The Toaster and Kettle Chess Academy VII

Squeezing in some chess where I can.

This week I’m moving on from habits to routines. Specifically, The Growth Equation podcast episode "Everything You Need to Know About Routines"

I’m not sure I want to get into an in-depth look at the difference between habits and routines. For now I’m just going to go with the feeling that routines feel bigger somehow. A collection of habits, perhaps.

In any event, when talking about the benefits of a routine, the first benefit that Steve Magness discusses is automation. It’s not difficult to see why it helps with chess training in general and TKCA in particular.

"Am I going to look at some chess whilst I toast my bagel this morning?"

If I don’t ask myself the question I don’t give yourself the opportunity to find a reason to say "No." Which means the chess is more likely to happen.

The decision is automated, like one of those pre-checked boxes on internet forms. Yes, I could click on the box to uncheck it, but that tiny bit of extra effort means I’m likely not to.

Building chess training into a routine, even just a short session, means I’m more likely to do it. And chess improvement is all about putting the hours in.

It’s as simple as that. It’s also more than that, though, so I’ll be returning to this theme for a few weeks yet.

T&KCA:

Pandolfini’s Endgame Course

KEY:

CHAPTER
Major Section

sub-section

001 - position still to be completed

001 - position completed

001 - king and pawn position that I’ve calculated to a theoretical win but not yet all the way to mate.

section - section completed in its entirety

PIECES IN ACTION

Checkmate: Major Pieces

001 Queen and Rook

002

003 Rook and Rook

004 Queen

005

006

007

008 Rook

009

010

011

Checkmate: Minor Pieces

012 Two bishops

013

014

015

016 Bishop and Knight

017

018

019

020

021

022

023

024

Major Pieces

025 Two Queens

026 Queen vs Queen

027

028 Queen vs Rook

029

030

031

032

033

034

Rooks and Minor Pieces

035 Rook vs Bishop

036

037

038

039

040 Rook vs Knight

041

042 Rook and Bishop vs Rook

043

044

045

046

047

PAWNS IN ACTION

King and Pawn vs King

048 Square of the pawn

049

050 Escort problems

051

052 Pawn on the 7th rank

053 Pawn on the 6th rank

054

055

056

057

058

059

060 Pawn on the 5th rank

061

062

063

064 Pawn on the 4th rank

065

066

067 Pawn on the 3rd rank

068

069

070 Pawn on the 2nd rank

071

072

073 Rook pawns

074

075

King and Two Pawns vs King

076 Doubled pawns

077 

078 Connected pawns

079

080 Split pawns - 1 file apart

081

082

083

084 Split pawns - 2 files apart

085

King and Pawn vs King and Pawn

086 Pawns on the same file

087

088

089

090

091

092 Pawns on adjacent files

093

094

095

096 Passed pawns

097

098

099

100

King and Two Pawns vs King and Pawn

101 All passed pawns

102

103 Opposing pawns plus passed pawn

104

105

106 Three adjacent files

107 Protected passed pawn

108

109 Backward pawn

110

111

112

113

114 Connected pawns

115

116

117

118

King and Pawn: Miscellaneous

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

PIECES AND PAWNS IN ACTION

Major Pieces vs Pawn

129 Queen vs pawn

130

131

132

133

134

135 Rook vs pawn

136

137

138

139

140

141 Rook vs two pawns

142

143

144

Minor Pieces vs Pawn

145 Bishop vs pawn

146

147 Knight vs pawn

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156 Knights vs pawn

157

158

Minor Piece + Pawn

159 Bishop and pawn

160

161

162

163

164

165 Bishop and pawn vs pawn

166

167

168

169 Knight and pawn

170

171

172

173 Knight and pawn vs pawn

174

175

176

Major Pieces

177 Queen vs Rook and pawn

178 Queen and pawn vs Rook and pawn

179

180 Queen and pawn vs Queen

181

182

183

184

Major Pieces: Rooks

185 Rook and pawn (7th rank) vs Rook

186

187

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197 Rook and pawn (6th rank) vs Rook

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205 Rook and pawn (5th or 4th rank) vs Rook

206

207

208

209

210

211

212

213 Rooks and pawns

214

215

216

Minor Pieces

217 Bishop and pawns vs Bishop

218

219

220

221

222

223

224

225

226

227

228

229 Knight and pawns vs Knight

230

231 Bishop and pawn vs Knight

232

233

234

235

236 Knight and pawn vs Bishop

237

238

239