ON CHESS
Fine-tuning any part of game will bear fruit
Saturday, May 24, 2008 2:59 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN
Improving at chess can seem a daunting task. But it needn’t be.
It’s not like dunking a basketball or performing gymnastics. Both have undeniable physical prerequisites.
The great world champion Emanuel Lasker was convinced that virtually any intelligent, motivated person could become an expert chess player after following a sensible regimen.
To put it simply: If you add to any part of your chess repertoire — opening theory, tactical knowledge, pawn play, endgame knowledge or whatever — it’s almost impossible not to get better results at the chessboard.
Competing on the Internet and playing through hundreds of games that can be rapidly accessed and reviewed from computer databases are rich learning opportunities that weren’t available to previous generations of players.
Having a friend or a capable teacher to share your experiences will, of course, enhance the results. Such a person is almost a requirement for overcoming discouragement.
Playing over annotations by top grandmasters also helps enormously. Many elite players are impressively honest about their mistakes.
Their candor is an eye-opener for the amateur who assumes infallibility among players at the highest levels.
Learning to persist in a difficult or losing position, because you understand the vulnerability of your opponent, is a key to improvement and success.
It also helps to conceal your emotions at critical moments of play.
Source: Columbus Dispatch
He’s a much more exciting columnist that GM Evans. I like his column.
He only has commentary on his Friday column. On other days, he only has a chess problem and an unannotated game. (The commentary replaces the game on Fridays).
Great article. One thing he wrote that struck me: One usually needs a teacher (or a friend) in order to improve.
How are the prices of chess lessons through the internet?
I think the applicability of some of the tips depends on the strength of the improving player. I’ve gone into more detail on a post on my own blog (More on How to Improve Your Chess Game).
– Mark.
Help please. I give up.
From Sunday Feb 12, 2006 to this day I have been trying, on and off, to figure out the Chess problem in Shelby lyan’s column. Can any one help me?
Mal
should be Shelby Lyman