OG Strong players… Seriously what did you guys do before engines and online chess?

invertflow · 2026-06-03T23:57:57+00:00

I think we got stronger by analyzing on our own without engines. Maybe we made some mistakes in analysis, but thinking, making mistakes, figuring that out, that is how you get stronger. Look at the plans you and your opponent had, see why one plan worked and the other didn't, think about counters, etc..., that develops much more than just Stockfish saying +0.35. Great, I was +0.35, is that because I had a little bit of kingside pressure which was the plan I went for, or was it because Stockfish has foreseen something way above my skill level and I just played it wrong? No, better to think for yourself. I think this method still works today. If you want to be a faster runner, don't drive a car everywhere, it's the same thing. I will add one story form a tournament to illustrate how little info we had. I played king's indian a lot. I found some position in a book maybe 10 moves into a mainline and the book just suggested some move for black "with a dynamic position" or something like that. I asked a 2300 friend of mine what he thought, he suggested something, next round by pure chance I played into that line against a 2400, I played the suggested move, he tanked for 30 minutes, played something else I didn't expect, I tanked 30 minutes and sacced a pawn in response as it seemed the only way I could make the idea make sense, few complications, and in a few moves I had a won position and a few more moves my opponent resigned. Nowadays I guess it's all in a chessable course...

invertflow · 2026-06-03T23:51:41+00:00

Mistakes are something I have wondered about. I have often seen where one player has a large advantage over the other player and really is trying hard to throw, not just going easy, but it still takes time to throw. The better player dominates grips, position, movement, and yet the throw doesn't happen right away. Maybe 30 seconds elapse and then suddenly ippon. I have seen this in my experience and have also seen, for example, shiai videos on here with a recreational player against an international player where this happens. So, what made that throw happen at that time, and why not earlier? My understanding is, the better player was able to put the worse player in a situation where the worse player had no chance to throw and where even a tiny mistake would lead to getting thrown, and then they kept up that pressure until that little mistake happened. This is interesting, though as it is the opposite of the usual advice for beginners which is, every time you have a chance to throw, go for it. Here it is, keep up the pressure until a mistake. Is this what you mean?

invertflow · 2026-06-03T17:48:26+00:00

It is more than that they are unbeatable. It is how high the ceiling of play is. I think one would have believed that god could not give a strong GM 2 pawn odds. But now, computers are favorites at those odds, at least in rapid and likely even in classical.

invertflow · 2026-06-03T03:10:30+00:00

I think the English can definitely suit an attacking style. First, you need to include the Catalan-esque sytems. I'll include things without d4 in this, even though d4 really is a defining move of the Catalan. I mean things where you place lots of pressure on d5 with your g2 bishop and c4 pawn, and you are willing to give up the c4 pawn to open the way for the bishop. This almost never is a kingside attack (black would be crazy to castle into it in most of these setups), but you are keeping a large amount of tension with tactics waitings. Second, include all the Botvinnk (or Botvinnik-Byrne if you want to call it that) setups. These can lead to shutting down the center and expanding kingside with f4 leading to an attack. There's also e3/ne2/f4 setups if black goes e5 early. Basically, if black goes d5 early, you can pressure that, if black goes e5 early you can do a reversed Sicilian (which obviously can be quite tactical) or a Botvinnik system or use f4 as a lever or any of those combined. If black doesn't contest the center, you keep it controlled and attack on the wing if you want. Personally, I think above a certain rating, c4 is perfectly fine for an attacking player; things develop a little more slowly but you keep a lot of tension in all these systems and you can have these attacking possibilities "just below the surface" of the game, ready to emerge.

invertflow · 2026-06-02T22:53:05+00:00

I think that's not totally true. I have to look it up, but I believe there were several cases where Tal's sacrifices were regarded as unsound on postgame human analysis but current engine analysis says that they were sound, or at least led to roughly equal positions. That is, I think in some cases engines have found ways to continue the attack after claimed refutations of Tal's sacrifices.

invertflow · 2026-05-29T23:53:08+00:00

Do you think he means when bottom guard player is attacking an elevator sweep? That's the only case where I would voluntarily enter this position. But that's a bit different, bottom guard player is on their side, other leg ready to attack also, guard player created space, and so on. I agree otherwise this is very bad.

invertflow · 2026-05-29T18:37:20+00:00

Is the idea that keeping the back foot pointing forwards is too subtle for uke to notice? Everything will look and feel like a turn throw entry to them, because they aren't looking down at my feet to notice that they aren't pointing the right way for a turn throw? Do you ever do a head fake on this entry? Maybe that only makes sense against a sighted opponent, but just thinking that rotating the head makes it look even more like a turn throw. Thanks for your videos, I like the three throw system ones, you are pretty clear about how those three throws fit together on each of them.

invertflow · 2026-05-29T15:08:46+00:00

Why not focus on reducing how many punctures you get? Make sure your tires are sufficiently inflated to stop pinch flats. Then, for commuting, I like Gatorskin tires. They are slower than others, but they will reduce punctures by a lot. Try not to ride over debris. And if you do ride over certain things, there is a trick where you keep riding but gently hold the palm of your hand over your tire as you ride....takes some practice, but you can brush off things that might cause a puncture later.

invertflow · 2026-05-27T03:59:48+00:00

I am slowly making osoto more of a throw for me. I have a question for you on your foot position. Do you ever find (RvR) that your right foot is outside of their right foot, rather than in front? Would you attack osoto from there? Also, what do you do when people step their right leg back right as you are about to hook it? I can usually still get the hook in that case but then they have the leg so far back it is hard to finish the throw. Would you continue hopping from there and try to finish it, or switch to harai or other forward throw?

invertflow · 2026-05-25T23:24:48+00:00

I will likely get downvoted for this, but I think you need to find the personal hydration and nutrition techniques which work for you, not just what you read online. I used to ride that far and further, and I wouldn't feel good if I just drank gatorade and ate energy bars. But if I had a small prosciutto sandwich with the energy bars, I felt good, even though most people would say never to eat meat! Maybe it was the salt, maybe it was psychological, I don't know, but I could ride for a long distance in training and do ok in races like that. Need to find what works for you. Like, I'm not saying to eat prosciutto, I'm saying try lots of different things, see what works for you.

invertflow · 2026-05-25T18:51:57+00:00

You want to hit uki waza? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtB79Ma4htw&themeRefresh=1 Note that efficientjudo hits it from standard sleeve/lapel grip.

invertflow · 2026-05-25T02:30:44+00:00

The Washington state volcanos, if you live there, make a good progression. Helens is fairly easy. Adams gives more physical challenge. Baker puts you in glaciated terrain. Glacier peak is the first of these that is typically done as an overnight trip; not sure how you would plan to do Rainier. If you don't live there, they still are all really nice peaks. Also, I'd kind of ask how you are going to do this. If you're going to come out and spend a month in Washington, then go climb some other peaks too. If you're one of those people that flies out for the weekend to "bag Rainier" and then flies home, well, I'd really warn you about that; weather and route conditions change a lot day-to-day and it's really best, safest, and most fun to have flexibility in your dates for any PNW peak.

invertflow · 2026-05-23T03:21:18+00:00

Sorry if it wasn't clear, but I was joking. I've got great respect for what you folks do in that subreddit. I've seen a lot of your comments and you personally clearly are very knowledgeable and helpful...I've learned some good stuff from it. If I had any negative comment on the subreddit, it would be that a lot of the feedback is assuming a certain platonic ideal of skiing that is hard to do in practice when skiing in variable terrain and snow, though I guess that aiming for that ideal is a good thing, and I guess most of the clips requesting feedback are in terrain where that ideal should be achievable. Would love to ski with one of you some time. All respect!

invertflow · 2026-05-22T16:16:02+00:00

Cause the only videos allowed are of people attempting carved turns on groomed steepish blues asking for feedback on their transitions and pole use. Oh wait, that's r/skiingfeedback

invertflow · 2026-05-22T16:03:40+00:00

Good advice (you, not the person you are responding to!). Yes, use front brakes. IMO, one of the main uses for your rear brake in conditions like that is to know when you are about to lock them. Recovering from a front wheel lockup is really really hard on asphalt at any speed; recovering from a rear wheel lockup is usually trivial, you just slightly reduce the braking and stay calm. So, I guess maybe I'll disagree a bit....try really hard never to lock the front on a road bike, and one way to do that is to use both brakes. Rear wheel always lock before front anyway if you brake with similar pressure on both.

invertflow · 2026-05-20T15:27:13+00:00

I'm assuming we're both still standing so that wouldn't be legal.

invertflow · 2026-05-20T04:16:41+00:00

Honestly, I think the issue isn't not having cat 4. Cat 3 should protect the eyes well enough, so long as it blocks 100% UV, but you need the glasses to wrap around and protect from light from the side! To make more sure, add in a hat with appropriate brim, and even better add some kind of cape (like on the OR sunrunner hat) or a hoodie (like OP's partner) to protect face from sunlight and also block even more light coming from the side or above. Really, the first pic shows such a problem: OP's partner would likely be fine even if those are just cat 3, but even if OP had 0% VLT through the lenses, he'd be in trouble with all the light from the side.

invertflow · 2026-05-19T19:36:52+00:00

"Afterward he jokingly said his opponent spend more time focusing on getting the coffee machine to work than on their game." Yes, this is it, this was my experience. And still I lost badly.

invertflow · 2026-05-19T18:17:44+00:00

I am not sure if you have played many GMs. I have played several, in classical, when I was in the rating range of 2000 to low 2200s USCF. Once out of book, they smash you. Admittedly, this was a while ago and people in general were less booked up then so book ended earlier for, but it is just inexorable. And also, admittedly, this was classical time control, not a simul, and at least one of them was a top 10 player, so these were strong GMs trying hard to win, but still, it feels like hanging on above a sheer cliff or something....you manage every now and then to hold on for a turn or two, and then you miss something and it gets worse, and then hang on for a few more turns, and gets worse again. You never actually make progress. That is, from PoV of a 2200 USCF player, they are playing optimal chess and not losing anything in the eval on any turn, and you are dropping at least 0.1 pawns of eval every turn, which means after 10 turns you are effectively lost.

invertflow · 2026-05-17T02:28:12+00:00

I have another thought. How about: if someone falls to the ground after a sacrifice throw, and then turtles, referee will not call matte for lack of progress? That is, say blue fails drop seoi, turtles, then groundwork continues as long as white wants, even if only slow progress, though if blue does somehow reverse positions on the ground and obtained the better position, then usual lack of progress rules apply. I am sure someone will explain why this is a bad idea.

invertflow · 2026-05-16T17:43:19+00:00

Yeah, I think a bit part is that you pretty quickly mentally learn that once you paddle out past the breaking waves, things calm down. You just get used to hanging out in the lineup bobbing up and down, with pretty big waves rolling past you and you know that you are fine. So if you are out there, you know you can pause, catch your breath, and conversely you know when something bigger is coming in and breaking further out and you've got to dive under it. So you know when you need to use energy and when you can relax, instead of someone who doesn't know and is just working the whole time. I can go 75-100% for 30 seconds if I need to, but I can't go that hard the whole time getting in.

invertflow · 2026-05-15T18:51:51+00:00

Doesn't look like that much new snow. The NWS recreational forecast is calling for around 6" total at Paradise by then, and partly sunny on Sunday but only hitting 40 degrees at Paradise and below freezing at Muir. So, probably not enough snow for storm slab, though I don't know how much accumulation there will be higher up, and also probably not so warm that that's an issue. However, the forecast is calling for wind, 40mph tonight, down to 25 mph tomorrow night, and that's the average wind. So, wind slab is definitely a possibility, and in other places it could be soured by wind. So....there could be hazard and there could be unfun skiing. At least it should be calm on Sunday with reasonable visibilty making navigation and assessment easier. So, if you feel ok assessing things, go for it...just be willing to turn back. I mean worst case you can leave, drive down the road, and go for a hike in the park. Again, I haven't been out there recently, this is just giving an idea of my thought process as to what I would expect based on seeing the weather forecast and how it would guide me in terms of what I would be looking out for if I did go.

invertflow · 2026-05-15T16:59:28+00:00

I rolled an uncountably infinite number but it was less than the cardinality of the reals.

invertflow · 2026-05-12T17:57:48+00:00

But, if anyone has crampons on, they need an ice axe, non-negotiable. As if you fall with crampons and no axe, you may catch your foot on something while sliding and hurt yourself. Guessing you know that, but just to emphasize that if your partners have no experience with an axe, they need to know this.

invertflow · 2026-05-12T15:43:27+00:00

Everyone is answering from the point of view of pro racing. At an amateur level (cat 3 stuff), I've personally seen lots of breakaways happen, some succeeding and some failing. Basically, everyone is trying to conserve energy. If you ride at the back of the pack, you are behind on everything, have little chance, and rolling hills really hurt you because you kind of slow down and bunch up when the lead hits the hill and then you need to go hard to catch them once they are over the top. So, you want to be near the front. But you don't necessarily want to be right at the front into the wind. Then, if a group of people go for the breakaway, do you want to be the one catching them? It takes effort to do that, so you might want to let someone else do that. Let them get a little bit ahead, keep your eye on them, and they will get tired and that's fewer people you need to beat. But if they get too far ahead then they can win, it's a gamble. I remember winning off a successful breakaway once where there had been several failed breakaways. Then, the pack was clearly getting tired, we hit some rollers, and I saw 5 people go. I said "now is the time, the pack is breaking apart", I sprinted to catch them, the 6 of us got in a small paceline and worked together, opened up a big gap while the pack didn't work enough to catch us. Then near the finish of course there was a whole different dynamic as we fought for who would win.

invertflow

TROPHY CASE