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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.
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This Review was written by chess player Cub Noble for Wholesale Chess.
I needed a game clock for the scholastic tournaments that I play in. I wanted one that would be functional and digital for a decent price. The other game clocks that were digital were running for waaay out of my range and I found the DGT Easy Game Timer. The black is perfect for tournaments because it blends in to the board and bringing it together as one set, it is not too loud or obnoxious. It is the perfect size too for the bag that I have.
DGT Easy Game TImer Chess Clock
However if you want a clock with delay this is probably not the way to go. It is good for preset and creative time settings and its unique design always brings people to want to use it. I got the DGT Easy chess Timer just in time for a chess tournament and I found it works wonderfully. My opponents asked me where I got this clock because they wanted to get one just like it for their usage.
This clock is a lot better than a lot of the other chess clocks that I have used at scholastic tournaments mostly because it is light weight and durable, the screen is very easy to read, it is easily programmable. The DGT Easy Timer clock is different because instead of holding both sides of the buttons down to pause the time there is a button in the middle to pause it. Also the sound button is good for club and blitz play because it signals when you are running low on time, however, I don’t think I would recommend it for tournament play because it may annoy you or your opponent or the other games being played.
If you want to start it over you just need to press the power button again. I really like that feature because it enables you to change the time control if necessary by pushing the up button or handicap a player if you are playing someone stronger or weaker than you are. If you are in a blitz game, I don’t much care for the count up option that occurs when you run out of time however there is a flag that comes up to signal that the game ended on that side. There are 3 different features for this clock. I know I will be using this for years to come. I highly recommend this product for anybody who needs a good clock at a good price.
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 fourth posting in a series of 4 articles comprising A Parent’s Guide to Tournament Chess:
1. Preparing for a Chess Tournament
2. During a Chess Tournament
3. Understanding Chess Ratings
4. The Swiss System for Chess Tournaments
Written by Robert N. Bernard for Wholesale Chess
Here’s a short description of the Swiss System of pairing opponents in chess tournaments. Refer also to the diagram provided.
Step 1: At the beginning of the tournament, rank all the players from highest rating to lowest rating. Unrated players should be ranked lowest. The number given is called the “pairing number”. In the example, Helen has pairing number 1 and David has pairing number 4.
Step 2: Split the list of players into two equally sized groups, where the split occurs between the two middle pairing numbers. If there are an odd number of players, one player is given a “bye”, which means that they get a full point for the round, but they do not have an opponent.
Step 3: Pair the top half of the group with the bottom half of the group, but maintain the rankings in the top and bottom halves. You might expect that for 8 players, 1 would play 8, 2 would play 7, and so forth, but in a Swiss, 1 plays 5, 2 plays 6, etc. Alternate colors so that if 1 gets white, 2 gets black, and so on. Post these pairings on the pairing sheet.
Step 4: Once the round is complete, record the results. 1-0 means white won, 0-1 means black won, and 0.5-0.5 is a draw. In the example, Helen beat Sadie, Mateo beat Dhiren, Julie beat Ming, and Chris beat David.
Step 5: In the next round (and all subsequent rounds), group players again, but this time by their total score. In the example, there are four players with 1 point, and four players with 0 points. Each of these is called a “score group”. Within each score group, use the players’ ranking numbers, and split them again.
Step 6: For each score group, pair the top half of that score group with the bottom half of that score group. In this way, players with the same score will play each other. Try and maintain alternation of colors for each player (so they get white, black, white, black, etc., in each round).
Step 7: Post the pairing sheet with the new pairings. In the example, Chris has white against Helen with black. Notice that both Chris and Helen have the same score (1 point) and that Helen was “due” black this round.
(Click on the image below for full sized image)
Swiss System for Chess Tournaments
Robert N. Bernard is the manager of the New Jersey Knockouts of the United States Chess League, where he started three years ago as the Knockouts’ blogger. For the USCL, he also compiles an unofficial rating list and weekly power rankings. Frequently, he can be found on the Internet Chess Club, where he has a weird tendency to win a lot of their trivia contests. He is also a member of the United State Chess Federation’s Ratings Committee and coaches his son’s chess team. He has a very nice plaque from the 1982 US Amateur Team Championship, where he captained the team that won the Under 1400 prize.
This is the third posting in a series of 4 articles comprising A Parent’s Guide to Tournament Chess:
1. Preparing for a Chess Tournament
2. During a Chess Tournament
3. Understanding Chess Ratings
4. The Swiss System for Chess Tournaments
Written by Robert N. Bernard for Wholesale Chess
Inevitably, your child will be asked “What’s your rating?” and the child will then ask you about ratings. Chess ratings are a statistical measure of a player’s approximate skill level, and in the USA, chess ratings range from a low of 100 to 2800 or more. (Note that it is improper to use the term “chess ranking” when you mean a chess rating instead. When you rank something, a low number (i.e. 1) indicates that it is the best. Higher numbers are better in a rating scale.) A player receives a rating if they play in a rated tournament.
For the first 25 games or so, ratings are determined by Read more �
This is the second posting in a series of 4 articles comprising A Parent’s Guide to Tournament Chess:
1. Preparing for a Chess Tournament
2. During a Chess Tournament
3. Understanding Chess Ratings
4. The Swiss System for Chess Tournaments
Written by Robert N. Bernard for Wholesale Chess
Pairings are determined using a method called the Swiss system. Essentially, the Swiss System dictates that kids should play other kids with the same score as themselves (where a win is worth 1 point, a draw 0.5 point, and a loss 0 points). For example, after three rounds of play, there may be a few kids who have won all their games and have 3 points. In the fourth round, they would play each other, while those kids with 1 total point (i.e., 1 win and 2 losses, or 2 draws and 1 loss) would play each other. In this way, kids with the same performance (and presumably similar skill levels) are more likely to play each other as the tournament progresses.
After the pairings are posted Read more �
This is the first posting in a series of 4 articles comprising A Parent’s Guide to Tournament Chess:
1. Preparing for a Chess Tournament
2. During a Chess Tournament
3. Understanding Chess Ratings
4. The Swiss System for Chess Tournaments
Written by Robert N. Bernard for Wholesale Chess
So your child has been playing chess for a while, and his or her chess teacher has suggested they play in a tournament. Your child begs you to play; “They even have trophies – big ones!” the child exclaims. You relent, and the chess teacher provides the time and place. How should you prepare? Once you get there, what should you expect?
Many kids’ first tournaments are small, local gatherings (of perhaps 10-20 participants), but some are noticeably larger. Most of what’s written here applies to most of the tournaments in the USA and Canada, but there will always be some variation. Read more �
Part 2: Taking Your Chess Team to the Next Level
Written by guest author Robert N. Bernard for Wholesale Chess.
Hold a Practice Tournament
After a month of meeting or so, organize a practice tournament among members of the team. You should make this as close as possible to a real chess tournament; each game should have a chess clock, touch-move, notation, and superb sportsmanship. Watch the games carefully, and note any problems. Invariably, many games of the games in the practice tournament will end quickly, with more than 80% of the clock time remaining on each side. Emphasize that for most moves of the game, you should take at least 30 seconds to decide on a move. One exercise that worked for me is to tell the kids that I want them to sit in silence with their eyes closed, and guess how long a minute is; when they think a minute is up, they should raise their hand. Then I say “Go!” and start timing a minute. You should then acknowledge who is closest, and who guessed too short or too long. The key is to tell the kids that in (many) tournaments, they have 30 minutes to make all their moves, and that most games between kids last about 30 moves, so they should be spending about one minute per move. This is a revelation to Read more �
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