[toolslive]

Very interesting. For humans, analyzing concrete positions with a player that's > 400 rating points above you is fairly useless. You're way better off with a player that's some 200 rating points higher. The reason is that they still, sort of have the same type of understanding of chess than you do, while the high rated player plays another game.

A remark about opening preparation: The best metaphor I've seen here is the one about snooker. Ronnie O'Sullivan needs a good safety game because his opponent can clear the table. You don't.