Why the Road to Chess Improvement is Hard w/ CartierTank (1800+) | Dojo Lessons

[@borsaamericano]

Looks like White was a great player :) Thanks for the analysis, Jesse

[@mariogarciagonzalez4692]

Great insights and truths, Jesse! I'm inspired by your way of teaching, and your voice helps me feel that I understand what you say (other thing is being able to apply it in my own games haha; that is a very hard task). I am at the first steps of the analysis of my own games process. I can only write variations and talk about the position when I'm winning, but when I'm losing (or in a worse position) I do not know what to write about because I cannot find a way of improving by analyzing my games; I'm not able to find the correct moves or plans by myself and put into words why I did this or that wrong move or plan. It's too hard that I sometimes think of quit playing, but I know it will be rewarding once I learn how to improve by analyzing my own games. Maybe it's possible that the Dojos make a video about how to put the players' thoughts into words when they are lost in their way of finding better moves or plans than what they've played? Please! Keep doing these instructive videos! Dojo is for me the best to learn chess!

[@whatthehirsch7385]

Thanks a lot. Looking at own mistakes is the hardest but most rewarding habit. I feel that only when you accept the pain of having played a bad move/game it sets your mind to zero so that it opens up for learning. Otherwise, ego and an internal blockade will lead to a slower development. There is this zen story, that you have to be empty like an empty tea pot before really learning something new and pain after a bad game is the most valuable hint.

[@pawnpusher]

That's actually why I began teaching chess privately about four years ago. So that I could put into words why certain moves/positions are better than others. It also forces me to do more than just quickly look at a game or position, I have to do a deep analysis using my brain so that I can explain it in words.

[@emregeylani]

Thanks Jesse, always pleasure listening your teachings.

[@Diachron]

These sessions with Jesse are pure gold. Firm but fair. Challenging, but realistic. Great insights.

[@luisayala9301]

excellent video always instructive

[@zwebzz9685]

Thank you I learned some new concepts

[@PaulHobbs23]

You really put your finger on it at the end, there's a big emotional struggle of having to face the facts of your own bad moves. It makes it hard to try to come up with explanations of a position when you're staring at your own mistakes.

[@kwhd559]

Ben Finegold described it as "choking on your own rage". :D

[@getrightw1tcha]

great stuff!

[@kwhd559]

@Jesse Instead of swimming it would be more accurate to say drifting. Swimming is a specialised skill while drifting better portrays the image of aimlessness I think you are trying to convey. Also the Qb3 idea is typical for those caro panov structures, although in this particular case it may have been a bit premature. The idea is to force black to decide what he will do with his knight, will he lift the blockade or transform the structure with Nxc3. Qb3 also connects the rooks and puts a bit of pressure on b7 and while it can be hit by Be6 in the future, is the Black Bishop really that well placed on e6? Moreover the Bishop on e6 presents possibilities of an exchange sacrifice on that square later as is typical in this structure, especially if White tries to secure the Bishop there with h6 which often only serves to further weaken the light squares around the Black King. Lastly if not Qb3, then White will sooner or later have to decide on the best square for his Queen which isn't apparently obvious if the Black Knight remains on d5. Those would be my thoughts if I were annotating this game for submission.

[@ChessDojo]

"swimming" is what the old soviet players called it, so I just stole it from them :-)

[@kwhd559]

@@ChessDojo Yeah I get that the original source was russian. I just thought that the concept would have been easier for native english speakers to grasp had the language been modified a bit. Very instructive video by the way I enjoyed it very much, so much so that I shared it in a post on chessable. :-)

[@user-un-known]

@@kwhd559 ”Swimming" in this instance has nuance of "floating". One floats when one doesn't have a foothold to firmly stand on. Unsure. Nothing concrete. Even melting a bit in comparison to rock solid implementation of a plan. So I guess one could say "drifting" as English counterpart. This "swimming" metaphor is not limited to chess, btw. One can start "swimming" during an exam, or during a presentation, etc. Any time one loses sure foothold and starts wavering and becoming more and more unsure of what's going on and what one should do. A phrase like "he's swimming in the theory" means the person in question has only a vague idea of the theory, for example. It's definitely not the confident type of swimming freely as one is very comfortable. Just a trivia to share.

[@ishanr8697]

I think you have really identified the issues that make self-analysis of games hard. Do you have any tips to help us get stuck into doing it more often?

[@marktaylor601]

I really like your videos, but your audio is very low.

[@lordoffake]

indeed

[@siddhantx740]

op

[@SimplyComplex-333]

my first time of commenting first

[@sausage4mash]

the trouble with reviewing with chess engines they point out your tactical errors but seldom show you where you went wrong strategically