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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 14:07:13 GMT
Since it's long time for me to change my chess software, I was wondering if somebody has tried Aquarium and the Idea functionality. It sounds interesting. Another question: how does Aquarium handle modern pgns with lots of comments and variation.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 14:13:51 GMT
I bought it as soon as it came out. Great idea, poor execution. Not only it has a ton of options, but you'll also find out that, no matter what your parameters are, blunders continue to be explored and the move with the best evaluation doesn't usually have the highest number of visits. Not to mention, it's a well known bug that it won't report the real number of visits once it goes over 30,000 or something like that (which isn't a whole lot).
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 14:44:54 GMT
Do you use it for correspondence chess or freestyle tournaments? What is your usual routine when you want to deeply analyze a position?
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 14:59:25 GMT
Nowadays it's very simple, I check lc0's move with SF and if it doesn't fail quickly I usually go ahead with it. Once I enter the middle-game I leave lc0 and incorporate Komodo. For the endgame, SF is the only thing you really need (with 7-men syzygy, ofc).
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 15:29:23 GMT
The last software I bought are Shredder 7 and ChessBase 7 twenty years ago, and then I managed to get CA 8.1. I also tried all the free existing software, but somehow I stick with the old programs (Classic Shredder mostly).I stopped playing for years, and now I search something good.
Had a peak in the new Fritz and CB, and I prefer the old ones. Downloaded the Aquarium help/pdf and it seemed interesting. I tried Arena, Scid, ScidvsPC, BSG and ChessX. Scid(vsPC) is good, but I would prefer a playing program to a database. Arena is not for me, and BSG is a deception.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 15:52:57 GMT
By BSG I guess you mean BanksiaGUI?
I have also tried everything. For playing against the computer (training basic endgames, more like) I prefer BSG. For analysis, Houdini 4 (Fritz GUI) is the most responsive. Arena is free and fully functional, but it has a bit of lag, which you can't afford in Freestyle.
For playing actual games, I go to PlayChess, I have an eternal free account thanks to the Russian guys, and they only ask of me to collect so engine room games in return. A pretty good deal.
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 17:50:01 GMT
Convekta had some good software a quarter of century ago and I use the "Complete chess training" package for endings training, although I am not satisfied with my technique. When I played OTB, I hated tactical games but all my victories were in sharp positions and almost all of my loses but one (where I blundered twice in two moves: I missed winning my opponent's knight, then I immediately gave mine; unfortunately, it's my only game in online databases, although I played some decent chess in the nineties, with draws against Nenad Ristic, and wins against several masters in the Serbian league) in technical endgames and zeitnot.
Yes, I meant Banksia. I just find this GUI awful, but beautiful. Then Pham stopped developing it after introducing some interesting functions and making it more ergonomic. BSG database functionalities are bad -- I would like to be able to just load a game from a pgn, nothing more.
I recently bought an opening course at Chessable and it seems OK, although... when I buy something, I want to have it... physically. I gave real money. I want a real product. And I don't like being bound to their software.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 18:18:19 GMT
I understand perfectly what you mean. That H4 I mentioned? I have the serial, but the download link associated with my purchase expired long ago, which means that when I re-install the OS, I'll be without a program I paid for. Yeah I know, I should've made copies of the installer, but the vendor should also keep it available.
BSG for databases? Not something I'd try. Scid is the go-to program for that sort of stuff. As soon as they remove the 16 million games cap it currently has, it'll be awesome.
So you played better in the 90's when your country was being ravaged by war and bombed to kingdom come? I'm resisting a bad joke here.
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 19:32:08 GMT
When I started working at the university of Belgrade, in 1998, I had to stop playing chess.
Then, I played another league in 2007, if I remember well. I made 5.5 from 11, but I lost a few heartbreaking games. The tempo was faster (before, it was 40 moves in 2h + 30mn for the rest of the game, and it became 2h for the game), I was rusty, I lost a won ending (R+5p vs R+B+1p) in a zeitnot, then I lost an equal position with black because my team was losing and, at the middle of a quiet game, my team captain asked me to play for the win [Never play for the team!! Just play your game!!], and I made two blunders in the second game of the day in the 10th round, after winning a stressing game in the morning. I won in the last round, but nonetheless, we were relegated in a lower division.
I made a lot of errors that season. I accepted to play on the second and third boards because I was a "solid" player, and better players were put on the 4, 5 and 6 boards "to win points". Had I refused, I would have made 7 or 8 points on the 6th board, I would have been the hero of the team. Be as it was, I was the sacrificial lamb. BTW, my team mates on the lowers boards did not achieve better results, they were all about 50%.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 20:39:05 GMT
Before digital clocks, games were just too long, I played up to 6 hours on occasion. You don't need so much time to make mistakes ;-)
Teams are awful. I remember a rival having to surrender a drawn game because they had to leave and our player, knowing this, just kept artificially prolonging it. He was very satisfied, I told him that was a disgrace and other players from my team started to excuse him. "He's a good guy, but he transforms over the board", false, you show who you are on the board.
But all this is quite off-topic, so here's another. You'll notice the "like" button is used a lot less in proBoards. Not sure why, but that's my experience.
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 21:51:32 GMT
I like to use the "like" button. I for some strange reasons feel good about it. What I'm having trouble with is that there are no notifications, and I don't see new messages.
I will continue in French, then use a tool to translate. In the evening, when I'm tired, I write too slowly in English, I simply forget the words.
Tell me, do you have a fully formed repertoire? I finally managed to put together something decent for white, but I'm still hesitant with black. What would you recommend me? I used to play Marovic's repertoire (How to play with Blacks): the Pirc, the French, the QGD and the Benoni, but now... I am not sure.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 22:28:54 GMT
It's not even formed, I mainly play gambits, because they're much more entertaining than the Colle, the Semi-Slav and the Petrov, which is what I used to play back in the 90's.
Notifications are at the top, you'll see a number towards the left (notifications: likes and quotes) and a "participated" button to the right where you see what threads you wrote in, have new messages.
Then on the main page, the black king is for threads with new posts, whether you've participated in it or not.
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 22:52:52 GMT
I play sneaky openings, but one can't avoid technical positions. I am in the process of analyzing these technical positions to improve my play. It is so easy today to find good instructions.
I won most of my Pirc (never lost), but I never enjoyed them. Too stressing. I think I was lost in every one of them. I usually fared well with the French (I have a draw against a GM!), lost some French with white though. I had lots of problems with the Sicilian and Open games, probably because I avoided sharp positions. My new repertoire should be sharp enough, although I stuck with Be2 almost everywhere. I played well the QGD, bad the Nimzoindian (awfully bad, although I liked the opening), tried the Simagin but without success, tried the Slav, but just in a few games and with mixed results and mixed emotions.
I will probably stick to the French (I don't like it, but my opponents don't like it even more), but then, in closed games, no idea.
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Post by Ozymandias on Apr 7, 2022 23:14:11 GMT
The French shouldn't be a problem for white, even if you know nothing about it, just go for the exchange and then Black isn't playing the French at all.
The Semi-Slav is very solid, but leaves the big decisions to white: Bg5 or e3. I prefer the KID against d4, may also play the Albin, but I need to be sure my opponent is going to play c4. Against e4, I went back to the origins of the Petrov, the Damiano.
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Post by matejst on Apr 7, 2022 23:53:04 GMT
What do you play against Bg5 in the Semi-slav? The Moscow or the Botvinnik?
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