05 Feb 06
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
05 Feb 06
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Well, first of all (and I know I am not an amazing player) why do you play the kings gambit? I wouldn't recommend it for playing at your level. As well, when you do play the gambit, you castle on the kings side, which is poor because the purpose of castling is to move your king into a safer position, and to develop your rooks, but your king can't be very safe if the whole of its side is open. To get to my level, it took me a couple of years, but until recently I wasn't playing very often.
05 Feb 06
1 edit
Originally posted by Another BalvenieThis is where people start chanting tactics tactics! Tactics are the key to not losing material (and winning it). CT-Art has been highly reccomended but I just use any old puzzle book.
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
In actuallity I learned chess when I was 8 and was beating my dad regularily a year later. From there it was a random hobby with the few friends who played until sophmore year in high school. A couple kids I knew were playing chess I joined them, it became a regular thing and we founded a chess club.A year later we played some scholastic tournements. My first rating was 877 (USCF). 1 Yera later my rating was 1200 and when I graduated high school it was 1450. I quit for 4 years (no club at college, very wierd). Being bored at my corporate job I found the local chess club and 2 years later I am a 1675 USCF player.
In high school my studying was very simple. I read a book on how to play chess that tought pins, forks, skewers etc and tried to use them. Thousands of games later (and at this point no puzzle books/comp programs) I instinctivly look for them (I still miss some combinations).
The most important piece for me is to play slower (15+ min per side plus a delay), THINK activly during the game and after the game review it with your opponent. Figure out what the key idea was that won the game for one side or the other, discuss interesting/competing plans and why one is better than the other. In my opinion this is the best way to learn.
My jump from 800-1400 I attribute to the above practice and 2 books. My junior year I read an endgame book. My senior year I read "How to Reaccess Your Chess" by Silman. The ideas introduced by Silman I consider the building blocks of any game of chess. One final note is that by "read" I mean to say study, play through all variations and understand the authors main point. Study untill you understand or sticky note a page and come back to it once a week until you do.
In the end getting better is based on wanting to be better and working at it. Understand why you lost and never walk into that problem again.
Edit to add
You may notice my rating has been in free fall lately (1700 down to 1500) I have been playing recklessly without thinking things through and not reviewing my moves or my games.
05 Feb 06
Originally posted by Another BalvenieWell, you didn't define "good chess skills", so I can't help you there.
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
However, I'd recommend starting by concentrating on your defensive skills first, as most beginners just go for the reckless attack. Work on defending your position, and learn some positional guidelines. This way you can always defend yourself. Then you can slowly become more aggresive and find the balance that works for you.
05 Feb 06
1 edit
Originally posted by Another BalveniePlay lots of games (not a ridiculous amount, make sure you still have other things going on at the same time, variety really is the spice of life). By playing lots of games, you will gain a lot of experience, which is invaluable in improving. If possible, after a loss to a stronger opponent, get them to go over the game with you (this helps if some of the games are OTB). Don't be afraid to tell them what you were thinking during the game, as well as following what they were thinking. Make sure you play a wide variety of people, not just the same person all the time, it won't help you as much.
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
Blitz does not help in this way, as you do not analyse properly, and are unlikely to remember any lessons learnt during them. It may be fun, but does not help much in the long run.
Get a tactics book, and play though the puzzles and games shown in them, this will improve a beginners game no end. Learn basic opening principles (not necessarily strict opening moves), and basic mating patterns. Once you can do these things, then you can move onto more advanced parts of the game.
If you decide to get a coach, the highest rated player is not necessarily the best teacher. Speak to people in the know, and ask around to see who people recommend. Analysing with Fritz is not too important at first, as Fritz gives lines, not reasons for moves, so if you cannot comprehend why moves are suggested, you really will not benefit much.
Hope this helps. Feel free ask any questions you have about anything I have said.
05 Feb 06
Originally posted by Another BalvenieI don't know if I qualify as a "good player", it always depends on whom you compare it to. I might call myself a good beginner. It took me a bit over a year to get to where I am now. So far I have been playing almost exclusively here and against the computer (Chessmaster), in fact I haven't been playing against the computer for several months either. So I would probably still be a very bad OTB player.
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
Waitzkin's Chess Academy in Chessmaster 10th Edition is a great learning tool. I went through that not long after I had started to play, and it helped me immensely. Besides that, I played a lot of games (my favourite time control being 20 minutes or so) against the virtual players in Chessmaster, sometimes with the blunder alert on. I didn't start playing against real people until I had some confidence that I wouldn't look completely stupid, which, of course, is rather stupid in itself. I started playing here a bit less than half a year after learning the game. My strategy here has been to take a lot of time to make the moves, and use the analysis board a lot to try out several variations. I think that's a good strategy in correspondence chess, although if you want to play OTB, too, it might be better to rely less on the analysis board.
05 Feb 06
Originally posted by Nordlysgood beginner? You're selling yourself short 🙂
I don't know if I qualify as a "good player", it always depends on whom you compare it to. I might call myself a good beginner. It took me a bit over a year to get to where I am now. So far I have been playing almost exclusively here and against the computer (Chessmaster), in fact I haven't been playing against the computer for several months either. So I wo ...[text shortened]... ugh if you want to play OTB, too, it might be better to rely less on the analysis board.
05 Feb 06
Originally posted by Another BalvenieWow what a question, but look at what you are asking, what do you class as good chess skills, I am contemplating leaving chess because I know I cannot cut it it, in fact very short of that mark, but my mark of 'cutting it' would be to reach the status of IM or at least have prospects of that. Saddly I have known for a while that I am well below that mark and therefore always going to be dissapointed, in business I am very successful but I would glady give it all up for better chess ability.
How long did it take you to develop good chess skills?
I am new to the game. I just purchased Chessmaster training tool which seems to be helpful.
I am also trying to play as many games as I can. I can't seem to coordinate defensive and offensive strategies. When do I go to offensive. It seems like when I do this early in the game I always lose yet oppents that do it kick my ass.
05 Feb 06
Originally posted by RahimKI don't think so. Don't let my current rating deceive you, it's inflated. My "true" rating is probably more around 1600, and it would be much lower if I would move as fast as most players here seem to move. And as I said, I would probably still be a very bad OTB player.
good beginner? You're selling yourself short 🙂