Newsletter Issue #115 Tactics Time 
Behavior Change

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein


tactics position 115
 
 
T
 
 
 
his position comes from one of my games on RHP.
 
   In the position on the right it is Black to move
 
   Answer below.
 
   Today I want to talk about an idea that I learned from Eben Pagan and Wyatt Woodsmall on the subject of learning itself.
 
   Wyatt says that "Learning is behavior change".  

   For most of us, Learning just means that you know something. It's a simple thing to understand, right?

   If someone tells you how to lose weight, for example, then you've 'learned' how to lose weight, right?

   Not so, according to Wyatt and Eben.

   What they teach is that "Learning equals Behavior Change". In other words, learning isn't learning, and matters very little if it doesn't effect some change in you.
 
   So if you read how to do an Arabian Mate, solve a puzzle, but then miss a similar mate a week later at your chess club, you haven't really learned anything, because your behavior didn't change.
 
   They also teach that 'Education' means literally 'drawing out' what's already inside a person, not 'filling' them up with information they don't need or want.
 
   That is really what I would like to do with these Tactics Time newsletters.  Many of you can find the right moves in these positions when they are presented as a chess puzzle.  Most of them aren't really that difficult.
 
   And I have no desire to fill your brain with useless chess knowledge just for the sake of it.
 
    What I would really like to draw out of you is the behavior change of always seeing these same types of tactics in your real games. 
 
   To look for tactics on every move
 
   To never miss a tactic, or an opponent's tactic. 
 
   To just see the tactic automatically through pattern recognition
 
   The skills to find the tactics are already in most of you, they just needs to be used on a highly consistent basis - i.e. behavior change, and true learning.
 
   This will cause you to win more games, raise your rating, and have more fun playing chess! 
 
   That is my goal :-)
 
 
   Here is the complete game:
 
[Event "Ladder"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2011.01.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tsloan"]
[Black "Timmybx"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C20"]
[WhiteElo "1155"]
[BlackElo "1779"]
[PlyCount "98"]

1. e4 e5 2. d3 Bc5 3. c3 d6 4. b4 Bb6 5. a4 a6 6. Bd2 Nf6 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Bxf6
Qxf6 9. Qe2 O-O 10. c4 Nd7 11. Nf3 c5 12. bxc5 Bxc5 13. Qc2 Bg4 14. Nbd2 Rfe8
15. h3 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Re6 17. Be2 Qf4 18. g3 Qh6 19. Qd2 a5 20. Qxh6 Rxh6 21. h4
Rf8 22. g4 Re6 23. g5 f5 24. gxf6 Rexf6 25. Rh2 Bb4+ 26. Kf1 Nc5 27. Rh3 Nxd3
28. h5 Nf4 29. Rh2 Nxe2 30. Kxe2 Rxf3 31. Rg2 Bc5 32. Kd2 Rxf2+ 33. Rxf2 Rxf2+
34. Kd3 Bd4 35. Re1 Rh2 36. Rb1 b6 37. Rg1 Rxh5 38. Rg3 Rh2 39. Rg1 Ra2 40. Rb1
Rxa4 41. Rd1 h5 42. Rg1 Bxg1 43. Kc3 h4 44. Kb3 Rb4+ 45. Kc3 Bd4+ 46. Kd3 h3
47. Ke2 h2 48. Kd2 h1=Q 49. Kd3 Qd1# 0-1
 
 
   You can play through this game here: http://tacticstime.com/?page_id=2200.
 
 
   Answer:
 
   27...Nxd3 picks up a pawn.  The Bishop is e2 is overloaded and cannot protect both the d3 pawn, and the knight on f3, which is attacked twice by the battery of rooks on the f file.
 
 
   Happy Tactics!
 
   Your Friend,
  Tim

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