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Study method: self-made quizzes from actual matches

Posted By: Timothy Chow
Date: Friday, 20 January 2012, at 7:45 p.m.

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

There's no reason to take Stick's term "fully understood" too literally. But it is important to put in some work to try to understand the position, even if it's incomplete.

As an example, let's take the position below from a recent Daily Quiz that I got wrong.

Match to 5, Tied at 0-0
Blue to play 51

White	152
Blue	138
GNUBg Id: mNfEATCMz8QDIA:cIm0AAAAAAAA XGID=-b-B--E-B-A-cD-a-bad-b--A-:0:0:1:51:0:0:0:5:8

Here's what I think is the wrong approach: without doing any analysis of the position, I throw this position in with a huge number of other positions, and then when reviewing it, I say to myself, "Oh yeah, this is the one where I had a choice between hitting and making the 5pt, and making the 5pt was right. Next!" I haven't learned anything by doing that.

A better approach is to play around with variants of the position to get a feel for how important various features of the position are. In particular, see if you can find a small variation of the position where hitting is right, or close. I didn't spend that much time on this one but here's an example of a variant where hitting is much more viable.

Match to 5, Tied at 0-0
Blue to play 61

White	152
Blue	137
GNUBg Id: mNfEATCMz8gDCA:cIm4AAAAAAAA XGID=-b-B--E-B--AcD-a-bad-bA---:0:0:1:61:0:0:0:5:8

Why is there a difference between these two positions? You should come up with some kind of verbal explanation. Even if it's not fully accurate, it will probably have some elements of truth to it, and you will have learned something. Now when you come back and quiz yourself, you'll be recalling not just what the "right answer" is, but you should also recall your explanation. Over time, your explanations will become more and more refined, but you don't need to strive for perfection right away. What's important is that you teach yourself something more than just the right answer to one specific position.

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.