43 years ago, South Sydney played in the NSWRL grand final and won their 20th premiership in 64 seasons with a hard fought 16-10 victory over St George. One of the players in the winning team was George Piggins.
George Piggins, the saviour of the South Sydney rugby league football club after they were unceremoniously booted out following Super League.
George Piggins, who has not attended a game of rugby league since Souths were taken over by Russell Crowe and Peter Holmes a Court. This Sunday, South Sydney play their first grand final for 43 years.George Piggins, former captain of the club, former coach, former CEO, does not propose to attend.
However, George Piggins, the man who should be at the game, has promised he will attend here. All we have to do is raise one hundred thousand dollars to be shared between The Sydney Children's hospitals at Randwick and Westmead.
I am not a Souths fan, I am not a VIP, I am not special (except to my
daughter), I am simply a fan of rugby league. I just cannot get past the
fact that South Sydney are only playing this weekend because of the
passion and drive and courage of one man, George Piggins. The man who will not be going to that game unless we give him a little help. The man
has finally provided an opening that will allow him to
reconcile with the game and the club that he loves so much and has given
so much for.
I don't know the man, but I just cannot imagine him
wanting some rich person to hand over a hundred grand the way I hand
over 20 bucks for Oporto and say "Well, George, you're coming now." I
don't think he wants to be invited by the NRL elite, they've tried many
times. He's always said no. He won't listen to the big end of town.
He
needs to be invited by us, the ordinary rugby league fan, not just the
Souths fans whose club he saved, but by the ordinary men, women and
children who have nurtured this game since that bell was first rung at Birchgrove Oval in 1908.
That's
the invitation that George Piggins needs, the one given to him by us,
the ordinary fans of this great game, in our great country.
So, I am taking him up on his promise, I am sufficiently ordinary for the task at hand!
I have established a crowd funding website at Causevox
You can
invite him to our grand final simply by clicking here and sending $10 to be shared
between 2 great hospitals, The Sydney Children's Hospitals at Randwick
and Westmead.
If we build it, he will come.
Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Thursday, 28 August 2014
The war with Microsoft Part II
With my money still being possessed by Redmond, and my software also being located somewhere in the Microsoft product vaults, I was sent a link requesting feedback about my engagement with them the other day that I outlined here.
Well, they certainly got some feedback! Unfortunately most of it was of the 1-10 kind but on the last page they gave me some comment boxes... Thank you, Microsoft, the first decent thing you've done in this affair so far.
Please share any suggestions for how we can improve the Microsoft Store website:
You could start by making it work. I understand that's a real challenge for you. I've purchased and downloaded software from a lot of small operations and they all seem to be able to manage to take my money easily and provide me a link so I can download the product. Microsoft took 2 shots at taking my money, succeeding on the 2nd occasion, but still managed to fail to provide me with the product.
I was then told the transaction was cancelled, but my money is still a safe part of the Microsoft cash mountain. The product, on the other hand, remains in your software vaults somewhere. I'm about to start three weeks of 70 hour weeks so it's highly unlikely I'm going to be able to chase this up in that time frame but I strongly suspect the issue will still be waiting for me at the end of that time period.
Please tell us about factors that influenced your survey responses or share any other comments about your support experience:
Try training your people to talk like members of the human race, not brain dead morons, I thought Microsoft prided itself on hiring intelligent people.
The script that he was obviously required to use was patronising in the extreme. My evaluation of his performance is an evaluation of his training, I'm sure he was doing *exactly* what he was supposed to. The fact that he is required to talk in such a ludicrous manner is what needs to be addressed here. Microsoft isn't functioning as a dynamic, innovative, receptive software company, it's functioning as a staid bureaucractic behemoth, and it's little wonder that it's struggling to put together quality products.
Even if my purchase goes through, my first act if I ever get a hold of Office 365 will be to buy an add on to restore the highly efficient structures of Office 2003 as opposed to the farcically organised current model which still alternately bemuses and infuriates me after years of use.
I didn't want them to be under any illusions about my thoughts regarding their performance in this matter, amongst the confusing messages I got last time was that the issue would be passed upwards and would take 48-72 hours to be looked at. If I don't work at school tomorrow, I will chase them up some more, as long as I'm feeling brave that is!
Well, they certainly got some feedback! Unfortunately most of it was of the 1-10 kind but on the last page they gave me some comment boxes... Thank you, Microsoft, the first decent thing you've done in this affair so far.
Please share any suggestions for how we can improve the Microsoft Store website:
You could start by making it work. I understand that's a real challenge for you. I've purchased and downloaded software from a lot of small operations and they all seem to be able to manage to take my money easily and provide me a link so I can download the product. Microsoft took 2 shots at taking my money, succeeding on the 2nd occasion, but still managed to fail to provide me with the product.
I was then told the transaction was cancelled, but my money is still a safe part of the Microsoft cash mountain. The product, on the other hand, remains in your software vaults somewhere. I'm about to start three weeks of 70 hour weeks so it's highly unlikely I'm going to be able to chase this up in that time frame but I strongly suspect the issue will still be waiting for me at the end of that time period.
Please tell us about factors that influenced your survey responses or share any other comments about your support experience:
Try training your people to talk like members of the human race, not brain dead morons, I thought Microsoft prided itself on hiring intelligent people.
The script that he was obviously required to use was patronising in the extreme. My evaluation of his performance is an evaluation of his training, I'm sure he was doing *exactly* what he was supposed to. The fact that he is required to talk in such a ludicrous manner is what needs to be addressed here. Microsoft isn't functioning as a dynamic, innovative, receptive software company, it's functioning as a staid bureaucractic behemoth, and it's little wonder that it's struggling to put together quality products.
Even if my purchase goes through, my first act if I ever get a hold of Office 365 will be to buy an add on to restore the highly efficient structures of Office 2003 as opposed to the farcically organised current model which still alternately bemuses and infuriates me after years of use.
I didn't want them to be under any illusions about my thoughts regarding their performance in this matter, amongst the confusing messages I got last time was that the issue would be passed upwards and would take 48-72 hours to be looked at. If I don't work at school tomorrow, I will chase them up some more, as long as I'm feeling brave that is!
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Kristy and Lindsay see Queen with Adam Lambert!
The wonderful Kristy has always been a big Queen fan. Once I told her that Queen were touring with Adam Lambert there was never any doubt about whether or not we would be going, I'll concede I had some concerns about the $160 price tag but these were brushed aside! So, last night was spent at Allphones Arena or whatever it's called these days at Homebush, watching Brian May, Roger Taylor, Adam Lambert and a group of other musicians perform from the Queen catalogue. The boys are certainly respecting John Deacon's retirement as he was never mentioned. Freddie, of course, was mentioned quite often.
One might think that holding a QUEEN concert without Freddie Mercury is a bit of a stretch and that's a legitimate view. As Adam Lambert put it, one does have to "suspend one's disbelief." Lambert made that a pretty easy job. He's got a superb voice, which easily hits all the high notes that Freddie's left for him. He's bold on stage, campy, delightfully gay and thus makes an excellent fit with Queen. He made some nods towards Freddy without pretending to be anything other than Adam Lambert. Lambert performed with Queen during his American Idol season and clearly made an impression on Taylor and May. His version of Killer Queen was especially wicked. I found that he occasionally got drowned out by the loudness of the band but that might just be a personal quibble.
There was a long session in the middle of the concert where Adam was off stage and Brian May and Roger Taylor tried to carry the concert on their own, with a series of solos and a few songs where they took the microphone. While I found myself in awe of their technical skills, both clearly remaining at the summit of their profession, as entertainment it paled a little. I think had they shrunk that session considerably and kept Lambert out the front it would have worked better. Why on earth would you hire a voice like that and leave it in the dressing room?!
The technical proficiency of the concert was consistently in evidence, the light were blinding, the sound was explosive yet very clear, these were professional entertainers who knew what they were doing. But the hits were so loud and that reduced the ability of the audience to involve themselves in the singing - despite Queen possessing an almost unmatchable catalogue of concert ready singalong anthems! Maybe it works better in the stadiums where there's more audience members to push back against the loudness. So, for me, that was a bit of a letdown.
Overall though, it was a strong concert. It was great to see Roger Taylor and Dr Brian May looking so happy and enjoying themselves dusting off the Queen catalogue. They're so good that I'd quite like it if they drag John Deacon out of retirement, pull Adam Lambert into a studio with them and have a crack at making some new music. Just as Dr May found he had unfinished business with his Phd thesis and finished it off, possibly there's some unfinished musical business too.
Kristy had a great time, she resisted the lure of the overpriced T-shirts but the power of the program was not to be denied - $35 later she had her souvenir of the evening! She was thrilled and that was the point of the evening.
One might think that holding a QUEEN concert without Freddie Mercury is a bit of a stretch and that's a legitimate view. As Adam Lambert put it, one does have to "suspend one's disbelief." Lambert made that a pretty easy job. He's got a superb voice, which easily hits all the high notes that Freddie's left for him. He's bold on stage, campy, delightfully gay and thus makes an excellent fit with Queen. He made some nods towards Freddy without pretending to be anything other than Adam Lambert. Lambert performed with Queen during his American Idol season and clearly made an impression on Taylor and May. His version of Killer Queen was especially wicked. I found that he occasionally got drowned out by the loudness of the band but that might just be a personal quibble.
There was a long session in the middle of the concert where Adam was off stage and Brian May and Roger Taylor tried to carry the concert on their own, with a series of solos and a few songs where they took the microphone. While I found myself in awe of their technical skills, both clearly remaining at the summit of their profession, as entertainment it paled a little. I think had they shrunk that session considerably and kept Lambert out the front it would have worked better. Why on earth would you hire a voice like that and leave it in the dressing room?!
The technical proficiency of the concert was consistently in evidence, the light were blinding, the sound was explosive yet very clear, these were professional entertainers who knew what they were doing. But the hits were so loud and that reduced the ability of the audience to involve themselves in the singing - despite Queen possessing an almost unmatchable catalogue of concert ready singalong anthems! Maybe it works better in the stadiums where there's more audience members to push back against the loudness. So, for me, that was a bit of a letdown.
Overall though, it was a strong concert. It was great to see Roger Taylor and Dr Brian May looking so happy and enjoying themselves dusting off the Queen catalogue. They're so good that I'd quite like it if they drag John Deacon out of retirement, pull Adam Lambert into a studio with them and have a crack at making some new music. Just as Dr May found he had unfinished business with his Phd thesis and finished it off, possibly there's some unfinished musical business too.
Kristy had a great time, she resisted the lure of the overpriced T-shirts but the power of the program was not to be denied - $35 later she had her souvenir of the evening! She was thrilled and that was the point of the evening.
Monday, 25 August 2014
Microsoft, Office 365 and how 78 billion dollars in yearly revenue doesn't mean you know shit about online sales!
I have always preferred Windows based systems to Apple and I have used MS Office for many years, periodically buying new editions.
In line with the above, it occurred to me several weeks ago that it was time to update my current MS Office suite, some of the kids I tutor bring assignments in and so it's useful to have MS Office on all my computers and not just some of them as is currently the case. MS Office provides a good solution as it allows you to put MS Office on 5 PC's and 5 tablets, which is certainly enough to cover my needs. And at $119 a year, tax deductible given it's for the business, it didn't seem like a totally unreasonable price to me. I'm well aware of Open Office but it can be bit of a nuisance when the kids don't use it so I prefer to have the standard behemoth.
So, decision made, I clicked into the Microsoft web store, found my way to the product and tried to order it. Epic fail #1. It failed to put my order through. While this doesn't happen often, these things do occur so I just left it for a couple of weeks and came back on Saturday. Order goes through, I get the confirmation email and told that another email including the download link will be sent soon. I've purchased software online many times and it's quite common for the product link to be sent to you in a separate email, although it's also common for you to be taken directly to the download site upon paying. Clearly, Microsoft don't want to be common.
I did note that there was a warning that not all people were getting the confirmation email but I figured that a company which managed 78 billion dollars in revenue last year would have managed to fix that.
Sunday morning - check emails no dice, but I decided to give them another 24 hours as Microsoft is an older company and probably only works Monday to Friday. Monday morning - no dice again so I took my courage in both my hands and contacted the online help.
"Hi! Thank you for visiting Microsoft Store Customer Support! My name is Joe Bloggs *. How may I help you today?"
I explained how I'd paid for Office 365 without getting the payment...
"I'm so sorry to know that. But don't worry, I will do all my best to help you with this concern."
The patronising tone evident in the call centre style greeting continues - I don't want your best - losers always whine about their best - I want the problem solved!
We got through the procedures to verify my order and the account and then he drops the bomb on me...
"I understand how important this purchase is to you. Sadly,our system encountered an error within the order placing process. Sadly your order has been cancelled."
Gee, great way to do your best people and thanks again for more of your patronising attitude! Your company's incompetence isn't sad, it's downright shameful!
I decided it was time to give him a free assessment of his company's skills:
"This is twice that I have tried to buy Office 365 and not been able to. Pass on to your superiors that your company's incompetence in putting together a basic online sales interface astounds me. I've purchased online from many a small operation and, astonishing as this concept may be to you, they manage to take my payment and give me access to the downloadable items."
Perhaps the dripping sarcasm might provoke a real response:
"I'm so sorry for this inconvenience."
Wishful thinking on my part. Still, I keep telling my students that persistence is important so I try again:
"Please also suggest to them that encouraging their salespeople to talk like members of the human race and not robots wouldn't be a bad idea, either! As for the product, I'm sick of trying to buy it and will use Open Office instead."
A lie re Open Office but I'm getting desperate.
"I will escalate your case to our higher level of Department it takes for about 48-72 hours."
I'm starting to question whether it's a human or a robot on the other end of this conversation, a train of thought encouraged by 'his' next few comments:
"Nothing to worry, I will personally monitor your order here in my end. I will also send you available email updates."
"You are not currently connected to an Answer Tech (Microsoft sales specialist)."
"FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Spoken out loud.
I'm awaiting further developments, I will note that I do not currently have access to Office 365 while according to Teachers Mutual Bank and Paypal, Microsoft still have access to my 119 dollars!
Further updates as they come to hand.
* Name changed to protect the 'salesperson', if he was a real person he was doing 'everything' he was trained to do and I have no particular beef with him other than his choice of career, surely he can do better.
In line with the above, it occurred to me several weeks ago that it was time to update my current MS Office suite, some of the kids I tutor bring assignments in and so it's useful to have MS Office on all my computers and not just some of them as is currently the case. MS Office provides a good solution as it allows you to put MS Office on 5 PC's and 5 tablets, which is certainly enough to cover my needs. And at $119 a year, tax deductible given it's for the business, it didn't seem like a totally unreasonable price to me. I'm well aware of Open Office but it can be bit of a nuisance when the kids don't use it so I prefer to have the standard behemoth.
So, decision made, I clicked into the Microsoft web store, found my way to the product and tried to order it. Epic fail #1. It failed to put my order through. While this doesn't happen often, these things do occur so I just left it for a couple of weeks and came back on Saturday. Order goes through, I get the confirmation email and told that another email including the download link will be sent soon. I've purchased software online many times and it's quite common for the product link to be sent to you in a separate email, although it's also common for you to be taken directly to the download site upon paying. Clearly, Microsoft don't want to be common.
I did note that there was a warning that not all people were getting the confirmation email but I figured that a company which managed 78 billion dollars in revenue last year would have managed to fix that.
Sunday morning - check emails no dice, but I decided to give them another 24 hours as Microsoft is an older company and probably only works Monday to Friday. Monday morning - no dice again so I took my courage in both my hands and contacted the online help.
"Hi! Thank you for visiting Microsoft Store Customer Support! My name is Joe Bloggs *. How may I help you today?"
I explained how I'd paid for Office 365 without getting the payment...
"I'm so sorry to know that. But don't worry, I will do all my best to help you with this concern."
The patronising tone evident in the call centre style greeting continues - I don't want your best - losers always whine about their best - I want the problem solved!
We got through the procedures to verify my order and the account and then he drops the bomb on me...
"I understand how important this purchase is to you. Sadly,our system encountered an error within the order placing process. Sadly your order has been cancelled."
Gee, great way to do your best people and thanks again for more of your patronising attitude! Your company's incompetence isn't sad, it's downright shameful!
I decided it was time to give him a free assessment of his company's skills:
"This is twice that I have tried to buy Office 365 and not been able to. Pass on to your superiors that your company's incompetence in putting together a basic online sales interface astounds me. I've purchased online from many a small operation and, astonishing as this concept may be to you, they manage to take my payment and give me access to the downloadable items."
Perhaps the dripping sarcasm might provoke a real response:
"I'm so sorry for this inconvenience."
Wishful thinking on my part. Still, I keep telling my students that persistence is important so I try again:
"Please also suggest to them that encouraging their salespeople to talk like members of the human race and not robots wouldn't be a bad idea, either! As for the product, I'm sick of trying to buy it and will use Open Office instead."
A lie re Open Office but I'm getting desperate.
"I will escalate your case to our higher level of Department it takes for about 48-72 hours."
I'm starting to question whether it's a human or a robot on the other end of this conversation, a train of thought encouraged by 'his' next few comments:
"Nothing to worry, I will personally monitor your order here in my end. I will also send you available email updates."
"You are not currently connected to an Answer Tech (Microsoft sales specialist)."
"FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Spoken out loud.
I'm awaiting further developments, I will note that I do not currently have access to Office 365 while according to Teachers Mutual Bank and Paypal, Microsoft still have access to my 119 dollars!
Further updates as they come to hand.
* Name changed to protect the 'salesperson', if he was a real person he was doing 'everything' he was trained to do and I have no particular beef with him other than his choice of career, surely he can do better.
Friday, 8 August 2014
NRL Thoughts - the semis approach
My Dragons are definitely doing better than at previous writing, but we are clearly short of some firepower. I think we're struggling a little in the forwards, Benji Marshall is trying hard but is very hit and miss, and I'm not convinced about Dugan in the centres! 4/5 is a pretty big ask for us to make the semis - particularly as one of the 5 is Canberra and Saints fans these days just put a cross next to that game at the start of the season and concentrate on all the others. The fact they're running last is irrelevant, they start as overwhelming favourites to beat us.
Kristy's Doggies haven't looked good these last few weeks but I expect them to find some form when it matters and compete well into September. Having said that, it's hard to go past Manly as premiership favourites for this year, they just seem to have a little more than most teams, particularly as the Roosters just haven't looked as sharp in their premiership defence.
I'm unconvinced by Souths, the nature of their collapse against Manly last year leaves me concerned that they simply won't perform when needed, and it's not like they've looked incredibly dominating so far this year anyway.
Parramatta look good to make the semis with their favourable draw coming home, and to do so would be a great credit to all after some awful seasons. I still will be carrying my voodoo doll for them, though, as some of their supporters are pretty relentless when things are going their way!
Kristy's Doggies haven't looked good these last few weeks but I expect them to find some form when it matters and compete well into September. Having said that, it's hard to go past Manly as premiership favourites for this year, they just seem to have a little more than most teams, particularly as the Roosters just haven't looked as sharp in their premiership defence.
I'm unconvinced by Souths, the nature of their collapse against Manly last year leaves me concerned that they simply won't perform when needed, and it's not like they've looked incredibly dominating so far this year anyway.
Parramatta look good to make the semis with their favourable draw coming home, and to do so would be a great credit to all after some awful seasons. I still will be carrying my voodoo doll for them, though, as some of their supporters are pretty relentless when things are going their way!
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
The cheat I respect
"My name is Lou Vincent and I am a cheat."
Lou Vincent is a former New Zealand Test cricketer who was heavily involved in match fixing in English county cricket. He has, correctly, been suspended for life from involvement in cricket.
Unlike so many in the same situation, however, he has placed the blame where it rests, upon his own shoulders! His statement above is remarkably free of the bullshit that characterises similar statements from business people, journalists, politicians, sportspeople and other celebrities who have been caught doing the wrong thing. He admits his guilt, without qualification. He acknowledges that he has depression, but states bluntly that his depression never prevented him from knowing "right from wrong". He has fully co-operated with the relevant authorities.
He accepts the penalty that he has been given because for a professional sport to prosper, there can be no tolerance of match fixing. The days where one could claim naivete are long past. This is a serious matter for a sport, this isn't some drunken idiot playing games with his own urine. That we have all paid so much attention to Todd Carney's photo yet so little attention to the recent story about NRL players gambling on the game says volumes about the importance we, as fans, place upon the integrity of the game that we follow. Why weren't we all making comments about that? We can't just blame the mass media because with our own social networking choices, we help drive how that mass media acts.
I respect Lou Vincent for looking himself in the mirror and deciding that his own personal integrity going forward is more important than his future cricketing career or maintaining respect for his past performances as a professional sportsman. The man shouldn't be involved with cricket again but I would be willing to buy something off him or avail myself of his services in a different field because he has demonstrated honesty when self interest bade him otherwise. He cheated the game, but he had also cheated himself. He's stopped cheating himself, and he can move forward.
I wish him all the best in his future endeavours and thank him for making it clear that match fixing in cricket isn't just something being perpetrated on the sub continent by cricketers who aren't white!
Lou Vincent is a former New Zealand Test cricketer who was heavily involved in match fixing in English county cricket. He has, correctly, been suspended for life from involvement in cricket.
Unlike so many in the same situation, however, he has placed the blame where it rests, upon his own shoulders! His statement above is remarkably free of the bullshit that characterises similar statements from business people, journalists, politicians, sportspeople and other celebrities who have been caught doing the wrong thing. He admits his guilt, without qualification. He acknowledges that he has depression, but states bluntly that his depression never prevented him from knowing "right from wrong". He has fully co-operated with the relevant authorities.
He accepts the penalty that he has been given because for a professional sport to prosper, there can be no tolerance of match fixing. The days where one could claim naivete are long past. This is a serious matter for a sport, this isn't some drunken idiot playing games with his own urine. That we have all paid so much attention to Todd Carney's photo yet so little attention to the recent story about NRL players gambling on the game says volumes about the importance we, as fans, place upon the integrity of the game that we follow. Why weren't we all making comments about that? We can't just blame the mass media because with our own social networking choices, we help drive how that mass media acts.
I respect Lou Vincent for looking himself in the mirror and deciding that his own personal integrity going forward is more important than his future cricketing career or maintaining respect for his past performances as a professional sportsman. The man shouldn't be involved with cricket again but I would be willing to buy something off him or avail myself of his services in a different field because he has demonstrated honesty when self interest bade him otherwise. He cheated the game, but he had also cheated himself. He's stopped cheating himself, and he can move forward.
I wish him all the best in his future endeavours and thank him for making it clear that match fixing in cricket isn't just something being perpetrated on the sub continent by cricketers who aren't white!
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Improving at chess.
There are three areas where I've tried to improve myself this year: Maths, writing and chess. I've written about my efforts to improve in Maths here but I haven't discussed my efforts to become a better chessplayer.
I first purchased a PC and connected to the Internet back in January 1997, by July 1997 I had signed up to play at the Internet Chess Club (ICC) and I remain a member today. As I will elaborate upon down the track, the ICC became the focus of my online existence for many years and I was one serious ICC addict. In my early years, my chess improved quite a bit as I purchased some books, played a lot of games online and played a few over the board (OTB) tournaments and got better. However, my major focus was the social activity on ICC and not the game itself.
In recent years, the exhilarating array of social contacts that characterised my first decade on ICC has faded, many people I knew then have moved on and with the rise of social networking, ICC is no longer a place which people use to fulfil their social needs online. It's become rather staid and boring. It's still a good place to play the game. I still found myself playing chess, but it was the same fast chess games I'd been playing for fun when ICC was at its peak. You don't get better by simply playing fast games, chess involves thinking and unless you're prepared to do some, you won't improve much.
As I eventually found fast games unfulfilling and didn't have enough online friends to justify spending a lot of time there, I was considering just quitting the game. But I kept logging on, which made me realise that I still liked the game. So, it was clear I had a choice, I could keep playing crappy games, or I could try to actually get better.
I consulted Google University about how to do this and perusing a range of articles led me to Dan Heisman ,among others and they suggested that the key things needed for below average players to improve were tactics, playing long games, tactics, developing one's skills with chess strategy along with a mild focus on openings and endgames. For extra work, they suggested tactics. For advanced work, they suggested more tactics. For non chessplayers, a tactic is a forcing move or set of moves that wins you some of your opponent's army. Strategy is about where you should put your pieces so that they have some chance of participating in a tactic. Openings and endgames, as you just may have guessed, have to do with the start and end phases of the game.
Despite all the years of playing quick games of chess, I am shit at tactics, which is why I'm not that good at the game. I have signed up to Chess Tempo which a website devoted to helping chess shmucks like yours truly develop their tactical skills. It has an extensive free section but the extras were, I think, worth the small cost. I have been following the advice of Dan Heisman in how I am using Chess Tempo. Lots of repetition and lots of problems that are simple as I need to become exceptionally accurate at those problems and I need to be able to recognise those patterns consistently. Good chessplayers are not better at random pattern recognition than ordinary people, but they are superb at recognising chess patterns. I am a regular visitor to Chess Tempo and I am taking its problems seriously.
I have also started playing longer games, I am aiming to play 3 long games during a normal week and 6 long games during a holiday week. A long game is one with a time control of 45 45 or longer, so it should take at least 2 hours if both sides use their time well and will generally take more.
One of the attractions of Bejeweled Blitz was the idea that I could become good at something like I was able to when I was younger. Now I'm wondering how much an old dog, who's played a game for a long time, can improve if he sets his mind to it. Despite all the chess I've played, I have never embarked upon a systematic program of improvement in the game before.
I started about a month ago and I've noticed some small improvements, but I am still well below the heights I reached on ICC at my best, which was a over a decade ago now! When I started my program of improvement, my ICC bullet, blitz and standard ratings hovered around 1600, my Australian Chess Federation (ACF) rating for over the board play was 1341.
I played the NSW Open under 1600 over the June long weekend and achieved an unspectacular 3.5/7, beating 3 weak players and losing to 3 players who were rated a little higher than me, indicating that my rating is pretty accurate for my current level of skill. I missed basic tactics in all 3 of my losses and in 2 of my wins as well, so the decision to focus on basic tactics is clearly wise.
I'm not sure how good I can get, not having seriously tried to improve before. I'm hoping that I can become good enough to seriously compete in an under 1600 tournament with a view to getting a rating of over 1600 so I can play against good players. Online, I'd like to have a rating that hovered in the 2000's on ICC, rather than the 1600's. Neither of those would suddenly make me a great chessplayer, but I think it would be a good indication that being a little older won't prevent you improving at a skill as long as you put in the appropriate effort.
I'm enjoying the process so far so I anticipate it will continue, if it doesn't, it's not critical as this is for fun. I intend to re-visit this post from time to time and see how much I have improved. While the journey is definitely more important than the destination, I am rather curious about where this will all end up!
I first purchased a PC and connected to the Internet back in January 1997, by July 1997 I had signed up to play at the Internet Chess Club (ICC) and I remain a member today. As I will elaborate upon down the track, the ICC became the focus of my online existence for many years and I was one serious ICC addict. In my early years, my chess improved quite a bit as I purchased some books, played a lot of games online and played a few over the board (OTB) tournaments and got better. However, my major focus was the social activity on ICC and not the game itself.
In recent years, the exhilarating array of social contacts that characterised my first decade on ICC has faded, many people I knew then have moved on and with the rise of social networking, ICC is no longer a place which people use to fulfil their social needs online. It's become rather staid and boring. It's still a good place to play the game. I still found myself playing chess, but it was the same fast chess games I'd been playing for fun when ICC was at its peak. You don't get better by simply playing fast games, chess involves thinking and unless you're prepared to do some, you won't improve much.
As I eventually found fast games unfulfilling and didn't have enough online friends to justify spending a lot of time there, I was considering just quitting the game. But I kept logging on, which made me realise that I still liked the game. So, it was clear I had a choice, I could keep playing crappy games, or I could try to actually get better.
I consulted Google University about how to do this and perusing a range of articles led me to Dan Heisman ,among others and they suggested that the key things needed for below average players to improve were tactics, playing long games, tactics, developing one's skills with chess strategy along with a mild focus on openings and endgames. For extra work, they suggested tactics. For advanced work, they suggested more tactics. For non chessplayers, a tactic is a forcing move or set of moves that wins you some of your opponent's army. Strategy is about where you should put your pieces so that they have some chance of participating in a tactic. Openings and endgames, as you just may have guessed, have to do with the start and end phases of the game.
Despite all the years of playing quick games of chess, I am shit at tactics, which is why I'm not that good at the game. I have signed up to Chess Tempo which a website devoted to helping chess shmucks like yours truly develop their tactical skills. It has an extensive free section but the extras were, I think, worth the small cost. I have been following the advice of Dan Heisman in how I am using Chess Tempo. Lots of repetition and lots of problems that are simple as I need to become exceptionally accurate at those problems and I need to be able to recognise those patterns consistently. Good chessplayers are not better at random pattern recognition than ordinary people, but they are superb at recognising chess patterns. I am a regular visitor to Chess Tempo and I am taking its problems seriously.
I have also started playing longer games, I am aiming to play 3 long games during a normal week and 6 long games during a holiday week. A long game is one with a time control of 45 45 or longer, so it should take at least 2 hours if both sides use their time well and will generally take more.
One of the attractions of Bejeweled Blitz was the idea that I could become good at something like I was able to when I was younger. Now I'm wondering how much an old dog, who's played a game for a long time, can improve if he sets his mind to it. Despite all the chess I've played, I have never embarked upon a systematic program of improvement in the game before.
I started about a month ago and I've noticed some small improvements, but I am still well below the heights I reached on ICC at my best, which was a over a decade ago now! When I started my program of improvement, my ICC bullet, blitz and standard ratings hovered around 1600, my Australian Chess Federation (ACF) rating for over the board play was 1341.
I played the NSW Open under 1600 over the June long weekend and achieved an unspectacular 3.5/7, beating 3 weak players and losing to 3 players who were rated a little higher than me, indicating that my rating is pretty accurate for my current level of skill. I missed basic tactics in all 3 of my losses and in 2 of my wins as well, so the decision to focus on basic tactics is clearly wise.
I'm not sure how good I can get, not having seriously tried to improve before. I'm hoping that I can become good enough to seriously compete in an under 1600 tournament with a view to getting a rating of over 1600 so I can play against good players. Online, I'd like to have a rating that hovered in the 2000's on ICC, rather than the 1600's. Neither of those would suddenly make me a great chessplayer, but I think it would be a good indication that being a little older won't prevent you improving at a skill as long as you put in the appropriate effort.
I'm enjoying the process so far so I anticipate it will continue, if it doesn't, it's not critical as this is for fun. I intend to re-visit this post from time to time and see how much I have improved. While the journey is definitely more important than the destination, I am rather curious about where this will all end up!
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