Soltis experiment
Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2014 5:34 am
I like to look at chess books now and then because they have a lot to say about how to study the game, and I believe a large proportion of that can be applied to go.
The latest book I am looking at is "Studying Chess Made Easy" by Andrew Soltis. I am barely familiar with Soltis but he is a Grandmaster who seems well regarded as an author, and he writes for the New York Post.
Since I am not actually studying chess myself I can't vouch for the efficacy of his methods, but he does seem to make a reasonable case, and writes well.
His principles of good studying boil down to these:
1. Learning should be fun. His book identifies various ways to make it so.
2. It has to include hands-on learning. That is: theory + practice = success. Chess players have a big advantage in that they have easy access to good computer opponents, but in general playing real games is surely also part of the fun element in both go and chess.
3. It should be mainly independent. You can ask teachers and friends questions "but working alone works best". This may be contentious, but Soltis makes a strong case.
4. It's often subliminal. Just flipping through a magazine and looking at the diagrams "can be nearly as good as more intensive study". This may be contentious, especially to RJ, but it seems to be taken almost as a given in the chess world, judging by other books.
5. You have to be well motivated. In this context, this refers mainly to aspects of chess that may not appeal to you, e.g. the endgame. You have to find a reason to study those aspects. For example, learning the KBN vs K endgame may seem a waste of time because it's so rare, but look at it another way and you realise it teaches you valuable enclosure tactics that apply in other parts of the game. This is one area where a coach or mentor can help.
6. Avoid TMI: Too Much Information. Cramming doesn't work in the longer term. Ditto over-analysis.
7. Work below your consciousness. Soltis doesn't seem to differentiate this well from (4) but, as the rest of the book confirms, it shows he is very much an advocate of the sublimininal/subconscious school.
8. It's absorbing ideas. Again a case can be made to say this is a nexus with (4) and (7). Perhaps it's his way of making our subconsciouses absorb subliminally the idea that subliminal absorption by our subconscious is VERY important!
9. Be a rugged individual. Those who question and try things out are likely to improve most, though apparently not because they are thereby demonstrating greater intelligence. It seems more to do with the fact that they are more likely to be focused and tenacious in their study.
Anyway, he obviously goes into detail about all these things, and one point he makes strongly is the value of never letting a diagram go by without thinking about it. You don't have to get the right answer - there may not even be one right answer. The very act of thinking and learning to focus are what is beneficial. Of course it's a bonus if you can discuss it with someone else stronger as well, and it's also a bonus if you have a teacher who can point you at the most appropriate diagrams to look at. But these are bonuses, not a sine qua non.
That popped up in to my mind when I was looking at game that began as shown below.
Black 5 is nearly always in this lower left corner, and is nearly always high. I knew that already, but following Soltis I stopped to think about the whys and wherefores. I could come up with some reasons easily enough (e.g. high and facing the high nirensei shows consistency), but it dawned on me that it was much, much harder to say why other moves are inferior (indeed, whether they actually are inferior). For example, if I approached instead in the upper left (as a handful of pros have done), how would White demonstrate that was inferior?
So I thought I would toss this out for discussion. Even if we disagree or don't understand, the very act of discussing it will apparently be beneficial to our subconscious, if Soltis is right.
The latest book I am looking at is "Studying Chess Made Easy" by Andrew Soltis. I am barely familiar with Soltis but he is a Grandmaster who seems well regarded as an author, and he writes for the New York Post.
Since I am not actually studying chess myself I can't vouch for the efficacy of his methods, but he does seem to make a reasonable case, and writes well.
His principles of good studying boil down to these:
1. Learning should be fun. His book identifies various ways to make it so.
2. It has to include hands-on learning. That is: theory + practice = success. Chess players have a big advantage in that they have easy access to good computer opponents, but in general playing real games is surely also part of the fun element in both go and chess.
3. It should be mainly independent. You can ask teachers and friends questions "but working alone works best". This may be contentious, but Soltis makes a strong case.
4. It's often subliminal. Just flipping through a magazine and looking at the diagrams "can be nearly as good as more intensive study". This may be contentious, especially to RJ, but it seems to be taken almost as a given in the chess world, judging by other books.
5. You have to be well motivated. In this context, this refers mainly to aspects of chess that may not appeal to you, e.g. the endgame. You have to find a reason to study those aspects. For example, learning the KBN vs K endgame may seem a waste of time because it's so rare, but look at it another way and you realise it teaches you valuable enclosure tactics that apply in other parts of the game. This is one area where a coach or mentor can help.
6. Avoid TMI: Too Much Information. Cramming doesn't work in the longer term. Ditto over-analysis.
7. Work below your consciousness. Soltis doesn't seem to differentiate this well from (4) but, as the rest of the book confirms, it shows he is very much an advocate of the sublimininal/subconscious school.
8. It's absorbing ideas. Again a case can be made to say this is a nexus with (4) and (7). Perhaps it's his way of making our subconsciouses absorb subliminally the idea that subliminal absorption by our subconscious is VERY important!
9. Be a rugged individual. Those who question and try things out are likely to improve most, though apparently not because they are thereby demonstrating greater intelligence. It seems more to do with the fact that they are more likely to be focused and tenacious in their study.
Anyway, he obviously goes into detail about all these things, and one point he makes strongly is the value of never letting a diagram go by without thinking about it. You don't have to get the right answer - there may not even be one right answer. The very act of thinking and learning to focus are what is beneficial. Of course it's a bonus if you can discuss it with someone else stronger as well, and it's also a bonus if you have a teacher who can point you at the most appropriate diagrams to look at. But these are bonuses, not a sine qua non.
That popped up in to my mind when I was looking at game that began as shown below.
Black 5 is nearly always in this lower left corner, and is nearly always high. I knew that already, but following Soltis I stopped to think about the whys and wherefores. I could come up with some reasons easily enough (e.g. high and facing the high nirensei shows consistency), but it dawned on me that it was much, much harder to say why other moves are inferior (indeed, whether they actually are inferior). For example, if I approached instead in the upper left (as a handful of pros have done), how would White demonstrate that was inferior?
So I thought I would toss this out for discussion. Even if we disagree or don't understand, the very act of discussing it will apparently be beneficial to our subconscious, if Soltis is right.
Quick! Tell Wikipedia. Tell Sensei's Library.
at "a" to remedy that.) I prefer the first diagram for Black.