Poll: What is your rating?

[hanterp]

From the Nimzovitch books (N. was German) I expect them to be in French, because these two are really famous books with translations in a lot of languages.
The two others I only can guess, although I give you a good chance regarding Kotovs books. Dvoretsky's books are relatively new, so they may be in English and Russian only....
Maybe you should do a search with Google or so.

 

[tehfreak]

I'll take a look on amazon too.
There's a book seller close from here. I'll get there during my lunch time

 

[hanterp]

I expect they need to order it, because these kind of chess-books are a bit specialistic. Unless they have a complete chess-department
Succes!

 

[Bigfoot]

I was a chess coach at my son's elementary school for several years. I am a competent club level player, but many of the players here are much stronger than I am. However, you do not have to be a chess master to help young players develop an interest in the game. USCF has a package they provide to chess coaches with some useful materials about organizing the club, arranging matches, and so on. But the USCF materials on improving your play were quite basic, I had to borrow from my own chess library and internet sources to create instructional materials. (BTW, I agree that Nimzovitch's book is quite good.) I avoided giving exams (other than one that was required to ensure the students understood the rules). I created a challenge ladder for the students, along with a club scoring system that allowed them to gain points for defeating other player or accomplishing certain tasks. That seemed to be quite motivating, and many students got involved playing in local tournaments to gain more experience. The most popular item with my students was a book by Bobby Fischer (it starts with solving very simple mates, and works up in difficulty). Kind of a 'beginning at the end' approach, but at least they started thinking about strategies to checkmate their opponents. For adult players, I suggest going to your local club and talking to the resident master (if it has one -- most do). Many chess professionals supplement their income with lessons, or can refer you to somebody who provides them. There are also internet based instructors, although I have no experience in that area myself. Good luck!

 

[hanterp]

I think I know that Fischer-book: Every page has a diagram to solve, right?
Think I did see that book about 15 years ago Fischer teaches chess or so? Forgot the title I think
His book 'My 60 memorable games' was also very good but my version was in descriptive notation
Th Dutch chess federation does give very good learning stuff. Clubs outside America do usually not have Masters attached to chessclubs, so we have to teach ourselves.

 

[tehfreak]

All I find on the internet is for beginners
I'll look for your books

 

[Bigfoot]

I think I know that Fischer-book: Every page has a diagram to solve, right?
Think I did see that book about 15 years ago Fischer teaches chess or so? Forgot the title I think

Yes, that's the one. I am surprised that Dutch Masters (chess players -- not cigars! ) are hard to find, I thought that the level of play in Europe was generally higher. BTW, I googled 'chess instruction' and found this link http://chess.about.com/od/teacherstrainers/. It seems to have lots of international as well as USA teachers listed.

 

[hanterp]

Well, I think the whole structure in chess overhere is generally different from the one at your place. It is no custom overhere that masters teach chess. They do it otherwise, by writing chess-books. Euwe (world champ 1935) was a recognized chessbook-writer and many Dutch players learned chess by his books. Timman wrote some books but is more known for writing a lot of magazine-stuff. He manages 'new in chess'.
It's just different....

 

[tehfreak]

BTW, I googled 'chess instruction' and found this link http://chess.about.com/od/teacherstrainers/. It seems to have lots of international as well as USA teachers listed.

thanks alot
It made me look on amazon and I found many nice-looking (in terms of what I need) books. Pawn structure, attacking pawn structure, classic games analysis, etc.
I guess studying with 30-40$ books is cheaper than hiring a teacher

 

[Ribannah]

Hanterp, the books you mention are for serious and somewhat advanced students.
On an easier level there are many instructive books by Euwe.
If you are a serious student of chess, Tehfreak, the endgame books by Cheron are an absolute must, as are some good game collections of top players. Some good tournament books are also worthwhile, but there are not many of those.

(A book by Fritz, the chess program?? )

 

[hanterp]

What I understood from Thefreak was that he already played Chess well enough to play online but that he wanted to improve is playing strength. That's why I mentioned these books. Am I wrong?

 

[tehfreak]

I dunno who wrote my book ehhe, but it says some 'Champion named Fritz something'

I have no idea in how good I am actually. I played around 800 games on yahoo and won half of them, keeping a low rating(between 1350-1450)

I know basics like what is an isolated or backward pawn, some openings, and what is a pawn shield (maybe that is not the right word, pawns that are protecting the king after castling (I know french terms ))

I learned how to checkmate with rook-king, queen-king, bishops-king, etc.

I know what is a relative & absolute pin.

So I know some tactics but I lack long-term strategies and planning.

 

[hanterp]

Okay, then you will understand the books I recommended
Still the Euwe-books Ribannah mentioned are also good.

 

[tehfreak]

It was payday yesterday
I'll look for both. I'd probably get Euwe to be sure I understand all the basics

 

[Ribannah]

Enjoy!
And remember the basic rule of learning a game of strategy: for each move you make, make sure you know why you make that move. You will often play moves for the wrong reason, and if they don't work out, you can then rethink your reasoning. If you 'just play', you will not have that luxury and learn a lot slower.
Once you learn how to plan ahead, the same goes for making your plan.

 

[tehfreak]

I guess the best way would be to save ''replays'' of the games I lose.
Thanks

 

[Mongols_rule]

I haven't played a lot of international games... my rating is around 860

 

[Soviet]

for a chess teacher: it depends on WHO your getting lessons from. I'm around 1650 USCF, and slowly dropping off of the top 100 list for my age (if I haven't already, i'm lazy to check). I haven't played tournaments for quite awhile however, school and other interests.

anyhow, as far as lessons go, your probably going to have to fork out a lot. I took lessons from an IM (international master) once every month and a half for 60 an hour. great lessons but the 3-4 hour drive didn't work very well. the real point to consider isn't the cost, it's the quality of instruction. there's plenty of GM's and IM's who can't teach and still charge 60 an hour or even more than that. I was referred to my coach through people I knew and after the first lesson I knew the guy was good. immaculately prepared. really nice guy too. everything he did or taught was planned in advance, well prepared, just all around great lessons.

anyhow to that guy who lives in montreal...I went to montreal a couple times and there's at least a few chess places there. I forget exactly the name but I have a scorebook my parents bought me there...it's got like a blue flag outside of the shop, it's a club and store. it's called boutique strategie I believe. I have a picture on a different computer of the little flag outside of the shop ahah...I think it's near some vienna coffeeplace but i'm not sure. if I ever find my goddam scorebook i'll give you the phone number of the place.

and you don't NEED a coach to get better necessarily...there's a long ways you can go just studying tactics, and endings. especially under 1600 tactics are really gonna help you. knowing what different kind of pins are is one thing, but being able to apply it is another. you need to solve a lot of problems so you get various patterns memorized so you'd be able to pick them out in an instant if your calculating over the board. that's different than knowing what kinds of pins there are.

haha to the guy who said "i'm not a nerd though" LOL...when you go to the bigger tournaments, assuming your in highschool...a lot of the kids you see playing who are good, top 100 for their age, are nerds or look like nerds (not to say they aren't nice people, but a lot of them dress nerdy). ever wondered why there's no good looking chess playing girls? that's right. actually though I found one a couple of years ago but it turned out to be my friend's sister. that's a story for another post though. and she doesn't play chess, proving my theory.

pretty much at big tournaments, all the kids who aren't nerdy seem to band together. I can
drop a list of names here but it's kinda pointless. plus I don't want people knowing my real name.

i'm not a nerd though. LOL. yes that's contradictory. I guess you can call me a nerd, though I don't dress like one. first post, w00t! haha I joined these forums because my friend goes here, nice to see we have a chess section.

not to say all chess players are nerds, but you have to admit, there are a lot...even if a lot of them are nice guys

peace