<Annika and Frodo or something like that? Remember those hags?>

I was also an "adventure rider" for a short time.

I made the mistake of applying for the job of "adventure rider" in a newspaper.

Imagine how I felt after I worked the first 8 hour shift, hanging from the tail-gate of a pickup truck and picking up broken pieces of glass off of the highway using only my butt cheeks.

I agree the shots are poor. It's hard to believe these were taken with a D3. I also hope she has better glass than the third-party 17-200 she claims is her favorite lens.

God it is tough!

no <chess the easy way> there...

Yah I use it too- you are a better solver at the moment, but I'm inching up to your range. As for what performance rating the Tempo rating corresponds to-I think that is virtually a meaningless comparison.>

Haha.. I was just kidding there about my performance rating, of course, in light of all the controversies surrounding the CG discussions around Magnum Opus' Manga performance recently at the Spring water site.

<But in terms of how such tactic training "helps" a person's OTB strength is a topic of hot discussion.

I read an article recently that claimed it had ZERO effect on increasing your performance strength in real chess games (Ie- not Blitz/Rapid)->

Well, a Chess game encompasses a lot of techniques that have to all come/gel together if you were to win a chess game.

Some great player said something like - Play Opening like a Professor/Theoretician, Middle game like a Magician/Tactician and the End game like a Machine with absolute precision.

So, tactics training is only one aspect amongst many in Chess.

<Because you are never "cued" when to look for a deep tactic in a real game. In a puzzle, you always know there is a very strong move worth looking for.

So I'm not sure. I like to think it helps- since I bust my brain on that site.>

Of course it helps. May be not in the Opening and Endgame phases, but definitely develops your pattern recognition/ analytical solving technique in the middle game phase. There are a lot of solvers who love the 'CG puzzle of the day' and go for it with all seriousness and due diligence everyday.

Personally, for my taste, I like the middle game phase because this is where I feel is the creative aspect of chess lies. I am not saying nor am I naive to believe that Opening phase and Endgame phases are not important, but they don't appeal to me as much as the middle game strategy.

Atleast so, for a person who is more analytical in nature. I've always been drawn to various kinds of puzzles (math, analytical, mensa, chess) ever since my school days.

<I enjoy this training "for itself" however, and I can't imagine it could hurt your OTB strength.>

I for sure don't believe that it will hurt the OTB strength. It only will enhance it.

<Not just your losses of course but every single game. Example- I just posted parts of a game I played today over in <hms123> forum. It took around two hours to complete the game->

I will check the game out. Long term strategy planning during a chess game is where I lack the chess strength in currently.

lol

Personally I always thought I was a better pure calculator of variations.

<hms> Yes, primes are indeed of higher optical quality, for the price. They have fewer elements, are less complex, and generally won't be as likely to suffer from chromatic aberration and distortion. As <craw> says, they're also much faster.

My 50mm 1.4 is far and away the fastest lens I own. It's also the cheapest. It's a tiny compared to e.g. my 70-200 2.8, mostly tack sharp (perhaps not wide open), and I love using it, as 50mm feels very natural.

"The new EF 1200 was marketed by Canon from July, 1993 with an annual production volume of around 2 [!] lenses. The EF 1200 L was available by special order with lead times running about 18 months.