PART 1 • Oh, it ' s on now! Playing one on one matches
suggest a minimum change of twenty-five points if possible) and play a new six game match against the engine at that setting. If you tie the match( 3-3), leave the slider where it is and start a new match. In this manner you ' ll advance when you win and get knocked back a step when you lose. Obviously you ' ll want to win so that you can face greater challenges.
If you spend more time playing chess than you spend studying, you ' re likely to“ settle in” to a point at which you ' re bouncing up and down across a 100 or 150 point span. That ' s natural and very much like the situation you ' d find at a real chess club, in which you often prefer to play three or four other players who are around your own playing strength. But, just as in real life, you ' ll want to study and improve so that you can play against other players; ultimately, when you work hard enough, you ' ll break out of that rating“ plateau” and move up to greater challenges.
You can do this same thing quite easily with pre-programmed personalities in a chess program, moving up to the next higher-rated character when you win a match or down to the next lowest personality when you lose. And when you eventually“ settle in”( as we saw in the last paragraph), this will be very much like a real chess club, as you ' ll likely be seeing the same faces on your screen again and again; the desire to“ play someone new” will spur your desire to improve.
Just like the“ virtual tournament” idea, the“ home chess match” works really well. I ' ve used both methods successfully and had a lot of fun doing it!
By the way, it ' s up to you as to whether or not you want to play timed games in either of these modes I ' ve suggested. It ' s not a requirement to do so, but if you ' re one of those players who always finds himself in time trouble in real life games, I heartily recommend that you use the clock( more about this later in the chapter).
TO RATE OR NOT TO RATE? THAT IS THE QUESTION...
Most chess programs offer a“ rated game” mode, in which you play against the chess engine under simulated tournament conditions( timed game, no pausing the clock, no move takebacks, no hints, alternating piece color from game to game, etc.). But should you play rated games against your computer?
82 chessking. com