(for rated games), it doesn't seem possible to have separate time
controls. I don't want to sit and wait a long time for the computer to
make its move, but I don't want to be under time pressure myself either
(I blunder enough without having to worry about that).

If you want different (unfair) time controls, you can play in the game
room instead of the tournament room. Those won't affect your rating.

You say you "sit and wait" while the computer makes it move. Imagine
that the computer's time is extra time for you to consider the
position, just like in a real tournament game.

Guess I just haven't played around enough with the controls--and I've
been away from computer chess for a while. What I remember from old
chess computers is that if you set them to infinite time, you can
figure on letting it sit overnight (or longer) while the computer
calculates its move. And if you give yourself and the computer the
same amount of time, you'll be mercilessly clobbered every game.

But I suppose that with all these rated AI players in CM9000, the
program dumbs itself down enough that a 1300-rated AI player does in
five minutes about what a 1300-rated human player would do in five
minutes. Is that right? IOW, I don't need to monkey with the time
controls in order to balance the game?

Thanks for the replies. Guess I'm on my way again.

--Patrick