Hi Glummie,
My way of using the site is much the same as WiseMouse.
Some times I'll watch more than one lecture at a time; e.g. the step-by-step course, as I watched some of them a few years ago when I last had a subscription, or if I feel the content is not really new for me. Generally I'll only add 10 new problems a day, but it depends on how difficult they are. I aim to do around 100 problems every day. I think with a system like this it's not so important the actual number, but to do them consistently.
When initially learning the problems, if I have any trouble at all recalling the variations, I'll use the 'not yet' and repeat them the next day, and continue to do so until I feel like I've really gotten a good grasp of them. Once I've "learnt" the problems, if I make any mistakes I either use "forgotten" or "hard" so that I can have a chance to repeat them again. My feeling is that if I repeat problems until they become almost boring, then I'm more likely to be able to actually apply those things in my games.
Like wisemouse, I only have problem sets that I've actually watched the lectures for, often something quite vital is missing from just doing the problems. Also when solving the problems, I try and recall from the lecture why things are good/bad, the other possible variations etc. If I find that I'm getting a lot of problems from a particular set wrong, I'll re-watch the lecture.
I think there is a temptation to jump around between topics, because there is so many interesting things on the site. I try and be fairly disciplined with what I study, and try and have some kind of logical progression. e.g. I did the opening training level A set, then moved on to some lectures for the Chinese opening because that particular opening interested me. I didn't go too far with those, as they began to get beyond what is really reasonable for my level.
I also like to have the opportunity to apply what I'm learning in my games. I'd really like to watch the mini-Chinese lectures as well, but have set myself a rough goal of playing 100 games with the Chinese opening first before watching any other specific opening lectures. Being able to continually solve the problems is good, but applying the concepts in real games is even better.
Usually it's things that come up in my games that guide what to study next. I lost two games because I mishandled L+2 groups under time pressure, so I watched the lectures on them. Reviewing my games I realised that unless I could get an early lead in my games, I would lose- the problem being that I was unsure and afraid to invade positions. So now I'm doing Mingjiu Jiangs lessons on invasions. These have been very eye opening, but learning all the variations is taking a long time. So I go back to some more basic things in between, like finishing off the step-by-step lectures.
I think it's important to remember that there are other important things to be doing to improve, learning theory is fine, but you need to have the experience from games, and strong reading to back it up. I love the site, and rave about the lectures + training system to anyone that will listen. Still, playing games and solving L&D//Tesuji problems still takes up the majority of the time I dedicate to the game.
All the best, and I hope you enjoy using the site.
|