Independent Component 2

Literal: 

a. I, Diego Cortez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b. For my independent component 2, I have logged in a total of 38 hours on Chess.com after playing an overall number of 152 games against ranked opponents.( Average of 15 mins/per game) I have also completed a small-scale experiment to try to prove whether solving chess puzzles will increase overall online rank. I also completed a lab write-up for said experiment. 

Interpretive

Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.

The reason I did so many hours of independent games was because I wanted to build up a lot of personal experience to be able to test out my different potential answers. I believe this already is proficient work because I have more than 38 amount of hours playing games and developing skill, which is clearly evident in the 13 % increase in my overall online rank since the beginning of the year. However, I took it a step farther, and preformed and wrote a report on a "mini- experiment" to try to prove a potential answer, "Solving chess puzzles will increase skill." Despite the fact that this is probably no longer one of my top 3 answers, I still feel I learned a lot about how different forms of practice can help a player improve. 

Applied

How did it help you answer your EQ?  Be specific and use examples.

My EQ is "What is the best way to win a game of chess?" It would be impossible to answer this question with relevant  answers if I had no experience with the game. Again, I want personal experience with the content that I want to teach during my 2 hour presentation. If I am asked about how I am an "expert" in my topic, I wanted to be able to show them the work that I have done with independent studies. Playing over a total of 326 online ranked games throughout my senior year is something that I am proud of and I believe is evidence of a lot of personal experience and commitment to the topic.  

Chess Puzzle Experiment lab report (Google Doc):

Lab Report

Hours Log Calendar (google calendar):

Log Calendar( View in month-mode)

Evidence of 30 hours of work: 

For the evidence, I will simply provide my account's(diegocortez28) public game archive on chess.com. It keeps track of every single game I have played on the site.

My chess.com game archive

Helping 2013

Interview with Evan Muth.

(1) What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

• (their answer) He had 2 ideas for his senior project, Robotic's or Anthropology. He chose these topics because he already has an idea for service learning for both and he finds them very interesting. 
• (What feedback did you offer when you heard the topic ideas?) I thought these were pretty interesting ideas and I told him choose one as fast as possible to get a head start on next year. 

(2) What do you plan to do to complete the 10 hours of service learning (working with an expert) which is due prior to senior year starting?  Note: They also have to complete the 50 hours during the school year.

• (their answer) He can take a course on either topic during the summer at the University of San Diego. This would exceed the 10 hour requirement easily.  
• (What feedback did you offer them in response?) I told him it was great that he already has his plan set out to meet next year's goals. 

(3) What do you hope to see or expect to see when watching the class of 2012 present their two hour presentations?

• (their answer) He is looking to see how much he will have to do for his own project. He also wants to watch for examples of Essential questions because he is not sure what his will be.
• (What suggestions did give them regarding how they should approach watching the 2 hour presentations?)  I told him to absorb as much knowledge from the 2 hours as possible because you can get a fairly good idea of what works and what doesn't. 

(4) What questions do they have about senior project?  What additional recommendations would you give the 2013 student about senior project?  Be specific and note what you told them.

• (questions they had) He had a question about research check's and the overall binder due at the end. So I clarified the overall count and dates to watch out for. 
• (What additional recommendations did you give them?) I told him if he is responsible with his work and does not procrastinate, senior year won't be the horrible year everyone hypes it up to be. 

Blog: Answers

Answer 1: Play against superior opponents as often as possible

Answer 2: Study the games played by Grandmasters

Answer 3: Utilize a flexible strategy

Blog 22: Answer #3

Essential Question: What is the best way to win a game of chess?

Answer 3: It is important to remember to remain flexible during a game while also remaining consistent with your strategy.

Evidence
- A player who is flexible to the opponent's moves (can quickly adapt to any situation that occurs on board) will not have much success in the result of the game if there is no underlying strategy that your ultimate goal ends up in. 
- In the same way, a player who doesn't deviate from his per-determined strategy will also be unsuccessful because adapting to an opponent's moves is a huge part of knowing what specific strategies will work against them.
- It is important to keep a combination of both flexibility and consistency during a game, flexibility to react well to an opponent's strategy and the consistency of using a set strategy to actually work towards an endgame.

Source
- An article called flexibility vs consistency found on chess.com actually enlightened me on the importance of both factors and made me consider it as an answer.
- During my 3rd interview I actually asked the question, " What is more important, flexibility or consistency?" to be answered with wise advice that a combination of both is essential.
- Speaking on personal experience with the game, I have found that responding to every opponent's move will make you aggressive but will not give you a solid board position. Playing stiffly off a recently-learned strategy might be terrible against an opponent who is reacting to your moves and continuing with a failed plan will only lead you to a loss.