Chess for Beginners

Category: Chess

  • Most Popular Posts

    Below are the six most popular posts on beginchess.com of the past few years:

  • Detailed Chess Training Schedule

    Building upon the generic training schedule the detailed chess training schedule includes information on the topics and materials to be covered during my chess training sessions. This list is customized for me, but I am including it as an example for others to build upon as well as for my own reference.

    Monday July 13th
    Study Endings using Silman’s Endgame Course (1hr)
    Solve tactics on chess.com (30min)

    Tuesday July 14th
    Study Strategy from My System (1hr)
    Solve endings using Chess Tempo (30min)

    Wednesday July 15th
    Play G/30 Game
    Annotate game

    Thursday July 16th
    Solve strategy using content from Chess Master Schools (1hr)
    Solve tactics on chess.com (30min)

    Friday July 17th
    Study openings (Nimzo-Indian) (1hr)
    Solve endings using Chess Tempo (30min)

    Saturday July 18th
    Play G/30 Game
    Annotate game

    Sunday July 19th
    Catch-up day

  • Classic Endgame Pawn Breakthrough

  • Chess Openings for Beginners: Dealing with the Seirawan Attack

    I am slowly building my opening repertoire and I feel comfortable with my opening as White (The English) as well as my defenses as Black against 1.e4 (the French). I am a bit more unsure when it comes to my defense to 1.d4 as Black. I just recently decided that my repertoire against 1.d4 would include the Nimzo Indian against 1.d4 1.Nf6 2.C4 e6 3.Nf3 and the Queen’s Indian against 1.d4 1.Nf6 2.C4 e6 3.Nc3.I still need to iron out my responses against the Torre, Colle and Tromposky…but until then I’ll just play logical moves against those openings.

    While playing a game on FICS the other day I encountered the following move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Bg5 which to my chagrin was not covered in either my Nimzo or QID books. This is known as the Neo-Indian Attack or the Seirawan Attack.

    The two most common responses for Black against the Seirawan attack are either 3…h6 or 3…Bb4+. Based on my use of the Nimzo-Indian against 1.d4, I am going to respond using 3…Bb4+ which has an insignificantly lower winning percentage than 3…h6 (36.8% versus 35.3%).

    My biggest fear with 3…Bb4+ is that it does not address the pin on the f6 knight. This is addressed with 4…h6 placing the question to White’s bishop.

    Here’s a sample game where the Neo-Indian Attack transposes into the Nimzo-Indian Leningrad variation:

  • Endgame Positions

    I have added a JavaScript replay chess board which contains critical endgame positions. Right now it contains three positions mainly King and pawn endgames dealing with the opposition, but I plan on adding more every couple of days.

  • Chess Board Visualization Exercise #3

    After mastering exercise 1 and exercise 2 you are ready to move on to the third chess board visualization exercise.

    Using the board look at all of the squares controlled by:

    – a knight on c3
    – a knight on f3
    – a knight on c6
    – a knight on f6

    Then, without the use of the board repeat the exercise again visualizing the squares controlled by the knight on f3, c6 and f6.

    Perform this exercise for two sessions or until you feel comfortable. You should also repeat exercise #2 until you are extremely comfortable performing it.

    Remember it is important to build upon fundamentals, and exercise # 2 is an important building block in developing chess visualization skills.

  • Annotated Game: Winter vs. Capablanca 1918

    Here’s an annotated game by Capablanca from his game Winter vs. Capablanca that took place in Hastings in 1918.

    Winter vs. Capablanca 1918

    NOTE: I am testing a Silverlight chess board, please leave me your feedback.

  • Chess Memory

    Interesting article on chess memory which should be read by all who are interested in chess psychology and learning.

  • Endgame Problem

    Here’s the first of many endgame and middlegame problems to come:
    King and pawn endgame problem

  • These Things Take Time : The Challenges Adults Face When Learning Chess

    (first in a series of adult learning posts)

    “These things take time.” the grand master explained to his young pupil. Ten years and nearly one thousand rating points later, the student now finally realized the truth in the words of his teacher. One must realize that there is no quick fix to becoming an expert in any field, you need to pay your dues and in time you will reach one of many “a-ha” moments as your skills improve.

    Cognitive psychologists Chase & Simon in 1973 studied chess experts and found that they had often spent as many as 50,000 hours practicing chess. That means that a 35 year old master who has spent 50,000 hours playing chess must have spent 4-5 hours everyday for thirty years on the chessboard starting at the age of 5.

    Good heuristics on the time it takes to improve and reach certain milestones in your chess development could go like this (Note that results may vary based on the amount of time you spend, and the intensity of your training sessions):

    • The average adult will need to invest approximately 5 years of practice to become a decent player (ELO 1600)
    • The average adult will need to invest approximately 10 years to become an expert (ELO 1900-2000).
    • Because time is against them, the average adult learner will have an extraordinarily difficulty time in surpassing the 2000 ELO rating.
    • Measureable progress comes in 6-12 month periods.

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