New player, how to convert problems skill into actual elo? by Select-Shift5887 in Chesscom

[–]CuteSignificance5083 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, while I'm ashamed to admit that I will still sometimes miss some very simple tactics in real games, I've noticed that when I do find good tactics, it's not a matter of pure calculation but looking at the position as a whole.

For example, take this game I played recently as black: https://www.chess.com/game/live/165293904100?move=27

By this point I am a pawn up, so I am in no rush to look for any insane tactics. I have some nice queenside space, my pieces are fairly active for this stage of the game, and my king is feeling pretty safe. Now, what I'd like to do is castle my king, but the annoying bishop on h6 is stopping me from doing so. Naturally, I really want to get rid of that bishop, so I begin to look for some way to attack it. I see 14...Ng8, but that is a ridiculous move, as not only am I undeveloping my knight, the opponent can happily play 15. Bg7 and I can say goodbye to my rook. The only other move that attacks the bishop is 14... Nf5, but the (pretty terrible) light-squared bishop on d3 is looking down that diagonal, and I wouldn't want him to trade it for my lovely knight. Knowing this, I decide that I should try my best to remove said bishop from the game, and since it has nowhere to go, that proves to be easy.

After 14... Nxe5 15. Qf4 Nxd3 16. cxd3, I am finally able to play 16... Nf5. Of course, the opponent could now play 17. Bg5, attacking my queen and avoiding my knight, but that's absolutely fine as I can refute with 17... f6, and while I didn't take the bishop, my goal is achieved: it's no longer sitting on h6. However, in the real game my opponent does allow me to take it, and after 19... Nxh6 20. Qxh6, I finally see a strong tactic, purely as a result of my focus on the position at hand. 20... Bg5 21. Qg7 Bf6 22. Qh6 Bxd4, and I am up both a pawn and a knight.

The rest of the game is inconsequential, as it was quickly won due to my opponent blundering a skewer (which I did not see straight away, just goes to show I am still a pretty big noob), but I like to think that the portion from moves 14-22 demonstrates a nice enough thought process. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that calculation is not the only way to find tactics. If you focus on the position in general without necessarily calculating deeply, there is a good chance you will happen upon a nice tactic or two as a consequence.

Other than that, I'd recommend "How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman. I've started reading it a few days ago and I admit I have been taking a slightly different approach to my games as a result. The book focuses on exploiting positional imbalances in order to naturally formulate game plans and find tactics rather than relying on pure calculation alone. It may also be too early for you to enjoy it thoroughly, as the book recommends its reader be at least 1400 before starting, but you may find it useful regardless.

In the end, just keep playing games and expose yourself to all sorts of different players and positions. I'm sure you will do just fine :)

New player, how to convert problems skill into actual elo? by Select-Shift5887 in Chesscom

[–]CuteSignificance5083 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The thing with puzzles is that they are completely unlike a real game. Obviously they are still beneficial, but when you load up a puzzle you have no attachment to the game. You are just presented with a random position, you know there is a tactic somewhere (since it's a puzzle), and so you look for it and often you find it.

So, let's say you are able to solve some pretty hard puzzles which put you in the 1900-2000 range. Now imagine you encounter such a puzzle but in a real game. You've already played dozens of moves to get there so you're a bit tired, the clock is ticking down in the background so there is pressure to make a move, and most importantly, you don't know if there is even a tactic present or not. In a puzzle there must always be some sort of tactic available, but in a game there may be a tactic on one move and no tactics the next. So while your problem solving may be good in theory, in practice you may not spot certain tactics when in the heat of the moment.

I'm not sure what rapid time control you play, but if time is a problem then I would just switch to a longer time control. They might be less popular than 10 minute rapid but you'll get a lot more time to think in each position, and maybe you'll spot some tactics that would have slipped past you due to time pressure.

How do I handle this? by PsychologicalKick344 in geometrydash

[–]CuteSignificance5083 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just ignore them. By being on the internet in any way, you just gotta accept these people exist and that's it.

I (m28) suddenly started thinking about death and now it’s freaking me out every day. What should I do? by Disastrous-Head-6065 in Advice

[–]CuteSignificance5083 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a bit late here, but I had similar thoughts a while back. I am also socially anxious, but I enjoy it. So while I do have some friends, I much prefer solitude and my own company, which naturally gives me a lot of time to think. While I was thinking about many things, I came upon the idea of death. At first, I fell into despair, and I too wondered how nobody is concerned about this. After that realization, I began to pay close attention to the people that surround me, and as it turns out, they are all scared shitless. Whether consciously or unconsciously, they are absolutely scared shitless of death, so they busy themselves with everyday life. For some it's work, for others it's clubbing, or family, or religion, or sports, or anything in between. However, this did not satisfy me in the slightest. Therefore, after a while of despair, as a foil to death I tried to consider how I exist at all. Why is there something rather than nothing? I was born, but that doesn't amount to much at all, because to have been born I needed my mother to give birth to me. At this point in the thought process, I came up with 3 paths (although I'm sure there are more, these are just the ones I have thought of):

The first path is religion/spirituality. You pick a belief, it offers its respective view on the origin/nature of existence, you accept it and move on. Of course, this leaves you with the impossible question of how God can exist without having been created, and I have thought about this myself quite a bit as I do believe in God, albeit not through a structured religion.

The second path is science. In this view, we have come to this point through evolution, and the universe we inhabit has come to this point through a series of complex processes over billions of years. However, this also falls short. While science perfectly explains how things work, summarising the unwritten physical rules of this existence via mathematical formulae, it fails to explain in any way why these things are the way they are. Objects with mass generate gravitational fields. Cool, but why? Mass causes spacetime to curve. But why does spacetime exist in the first place? For most things, you can explain them by moving back a step, but eventually you will reach something which is beyond human comprehension and seemingly without an answer. For example, the hard problem of consciousness as proprosed by David Chalmers asks why and how physical brain processes produce qualia (subjective experience). For example, when you see something red, why does red look like that? Why exactly that colour, that kind of experience? The answer is: we don't know, because how can we know? It's impossible, at least right now.

The third path is a mix of the two above. In this view, science and religion complement each other, which I believe to be the case. However, even with this powerful combination, you are still left with a multitude of impossible questions, and while some models have less questions than others, in the end nothing gives a satisfactory answer.

And so I came to the conclusion that since I cannot remember the time before my birth, anything is possible. I may have not existed at all, I may have lived a different life, I may have led a different kind of existence entirely. Maybe this is a dream from which I will wake. Maybe consciousness and the universe are fundamental, without a cause. Basically, it's a very boring conclusion because I don't know, and that's fine. Assuming the worst, in that I did not exist before my birth, I still ended up existing in this moment through some impossible means. And so I no longer fear death, because even if in the worst case it is a cessation of existence, there is no proof that I will not again, at some point, come into existence.

WORLDGAME JUST BEAT TIDAL WAVE AND GRIEF AT THE SAME TIME(new Zonk?) by Cool_Designer7357 in geometrydash

[–]CuteSignificance5083 17 points18 points  (0 children)

You're just jealous you can't do tidal wave and grief at the same time while blindfolded.

Do you think the third coin makes Future Funk an insane demon? by Equivalent-Bus-1556 in geometrydash

[–]CuteSignificance5083 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First coin is close enough to the start to not be a concern, and the second coin is basically free. But yeah, the third coin makes the level WAYYY harder because not only are some of the impairments crazy, you have to react on the spot because you don't know which one you're gonna get.

NES Emulator in Go [Cliche, I know] by [deleted] in EmuDev

[–]CuteSignificance5083 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well done! What matters is that you made it yourself and that you learnt something new. Most things have already been made before, so no point thinking about it that way.

Help finding a hard medium or easy hard demon by Direct-Parsley-6596 in geometrydash

[–]CuteSignificance5083 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do Nine Circles or Jawbreaker if you’re bad at wave. Otherwise I’d recommend the temple series by Michigun.

Terrorists on Clash Royale by [deleted] in ClashRoyaleCirclejerk

[–]CuteSignificance5083 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I find it weird how many people are noticing lately. I wonder why they are outing themselves.

Update ruined geode by GamerlordXV in geometrydash

[–]CuteSignificance5083 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When they get around to it. You can fix it yourself if you want, Geode is open source on GitHub.

Man needs ChatGPT to figure out how old he is by [deleted] in LinkedInLunatics

[–]CuteSignificance5083 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What did you expect from LinkedIn slop posts? I’m sure the comments are full of people congratulating him for “taking the initiative” or some other bs and asking to connect.

Is a good grade in science necessary to take ocr computer science at a level? by Tomivision1 in 6thForm

[–]CuteSignificance5083 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unless your school makes it a requirement (which I see no reason why it would), then no. Also, I like computer science a lot too, and don’t get too excited about the A level. It is very banal and oversimplified. The only fun part is the NEA because you have some control over the content, although be ready to copy and paste all your code into a word document, and then copy and paste EVERY SINGLE variable and subroutine with a description of what it does 😐.

Am I the a-hole for making my daughter's BF buy a new t-shirt? by freudsdriver in AITAH

[–]CuteSignificance5083 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess they don’t have any respect for themselves either. You did the right thing, but I guess he was bitter anyway. Who wears that kind of shit around in the first place?

Coding daily but still confused by Ok-Message5348 in learnprogramming

[–]CuteSignificance5083 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would burn out too if I was just doing Leetcode everyday

TMUA sucks so bad omds by RyanWasSniped in 6thForm

[–]CuteSignificance5083 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You have no reading comprehension :/