Studying problems with/with out the board?

[Phil Bauer]

I just got my first checkers book "starting out in checkers"...I have been solving the problems from the diagrams.
I was wondering if I should be setting up each position on a board and solving it that way? Of course I wouldn't move the pieces...but does it make a difference if I look at a diagram or the board?

My plan is to study problems all year to increase my visualization and then work on formations and openings next year.
After I am done with "starting out in checkers" I am going to study "The little giant encyclopedia of checkers puzzles"...after that I will try to tackle Jim Loy's book "correcting the ancients"...

2011 is nothing but problem solving...so can I just solve from the book diagrams? or should I set up each position on a board?

Thanks for any advice.

[Danny_Alvarez]

Mr Bauer I will tell you how i do it but I am only but a lowly checkers minion hahahaha
I am old fashioned so i prefer a real board to a computer or a book.
So i always set up problems and games in a board if i can.
(does anyone else here plays annoyingly with their checkers while waiting for their opponent to move? i try doing tricks with them lol or i will stack them up etc etc an opponent or two has complained about this im not sure what the ACF ruling on it is )

With these things Mr Bauer my advice is try different things and see which one suits you best. Since we are all different there isnt a right or wrong way to do it.

Cheers
Danny

[Phil Bauer]

I prefer to solve the diagrams while laying on the couch with the book. Easier and less time consuming. Hope it improves my game.

[Danny_Alvarez]

Like i said Mr Bauer there isnt a right or wrong way.
and for 90% of shots or problems what you do would be perfectly fine.

but with certain problems for example 3rd position , until you understand the concept behind it you need to see the moves either on a real board or on a computer program, in order to understand it and follow it.
best regards with your studies, and remember checkers is like life, you can never stop learning

cheers
Danny

[Phil Bauer]

I was told about the "Famous positions" which I have yet to learn.
My diagram training is based on winning the game or material.
Once I get a decent board I will most likely do what you do and set up each problem.
Thanks for the help Danny.

[william]

Mr Bauer

I confirm that if it is possible to solve from the diagrams then you should do so. First of all ,you will save time by not setting up the pieces . I do not know what your level is , but i will assume that you are at a level where quite a lot of the time you have probably solved , or have an idea of how to go about solving a problem before you have even finished setting it up anyway!!!
However the most important point of solving from the diagrams is that you can study the position for a few minutes and then temporarily discard the book and try and solve it in your minds eye! This will greatly enhance your memory of positions and eventually strengthen, inevitably, your xboard skills.
Furthermore If you have access to midgame positions which draw into a nice endgame win ( let's say that you start with 4 variations of let's say between 10 and 15 moves on each variation , plus a couple of sub variations ) then study these carefully. If you dont see the path after 10 minutes then LOOK at the solution in all its detail . Once you think that you have grasped the idea behind the position then SETUP the board and try and visualise to the end all variations given in the solution. BUT don't cheat yourself... be sure that once you have looked through the variation in question that you can see CRISTAL CLEAR the resulting position.
I have not played for many years now so if you are interested in some books then let me know

William

[Phil Bauer]

Thanks for the advice! What books do you have? Trying to sell them?

[tommyc]

For Mr Bauer id recommend themes or variations of a "theme" are very constructive and confidence builders too.

[jaguar72]

Thanks for the advice! What books do you have? Trying to sell them?

Have you a Lees' Guide, Mr. Bauer? I have several extra copies and if you send me a PM with your mailing address, I will send you one.

It's a good book and, in additon to all the standard opening lines, has, among other things, all the standard positions as well as many other tough problems.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Dennis Cayton]

Greetings:

Unless a problem involves a stroke maneuver which can be executed immediately, I prefer to try to solve problems with the board.

This brings me to the following confession:

I am unable to solve the vast majority of checker problems without the board.

When I try to solve a problem without the board, my very first move very often turns out to be the wrong one, leading me to a dead end.

Perhaps, due to a lifelong mental block or learning disability, I am only able to "see" just a few moves ahead, and not enough to solve the vast majority of checker problems to their completion.

When I first began to study Checkers during my teen years, I almost gave up the game completely, due to the fact that I was unable to solve problems in accordance with the Tom Wiswell dictum:

"Don't touch the pieces."

My inability to do so gave me a terrible inferiority complex about the game.

One day I got mad and decided to throw his advice out the window. I began to study problems by studying their solutions, by moving each piece on my board one move at a time.

By watching the winning or drawing themes to these problems unfold before my very eyes, and analyzing and studying how they worked, I was able to learn a great deal about the intricacies of the game.

Yet, to this day, I still cannot solve most problems without my board and without touching and moving the pieces. In order to compensate for my limited visualization skills, I try to seek out and develop formations and patterns to my pieces which intuitively strike me as solid.

This is probably why I first became attracted to mail play, in which I was allowed to analyze a position by touching and moving the pieces all around on my board, as much as I wanted to, and to my heart's content.

By studying my mail games for hours on end, and keeping at it for nearly 30 years, I eventually became very competitive in mail play. However, my success at mail play was due far more to my determination and perseverence than my skill.

My mail play career brought me many years of priceless enjoyment and many friendships I shall forever cherish.

Due to my limited ability to visualize but just a few moves ahead, I never rose much above the level of an average "Class C" or "Minor" class player in crossboard tournaments.

Although I won the "Minor" division at the last ACF National Tournament I attended. I have to attribute this to a little bit of luck. The gentleman who came in 2nd place, and who was my very worthy opponent during my last match in this tournament, possessed far better visualization skills than I did.

Things haven't changed much since then. When I try to "solve" a problem from the book or the computer screen without the use of a board, I am still only able to "see" a few moves ahead. And my first move is frequently the wrong one.

Yet, I still derive a great deal of enjoyment and insight out of playing out the solution on my board.

Best Wishes,

Dennis Cayton

[Jay H]

I hear ya' Dennis.
I receive the greatest enjoyment actually playing out the solution......it is at that time that I appreciate the genius behind the compostion itslef, i.e., the problem's composer. These guys amaze with their ability to take an idea/tactic/theme and create a setting around it.....most of the time I just sit and marvel at the solution, and think to myself....."This guy was a genius".
For the problem aficionado......there is something coming your way, probably within the next year or two that will blow your mind....I am not at liberty to give details at the moment, but trust me, you have never seen anything quite like it !!!!

Regards

Jay H

[Phil Bauer]

Thanks for the advice! What books do you have? Trying to sell them?

Have you a Lees' Guide, Mr. Bauer? I have several extra copies and if you send me a PM with your mailing address, I will send you one.

It's a good book and, in additon to all the standard opening lines, has, among other things, all the standard positions as well as many other tough problems.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

Thanks for the offer but I am only doing problem solving for 2011 and possibly 2012. I do play a lot but I have no opening knowledge and apparently that's a good thing based on this comment by Alex which I found at the acf website ..."For the beginners (12-18 months play or 1,000 games on the Internet), I would recommend continued practice with time control 3/2 (no less), or better five minutes per game, and problem books - Horsfall's, Gould's Problem Book, Boland's Famous Positions and Masterpieces.

Any opening book must be highly avoided and prohibited for beginners"

I don't have any of those problem books but I do have newer modern ones. Once I get my visualization strong then I will look at openings.
This may be the wrong way for someone starting checkers at 31 years of age but Alex said it so it must be right...right?

[Danny_Alvarez]

Greetings:
Unless a problem involves a stroke maneuver which can be executed immediately, I prefer to try to solve problems with the board.
This brings me to the following confession:
I am unable to solve the vast majority of checker problems without the board....

Yet, I still derive a great deal of enjoyment and insight out of playing out the solution on my board.

Best Wishes,
Dennis Cayton

This is one of the main things that i have learnt along the way... there are certain things that the experts recommend we do in a certain way.... but there is always alternatives to do them... and we have to account for personality and differences in nature...in Tennis for example there are orthodox ways of doing a backhand but there have been countless champions that had alternative ways to do a backhand shot... As i said b4 Mr Bauer...listen to your mind/body telling you what feels right and try different things to find out.
In this respect Mr Cayton i do things just like you mentioned i set it out on the board and play with it unless the problem is fairly obvious/simple . I think there's a great deal of enjoyment on working out the answer to a well constructed problem.

Regards
Danny Alvarez

[jaguar72]

Thanks for the offer but I am only doing problem solving for 2011 and possibly 2012.

Understand. However, Lees' Guide is a standard reference work that you are probably gonna want to add to your collection eventually. It has hundreds of complete games as well as hard problems. There are errors, of course, but Jim Loy has found, corrected and published most, if not all, of those. It's an entertaining book to just browse through and read the notes (with a magnifying glass), at least I think so; kind of like time travel.

Anyhow, the offer remains open should you change your mind.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Danny_Alvarez]

Gary your offer is very generous .... I received my first Lee's Guide from mister Joe Hoad and i still treasure it.... i now have a few copies .... one which is my working one where i have made pencil notes all over the side.... the others for interest only... and i rarely touch them ...

I think we are moving towards a time where lee's guide is available in programs databases + places like Eric's site ..... but the annotations are gold in my opinion .... and yes very much so like time travel

cheers
Danny