News & Updates
This article was written by P.N. John for Wholesale Chess
Once the child has reached a FIDE rating level of 1500-1800 the right attitude towards effective study and practice are needed for further progress to mastery. The fun element has to be given top priority so that the child develops a passion to win at chess and acquires a learning mindset. World chess champion Viswanathan Anand said recently, “I enjoy working on chess. I try playing different openings, learning from other players. My curiosity in chess has remained unchanged since the time I started playing.”
It is very important to have drills to practice repeatedly the fundamental chess concepts-basic tactics, (WSC note: see Chess Tactics for Students) must-know endgame positions, various basic mates etc. This should be done daily with a chess clock attempting to solve within lower and lower time periods so that correct technique comes naturally and automatically over-the-board while playing. This can be done under the guidance of a good chess coach but the child should do it on his own as soon as he can do so. Only with this basic foundation can the child proceed to creative and more advanced chess.
Victor Korchnoi, a great Grandmaster has said, “Chess you don’t learn, chess you understand”. From this stems the most important tool available to the child to attain mastery- critically analyze by himself the games he has played to identify and learn from mistakes made. More time should be spent on games lost. When the coach goes through the games and analysis afterwards he can give the feedback needed to improve and identify the weaknesses and strengths of the child and suggest specifically what to study and which chess problems to solve. It is good for the child to have a large collection of chess books and chess software to refer to as suggested by the coach to overcome weaknesses and enhance strengths. Analysis with Fritz, Rybka should be done later to understand and learn from opportunities humans missed.
The child should go through as many Grandmaster games as possible using different approaches suggested by chess trainers-slowly, quickly, guess-the-move, analyze the moves before looking at the annotations etc., to get diverse benefits and enhance overall understanding of the game of chess so that he can play better and improve the quality of annotating his own games.
It is a good idea to start off with a good games collection book like Steve Giddins’ “50 ways to Win at Chess” which is focused on good technique. Going through Grandmaster games like Chessbase 11 or Chess Assistant 11 alone, with friends or a coach is a great way to absorb different ideas in chess.
A child should be encouraged, if he enjoys it, to record his thoughts on his improving chess experiences in a journal every day. Also, special notebooks can be kept to classify and then record important tactical and positional themes from his own games .Writing speeds up absorption of chess ideas and periodically reviewing the notes will help the child to apply the knowledge over-the-board.
Apart from serious chess study the child should play with chess players of varying strengths under different time-controls but mostly slow chess games of at least an hour each. As far as possible games should be analyzed with the opponent immediately or at least the same day itself on his own as immediate feedback is very important for improvement.
More than just chess skills are needed to attain mastery. Physical and mental fitness are important for success in tournaments. This idea was well put by Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion, “To be champion requires more than simply being a strong player; one has to be a strong human being as well.” So it is important to have a balanced approach. Academics should not be ignored. The child should be encouraged to take up other interests like physical sports and reading. He should learn to take losses in his stride even as he strives to improve and win. The goal should be to improve at chess at least a bit each day.
P.N.John lives in India and has been totally involved in the stock market for past 25 years. He used to play chess only casually but for the past couple of years he has been studying chess seriously, played several tournaments and got his FIDE rating. Not surprisingly perhaps, improved chess thinking skills have helped him to take better decisions in the stock market.
This Thursday only, get a beautiful set of American Staunton Wood Chess Pieces with a 3 ¾ inch king in Sheesham. It’s not only a striking chess set, but is a bargain for the price. You can save $21 of the retail price of $59.99 Thursday Deal: Only $38.99!
You can also get the great chess book “Fearsome Four Pawns Attack” by Jerry Konikowski is one of the most prolific chess authors in the world and holds the FIDE title of Master. The retail price of this chess book is $24.95. Today only you can it for the unheard of price of just $8.99
Go to the home page and click on the link to get either—or both—of today’s chess deals.
Written by guest author Erik Czerwin for Wholesale Chess
The chess match begins, and 16 players frantically move chess pieces, slap chess clocks, and scribble down notation. The first five or six moves tick off quickly as each team member jockeys for opening position. Just as the pace slows down and players begin searching more deeply into positions to discover clever traps and zaps, one game ends with a player extending his arm over the board and the other player looking befuddled, frustrated, and angry. Sometimes games just end this quickly. Sometimes it just happens. However, they should never happen like they did once for a team member of mine…
He came over to me, beaming. Smiling over his speedy conquering of a relatively new player, he said to me, “She didn’t catch it.” After I asked what it was that she didn’t catch, he replied, “I started with two queens on the chess board to see if she would catch it. I replaced one of my bishops with a queen, and she didn’t even notice! I won, and now that the game is over, she can’t undo the results; those are the rules!” He was grinning ear-to-ear with his own cleverness. I, however, felt queasy and disgusted. Where had I gone wrong? When had I taught my players that abusing the rules of chess was a way to achieve victory? When had I taught them to gloat over cheating?
The answer to all these questions was that I had not, in fact, ever taught my team to play like that. This kid did it all on his own. After recovering from my momentary shock, I demanded that he go over and apologize to the other player. After a brief refusal, he complied. Personally, I apologized to the other coach. I have never been as embarrassed as chess coach before or since.
The fact of the matter is that some kids want the cheap wins. They don’t understand the pure joy of an intensely fought win. Heck, sometimes a hard-fought draw can be just as satisfying as a solid win. This particular student continues to show signs that he doesn’t care to improve his understanding of the game of chess, he only cares to rack up cheap wins.
As a chess coach, I struggle with this for many reasons. My goal is not to have the winning-est team, but the team that most enjoys the struggle to improve and continue growing. If a student like this doesn’t place the same value on intrinsic improvement, what am I to do? Unfortunately, he is a very talented player who could be much better if he stopped practicing poor chess.
However, if he never really wants to improve by studying chess books or working with a stronger player, why should I invest time and energy towards forcing him to? It is my job to encourage him to grow, but if a student doesn’t have the self-motivation to do so, should I continue to spend time trying to move a mountain? Shouldn’t his repeated losses to better players be motivation enough?
His wins are cheap and easy, and when the game is a difficult struggle, his board is more often than not a loss. His wins depend solely upon the mistakes of his opponents, rarely on his skill as a chess player. His team knows it, I know it, but he is blind to it because his win loss record blocks his larger vision. I’m still searching for a way to change this in students. As of yet, I have found no answer. Perhaps there is no answer. Hopefully, over time, he will discover a love of the deeper game. I sincerely hope.
Erik Czerwin is a self-taught chess player and also a self-taught chess coach. He founded the current Marengo Community High School Chess team, founded the Marengo Chess Club, plays at the Rockford Chess Club, and occasionally volunteers as a chess teacher at the Rockford Public Library, all in Northern Illinois. In his spare time, he’s also a full-time high school language arts teacher, part-time graduate student, part-time tutor, and full-time father of two and husband to a very understanding wife.
This article, written by the manager of Wholesale Chess, was first published in The Link Homeschool Publications (Copyright, 2009). Reprinted by permission.
You see the benefits of chess and want to teach them to a child. You don’t have to be afraid of not knowing what to do or how to play. There are plenty of resources to help you.
“Remember that you are passing on a wonderful gift to them,” Mrs. Graham, manager of Wholesale Chess said. “Learn or renew your skills right along with them. Make sure you use care, patience and respect while teaching. Also, try to be interesting! Use humor, funny voices, cartwheels — whatever it takes to make your chess students pay attention and have a good time.”
Mrs. Graham suggests each child have their own chess set. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Most students use a roll-up vinyl board, plastic chess pieces, either weighted or not, and an inexpensive chess bag for chess pieces to be carried in.
“Wholesale Chess has a very basic chess curriculum that we recommend to work with beginners,” she said. Only move to the next step when you know your child has a real understanding of what you have already taught.
- How the pieces move and how to setup the board
- How to capture pieces
- Check and checkmate
- More advanced rules of castling, en passant, and pawn promotion
- The values of the pieces and making good captures and trades
- Developing your pieces and controlling the center
- Using multiple pieces to attack and defend
- Basic tactics – forks and pins
- Basic strategies – controlling squares, diagonals, and files
- Basic opening principles – control key squares, activate your pieces, get your king to safety
To be a good chess parent, teacher or chess coach you must be sure to get plenty of feedback from the student, Mrs. Graham said. “Make sure you know how your children feel about chess. If they are feeling burned out, then pressuring them may just turn them off more. If they are hungry for chess and you are not feeding that, they may become frustrated.
“If you have a child who enjoys learning and playing chess, you should encourage that as much as is healthy,” she said. “Chess has great social and intellectual benefits that can affect other aspects of life, but remember that chess is a part of life, not the purpose of life. I suggest chess parents watch or read Searching for Bobby Fischer with their child. “It is a great story. We also recommend the book, Survival Guide for Chess Parents.
“Another important thing, perhaps the most important, is to always make sure that your child knows how much you love them regardless of whether they are winning or losing their chess games,” she added. “Never show disappointment at their performance — they are most likely frustrated enough on their own!”
“Chess will certainly grow in the future,” she said. “Players will have to be more accurate in play, as chess computers and training becomes more and more available. But most of us hope that the essence and fun of the game doesn’t change at all!”
WSC Note: Our Book Category has a selection of books designed for parents or chess coaches to use as well as books for children who are beginnnig to play chess to read.
The always popular Thursday Chess Deals from Wholesale Chess will begin again today, January 6. (The deals have been on hold through the holiday season.)
We know you have been anxious for us to start these up again. Although you will never know ahead what the deals will be, you will always get a true bargain.
Some of the items offered at huge savings last year included Fritz 12, several types of chess clocks, tournament chess sets, wood chess sets, chess pieces and chess boards, chess software and chess books, and chess tournament supplies. These same types of great chess items will be available this year. Although Chess Deals will change from week to week, the savings will always be significant.
These deals are available only for orders placed online on that Thursday. (12:00 am to 11:59 pm Pacific Time). Each customer may only buy one of each deal, but can buy both deals for that day. In order to only send notification to those who want it, you must sign up for the emails of the Thursday Chess Deals. You can do that in our free membership. You can also find the deals on our homepage each Thursday at www.wholesalechess.com
Okay, admit it. You procrastinated–or worse, you forgot someone! Now you wonder what to do about that last minute chess gift.
Wholesale Chess Gift Cards are the best answer. They will be delivered to your email before Christmas so you can print them out so no one will know you were late with their gift. They can be used for any chess set, chess clock, chess computer, chess board, or chess pieces on our site. They can even be used for chess software or chess books. The possibilities are almost endless.
Best of all—our $25 gift card is on sale! Thursday only you can get a $25 gift card for just $20. Go to our Chess Gift Card section and choose the $25 card, or a gift in any other amount. We will make sure it is sent to you by midnight Thursday night. (Gift Cards will NOT go out after 10 am Mountain Time on Friday.) Happy Holidays!
by Guest Author Greg Delaney
Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate the efforts made by the English Grandmaster Nigel Davis to help club players grow in chess understanding and strength. Davies is the featured presenter on a fair number of Chessbase Software ranging from opening theory (“The Closed Sicilian” and The Scotch Game”) to psychology (“Chess for Scoundrels” and “How to Beat Younger Players”) to strategy (“French Defense Strategy”).GM Davies is an articulate and well-prepared instructor via this medium, and I have purchased a number of these Fritz Trainers for those reasons.
But for me Davies’ skills and insights stand out even more clearly in the books he authors. In the past two years, GM Davies has produced two excellent books for club players: “The Rules of Winning Chess” (2009) and “Ten Great Ways to Get Better at Chess.” (2010)
These two volumes (published by Everyman Chess) are a treasure trove of improvement ideas and 
well-stated axioms of chess, suitable for most everyone except perhaps a rank beginner. What Davies does so exceptionally well in these books is to provide clear, concrete examples of each and every idea. Full games, fragments, and very readable prose both edify and entertain. In “The Rules of Winning Chess,” no less than fifty “rules” are presented to the reader. Some of the “rules” are Davies’ take on very familiar chess principles while others are rather unique presentations of psychological factors as well as tactical and strategic ideas. Games and game fragments abound, as do anecdotes about Davies’ own career and the lives of famous Grandmasters. No part of the game of chess is left out – the “rules” are placed into five Chapters covering the following topical areas: “The Player,” “Preparation,” “The Opening,” “The Middlegame,” and “The Endgame.” There is truly “something for everyone” in this book.
“Ten Great Ways to Get Better at Chess” is GM Davies’ most recent book, and I find it to be even more interesting and relevant to me than “The Rules of Winning Chess.” Each of the ten suggestions are thoroughly explained and illustrated by well-annotated games. Davies is one author who describes what’s going on with a minimum of variations and no Informator symbols. His explanations are readily understood and, as always, well illustrated by games and anecdotes. A very interesting feature of the book is the inclusion of “before and after” games played by Davies’ own students, once they had learned more about one particular “way” of getting better. Differences between the games help the reader “see” the concepts put into action. GM Davies includes some of his own games, as well, to show that he not only preaches but follows his own suggestions.
I was pleasantly surprised by the nature of the 60 total ideas offered in these two books. Many are novel ideas that are simply common sense once the reader has assimilated them. Because of the sheer number of suggestions made, the reader may select those which fit his/her needs and interests. I should mention, however, that a reader who thinks these two books contain easy ideas that require no work on their parts will be very unhappy. Chess is hard work, and GM Davies pulls no punches in stressing this. Like all good ideas, the material in these two books requires active implementation and practice – key ingredients to chess improvement.
Greg Delaney is Life Member of USCF who returned to chess in 2005 after a three decade hiatus from the game he loves. He is an educator, club player, and student of IM Yelena Dembo. For fun, he blogs about chess and his work to improve as a player.
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.
This is the last in the series of articles written on this subject by guest author Greg Delaney for Wholesale Chess.
I had now acquired the services of a noted chess trainer who seemed to understand both my deficits in chess understanding and some of the personality difficulties that were holding me back in my pursuit of chess improvement. After some examination of recent games I’d played in over-the-board tournaments, it was time to clearly identify areas needing change.
The first and most significant factor to be corrected was the overall passivity of my chess. An overhaul of my opening repertoire was needed. Recommended were the Classical Sicilian Defense and King’s Indian as Black, as well as switching to 1. e4 as my first move when playing White. Of course, it became clear that I would need a number of ideas and lines against all of Black’s possible replies. I was provided with some (not a lot) of theory to look over and begin to learn, but I should stress here that an opening repertoire was not the priority. Much more was (and is still) needed.
The second primary weakness was a glaring lack of knowledge of chess fundamentals. My endgame play was very weak, my tactical skills were mediocre, and my positional understanding was rudimentary. A variety of lessons were planned and conducted on these aspects of chess, and I was given “homework” ranging from annotating positions and continuations to working with positional exercises in one of my trainer’s books. I needed to better understand basic endgame theory and to unlearn the mistaken notion that I could figure it out over the board when the time came. This was a silly belief, of course, but one that I had developed out of my laziness. In a similar vein, I would often select a move that “looked good” without calculating subsequent variations – I would just “see what my opponent came up with” and go from there.
The third identified difficulty was a negative attitude towards myself as a person, my capabilities in chess, and my positions in every game. My trainer pointed out that many times I had already lost the game from the beginning, because my early moves allowed the opponents to do pretty much whatever they wanted. Psychologically, I feared conflict, and I gave far too much power to my opponents and their ratings. During games, I could readily see strong moves and plans that my opponent could play, but I saw only the defects in my own position. For this I was encouraged to play games online, 5-10 minutes per game, as a way to practice openings and get an idea of how they feel to play. Moreover, the mantra “make a threat with every move you can” was added to my chess mentality, and we even analyzed these blitz games for signs of old thinking and improvement.
There are many other aspects of this plan that I could share, but these three areas of struggle and the resulting change plans have been quite successful. I find myself thinking more in terms of making threats and putting pressure on my opponents. I am gradually learning some of the opening variations and the ideas behind them – although there is much, much more to learn before I can play any of them competently. I have noticed less anxiety when playing higher rated players online, and I even seek out stronger players as a challenge. I have won a number of games by executing some of my improved endgame knowledge, and I can recommend studying the endings as a way to pick up wins – even in equal or losing positions. Instead of “giving up” on a game when I blunder or end up in a bad position, I am succeeding in fighting and even winning a few. There are relapses into old ways sometimes, but now at least I know what to correct and how to go about it.
Greg Delaney is Life Member of USCF who returned to chess in 2005 after a three decade hiatus from the game he loves. He is an educator, club player, and student of IM Yelena Dembo. For fun, he blogs about chess and his work to improve as a player.
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.
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