How to Study Chess

October 22, 2010
Tags: Learning Chess Articles

Written by guest author Jason Repa for Wholesale Chess

In some ways I feel fortunate to have commenced my foray into tournament chess just before the arrival of the popular internet and all the chess software and access to theory that hitherto was not available. At that time, studying chess meant looking at a real board with real chess pieces and attempting to work out complex positions using your own mind. Sometimes you used an opening manual or other chess books as a reference, but Rybka 4 was not around to do the thinking for you. You were forced to learn how to plan, attack, defend, and work out all the tactics in a particular position or else suffer defeat against an opponent who did. For those who embraced the challenge of learning how to play the game using only their wits, this resulted in the development of skill. Sure you would often miss an important combination, or completely be on the wrong track in your understanding of a particular position, but you were fully immersed in the learning process and, as a result, would adapt and develop from your own mistakes and improve your thinking ability.

While I can certainly appreciate the gargantuan benefits that computers and the internet have made possible to chess players who are trying to improve their game, I can’t help but notice that, in practice, many of these would be future masters end up peaking out long before their full potential is realized. In my opinion this is largely due to improper study habits and laziness. Contemporary chess-playing/analyzing programs are so strong that the temptation to just ‘plug-in’ a position that you are trying to understand, after giving it only a cursory thought, is just too great for many to resist. This results in a shallow approach to the game that is devoid of the skill of maneuvering and utilizing technique. Often these players will obtain a great game out of the opening, having memorized some theoretical lines and are able to work out the tactical consequences of glaring mistakes by their opponent, but when the bar is raised and they are forced to play a positional game where nothing particularly exciting is happening at the moment, they seem to crumble. Their silicon friend is nowhere to be found, nor the multimillion game databases they so adore and have learned to depend on for guidance. They suffer in solitude as their fortress is torn down and they are picked apart.

I do believe, however, that the best of both worlds can be had by those who are willing to exercise discipline and use their wonderful technological resources judiciously. By putting in the effort and spending adequate time thinking for yourself before running to Mr. Fritz or any of his relatives, you can both develop real skills as well as fill in the knowledge gaps that today’s chess software does so well. Until such a day where we are playing only advanced chess (human + computer vs human + computer) in both tournament as well as casual play, we will need to be able to do everything for ourselves when it comes time for battle. So why not practice how to do this in our training?

Jason Repa is a CFC rated national chess expert and part-time chess coach from Winnipeg, Canada. He has been a tournament chess player since 1995 and has been teaching chess since 2002. He can be reached at jasonrepa @ hotmail.com

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Wholesale Chess. We welcome open discussion on all aspects of chess on the Wholesale Chess Blog. If you would like to be a guest author on our blog, please contact us at marketing@wholesalechess.com.