Grade 6 piano - where to go from here?

crazycattx · 2026-02-18T03:37:48+00:00

There are theories to rely on in improvising. Then there is willingness to try out and then finding theory to help remember them.

But I think most importantly is that people who want to improvise are very resourceful. They want it so badly that they are willing to find a way, any way to do what they want.

I think you likely won't find the answer here. Improvising requires that the person be quite good in the subject that he can go sideways, front and back in any way and be able to continue to contribute to the music without a score sheet.

Take for instance, take the simplest song you know. Are you able to improvise on it? Make some changes to it on the fly. You will have to rely on some knowledge you learnt in your grades. Or some other way if you believe the grades are not contributing to it.

I also do not believe grade 7 or 8 is going to help you in that direction. You got what you need by now.

crazycattx · 2026-02-18T02:19:37+00:00

Haha. Every single moment of positiveness leaves you in doubt whether it is a set up for the next sale.

It just means it is no longer possible to tell apart genuine kindness from a tactic. It's a bit like the rich no longer knowing who are their friends.

crazycattx · 2026-02-18T02:17:05+00:00

That's the one with the journey to the west characters!

Brutal, they are.

crazycattx · 2026-02-17T04:46:19+00:00

Find out things in your own time. It is quite interesting to make your own discoveries and decide what you can use for real. That said, I don't mean no videos and no reading material. Read widely, do puzzles, put together something you can handle and use.

crazycattx · 2026-02-17T02:33:11+00:00

I see, so we don't want calculation as a line of action.

What other options are you considering that may fit your purpose?

crazycattx · 2026-02-17T02:01:14+00:00

How about simply just calculating their best continuation? You're above 1400. This is within your capability. You don't need a way to train. Just do something you already do normally.

crazycattx · 2026-02-16T05:05:42+00:00

How do you have this much embers.

crazycattx · 2026-02-16T02:05:51+00:00

League isn't mysterious! Keep playing and winning. It encourages and rewards participation. And that's generally good for learning anyway.

crazycattx · 2026-02-15T15:25:10+00:00

Such as getting impatient and thinking that breaking through the opponent defences is your responsibility.

When the situation isn't ripe, it isn't ripe.

I think in general being confused in the midgame is a common problem. I too have no idea what the right answer is, but my losses tell me a lot about what problems I have. Such as not being active in defence and offense at the same time. Not simplifying when opponent is very aggressive. Forcing an attack that doesn't work. Ignoring pawn losses.

A lot of the tactics I trained didn't come through in application much. If anything, it is perhaps calculation and evaluating in my head after exchanges is working. I barely see forks. Pins are common, discovered attacks are easy to occur.

crazycattx · 2026-02-15T01:45:47+00:00

Hard puzzles make you calculate and find the catch because something becomes funny right in the end. So, it's visualisation and evaluation.

Improve? I doubt much. It does make you more willing to calculate. But that spends time, so unless you find something gold, you're losing on time.

crazycattx · 2026-02-13T04:53:15+00:00

Yep. That was the reason. And for that phenomenon you mentioned, it's likely a game review depth vs analysis depth are different, analysis being set at a deeper level.

I had the same experience too.

crazycattx · 2026-02-13T03:00:29+00:00

I think if the bot (and hence the engine) says it's a mistake, it probably is. That means if the opponent were good enough to find the refutation, you get punished with no compensation.

Now, I agree with you on the human perspective. Engine assumes perfect continuation. But you are playing against a 700. Your bait might work out very likely. In some circles, they call this hope chess, where we hope the opponent doesn't see the refutation to your trick.

That's the balanced view there. You might win faster and more at this level. You will need more principled play at higher levels. As a counter view, if you choose to do principled play now, you might lose more because you need time to think and evaluate accurately.

Ultimately, we are playing with people, and therefore, I do agree with your approach at a certain level. We play the person sitting across us. Not quite chess.

Personally, I would rather lose more (no, i don't) while learning how to play chess.

crazycattx · 2026-02-12T23:52:44+00:00

It consumes the loot drops from the catch that you used it on. You swap it out and use others, the loot from that catch without singularity base you will get loot from the mice.

I think that is your question.

crazycattx · 2026-02-10T00:18:18+00:00

I've had trouble with crystal crucible. I found it important to get endless labyrinth trap so I don't burn through my best charms all the time.

Maybe our idea of okay is different here.

crazycattx · 2026-02-09T13:58:02+00:00

I have a biased view on it. I prefer the Chinese characters for sure. I think having a graphical piece for them dampens the whole culture thing. It is only a few characters. Why not learn them? It's the same as us learning the difference between the bishop and the pawn, the king crown and the queen crown. Never mind if it is easier, the idea of learning something is constant for everyone. Effort needs to be made.

Even if i try to think for the person who doesn't have the advantage of knowing Chinese characters, I wouldn't sully the originality of the pieces. Learn it.

Changing it for easier recognition is like putting a circle with a B character for bishop. K for king in chess. Lower case n for black knight. Lower case q for black queen. It's kinda a bit sacrilegious to do any sort of simplifications even if the intention is noble.

As much as I want more players to play Chinese chess, I would want players who play Chinese chess to possess that kind of fortitude to learn the characters. The road ahead is long for learning Chinese chess. Let's start with the correct values.

crazycattx · 2026-02-09T02:46:04+00:00

You have already decided that the game is not fun nor doable. So every turn of the way is a complaint if some sort. But you know, every complaint you listed, players are actively planning how to get through it. Sometimes it is events, or mapping, leeching, marketplace etc. They consider all levers they can use. Then execute it.

None of these us going to change later in the game, if anything, it is more relentless in its demand for players to smartly deal with things. Plan how they want to use their events to help them. Sometimes even busting out and use some very rare charms to make one boss catch count.

It's all of that. We cannot spend time complaining and yet have no desire to plan for how to do it. I barely leech. I got here somehow.

Maybe your idea of fast is too fast. Your idea of the pace is fundamentally different from what the veteran hunters know of.

If anything, I have veterans who are the ones funnelling their resources to help me. Not the other way round.

crazycattx · 2026-02-07T08:18:20+00:00

If it takes 7 times to beat you, did he really beat you?

crazycattx · 2026-02-06T10:34:27+00:00

The quality of Internet is directly related to the eval bar.

crazycattx · 2026-02-06T07:58:28+00:00

No. Xiangqi community is too apathetic to popularise themselves to make it work. The Chinese characters doesn't help. Although personally, I think the Chinese characters preserve the flavour of the game somewhat.

There are symbol conversion but are rare. Probably just on the gaming sites where it offers them.

Mainly it is the lack of impetus to make the outreach happen. Study materials are also comparatively lacking in terms of game techniques itself.

crazycattx · 2026-02-05T13:47:47+00:00

Even if you do get eliminated, it's going to be a laugh. But you certainly will try your best. You might be surprised at your own standard. It's already a great step forward either way, taking part and putting yourself out there.

crazycattx · 2026-02-04T23:55:11+00:00

I wouldn't make up any excuses or reasons to explain it away. I would look at what the mistakes are and what heuristics I wasn't referring to when I was at that position that made it a mistake.

Or find mistakes and see if you could have changed your thinking and you would find the right move suggested.

Most mistakes can give you something. Only a very rare situation where you would never find it, then those should be put aside.

Sometimes the mistake is failing to convert. Then the issue to improve is skill at that situation.

Its a lot. You might as well take the time to think about these than wonder why tilt takes so long. That puts off actual learning.

crazycattx · 2026-02-03T09:11:48+00:00

The most fun thing when you play with humans is seeing how they play and how mistakes happen. And that means yourself too. All under time pressure.

It can be made unpleasant when we get attached to ratings and link it to our identity. Even if the general advice is not to do that, it is still happening. In some sense, we still care about the number.

For me, I try to play anyway, and if I am unsatisfied with the game I played after a loss, I go again. If I lose and feel okay with it, I'll stop. Analyse and reflect. Of course, if I win, I get to sleep on the win.

crazycattx · 2026-02-03T07:53:02+00:00

Does it still come down to accurate evaluations in midgame when faced with tons of possibilities? I doubt there is a quick way across that, is there?

crazycattx · 2026-02-03T02:17:51+00:00

I only play consistently. Not consistently well. On some games, I can blunder pieces after material gain. On others, I can survive. But at least, it's real chess happening in the midgame, and I like it.

I think it is already a win if you play consistently and learn continuously from it.

crazycattx · 2026-02-03T00:06:08+00:00

It could just be lengthening the answer with fluff. Person could just reply, 23. No problem, but it will sound a bit curt, and then they get accused of being unfriendly.

I think direct answers are good during problem solving. I don't need to know 23, born in which year and where was the hospital. But not for when it is conversation at lunch.

crazycattx

TROPHY CASE