My Dear Chess Friends!

This article is written by @jay_1944, a member of Online tournament that I organized recently. And It reflects his impression about the tournament!

Hi all!

Just finished playing my first game of FM Viktor Neustroev's Online Summer Tournament. This is an U1800, 7 week tournament, where each contestant will play 1 game per week, at 45/30 time controls. FM Neustroev offers prizes for the top 3 finishers, but even better, will be analyzing some of the games played on his YouTube channel and be connecting with each player after with some advice. Great deal!

The first game had a positive result, but I was a little disappointed with my tactical vision. The strategical side of chess is what has always interested me, but this has left big holes in my tactical game! In this particular game, I needed to see 17. Bc5 before playing 16. Nxe7, but I failed to play 17. Bc5 even after 16. Nxe7 Qxe7. This is not good. I must see all forcing moves when given the time to do so.

After being reassured of my tactical and vision weaknesses, I headed straight to FM Neustroev's YouTube channel and noticed a video on improving tactical vision.

This video shares an exercise in which the student is to:

1) Solve a simple tactic puzzle

2) Go to an empty board. Using only your memory, highlight each square that had a piece/pawn on it, and name the piece while doing so. Then play out the solution again in your head, thinking of the resulting position in your mind.

3) Next, put on a blindfold and repeat the process of naming all pieces and solving puzzle again, all in your mind. Continue this exercise daily with increasing difficulty.

I am going to try and do this exercise daily over the next few weeks, and hopefully it will help my tactical vision. Looking forward to round 2 starting next week. Until then...

Chess.com group: https://www.chess.com/club/tricks-of-chess

Facebook page: https://facebook.com/TricksofChess

Written by @jay_1944

Thank you, Jason for your feedback. I'm glad that you enjoy our tournament!

Best Regards,

FM Viktor Neustroev