By 

Andre E. Harding (New York, NY USA) –

  

Durability: Fun: Educational: 

As a reference point, I am rated 1900 USCF.

I wrote another review on Convekta’s CHESS COMBINATIONS ENCYCLOPEDIA here on Amazon and noted that when I finished that CD (which improved my tactics significantly) I would get this one.

What actually happened is that once I finished about 1,100-1,200 problems on that CD, I noticed that what remained was too easy for me, and so I bought CT-ART 3.0 sooner than I planned.

One thing I noticed right away: CT-ART 3.0 is MUCH more difficult than CHESS COMBINATIONS ENCYCLOPEDIA! I can say with complete confidence that players rated 2200-2300 would be challenged by it. The difference in difficulty is reflected by the fact that I typically get an ELO performance of 2400-and change, but after having done over 700 problems, I am only getting 76% of the points available! You can FEEL the difference in this program, I didn’t realize it would be so stark, but I’m happy about it since I want the challenge.

About the “Test” Mode on this program: you can set the rating level from 0-3150! There are many problems they rate 2400-2600 level.

Something I noticed: the problems given are very demanding of the correct execution of tactical shots. You can get a puzzle and know all the themes present and/or stock sacrifices available, but that’s the easy part!

[For example, today I got a problem where Black had Pe6,f7,g7,h7, Kg8 and with White I had Qd1,Bd3,Bg5,Nh5...I had the choice of Bxh7+, Nxg7, Nf6+, Bh6, a Q-move, etc. and it took me a couple of tries to catch onto the exact idea!]

It is definitely a challenge to implement the tacical ideas in precisely the correct way. This program has actually improved the speed and accuracy of my calculation in the 3-4 weeks I’ve had it.

I typically don’t use the Practice mode, but soon I will start to use it more: the breakdown of tactical themes by Blokh is incredible–detailed with things one never sees in tactics books.

Make sure to check the boxes White/Black, Kingside/Queenside. In this way they flip some problems up to two different ways and the problems look very different, at least at first. For example, I got a position that seemed familiar but I couldn’t quite place it…after about 30 seconds I realized it was the same piece setup from Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz 1907, but with White attacking Black’s kingside (instead of vice-versa in the actual game)! I’ve also gotten a “remix” of Stein-Portisch, Stockholm 1962 where Black attacks White’s queenside, instead of White attacking Black’s kingside in the actual game! Even if you eventually recognize the position, it’s good for reinforcement.

I guess since this is version 3.0, they have fixed the errors of the type CCE has, since I haven’t encountered any errors yet.

If you like computer chess training at all, CT-ART 3.0 is indispensible.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (2)