Nobody should be left behind

Nobody should be left behind. I did a search for "improve your chess" on google and found the following :-

- http://www.totalchess.com/
- http://www.improveyourchess.com/
- http://chess.about.com/od/improveyourgame/
- http://www.uschess.org/beginners/

It bothers me that quite a few people have been playing on this site and are still prone to making :-

- one move blunders
- Queen moves in the opening
- wind assisted chess
- playing like they were playing bullet chess. That is the next thing to "chess suicide".

Don't get left behind. Read up and practice what is on sites such as the above. I'm sure there are other better sites so do share them with us.

In fact this business of improving has been covered before, read Thread 39309 and Thread 49595 by User 114275 as there is a lot of good advice in there.

Originally posted by z00t
In fact this business of improving has been covered before, read Thread 39309 and Thread 49595 by User 114275 as there is a lot of good advice in there.

If only I could get Russ to do this, my job would be complete 🙂

Come on Russ, look after your own interest first.

Originally posted by z00t

It bothers me that quite a few people have been playing on this site and are still prone to making :-

- Queen moves in the opening

Tell that to the former US Champion, Hikaru Nakamura:

Nakamura,H (2657) - Mitkov,N (2530) [C20]
HB Global CC Minneapolis USA (8), 22.05.2005
1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 g6 4.Qf3 Nf6 5.Ne2 d6 6.h3 Bg7 7.d3 Be6 8.Bb3 h6 9.Be3 Bxb3 10.axb3 d5 11.0–0 0–0 12.Na3 Kh7 13.b4 a6 14.c3 Qd6 15.Ng3 Rad8 16.Nc2 Qe6 17.Qe2 Rfe8 18.Rad1 Rd7 19.Bc1 Red8 20.Rfe1 Ng8 21.f4 exf4 22.Bxf4 Nf6 23.e5 Ng8 24.d4 f6 25.exf6 Qxe2 26.Rxe2 Nxf6 27.Ne1 a5 28.bxa5 Nxa5 29.Nd3 Rf7 30.Rde1 Ng8 31.Nh1 Nc4 32.Nhf2 Rdf8 33.Bh2 c6 34.Nc5 Ra8 35.Nfd3 Ra2 36.Rb1 Nf6 37.Nb4 Ra8 38.Rbe1 Ng8 39.b3 Nb6 40.Nbd3 Ra3 41.Rb1 Nc8 42.Na4 Nf6 43.Kh1 Ne4 44.Rc2 g5 45.Nac5 Ncd6 46.Ne6 Nb5 47.Nxg7 Rxg7 48.Be5 Rf7 49.c4 dxc4 50.bxc4 Nxd4 51.Bxd4 Rxd3 52.Be5 Re7 53.Bh2 Kg6 54.Rcb2 Rc3 55.Rxb7 ½–½

yea, Nakamura is the only GM in the world who would play that. Then again, NAKAMURA PLAYS EVERYTHING!

That is the parhan but unfortunately for most on this site who play it leads to doom. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parham_Attack It is based on opportunism which works against 1000-1200 Elo players.

The best way for those who want to improve is to avoid such wind-assisted chess and follow conventional chess theory. You cannot start driving on the wrong side of the road/ignoring your driving instructor while a beginner then when you go for the test flop and wonder why?

Originally posted by Wulebgr
Tell that to the former US Champion, Hikaru Nakamura

It must be good if he's using it to draw as white against someone rated 127 points below him 🙂

Chess improvement contd :-

A site I was looking at the other day by a British GM has useful advice http://www.jlevitt.dircon.co.uk/adv.htm

Originally posted by GM Advice
‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you sure as hell ain’t going to get there’, is another old saying with some truth in it. Just as it is bad to drift without a plan when handling a particular game position, so it is bad to drift without some ‘strategic’ overview of how you are going to improve your game (assuming that is your objective). Why are you going to be stronger in six months time than you are now? Where will you play during that time, what work will you be doing on your game? If you do not have answers ready to questions like these, then it may help to bring the process under more conscious control.

Yip, some good advice ...Why are you going to be stronger in six months time than you are now?

Originally posted by z00t
Yip, some good advice ...Why are you going to be stronger in six months time than you are now?

Because I'll be working out, lifting weights and getting buns of steel. 😉

Originally posted by z00t
Nobody should be left behind. I did a search for [b]"improve your chess" on google and found the following :-
It bothers me that quite a few people have been playing on this site and are still prone to making :-

- one move blunders
- Queen moves in the opening
- wind assisted chess
- playing like they were playing bullet chess. That is the next thin ...[text shortened]... n sites such as the above. I'm sure there are other better sites so do share them with us.[/b]

Good advice but I suspect many will want to argue with 2600+ GM Alex Yermolinsky when he said:

“There are plenty of examples of bad teaching. The books written on that subject (offbeat openings) are very enthusiastic… Such conditioning goes a long way towards creating an illusion of originality and making your opponent think on his own terms…regardless of the true value of what you do on the chessboard. Whenever I see this weak stuff played against me I feel my confidence growing and usually do well. Statistics only prove the point: Black scores at least 50% in those lines in today’s practice. Widely disseminated promises to introduce new methods, to reveal secrets of the Soviet School of Chess, etc., are no more than smart advertising.”

He recommends playing openings you see the GM’s playing. He also is quick to point out there's no easy short cuts to improving and the reason to study openings is to get a playable middlegame. A quick look at the games of top players on this site to see what they play should be enlightening.

Argue with Yermo if you want, but I just did a quick review of my own most recent postal (i.e. using post cards-some of us still do that) tmt. results just to see what happens in the real world. Here’s my results against various rated opponents.

Rating: My results:
Under 1400: 5-0 due to tactical errors by opponents
1400-1800: 2-0 tactical errors, 2-0 bad endgame play
1800-1900: 2-0 tactical errors, 1-0 bad endgame play
1900-2000: 3 draws with no serious tactical errors I found
2000-2100: 1-0 bad endgame play, 1 draw
2100+: 3 draws

There were no miniatures because all openings were standard, mainline openings…no offbeat stuff. However, against a couple of the under 1400’s after we left the book they lost quickly because of tactical errors. What these results tell me is under 1400’s didn’t to get to the endgame because they missed too many tactics right out of the opening. From 1400-1900 the problem is tactics & endgame play. Over 1900, well, their errors are more subtle than I can detect at my level. My conclusion: avoid the weird stuff and play solid openings, study tactics and endgames. When you get to Nakamura's level THEN you can play anything you want!

Who is arguing with Yermolinksy? What he has said corresponds perfectly to what I'm talking about/sites linked. Chess is a game of strategy not weight-lifting/axe grinding as some are trying to make it out.

Originally posted by z00t
Who is arguing with Yermolinksy? What he has said corresponds perfectly to what I'm talking about/sites linked. Chess is a game of strategy not weight-lifting/axe grinding as some are trying to make it out.

I'm agreeing with you. I just know some people are going to argue that one shouldn't study openings at all or if you do, you should play 1.Na3 or 1.e4 and 2.Qh5 or some such. Too many are looking for that one magic system that'll win games...won't happen. I frequently see threads here where low rated players are giving each other advice on how to improve while ignoring sound advice that'll lead to real improvement. But, silly me, I make the assumption that if you have a higher rating than me you can offer sounder advice than my peers so maybe I should listen.

“thanks for the responses”
“Good advice”
“what a response! thank you all for your advice and comments”
“I'll take your suggestion under consideration”

All comments from lower rated players receiving advice from higher rated on another site where I’m a sub. Something you rarely see here! It’s unfortunate more higher rated players don’t take part in the forums here.

That "improveyourchess.com" looked too good to be true. Turns out you have to pay for it.🙁 I haven't checked out the others yet.

It bothers me that quite a few people have been playing on this site and are still prone to making :-

- one move blunders
- Queen moves in the opening
- wind assisted chess

What is wind-assisted chess? I've never heard that term.

Originally posted by Monty348
What is wind-assisted chess? I've never heard that term.

It is a term from the z00t school of chess and is an effect similar to if you had the wind blowing your pieces rather than you making a "serious" move.

z00t! z00t!