Post by savin on Feb 8, 2006 10:09:21 GMT -5
I know we have a large number of players at the site who enjoy chess but are also thinking about the age old question "how do I get better"
My old chess teacher always used to say that chess is like taking a walk through the Highlands of Scotland. You look up and see the top of mountain, its not that far a walk so you slowly make the climb. When you're almost to the top you feel the glow of nearing success. But when you reach the top and survey your small victory you see a slightly higher peak in the distance and you decide that you need to conquer the next hill. Again you feel the glow of success when you are almost there. But on reaching the top you see yet another slightly higher mountain peak and off you go to conquer it.
In chess there is no highest peak, no matter how high you have reached upon reaching there you see something just a little higher worthy of making the journey.
There really is no such thing as a good chess player or a bad chess player. There are just a large number of people out for a hike in the chess mountains and we are all at different stages of the journey. AND not everyone needs to make the walk to the next higher peak. Some are content to stop and have a picnic on the peak they have reached and enjoy the view.
I would be interested to hear what your stages of development were in chess. For instance, I think mine might have been:
1) Rules and how the pieces move
2) Winning Material
3) Pins and discovered attacks
4) Control of space
5) Combinations and seeing the pieces as having lines of power and sheres of control
6) learning lots of tricks and set pieces
7) Tactics. "Knowing what to do when something needs to be done"
8) Seeing the whole board (there is a tendency for players to focus on a quadrant.
9) Seeing attack and defense equally. This was a hard one. There is a natural tendency when a player is on the attack to not see the opponents counter attacking options. Equally when you feel on the defensive therre is a natural tendency to stop looking for attacking options.
10) Strategy "Knowing what to do when nothing needs to be done." This was a break through for me. I finally realized that it is possible to lose a game without really making a mistake/blunder. I just had it happen to me in an ICCF game. I decided to play a very defensive game and 30 moves later my lack of space happened to cause me a major problem. I had stuck with a strategy too long.
You will notice I did not put things in the list such as "learning the openings" and "playing the middle game". This is just pure absorption of facts. I could read a book oin the Sicilian Dragon at stage 4) and learn somthing useful. I could read the same book again at stage 6 and learn more and at stage 10 read the book again and learn even more.
What are others experiences?
My old chess teacher always used to say that chess is like taking a walk through the Highlands of Scotland. You look up and see the top of mountain, its not that far a walk so you slowly make the climb. When you're almost to the top you feel the glow of nearing success. But when you reach the top and survey your small victory you see a slightly higher peak in the distance and you decide that you need to conquer the next hill. Again you feel the glow of success when you are almost there. But on reaching the top you see yet another slightly higher mountain peak and off you go to conquer it.
In chess there is no highest peak, no matter how high you have reached upon reaching there you see something just a little higher worthy of making the journey.
There really is no such thing as a good chess player or a bad chess player. There are just a large number of people out for a hike in the chess mountains and we are all at different stages of the journey. AND not everyone needs to make the walk to the next higher peak. Some are content to stop and have a picnic on the peak they have reached and enjoy the view.
I would be interested to hear what your stages of development were in chess. For instance, I think mine might have been:
1) Rules and how the pieces move
2) Winning Material
3) Pins and discovered attacks
4) Control of space
5) Combinations and seeing the pieces as having lines of power and sheres of control
6) learning lots of tricks and set pieces
7) Tactics. "Knowing what to do when something needs to be done"
8) Seeing the whole board (there is a tendency for players to focus on a quadrant.
9) Seeing attack and defense equally. This was a hard one. There is a natural tendency when a player is on the attack to not see the opponents counter attacking options. Equally when you feel on the defensive therre is a natural tendency to stop looking for attacking options.
10) Strategy "Knowing what to do when nothing needs to be done." This was a break through for me. I finally realized that it is possible to lose a game without really making a mistake/blunder. I just had it happen to me in an ICCF game. I decided to play a very defensive game and 30 moves later my lack of space happened to cause me a major problem. I had stuck with a strategy too long.
You will notice I did not put things in the list such as "learning the openings" and "playing the middle game". This is just pure absorption of facts. I could read a book oin the Sicilian Dragon at stage 4) and learn somthing useful. I could read the same book again at stage 6 and learn more and at stage 10 read the book again and learn even more.
What are others experiences?