Welcome to ChessVis 1.4
As of: March 19, 2017
Hi, my name is Henry Feldman and I created this website because I found a shortcoming in the various chess websites I visit.
The operating premise for chessvis.com is:
- Games below the master level are won by a tactic
- A tactical opportunity is present BECAUSE your opponent has made a less than optimal move
- You have to be able to notice that a tactical opportunity is present
- Noticing requires two things:
- familiarity with the "signs" that a tactic might exist (loose pieces, pieces protected
by just one other piece, poorly protected king and so on)
- and since you aren't allowed to move the pieces around, the ability to visualize how to completely accomplish the tactic
- Finally we arrive at: The objective of chessvis.com is improving your chess board visualization
Tactical training on almost all websites is done by showing you a position where it is KNOWN that a tactic exists and your
job is to figure out the move sequence. There is nothing wrong with this and just to prove that,
the tactics training on chessvis.com works that way too. (If you can't find a tactic when you are told that one exists then you won't find them
on your own.)
Having said that, I noticed that the tactics I'm able to solve on two websites where I do tactics far exceeds the level
of tactics I see in the games I'm playing. (At present I'm in the top 20% or so on one website and in the top 25% on another.)
My conclusion being: I'm not sure continued tactics training with complicated problems is helping me win games at my amateur level.
Question: So what to do to get better?
Answer: Visualization. By that I mean being able to hold the board image in your mind and
then be able to move the pieces solely within your mind.
To that end I have created chessvis.com. The three main areas on the site are:
- Static positions -- Look at a set of pieces on the board and then after the board is
cleared, be able to recreate the board. (Except for manufactured 2 and 3 piece layouts,
all the boards are from games.)
- Move Following -- Shown a board layout, and then a sequence of moves, you'll be asked to update the board.
You can start at the beginning of a game, at a random location within a game (within parameters you set)
or experiment with getting used to move specific pieces. In addition, I've created a version of "Who's Guarding Whom" where you
have to keep track of how a set of pieces are protecting each other as moves are given to you.
- Tactics and Mates -- The tactics and mates on chessvis.com work in two ways. The first, similar to what you see on other
websites where you solve the problem by moving the pieces. The other I call "Back It Up" where the board that is shown is
from some number of
moves before the actual tactic or mate begins. You're given the "backed up moves" but you need to do those in your mind
and not the board. This forces you to visualize the tactic or mate solution.
This is just the beginning and I want to hear from you. I love feedback and ideas on how to move
the website forward. I ask you to contact me through the contact page or
just send an email to: chessvis@gmail.com
Lastly I would add that I realize the website's look is sort of minimal. My personal focus is always first on
functionality and then secondly look. If you like the site, I'll keep working on it.
Thanks for reading this far.
Henry
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