Author: Peter Kappler
Date: 23:57:18 07/23/04
Go up one level in this thread
On July 24, 2004 at 00:04:05, Eric Jensen wrote: >I am currently 17 years old, and have been playing competitive chess for a while >now, however, it's been mostly a summer hobby for me, with school always during >the year. I have a USCF rating, (although I think my membership has lapsed at >the moment) of about 1400, but i fancy my real playing strength at about 1700... >The last OTB tournament I played in I scored 3.5/5 in the U18 section, with a >performance rating of about 1795 or something, and netted the Class D prize, >because my rating going in was so low. In any case, my point is that for me, my >time constraints and my budget restraints allow me only time for study in most >cases. Computer chess for me, began as a quest to really get an opening book >down on paper. (Funny that I refer to my own opening repertoire as an "opening >book" but I always have) I know many many lines a short way into them, but I >wanted to really get a handle on my playing style and what lines that I wanted >to play and what lines that I didn't. I turned to Fritz 6 at the time, with its >huge database and analysis capabilities. > >I find myself in this forum for the first time in the past weeks, because I >recently switched to an Apple PowerBook G4, and alas, no more Fritz. I searched >around for a viable alternative, and was dissapointed to find a complete lack of >respectable database software, but here's where the plot thickens... > >Disgusted I turn back to Hour 7 of my 24 hour cheap teach yourself C course >"Working with Loops," and I make a connection in my head... I am in search of a >computer program... and I'm trying to learn C, because you see, I'm planning on >being a physics and/or computer science major, or at least a Physics major with >alot of computer science... and why not?? I can mix my hobby with my career >plans! I have my future ahead of me and I have a reason to go to class! I seem >to remember a test position in an Ask Evans article that mentioned something >about "www.talkchess.com" where programmers always post new test positions... >and so here I am, and here I will be for a while, but here, here is also the >moral of my story. > >I don't know how many other young people frequent this forum, but I have a >message for any who do, and would welcome any riper perspectives on a bit of 17 >year old wisdom. > >We can't all be GM's by the age of 13. A ticket to Europe for the World Youth >Olympiads is not something many of us will get in the mail tomorrow. A career >in chess, if you can call it that, is not something that will ever be very >lucrative, even if you are an incredible talent, and it's daunting to see the >Sergey Karjakins of the world accomplishing more than I could ever dream of >against the World Champion, with the black pieces, and then getting a ride home >from their mommies. But your hobby doesn't have to be something that you give >up in the face of your future. Thinking about your future doesn't mean >forgetting your past, and you will be happy when you incorporate what you want >to do into what you've already done. Chess is what I know and love, and it will >still be that way when I break 2000, it will still be that way when I fall back >down below 2000, and it will still be that way when I most enjoy watching >computer vs. computer games. For me, I hope that computer chess will be a way >to blend the career I hope to enjoy with the game that I love. > >My last piece of advice to everyone here though is to fall in love with chess >again. One way to do it is to check out Anand's knights on the queenside in his >last Dortmund game against Svidler... it's beautiful. Or just play some slow >games and get back into the swing of things. PVs and search algorithms are >beautiful in their own right, but there's a reason you picked this particular >project. Don't forget that looking at the process can only help us to >understand the end result. Nice post. You show quite a bit of wisdom for a 17-year old. :) Sorry, don't know of any good free chess DB software for MacOS. -Peter > >And anyone who hated my advice but knows of some really good database software >that's reasonably priced... i.e. free...and for mac OSX... I'm willing to accept >constructive criticism in exchange for ftp links!
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