14 Oct 05
1 edit
Read one good chess book and you'll hit 1500. Play a lot from there and you'll hit 1600. Read a good book on endings and you'll hit 1700. Play a lot of chess from there and you'll hit 1800.
I recon 20% study, 80% playing. Read about tactics and endings and don't bother yourself with learning openings by heart, just learn sound opening principals. Once you hit 1900, start worrying about them, they are last on the list.
EDIT: Almost forgot...
http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/index1.htm
http://chess.emrald.net/index.php
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/links/opening_analysis.html
Should keep you going! 😉
James 😀
14 Oct 05
Originally posted by johndxmurphyTraining should support you being an active player - Keep your games low and force yourself to look at the position for at least a couple of minutes (even if the next move seems obvious) ...
To improve in chess should you play lots and lots? Will you improve much without serious study? How important are openings? I don't usualy recognize them after a couple of moves, but may that's my problem.
Opening, try to establish what you like and then try to stick with that particular opening (and its variations) ... That way you automatically learn more about it whilst you are playing (for any opening there are tons of books out there if you fancy a little theory)
GOOD LUCK
15 Oct 05
Originally posted by johndxmurphyWell, I will try to help you here sincerely. I will not charge you like my coach does.
To improve in chess should you play lots and lots? Will you improve much without serious study? How important are openings? I don't usualy recognize them after a couple of moves, but may that's my problem.
Chess study essential but always try to get as much as over the board competition (preferably with those 200 points higher than you) and please, please listen carefully to what your opponents has to say after the game, especially if you lose. They are called pot mortems.
I am sorry, post-mortems. My mind is always somewhere else you know? 😀
And go home and analyze those games first without the aid of a software and write down all your thoughts on a piece or paper or Word, Excel etc...Only then open the the trusty Fritz, Chessmaster or Crafty and see what the machine has to say. Then record them on a database program and annote it JUST for yourself. You can find lots of programs like this. Chessbaselight is a free and easily accesible one.
And then figure out your weaknesses and all that nonsense. Do this over and over and over and over and over again. In all your games.
Only then, open up a book and Study Alekhine's games. Try to guess his moves and all that nonsense again. The only way to learn from Alekhine is play against his opponents.
Then suddenly you will realize that you can even write a book yourself. You do not have to read those confusing books. Nobody became a GM or IM and NM by reading books, but because they studied so hard to figure out what they did wrong and avoided in the future games.
I hope you were sincere about your question and I hope this will help!
Mr. Nic