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Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches

Posted By: Mislav Kovacic
Date: Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 12:54 p.m.

In Response To: Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches (Jason Lee)

I used to print out my blunders before but soon my room was full of paper and my printer kept running out of ink. :)
Also, whenever I wanted to try out a variation of a position (to see which factors are important) I would have to setup the position on the computer and that took lots of time.

What I do now is this:
Whenever I play a match I immediately analyze it, meaning I go over each and every move of mine. Whenever there was a blunder OR I wasn't sure at all what to play (even if I did get it right that time) I put the position in a folder. I save them in .xgp (extreme gammon position) format. This allows me to have all of them on computer and makes it easy for me to try out tons of variations of a particular position or playing it out vs XG. (this is important for understanding and you simply can't do it if you just print out your positions)
As Stick pointed out, this is very time consuming and you'll end up playing at most few matches a day. But I think it's enough if you will really go through each and every move.
I have a few different folders for different types of positions. My 4 main folders are:
1) Regular one
2) Unimportant dilemmas
3) Cube
4) Difficult

In "Regular" folder I put most of my blunders or positions where I was clueless (even if I got them right).
In "Unimportant dilemmas" folder I only put positions which aren't that important and which I don't think will significantly improve my game. Those are usually positions where I either made a small error or some weird positions for which I don't feel like wasting too much of my time (but would still like to go through them briefly).
In "Cube" I obviously put all cube decisions, again not just blunders but also positions where I was unsure about the correct decision.
In "Difficult" folder I put all positions which I don't really understand and would like to spend some time on them. It's usually positions which totally surprised me at the time and those where I showed a clear lack of understanding.
Those are my 4 main folders. When going through your errors systematically you are likely to spot what I like to call "system errors", types of positions where you seem to error consistently (or more than you should). I suggest making folders for those kind of positions too. I also suggest making folders for other types of positions which you find interesting and want to single them out from the rest. Some of my additional folders are "Backgames", "Blitz cubes", "Bearing in and off" and "Pay now or later".
OK, so what do I do with all these positions? I obviously go through them to see if I will get them right next time. But I usually do it with at least a month of delay. (usually much more in my case due to laziness)
If you go through them too soon you will tend to remember the correct move without necessarily understanding it, so time delay is a good thing.
If I get it right I delete the position (or keep it but don't look at it again unless I marked it as interesting). If I don't get it right I put a little sign next to the name of the position. Btw, in each folder I name positions simply "1", "2", "3" etc. So if I get it wrong I change its name to "2W" for example, adding W or whatever letter you choose.
How many positions a day should you go through? Depends on how many you save a day. Just make sure to have at least a month or two delay. (few months is even better because you'll definitely forget them by then)
When going through the positions I choose a few from each folder (again in what ratio it's up to you).
Positions which you got wrong (you will easily see them by "W" letter next to their name) you go through again (after some time has passed), and if you again get it wrong add another "W" to its name, making it 2WW etc. When you finally get it and feel you understand it then you can delete it, but I usually like to keep those with multiple "W"s and go through them again over time.
Keep repeating all this. It might not be fun but you WILL make a progress.
Hope this gives you some good ideas.

Messages In This Thread

• Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
  Jason Lee -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 1:32 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    RobertFontaine -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 1:36 a.m.
    • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
      mtuhtan -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 8:35 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Ken Larsen -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 1:41 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Bob Koca -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 3:30 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Phil Simborg -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 4:16 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Stick -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 9:01 a.m.
    • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
      Casper van der Tak -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 12:08 p.m.
    • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
      Jason Lee -- Friday, 20 January 2012, at 1:54 a.m.
      • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
        Stick -- Friday, 20 January 2012, at 9:03 a.m.
        • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
          Jason Lee -- Sunday, 22 January 2012, at 4:12 p.m.
      • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
        Timothy Chow -- Friday, 20 January 2012, at 7:45 p.m.
        • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
          Jason Lee -- Sunday, 22 January 2012, at 4:23 p.m.
          • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
            Casper van der Tak -- Sunday, 22 January 2012, at 5:03 p.m.
    • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
      Jeff B -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 4:56 a.m.
      • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
        Dmitriy Obukhov -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 5:02 a.m.
        • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
          Michael Nielsen -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 10:28 a.m.
          • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
            mtuhtan -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 11:13 a.m.
            • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
              Michael Nielsen -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 12:38 p.m.
      • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
        Phil Simborg -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 6:10 a.m.
      • Ctrl+Shift+S *NM*
        mtuhtan -- Saturday, 18 May 2013, at 6:43 a.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Mislav Kovacic -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 12:54 p.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    RobertFontaine -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 1:01 p.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    jdg -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 3:48 p.m.
    • Smartphone
      KenB -- Friday, 20 January 2012, at 12:14 a.m.
    • HTML is the solution
      Klaus Evers -- Friday, 20 January 2012, at 4:54 p.m.
  • Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches
    Timothy Chow -- Thursday, 19 January 2012, at 4:13 p.m.