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The (Long) Road to Chess Maste...

Posted by on Jun 9, 2011
According to experts it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert in any field. So the following is my attempt to gauge my chess progress based on the 10,000 hour rule. Assumptions 10,000 hours of practice = expert A chess expert is a player...

News from the Front lines

Posted by on May 22, 2011
I haven’t posted in a while, and I need to make more time to do so. During my silence, I have continued to work on my chess improvement, and I am currently on day 112 of a program I am putting together for myself. My FICS standard rating has gone from 1607 to...

Finding the Master Within Pt. ...

Posted by on Mar 28, 2011
I have finished the exercise I proposed in Pt. 1 of Finding the Master Within, and below are my results: 1. I played over 3 random games from each of the masters on the list. 2. I gave myself a 0 for needs work, 1 for average, 2 for good, 3 for very good and 4 for...

Finding the Master Within

Posted by on Mar 17, 2011
There is no doubt that reviewing master games is one of the best methods to improve your chess. The question for me has always been which master’s games do I study first? There are schools of thought that answer this by stating that you should review master games...

Playing Against The Caro-Kann ...

Posted by on Feb 27, 2011
Reference: Chess Openings for White, Explained: Winning with 1.e4, Second Revised and Updated Edition Fischer vs. Petrosian 1970 Beograd World-SU 1970 · Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange. Rubinstein Variation...

From Disappointment Comes Chan...

Posted by on Feb 14, 2011
I haven’t posted for several months, because I have not been happy with my chess improvement.  I have taken these past few months to review my training program and to try to figure out the missing piece of my chess improvement puzzle. I am not any closer to...

Threats in Chess Pt. 2

Posted by on Nov 27, 2010
I wasn’t planning on making this a series of posts on threats, but I feel I’m on to something. My chess has improved since I have restructured my thought process to incorporate threat analysis . Threat Based Evaluation Process 1. What are my opponent’s...
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  • Bindi: Good points... I'm sure that Purdy must have been from India...
  • Malcolm Peskoff: These are the rules for the Endgame. Easy to memorize, easy...
  • Ken: 4000 hours in 10 years = Chess teacher. 8000 hours in 10 ye...
  • michael: For us beginners, please show us a board and where the posit...
  • michael: please describe what a fianchettoed bishop is, and in genera...
recent from Improvement The Road to Chess Improvement in 10 Steps
The Road to Chess Improvement in 10 Steps 1. Eliminate blunders. 2. Become proficient at finding offensive and defensive tactics. 3. Stop playing “hope chess”. Analyze at least 4 ply deep, and make sure that your move improves your position and does not lead to #1 & 2 above. 4. Be aware of your opponents tactical and positional...
recent from Training Training Insights
Update: 8/7/2010: I have been following my own advice for the past two weeks, and I have to say that my training is more focused than ever, and I am beginning to see tangible improvements over the board. If you are interested, I am continuing to post my weekly training schedule at my Chess Notebook...
recent from Lessons Playing Against an Outpost
Playing Against an Outpost   In the diagram White has an outpost on e5, but Ne5 can always be met by …Nxe5 and after recapturing with the pawn, White’s outpost is gone. White needs to bring another piece to bear on e5, so White to move would play 1.Bg5 and follow it up with Bh4 and Bg3. If on the other hand Black is...
recent from Books New York 1924
  New York 1924 has gone down in history as one of the most important chess tournaments of all time. Three undisputed world champions including Capablanca and Emanuel Lasker, and a briliantly annotated  by future world champoin Alexander Alekhine. I have made the PGN of all of the games available...