I seem to play defensive chess. I never seem to have a plan of action, and when I look at the chessboard, nothing I want to do will work because of "all those others." (chessmen)
I have ordered Seirawan' Winning Chess Strategy, and I have books on tactics. And even though I make a lot of blunders and need to keep working on tactics, I still need a plan of action.
Anyone have any thoughts?
I saw on Amazon a software called "Strategy 2.0" by Convekta. Would that help me? Do any of you have this software?
I love this game and I want to get where I begin winning a few games not losing.
Thanks.
grit
Originally posted by grithi grit, i bought the convekta strategy 2.0 and it was way too advanced for me, i think that unless you are pushing 1800+ and above, this would be a waste of time. i know how you feel with regard to playing plan less chess, when there is no clear over all strategy how are our thoughts able to harmonize if we do not have an overall plan. what some do is simply play tactically looking for or trying to create opportunities for tactical shots, however the real satisfaction comes from having an over all plan and see it reach its fruition, and that is the beauty of strategy! what can i say that can help you other than know yourself!
I seem to play defensive chess. I never seem to have a plan of action, and when I look at the chessboard, nothing I want to do will work because of "all those others." (chessmen)
I have ordered Seirawan' Winning Chess Strategy, and I have books on tactics. And even though I make a lot of blunders and need to keep working on tactics, I still need a plan of ac this game and I want to get where I begin winning a few games not losing.
Thanks.
grit
what type of games do you enjoy playing? look at your games and the reasons to why you are losing? is it tactical, then practice tactics, if you can see three, four and five move shots then this is not the problem, it then comes down to personal style and preference, do you like to play with the pieces, make sacrifices and take chances? then open games are for you, perhaps some well known gambits, do you like to play with the pawns, then perhaps slow positional games are advantageous. are you getting hammered in the opening phase? do you survive the opening only to find yourself in a plan less middle game? then have a general strategy (i say general because many times the strategy is over turned and we need to formulate a new one, our opponents also gets to move!), for example, we may wish to keep the center closed and play on the wings, its a general strategy, we may wish to control certain color complexes, perhaps there is a weakness on the dark squares that we can exploit for example after a bishop exchange, just for talking sake, perhaps our opponent has erroneously created a 'hole', a weak square that we can exploit, can we co-ordinate our pieces to take advantage of it! or for example has our opponent delayed castling so that his king is in a perilous sate, can we open up lines towards his king that may facilitate an attack?all these are general strategies that can help to formulate a cunning plan, some of the other guys will also be able to provide some good references.
i myself am reading quite an old book written in 1983 entitled master chess, it has twenty one lessons covering all aspects of chess, from tactics to how to formulate a plan, to general opening principles and endgame studies, it only cost £5 on amazon.co.uk but i believe you can get it even cheaper in the states.
yes we love the game, so take the ups with the downs and you will surely progress, the worst thing that can happen to us is that we get hammered so many times that the experience is so painful it makes us want to give up, try not to let these experiences get to you but view them as a learning experience - regards Robert.
How good are you ? If you are 1000+ then go with some good classic like Irnev Chernev's Logical chess, or with Josh Waitzkin "Chessmaster" tutorials.
Jeremy Silman is one chess author who insists on plan, plan, plan ! Try to go through his book "Amateurs mind" devoted to middlegame i. e. strategic ideas, concepts, rules, playing.
Brush up your tactics (most important for you now) on some of various tactics servers like chess.emrald.net, chesstempo.com, chess.com.
Learn about tactics elements at www.chesstactics.org ! ! Fantastic (and free) site.
There are a lot of good and easy to reach resources which will help you to develop predator insticts on the chessboard 🙂
Robert, thank you for your well thought out and helpful post. It helps to know that at one time you, too, felt a bit like I do. Your post seemed to hit the nail on the head as far as where I am and what I need to do about it. Thank you!
Ivan, loved your link to Predator at the Chessboard. Maybe I will one day be one!
As for my rating, I don't know it. I'm guessing it is around 800 - 1000.
Thanks again.
grit
Originally posted by gritI'm rated maybe a bit higher than you, but not by a lot. At my level, I don't worry too much about fancy plans. What plans I do have tend to be simple and not too deep. In the opening, I work on general opening principles - develop all my pieces as fast as possible. (If I can develop my pieces faster than my opponent, then I have an advantage.) Fight for control of the center, normally castle early for king safety, get my bishops, knights, and queen off the back rank to connect my rooks, and put the rooks on open/semi-open files. (Basic Purdy advice.)
I seem to play defensive chess. I never seem to have a plan of action, and when I look at the chessboard, nothing I want to do will work because of "all those others." (chessmen)
I have ordered Seirawan' Winning Chess Strategy, and I have books on tactics. And even though I make a lot of blunders and need to keep working on tactics, I still need a plan of ac this game and I want to get where I begin winning a few games not losing.
Thanks.
grit
Once out of the opening, I work harder at looking for tactical shots. At my level, tactics is by far the largest determinant of who'll win the game. But I don't totally ignore strategy. If I see that I can put a knight on a good outpost or attack a weak pawn, then that becomes my plan. And when I do that, I start looking for another plan, but never stopping my tactical searches.
I'm not sure what you mean by defensive chess. I always try to take the initiative when given the opportunity, but I also try not to take unnecessary risks. If I see that my opponent has left one side of the board mostly undefended, then I might consider an attack on that side. But you can't be aggressive all the time. Piece safety is most important; If you're dropping pieces, very little of the strategy stuff matters.
You mentioned that nothing you want to do will work because of "all those others." That may be because your opponents are seeing more tactics and strategy than you are. That's likely the case if you're playing higher rated players. In that case, you might never get the chance to attack, because your opponent beat you to the punch, and you're spending all of your effort into defending your position. (This happens to me far too often.)
Finally, when I can't find any tactics or good strategic moves, I just try to develop or improve my worst-placed piece. At least that seems to be better than just aimlessly moving some piece around.
Robert, that web site is an absolute gold mine. It will take me a while to digest even some of it!
I now have Winning Chess Strategy by Seirawan and also his Playing Winning Chess. I'm getting out my little magnetic chessboard and going to use that as I read.
Ivan suggested Silman's book. Have you read any of his books? Someone said his Endgame book was the best place to start. But everywhere his name keeps coming up as a great chess writer/thinker.
Right now I am struggling with an online tournament with 4 other people and trying to hold my own. I just jumped in and signed up to play and it has been a baptism of fire. They all out rank me, but this is a great opportunity for me to participate and even if I go down in all 4 matches, I think it is good for me.
Thanks so much for your post and your interest.
stwils
Originally posted by robbie carrobieGood find, Robert. I'll bookmark this one for supplementary commentary when I'm looking up specific lines in MCO. (Although that's not too often for me, it might help me occasionally.) Thanks!
check this site out, it has all the major strategical plans for both black and white from the opening through to middle game, and its free!
http://chesscoach1950.blogspot.com/search?q=scicilian
Originally posted by grithi, no problemo, it was actualy another player katastroof who first posted it on another thread, greenpawns 150 year old chess trap, so credit where credit is due, i like it because we at least get some kind of understanding of what we are trying to achieve - kind regards to all, robbie
Robert, that web site is an absolute gold mine. It will take me a while to digest even some of it!
I now have Winning Chess Strategy by Seirawan and also his Playing Winning Chess. I'm getting out my little magnetic chessboard and going to use that as I read.
Ivan suggested Silman's book. Have you read any of his books? Someone said his Endgame book was t ...[text shortened]... tches, I think it is good for me.
Thanks so much for your post and your interest.
stwils