this was broght up some time ago and i was wondering if anyone could spare some time to teach me some pointers about the game. i generally stay in the mid to low 1200's and i am aspiring to make the marine corps chess team. to do this i need to get a rating of around 1700 or so. if i make this goal, i would be going over to iraq in jan. as expected i dont think and i would get to travel all over the place doing something that i love. anyone with a hoigher rating than me is more than welcome to offer up any advice that they would be willing to share.
thanks
mike
Originally posted by usmc7257I would think that the best way to improve fast would be to do loads and loads of tactical excercises.
this was broght up some time ago and i was wondering if anyone could spare some time to teach me some pointers about the game. i generally stay in the mid to low 1200's and i am aspiring to make the marine corps chess team. to do this i need to get a rating of around 1700 or so. if i make this goal, i would be going over to iraq in jan. as expected i dont ...[text shortened]... ore than welcome to offer up any advice that they would be willing to share.
thanks
mike
I agree. During the climb to 1700 you can expect most of you opponents (or you) to blunder between moves 10 and 15 (seriously, run some pgns through a computer). Good tactics will help insure you find it. And besides, the purpose of positional play is to create a good tactical situation. It helps immensly if you know what one looks like beforehand.
The plan:
Study one system on each side of the board for a long time (I would stick to an e4 system for white and the french for black. They are safe, you want the other guy to blunder first.). Only play those systems (you can usually get your opponent to transpose into your system at this level, this is an important skill as well). Do a web search to get the ideas behind your systems. Then study master games (available by a web search as well) and make sure you *completely* understand each of the first 15 moves on both sides and the theme behind them (there is one trust me) and how the theme fits in with the over all idea researched above. If your openent breaks from the mainlines it's probably a mistake (expect this to happen on or before move 5). Because of your studies you will know why this break is a bad idea and thus you will know how to play your next five moves to force the blunder around move 10. Once you have the wood, force trades with tactics (your extra material is move valuable with less peices on the board) and win the pawn endgame.
Once you and your opponents are above 1700. This is where things get more interesting...
Good Luck.