A - Chess Improvement-A !!!!!

CONTAINED HERE IS THE INFORMATION ONE NEEDS TO OBTAIN OBT AIN THE RATING OF 2200-2400 ELO. THIS IS CHESS GOLD!!!!! :

I'm 41 years old, and I'm a Portuguese lawyer. I became acquainted with the game of chess when I was a child, but I learned how to play it when I was already a law student. By then, my father offered me a copy of the (not very good) French translation of Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's «The Game of Chess». Chess». Before that, I read many, too many books and articles on the subject, without any pleasure or profit. pro fit. After the careful study I did of this specific book, I ventured to play my first official tournament: it was a good enough one, and I did so well I got immediately over 1600 16 00 (portuguese) ELO! In spite of that, I never took Chess very seriously: while I was a student I seldom played official games, and after my graduation I virtually had to stop. Since my personal and professional life stabilized in the meantime, I decided to try it again a couple of years ago. For that Chess», never dreaming of purpose, I studied once more «The Game of Chess», what was really going to happen. The weekend wee kend before last, I played my very first international «Open»: five sessions with forty players, of which twenty-six with (high) ELO FIDE, two with FM titles and three with IM titles. Having just 1913 (national) ELO and looking at so strong a competition, I estimated the best I'd get would be something so mething around 1,5 points. Surprise! I've finished 8th (3rd «ex aequo»), with 3,5 points (+3=2−1) (1,5 points against three international ranked players, of which one with IM and another with FM titles) and a performance of 2293 (!) (the second best in the tournament) which earned me the right to get my first ever ELO FIDE. The T he next player like me finished only 22nd, with 2 points. I left behind one player with a FM title and twenty players playe rs with ELO FIDE. I was flabbergasted: how could a simple amateur obtain obta in such a good result?! The answer was: Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's «The Game of Chess»! Many critics consider this the finest all-round manual on the game: I think they're right. It had an outstanding success when it was first published in

Germany in 1931 and in Great-Britain in 1934. Such a success was largely due to the apparently unorthodox but extremely effective e ffective teaching method the author used, one «analogous to that a mother uses to teach her child to talk»: «the intuitive method of instruction». After dealing with the elements, the author proceeds not to the opening but to the end-game, e nd-game, «since obviously it is easier for the beginner to deal with a few men than with the entire thirty-two». Dr. Tarrasch doesn't waste any time with «all those end-games which do not occur in actual play»: he goes right through explaining the fundamental positions of this part of the game, doing it so simply and clearly that one finds himself quite able to understand some longer end-games (four in number) with which he concludes this part of his book. After the end-game comes the part dealing with the middle-game, «the most important part of the game». He not only traces back «to fixed and constantly recurring types the manifold combinations of chess», but also gives the standard positional concepts of the game: through the «study of the typical combinations and attacks», one makes himself familiarized more than enough «with the raw material» for «the conduct of the middle game, as regards both tactics and strategy». Finally, Dr. Tarrasch comes to the opening, «the most difficult part of the game». After presenting a general theory of the opening, o pening, he deals «with the important lines of practically all the openings», though not pretending to be «exhaustive». (More than seventy years after a fter the first edition of this book, the section on the various openings is somewhat dated, d ated, particularly on the Indian Defenses; but, to my mind, not as dramatically dated as critics say).  A few games (seven in the German edition, twelve in the English edition), edition), «very fully annotated», form the concluding part of the manual. Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's «The Game of Chess» is «A Systematic Text-book for Beginners and More Experienced Players». To me, it's more than that: it's the true Chess Bible. Bible. Besides, it's the culminating point of the literary production of the greatest chess teacher of all times: the «Praeceptor Germaniae seu Mundi», as he is known even today. «Naturally, for further progress the study of master games is most important - but only those games which are accompanied by the most complete and apposite notes. » In my case, I decided to study Fred

Germany in 1931 and in Great-Britain in 1934. Such a success was largely due to the apparently unorthodox but extremely effective e ffective teaching method the author used, one «analogous to that a mother uses to teach her child to talk»: «the intuitive method of instruction». After dealing with the elements, the author proceeds not to the opening but to the end-game, e nd-game, «since obviously it is easier for the beginner to deal with a few men than with the entire thirty-two». Dr. Tarrasch doesn't waste any time with «all those end-games which do not occur in actual play»: he goes right through explaining the fundamental positions of this part of the game, doing it so simply and clearly that one finds himself quite able to understand some longer end-games (four in number) with which he concludes this part of his book. After the end-game comes the part dealing with the middle-game, «the most important part of the game». He not only traces back «to fixed and constantly recurring types the manifold combinations of chess», but also gives the standard positional concepts of the game: through the «study of the typical combinations and attacks», one makes himself familiarized more than enough «with the raw material» for «the conduct of the middle game, as regards both tactics and strategy». Finally, Dr. Tarrasch comes to the opening, «the most difficult part of the game». After presenting a general theory of the opening, o pening, he deals «with the important lines of practically all the openings», though not pretending to be «exhaustive». (More than seventy years after a fter the first edition of this book, the section on the various openings is somewhat dated, d ated, particularly on the Indian Defenses; but, to my mind, not as dramatically dated as critics say).  A few games (seven in the German edition, twelve in the English edition), edition), «very fully annotated», form the concluding part of the manual. Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch's «The Game of Chess» is «A Systematic Text-book for Beginners and More Experienced Players». To me, it's more than that: it's the true Chess Bible. Bible. Besides, it's the culminating point of the literary production of the greatest chess teacher of all times: the «Praeceptor Germaniae seu Mundi», as he is known even today. «Naturally, for further progress the study of master games is most important - but only those games which are accompanied by the most complete and apposite notes. » In my case, I decided to study Fred

Reinfeld's «Tarrasch's Best Games of Chess»: Chess»: there were no other Dr. Tarrasch's books translated to English when I finished reading his manual. Again I made great progresses: in fact, I learned more and more about the game with the same teacher, since Reinfeld in many cases merely follows Dr. Tarrasch's own analyses and comments. Now, at long last, «Three Hundred Chess Games», Games», «Montecarlo 1903» and 1903» and «St. Petersburg 1914» are 1914» are available in English (not yet «Die moderne Schachpartie», Schachpartie», which is a pity): once read both «The both «The Game of Chess» Chess», these are the next books to and «Tarrasch's Best Games of Chess», study, preferably by this order . After this (and, if I may say so, only after this), one may go on to other o ther authors - above all Alekhine. But don't do n't you forget to start with the Chess Bible: Dr. Siegbert Siegber t Tarrasch's «The Game of Chess»... -----Patrick said... I went from 1250 to 1800 in 6 months. Actually I'm "unrated" but I used to lose to 1400's and a few days ago I drew a Life Master (2200) who estimated me at 1800 or o r so. I say this not to brag, br ag, but so that you'll listen to me. I have some specific advice for you. Play the same opening(s) o pening(s) every time. As white, play Giuoco Piano (aka "Italian Game") with d4, not d3. http://www.physik.tu-muenchen.de/~jfranosc/chess/italian.pdf. Against the Sicilian play the Rossolimo and Moscow variations (3.Bb5). Play these EVERY GAME! As black, find something you enjoy-enjoy -- it needs to have active piece-play and tactics. Against the Queen's Gambit I recommend the QG  Accepted or the Albin Countergambit. Against 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 now you play Bf5 and head for the Slav, with pawns on c6 and e6, Nf6, Bd6, Nbd7, Qc7, 00 (in a logical order) with a good game. Against e4 I recommend the French Winawer or simply the Spanish/Italian game. Download and print analysis for your openings here: http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/links/openings.htmlHol http://www.kenilworthch essclub.org/links/openings.htmlHole e punch everything and put it in a 3 ring binder. (Save your money-- don't do n't buy books yet.)You need some element of strategy training, regardless of what your messiah delaMaza says. A great book for this is "Weapons of Chess" C hess"

by Pandolfini. I just bought it used for $3 and it's superb-- can be read without a board too! Good luck and all the best to you! :)-Patrick

 A.S. Suetin wrote a book titled "Three Steps to Chess Mastery", Pergamon Press, 1982. Here are some excerpts (in some cases, not verbatim) from the section titled "The Player's Laboratory". This book contains some of the best self-training advice you'll find outside a Dvoretsky/Yusupov book. Working on One's Own Games For a player wishing to improve, the cold analysis of mistakes is not enough. The problem is simultaneously to establish the psychological cause of these mistakes. Not sparing your pride, you should frankly re-establish the course of your thinking, endeavouring to give answers to approximately the following questions: 1. What specific variations did you calculate, when considering your moves, especially at the turning points of the game? It is very important to note what you missed in your calculations, and what your opponent showed you in your joint analysis after the game. 2. What considerations were you guided by in choosing your plan? 3. When evaluating your positional mistakes, endeavour to understand their cause. Were they a result of an insufficiently deep understanding of the position, or of tactical oversights? After all, oversights can often lead to positionally unfavourable situations.

 A commentary on a game, irrespective of its character, should definitely: show the turning points of the game disclose the course of the thinking of the two players, and, in particular, show specific calculations 

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trace the strategic outline of the game convey the feelings of the players;

Here are a few simple but essential rules: Do not be one-sided in your analysis, by examining only 'your' variations. Endeavour to look into the ideas of your opponent. Each time that you point out a mistake, indicate the correct continuation. Do not forget the analysis is not a practical game. It requires more specific proof than intuitive decisions. The Study of Master Games  A harmony between evaluation and calculation in your play can be achieved only if you constantly practise analysis. Therefore it is essential to analyse master games, to be able to understand correctly their ideas in their annotations, and also to evaluate the quality of the annotation. There are two main trends in the "Method of Annotation": 1. Give preference to evaluations of a general nature. Specific variations merely illustrate and confirm the general ideas. A good example of this style of annotation is Bronstein's Zurich 1953 Tournament Book. 2. Out of variations, you deduce an evaluation of the position, i.e. proceed from the particular to the general. Rarely do you give broad generalizations, but give obvious preference to the detailing of analysis, and the study of latent combinational resources. A good example of this style is Chigorin. Thus there are two methods of annotation, and both are perfectly lawful. Each reflects chess reality: deductive (from the general to the particular) the strategic content of a game, and inductive (from the particular to the general) - the tactical content. The modern way of annotating a game is as though to synthesize both methods, harmoniously combining specific analysis with generalizing evaluations. Alexander Alekhine was a potent example of this synthesized approach to annotation. The ability to make a critical evaluation of a commentary being studied, the ability to think independently, are essential qualities for an analyst.

Work with Literature  A disdain for the reading of methodological works and especially the study of information is fraught with unpleasant consequences. The 'natural player' will never attain any great heights. On the other hand, the reading of chess books is by no means a simple matter. It should not be forgotten that chess material, in what ever form it is taken, always demands active perception. But this presupposes in particular a business-like, critical study of literature, which is not at all easy to attain. It should be mentioned that an over scrupulous tracing throughout 'from cover to cover' of even the most authoritative books can lead to a loss of lively individual thinking, to a loss of 'taste' for chess. How can some proportion be achieved here? I think that this depends on setting yourself a correct goal of improvement.  And this is closely linked with the development of your analytical ability. The Importance of Active Independent Perception in the Study of Source Material Nimzovitch wrote in his book "How I Became A Grandmaster”: “I took the book of the 1906 Nuremberg tournament with notes by Tarrasch, and gave it to a bookbinder, and asked him to sew into the book blank pages between each two pages of text. Then I began working through the games...Any results found were immediately noted down on the intermediate pages. I always 'played' for one of the two sides-either for White, or Black. I first endeavored to find the best move, and then looked at the move made in the game. In this way each 'game' lasted at least six hours. I consolidated my learning roughly as follows. In one of Salwe's games, a typical isolated queen's pawn position was reached: white knight at f3 and pawn at d4, black knight at d7 and pawn at e6 (in addition, each side had a mass of pieces). It turned out that White had no reason at all to hurry over the occupation of e5 with his knight, since within a few moves the black knight itself set off to attempt to reach d5, and thus, without any effort on the part of White, the square nevertheless fell into his hands. Such a state of affairs was immediately recorded by me on the blank pages, and, what's more, the point of it was not the purely chess content of the manoeuvre, but, so to speak, its psychological peculiarities. Frequently squares are vacated automatically. The result of my efforts was as follows:

1. I had a prepared opening repertoire 2. I became proficient at playing in a slow, waiting style, and I found it quite incomprehensible that formerly I could have sacrificed without an exact calculation... 3.  An important achievement was also the fact that, thanks to careful study of certain games, I began to understand the strategy of closed positions, and, in particular, grasped the principles of the pawn chain, and also partly of centralization." Whatever chess book we study, we should always be able to separate the important from the second-rate, and disclose the essence of the problems raised, etc. And in studying chess, the art of critical analysis is always especially important. The Test of Mastery  A player must first master various principles, schemes, and characteristic tactical and strategic devices. At the same time the development of one's thinking is preceded by the acquisition ofcombinative vision. This is also a complicated process: At first a player notices only simple threats, then he begins to see all sorts of double attacks, and, finally, that harmonic interaction which leads to combinations. Only after going through such a schooling does a player obtain the necessary basis, which allows him to use flexibly his knowledge and skill. The analysis of complex positions, where strategic and tactical factors are closely interlaced, is first and foremost very hard work.For the unprepared it may even be beyond their strength. Therefore, don't try to take too many steps at once. Get to know your true capabilities, each time, of course, setting yourself new problems.  Along this path there is much disillusionment, causing annoyance and dissatisfaction. Without these bitter feelings you cannot get by. But remember that if you are dissatisfied, it means you are searching. This is one of the fascinations of the art of chess. "Chess ennobles man, since it is full of disappointments" - Tartakower  The Analysis of Adjourned Games

The best teacher in mastering the art of analysis is practice: learning comes both during play, and in the subsequent study of a completed game. For the development of analytical skill, very much can be given, for example, by work on adjourned positions (this is currently outdated, but one can take a game and at move 39 or 40 'adjourn' the position and analyze from there for this exercise). The analysis of adjourned positions should be regarded not only from the practical point of view. Each well analyzed position increases the ability of a player. Experience has shown that it is precisely in the endgame that the largest number of mistakes is made by inexperienced players. Perhaps the small number of pieces on the board makes the study of the endgame a boring task for young players. But we can readily see what interesting, tactical variations can arise in the endgame positions. Don't be Afraid to Take Risks The most promising players are those who, from their very first steps, display analytical inquisitiveness. While their first attempts may not always be successful, what is important here is the initiative! Where the Necessary is Combined with the Useful For a young player, wishing to raise his standard of play, it is important, even essential, to make analysis an integral part of his home training. The starting position for this can (and should!) be most varied (after all, in practice one has to deal with all kinds of situations). But nevertheless, the emphasis should be on complicated middlegame set-ups, full of tactical content. For the most part, such a criterion is well satisfied by positions arising at the transition from opening to middlegame in present-day openings.It is no accident that it is on such problem set-ups that the strongest players sharpen their analytical mastery. In this way a dual aim is achieved: the development of analytical skill, and a penetration into the  jungle of a particular opening system, which one can add to one's 'armoury'. What generally happens is that, the deeper you go into the  jungle of such positions, not only does the evaluation not become clearer, but often the player is faced with an even more confused picture. But this should not dismay the analyst. A knowledge of highly complicated, practically inexhaustiblepositions opens up enormous scope for the

development of the most varied aspects of chess thinking. The result is that, along with the development of analytical potentialities, the player's genuine understanding of chess grows, without being confined within some formal framework. Also, the deeper your analysis of positions in the transition from opening to middlegame, the greater advantage you gain over your future opponents. And in opening preparation, virtually the most important thing for the practical player is to be constantly ahead in your 'production secrets'. Thus, you should attempt to be a Sherlock Holmes of chess. And remember that each time you can get down to the essence of the problem by a combination of painstaking and inventive work, worthy of a clever detective. It is not all positions, arising on the transition from opening to middlegame, that are full of specific content. But always, after the completion of mobilization, there arise a certain complex of strategic and tactical problems (provided, of course, that in the opening neither side has made some bad mistake, allowing the opponent quickly to gain a serious advantage). Therefore, when studying variations, you should attempt in particular to see the 'physical meaning'- the intrinsic strategic and tactical ideas. In short, when studying an opening (i.e., in essence, a specific middlegame [specialization training]) you should not so much aim to remember the variations, but rather to study the most important critical positions that arise here. Otherwise, for the trees you may not be able to see the wood! The Technique of Opening Preparation When working on opening analysis, a player involuntarily encounters a very important problem - the correct organization of this work. Whatever one says, without the necessary order one cannot hope for success in chess. In work on one's opening repertoire, this is reflected in the correct selection of information for analysis. Indeed, without the necessary material on which to make a judgement, it is difficult to imagine and subsequent serious analysis. No less important is the habit of being systematic and orderly in the complex of specific and general chess knowledge. In this collecting of information it is important to have a sense of measure. It must be borne in mind that, in practice, the selection of material for an opening repertoire must be restricted to games which are the most important in the theoretical sense (this is what grandmasters and master do). Otherwise, there is the risk of 'drowning' in the abundance of material.

Therefore, initially it is probably expedient to obtain in full games which interest you, with the most important specific comments on the opening and middlegame. Of course, learning to choose the most important games, i.e. the information which deserves complete trust, is not an easy matter. Practical Advice The mastery of general principles undoubtedly assists the conscious perception of opening variations, and makes a player's thinking more economical and effective. But even so, a genuine knowledge of opening theory is impossible without the development of a special memory. This memory should be exercised by regular and sensible training. From your first steps you should beware of 'swotting up'multi tome encyclopedias. It can only kill your lively interest in chess, and hence your ability as a player.  You can work correctly on the opening only while improving your overall standard of play. You should study the opening together with the ideas inherent in the subsequent middlegame. What should you be guided by in your choice of opening? This is a problem every player has to face. You should not aim to remember as many variations as possible, but equally it is not good to overdo one and the same set-up. For tournament play you should build up a definite opening repertoire, consisting of a limited number of carefully worked out systems. Ways of working on opening theory depend to a great extent on the character of the player. Whether it should be a greater or lesser diversity of schemes, a deep analysis of a narrow range of variations, or play in a variety of strategic systems--this is a matter of taste. There are no general prescriptions. But to make it a rule to learn from your own games and from others', and not to repeat mistakes made earlier--this is an already patent prescription for everyone. In order to avoid such unpleasantness, you should make it a habit to investigate your opening mistakes, consistently accumulating and supplementing valuable experience. And we should point out once again that, in building up his opening repertoire, it is expedient for a young player to adopt systems rich in sharp play.

The following is from the International Chess School - Andrei Istratescu chess instructions for beginners Chess Instructions how you can improve This section is addressed to beginners in chess who want to improve steadily and gain a 'decent' level of play. So, if you are a beginner, who knows the rules of chess and the relative value of the pieces, these chess instructions are for you. The way up to the rank to the level of an intermediate player is not hard. We are confident that you will enjoy following these instructions and reading the materials we recommend here.

Instructions for chess openings

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To play well in the opening is a must. How can you play a good middlegame if the start leads you to a bad position? You have to choose the systems you feel comfortable with and understand their principles. Our advice for you is to get a material with clear explanations on all the variations and give you the plans for the middlegame. A very good opening material is: Opening Preparation from International Chess Master School Instructions for the middlegame

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To play well in the middlegame, you have to learn the basics of chess strategy and tactics. The following chess books will help you much. You do not need more, just read them very carefully. Logical Chess - Move by Move by Chernev

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Game of Chess by Tarrasch

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Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan

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Combinational Motifs by Blokh

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Chess Master School - very good because of its annotations, explaining you step-by-step all the ideas, how to think and how to make plans. Good especially for strategy! Instructions for the endgame

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Study the endgame! This is very important! All the other phases of the game will become more understandable if you know how to play the endgame! You have to practice with different positions, to thoroughly understand every author's explanation, and to solve on your own some problems. The recommended chess endgame book for you is: Improve Your Endgame Play by Flear Chess Instructions for the general understanding of the game

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Use the real chess board and pieces and follow the games given in a book. Try to think about the purpose of every move. Do not pay particular attention to the complicated variations; just replay the games. Studying the games of a grand master who plays more strategically helps more for your level than sharp games. We recommend the following books: Understanding Chess Move by Move by Nunn Three Hundred Chess Games by Tarrasch other chess instructions and tips for you

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If you find some good materials on the Internet, print them as you have to move the pieces with your own hand on a normal board as much as you can. The use of a computer for chess must be minimized. Play games on free Internet servers, but do not play too much. Our recommendation is to spend for this a maximum of 25% of your time allotted for chess. After you improve your knowledge in chess by studying, you will have more success. Do not play games with less than 10 minutes initial time.  Avoid playing chess with your friends who do not study chess and are weaker than you. You will never learn anything from them. Play against better opponents!

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Play in official tournaments, but do not lose your confidence if you lose many games. You are just in the beginning and you must earn playingexperience in official contests. After the tournament, analyze all your games (you can help with your computer, but only after you try on your own first). Write up a notebook of your games (or you can keep a database in your computer).  You will find our 13-month course very useful. We explain the basics of chess strategy in an understandable manner, with annotated games and quizzes. Chess Instructions We hope that in a short time you will be reading carefully our chess instructions for intermediates on how you become an advanced player. However, for now, we recommend you to follow just these chess instructions. Good luck! -----------------------------------------------chess instructions for intermediates chess instructions to attain advanced level This page is for intermediates in chess who want to take their playing skills to the next level. At this stage, almost chess enthusiasts stop. Why? Some of them simply do not want more. However, most of them do not have access to good chess instructions for the needed improvement. We give you here a complete guide for your study in all phases of the game, so that you can improve for sure and with greater speed.

Instructions for chess openings First, you have to feel comfortable with all the positions of the main variations. For example, if you want to play Caro-Kann because you like the Classical System, you have to like also the Advance Variation, the Panov Attack and other White's choices. Therefore, to play the opening well, you have to improve in many type of positions. This mainly means

that the opening preparation has to be done together with the learning of strategy. In addition, it would be very good to review many masters' games, since the more you study various games, the more you will discover and learn new opening systems. If you will follow these instructions you will realize that certain positions that you did not like before will feel more and more comfortable to you and you will also know better how to evaluate their consequential positions.  You have to concentrate on understanding the plans of every principal variation, not to memorize the moves . First of all, your opponent will not play like Anand or other top players, so initially it is enough to know good plans for your systems.  A good method for the opening study: try to find an explanation to the move order for the opening's variations! Keep the chess board in front of you and think why it is important to make a certain move before another. With this method you will gain: a better understanding of your plan and opponent's counter play

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better calculation skills move-by-move learning of the variations (develop opinion on which you like) In addition, if you will need more games for the study of your variations, you can search on ChessLive.de by positions, ELOs and year played. If you can afford it, one database with annotated games is a remarkably good help. Finally, for our chess instructions on openings, we recommend you to get a material with a lot of annotations: the Complete Chess Opening Repertoire a ChessBase database with annotated games Instructions for chess strategy First of all you have to (RE)learn chess strategy and to learn HOW TO THINK. You have to develop your skills of evaluating and playing the typical chess positions. You may want to write a summary of all the important things you learn from your books. It is very useful to have a notebook and to read from time to time your glossary. Here are the best chess books at this level:

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Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur by Euwe

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My System by Nimzowitsch

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Understanding Pawn Play in Chess by Marovic

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Chess Master School - especially good because of its structured method.

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Other very good chess books: Understanding Chess Move by Move by Nunn

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Capablanca's Best Games by Golombek

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Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Tal

 After you write all the important theoretic concepts from the materials pointed out here, it is very instructive to analyze and annotate your own archived games. When possible, categorize your moves according to the general principles you have learned. Continue doing so for all the games you will play in the next tournaments.

Instructions for chess tactics If you study chess books on chess strategy you will drastically improve your understanding of chess. However, you know for sure that a good game can be finished in just a few moves if you or your opponent does not pay attention to the tactical opportunities. Moreover, a good strategic early phase of a game often wins in the end with a tactical blow. Also, you have to calculate and play with full respect to your opponent's possible counter play. When you study tactics, try to calculate on your own ALL the variations of the key-positions and after that compare it to the solutions given by the author.

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The following books are the most suitable for your level:  Art of Attack in Chess by Vukovic

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Chess Tactics for Advanced Players by Averbakh

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Dvoretsky's and Nunn's books on tactics Instructions for the endgame

Knowledge of the endgame helps more than you think at first. For example when you have a good position in the middlegame but there is no possibility of a mate attack or winning a decisive material you make normal moves that take the game close to the endgame. These types of positions are very frequent and you will have to find a line that leads to a winnable endgame. You can calculate exactly the variation and then visualize the resulting position, but is it a good endgame or a bad one? That is often impossible to calculate exactly and then your knowledge of the basic endgame positions becomes very valuable. Here many players lose their way, since the misinterpretation of the endgame often changes the result of an otherwise good game. Other benefits are less obvious: the endgame STUDY helps very much in gaining more calculation strength. You need that at any stage of the game! Other benefits include better understanding of strategy, since during the endgame, strategic elements (like square's weaknesses) are more obvious.

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One very good and comprehensive book on the endgame is: Endgame Manual (2nd edition) by Dvoretsky other chess instructions for you

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Play as often as you can in official tournaments. After every tournament, analyze your games thoroughly. Do not use your computer too much. It is in vain to analyze games with software.  Your chess learning must be based on STUDY. You must comprehend every game or position. Do not forget: make a notebook! ...and it is time to solve hard positions and get prepared for the real challenge. A great material we recommend to you is theChess Master School where you have tons of positional exercises to solve. Chess Instructions We hope that in a short time you will be reading our chess instructions for the advanced players. However, for now, we recommend to follow very carefully the above chess instructions. Good luck!

--------------------------------------------------------------------chess instructions for advanced chess instructions to become a master  Are you ranked as an advanced or an expert in chess ...and want to know how to become a chess master? If so you have come to the right place and we are happy to have you here with us. We offer you the best instructions to become a chess master or even more. The work behind these instructions took a long time and required us an extensive evaluation of chess books and methods of chess study. We are proud of the result of our work and we feel it will most certainly help you very much. Therefore, seriously think of our chess instructions as the tool to wield TO BECOME a CHESS MASTER.

Chess Instructions for the Openings To become chess master, you have to master the openings. The opening preparation will additionally include a part with a thorough preparation for the middlegame. You will have to study the strategic and tactical possibilities of every type of position that arises from the opening variations you play. For Black, we recommend to choose 2 systems against 1.e4 and one or two systems against 1.d4 that also met 1.c4 and 1.Nf3. You must have one main system and then another just to "surprise" or vary from time to time. For White, the best way is to have one single and very strong system against every of Black's possible defences. Why a single system? Because Black has many possible responses and you will have no time to prepare for more main opening lines. Moreover, after each tournament, you will have to analyze your games, and the conclusions drawn from the opening analysis should be put in practice at the next tournament.

Other instructions for the openings are to avoid choosing simple or rare systems. At this stage of preparation, you must understand many types of positions, so choose strong variations with many possibilities and plans at hand! Now, how do you prepare? Do not even think to copy or memorize the exact variations from the openings books. The chess informants and the ECO codes are very good for organization but they are not enough. First you will have to get and review many games in the variations you selected. Good sources are chesslive.de or Mega DataBase from ChessBase.

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Our method of opening preparation: Try first to review some games in the opening variations you want to prepare without any annotations (!) and try to discover on your own the plans for BOTH players. In addition, we must stress this advice - play these games with normal board and pieces, not on your computer! Only after you played the selected games without annotations and you have a LIST of questions, study the games annotated - the whole game, until the end! You will be surprised how easy and DEEP you will understand that opening variation.  You have to repeat these steps for every variation of your openings. The necessary time for every variation differs a lot, but a medium can be considered at 10 hours/variation. Select "model games" for every variation - games that you liked and are representative for that variation. Study these games in deep. This method helps you not only in learning openings, but also in positional understanding and appreciating the tactical possibilities of the resulting positions! This is very important. So, do not think that too much time is devoted to the openings, because in the meantime you also learn strategy and tactics which are related to what you actually play. We recommend you to get a material with a lot of annotations and Opening System as how a chess master should play: the Complete Chess Opening Repertoire Chess Instructions for the Strategy

Our chess instructions on openings are also excellent for the strategy of your next games. We advised you to go through the games without annotations and write down a list of questions. After that you have to study in great depth the same game, annotated at this time. With this method, you will improve your strategic approach of the positions you will really play.

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There are some very good strategy books for advanced-expert level and we recommend you to study them. We made a list with only the top ones, and still it would be extraordinary if you could read them all. In fact, we do recommend to STUDY them. (Read at the bottom of this page what the meaning of "study" is and follow those chess instructions!) School of Chess Excellence 3 - Strategic by Dvoretsky Positional Play by Dvoretsky  Attack and Defence by Dvoretsky

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Chess Strategy in Action by Watson

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Dynamic Pawn Play in Chess by Marovic

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Exploiting Small Advantages by Gufeld

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Winning Pawn Structures by Baburin Chess Master School - the best product for advanced player that is available online. Chess Instructions for the Tactics

 You have to calculate rapidly and precisely! This is necessary to be able to win against masters! Try to find a quite time during the day when nothing disturb you and you are not tired. Sit down in front of your chess set and concentrate on the tactics and complicate positions. Begin this training with some simple exercises, then pass on to more complex tactical problems and finally completely analyze a sharp game on your own. The sharp game that you pick for analysis should have a complex middlegame or early endgame that has many strategic and tactical possibilities that usually arises from open games. This is very helpful in learning how to calculate correctly and mature your tactical skills.

Begin the analysis of tactical positions, first searching for all the moves that seem good. Then for every move you selected, repeat the previous step: search for the best moves of your imaginary opponent. Doing so, you will make a tree of the variations that are worthy of being notated. This method will help you to think in an organized manner. What and how many moves you choose for your "tree" is up to your initial intuition. However, the more you practice with this method, the more your intuition will mature.

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The following books are highly recommended: Chess Tactics for Advanced Players by Averbakh School of Chess Excellence 2 - Tactical by Dvoretsky  Analysis Manual by Dvoretsky Chess Instructions Chess Instructions for the Endgames

 At your level, we believe that you know the basics of endgame playing. If you do not and you think that you must improve in this field, read the chess instructions for the intermediates, too. If you master the basic endgames and you STUDIED a specialized book, our recommendation of the next one is: School of Chess Excellence 1 - Endgame by Dvoretsky

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This book is highly recommended not just for the endgames, but for the tactical thinking too. You must think and annotate every variation on your own and only then look at Dvoretsky's solution. This book and the method will for sure help you very much. other chess instructions 

During this period dedicated to study, you have to play in some tournaments, too. The improvement will come in time. However, your games must be the subject for your study and self-evaluation, like  Alekhine said: I consider the following three factors necessary for success: first, the conscience of one's own strengths and weaknesses; second, an exact understanding of the opponent's strengths and

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weaknesses; third, a higher goal than a one-moment satisfaction.  Our own games are closer to us than any others are, so study them seriously! Do not lose your time in front of the computer. This is a trap that hinders improvement of most players. Follow seriously our chess instructions and prove your power in official over-the-board tournaments. Therefore, we recommend you not to play online and not to analyze with chess programs (too much). You can just print all what you need from the Internet or Databases that you have. The software analysis is necessary only for the international level players and grandmasters.  After you closely followed all these chess instructions, you can set your target on the master rank. For doing the necessary norms, you have to play better than a medium master, so concentrate and give it all. PLAY A LOT (7 serious tournaments an year) - find and go to play in International tournaments of 9-11 rounds with 1 round/day, take the laptop with databases with you, prepare against the opponent you'll meet next day and enjoy this wonderful competition atmosphere. It's really great! How to STUDY - chess instructions: Analyze on your own all key-positions for some minutes and write down your position's evaluation, the plan and the move you would play, the opponent's counter play, and some variations if necessary. Only then look at the author's annotations. This is the key to your improvement and, sincerely, it is not quite easy. Find the correct way in our13-month course for advanced. If you follow exactly all these chess instructions, you have assured your qualification for an international (FIDE) category, not just for a national master. :) Chess Instructions ------------------------------------------------------International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 1 Making Decisions in Chess

How can I find the best move in a position? This is a question that every chess player would like to have answered. Playing the best move in all positions would make someone invincible. Of course such a thing is impossible and not even a computer is going to achieve perfection in chess anytime soon. So, is it a waste of time to look for the best move in every position? My answer is firmly NO. Certainly you will not find the best move every time, but looking for the best move involves a particular process that will help you better understand the position. Understanding the peculiarities of a position will always help you play “acceptable” moves even if they won’t always be the best. The more often you are able to find and use the best moves, the higher your chess level will be. This lesson will teach you an original, but effective method to improve your chess thinking. On first reading the process may seem complicated, but I promise that all that you need to understand this method is patience. You don’t have to be a chess expert to understand the following algorithm for making decisions in chess, you just need to think logically. Let’s start! 1. What’s the objective of a chess move?  According to our method, every chess move has a quite simple goal. By every move we try to accumulate a certain advantage for ourselves or to reduce a certain advantage already accumulated by our opponent . The greater the advantage gained, the better the move. Is there anything illogical so far? I don’t think so. But what about the so-called “waiting move”? My answer is: forget about it! You will make no progress by waiting for the opponent to make a mistake. Such a playing style could sometimes help you, but most of the time it will negatively affect you.

 A player’s attitude during the game is essential in chess. Someone who always tries to create problems for his opponent can be a successful player even if his chess knowledge is limited. On the other hand, someone who waits for an opponent’s mistakes and makes “waiting moves” has no chance to substantially improve his chess skills or game. So, keep in mind: BY EVERY MOVE YOU MUST LOOK FOR SOMETHING! And that  “something” is normally a certain advantage in your position. 2. What are the advantages in chess? OK, we agree that it is worth trying to reach an advantage by every move, but what are the advantages in chess? The first chess player to classify the advantages in chess was Wilhelm Steinitz who claimed that there are nine advantages: lead in development, mobility of the pieces, International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 2 seizure of the center, the position of the enemy king, weak squares in the opponent’s position, superior pawn formation, a pawn majority on the queenside, open files, and the advantage of the two bishops. Nowadays opinions have shifted slightly and the pawn majority on the queenside and the two bishops are no longer considered general positional advantages. The classification of the advantages in chess that I am proposing to you is somewhat different, but I think it fits better with modern thinking. Look around you and you will see that the value of any product depends on two things: quantity and quality. Why would chess be any different? There are two main categories of advantages in chess: quantitative advantage and qualitative advantage. Consciously or not, we always try to reach at least one of them.  All we expect from

you is to do it consciously and logically. 3. The quantitative advantages in chess The quantitative advantages are the material advantage and the local superiority of forces. The importance of the material advantage is well-known and it’s not my intention to describe to you the importance of being a knight or a pawn up. The superiority of the forces has a huge importance too. A chess game usually consists of several local battles. It is always convenient to fight in those local battles by having a superiority of the forces in that area. But if you wish to have a local superiority of the forces, you must create it because nobody will do it for you. Creating a local superiority of the forces is directly correlated with finding the best plan of play. How? Very simple. When you look for a plan of play you must always ask yourself “Where would it be better to challenge my opponent for a local battle?” The logical answer is something like that: “The battle must be on the queenside (or in the center or on the kingside) because I ha ve (or I can create) there a superiority of forces” . One more example: Let’s imagine that, while analyzing a position you discover that your opponent’s pieces are gathered on one side and can hardly be transferred to the opposite side.  You immediately start thinking about challenging your opponent to a battle on his weak side. What’s the next step in your logical thinking process? Of course you will start thinking about how to bring more pieces there in order to create a local superiority of forces. So, do you understand how the quantitative advantage of the superiority of forces and making the plan of play are directly correlated? I’m confident you do. International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 3

4. The qualitative advantages in chess For a spectator who doesn’t know the rules of chess, any qualitative advantage is imperceptible.  A qualitative advantage is the result of the dynamics of the pieces during the chess game. To correctly understand what qualitative advantage is, you must consider the chess pieces as beings. First I am going to mention the five qualitative advantages and then, we will deal with each and every one of them. a. King’s safety b. The qualitative value of the pieces c. The qualitative value of the pawn structure d. Space advantage e. Seizure of initiative 4.a. King’s safety There is nothing more important in chess than the king’s safety. A moment is enough to forget about it and for the effect to be fatal. When you decide the plan of play you must always be careful to have your king well protected. Moreover, you must try to endanger the position of the opponent king. 4.b. The qualitative value of the pieces During their first steps of the learning chess, every chess player comes to know that every piece has a “quantitative” value: a knight = a bishop ~3 points, a rook ~ 4 ½ -5 points, a queen ~ 9 points. Let’s take a look at diagram 1. Diagram 1 1.?  You don’t have to be a chess expert to see there is a difference between the pieces of the two sides. For instance look at the two knights. While the white knight has a dominant position in the International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 4

center from where it can quickly arrive anywhere on the chessboard, the black knight has a passive position and can make only one move to a8. Therefore it’s clear that we cannnot even compare the two knights. The same qualitative difference is visible when we compare the bishops and the rooks. White’s bishop and rook has a higher freedom of movement than those of their black opponent. They occupy open lines and put pressure over weak points in the opponent’s position. In the position in diagram no 1 these qualitative advantages can be immediately converted into quantitative advantages by playing 1.Kf2 followed by 2.Rg1. A superiority of forces is thus created on the kingside and Black’s passive pieces can’t intervene in time to defend the g6-pawn.  As a rule, the qualitative value of a piece depends on 4 characteristics: 1. The mobility of the piece 2. The positioning of the piece 3. The role played by the piece 4. The stability of the piece Let’s see what each of the terms mentioned above means. The mobility of a piece represents its capacity to move over a big number of squares and to move quickly (namely in few moves) anywhere on the chessboard. Diagram 2 In the diagram 2 we can see how the mobility of a piece can be restrained by both one’s own and an opponent’s pieces. For instance the mobility of Nh6 is restrained by the white pawns which control the squares g4 and f5 and the black pieces which occupy the squares f7 and g8. Comparing the two bishops we observe that the white bishop has mobility superior to that of his black opponent. The latter has only two move possibilities and it needs many moves to get to the central area of the board.

 Also, White’s rook has a better mobility than Black’s rook. White has more possibilities to transform his huge qualitative advantage into a quantitative advantage, for instance 1.Rd7 Rb8 2.Na5. International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 5 Positioning of a piece is also a very important characteristic. Usually a knight placed in the center of the board controls more squares than a knight placed on the edge of the board, while the linear pieces (the queen, the rooks and the bishops) have a better positioning when occupying an open line. However a linear piece is also very strong in the center, as you can see in diagram 3. Diagram 3 1...? Better positioning of a piece increases its qualitative value. In diagram 3 the qualitative advantage is transformed into a quantitative advantage by 1...Qe2.  After the exchange of the queens, Black wins by force the pawn at b3 due to the awful position of Nb2. It’s important to note that the linear pieces usually have their mobility restrained by their own pawns placed in their lines of action. This could be observed in all three analyzed examples. The role played by a piece has a great importance. On a scale sorted from the worst to the best, there are four main situations: 1. A piece out of play. This is the worst situation and it occurs when a piece is far away from a local battlefield and it is unable to quickly arrive there. 2. A piece that plays a defensive role, namely a piece whose main task is to protect a certain objective. 3. A piece that plays an offensive role, namely a piece that attacks an objective in the opponent’s field.

4. A piece that simultaneously plays an offensive role and one or more defensive roles. This is the best case, better than the third one. While defending an objective, a piece can have a supplementary role as it indirectly helps another piece by freeing it from its defensive task. International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 6 Diagram 4 1.? In diagram 4 we can notice a clear difference in White’s favor from the role of the pieces perspective. The battlefield is on the kingside and thus Ra2 and particularly Ba8 are out of play. White’s pieces play offensive roles and 1.Qh2 immediately decides the game. We must note the double role played by Bd4 which helps the attack on the kingside and simultaneously protects the pawn on b2, thereby preventing a black counterattack on the queenside. Stability of a piece becomes an important factor when that piece occupies an important square. If the piece has no stability on the square where it is positioned, the opponent can easily remove it, thus decreasing its qualitative value. On the contrary, when a piece is well placed and has stability (that is, when the opponent cannot remove it from there in good conditions), its qualitative value increases. Diagram 5 1.? In diagram 5 the two knights have equivalent positioning in the center of the board. Still, White’s knight has a superior qualitative value because it has greater stability, while Black’s knight can be removed from its central position by 1.f4.

I hope you understand how important the qualitative value of the pieces is. Consequently, during a chess game, we must try to do two things: International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 7 1. Improve the qualitative value of our pieces (by increasing their mobility and placing them on good squares where they are stable and play offensive roles). 2. Reduce the qualitative value of the opponent’s pieces (by restricting their mobility, not allowing them to occupy strong and stable positions, and forcing them to play defensive roles or, if possible, getting them out of play). 4.c. The qualitative value of the pawn structure Like the other pieces, pawns have their qualitative value too. You must not treat a pawn as an individual entity; the pawns act together as a unit. When referring to the qualitative value of the pawns, we talk about the qualitative value of the pawn structure. Indeed, the qualitative value of the pawn structure is influenced by the presence of doubled pawns or isolated pawns or islands of pawns, but your goal is to have a strong pawn formation and not strong individual pawns. There are dozens of books on the market that treat the qualitative value of pawns, either analyzing general aspects or focusing on particular pawn structures. Certainly we cannot deal with such a large subject in two phrases. All I expect from you after this lesson is that you consider the pawns what they are, namely a unit. If you see the pawn structure as a unit, you will notice that its qualitative value is influenced by the same four characteristics mentioned above: mobility, positioning, role and stability. In this case by good positioning we mean that it has both a healthy pawn structure as well as a pawn structure that ensures good control of the center.

4.d. Space advantage By space advantage we mean that one of the two players better controls a certain area of the chessboard. Normally the space advantage is obtained by advancing the pawns in that area. Why is the space advantage important? Simply because the space advantage indirectly influences the qualitative value of the pieces. Diagram 6 1.? In diagram 6 White has a space advantage on the kingside and can still increase it by f4-f5. The qualitative value of White’s pieces is better because they have great mobility on the kingside, International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 8 while Black’s pieces are forced to occupy passive positions due to the lack of space. White can create a superiority of forces on the kingside (i.e. the local area where he has a space advantage) by Nc3-e2-g3-h5 (or Nc3-e2-f4 after f4-f5 is played), Rf1-f2, Ra1-f1. So, the main trait of the space advantage is its influence over the qualitative value of the pieces. The space has a small influence over the qualitative value of the pieces when the material on the board is reduced (after more exchanges of pieces). Diagram 7 1.? Compare diagram 7 with diagram 6. White has the same space advantage on the kingside, but it is useless now. Without pieces there is no beneficial influence of the space advantage on the qualitative value of the pieces. We will study this spatial advantage more deeply in a special chapter. 4.e. Seizure of initiative The seizure of initiative, that is the possibility to create immediate threats, is very important as

well. An opponent under pressure must first parry the threats facing him and only then deal with improving his position. Therefore his alternatives are reduced. The importance of seizing the initiative is illustrated in the following example. International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 9 Diagram 8 1.? Em.Lasker-Marshall, St.Petersburg 1914 In diagram 8 Black needs only a tempo to solve his opening problems by castling queenside. But it is White’s turn to move and the former world champion immediately seizes the initiative by playing 1.Qb5! The pawns b7 and d5 are simultaneously attacked; therefore Marshall set a cunning trap 1...0-0-0 We must note that 1…Qb4 loses in view of 2.Nxd5! 2.Qa5! Of course not 2.Nxd5?? Bxd5 3.Qxd5 Qg5! 4.Qxg5 hxg5 and Black wins. Now the new threat Qxa7 forces Black to weaken his position because after 2…Kb8, 3.Nb5 would be decisive. 2…a6 3.Bxa6! bxa6 4.Qxa6+ Kb8 5.Rd3 with a decisive attack and an eventual win for White.  You can see how Black’s alternatives were limited because White, move by move, created new strong threats and obliged Black to parry them. 5. Making the plan of play & choosing the best move If you understand the subjects analyzed above, making a correct plan of play and choosing the best move in a position will be easier. All you need is to follow an orderly pattern of thinking. Looking for the best plan of play means searching for the best way to improve your position. It involves looking for the possibilities to achieve one of the advantages mentioned above or trying to annihilate these advantages if they belong to your opponent.

Here are some questions you must ask and answer to find the potentially best plans and moves. Is my king safe? How could I ensure its defense? Is my opponent’s king safe? How could I benefit from its weakened position? Is my opponent threatening to achieve a material advantage? Can I achieve a material advantage by force? International Chess School: www.chessmasterschool.com Copyright ChessMasterSchool.com. All Rights Reserved! 10 Where could I create a superiority of forces in order to challenge a local battle? How about my opponent? How could I increase the qualitative value of my pieces and pawn structure? How could I reduce the qualitative value of my opponent’s pieces and pawn structure? Where could I achieve/increase a space advantage? How about my opponent? How could I use the space advantage I have in order to increase the qualitative value of my pieces and create a local superiority of forces? What pieces must I exchange in order to reduce the importance of the space advantage my opponent has? Could I create immediate threats or seize a long-term initiative? How about my opponent? By answering such questions you will be able to find the most interesting ideas (plans of play) that can improve your position as well as some candidate moves in the spirit of the plans you found. Then, all you need is to do is compare the candidate moves by calculating concrete lines and assessing the resulting positions. Eureka, the best move is found!