Help with chess

How To Get Better At Chess

2011-01-23T00:05:00.000+03:00

Watch better players play, and study games from better players. There are many great games by World Champions and Grandmasters at places like Chessgames.com. It would be best to play through games that are explained (annotated) at a level you can understand, otherwise you won't know why they made the moves they did.
Try to play stronger players. Ask them for advice after the game on what mistakes you made and how to improve. However, remember that their advice may not be correct!
Learn a specific opening such as the Ruy Lopez. Play through master games that use the same opening at Chessgames.com. Study books that are at your level on it. Keep using the opening for months or years until you are comfortable with it. Most players only need to know 1 or 2 openings for white and black each. Use opening databases at Shredder and ChessOK to find out popular opening moves.
Watch help videos such as these that teach different chess openings at Youtube. Watch other help videos on other parts of the game such as endings, traps, tactics and positions such as the ones by Jrobichess.
Learn from your mistakes. Save your games so you can analyze them later. Learn how to record them on paper here and here. It would be best if you review these games with a better player, or chess software that can analyze and explain where you went wrong. You can download a printable scoresheet here and here.
Before you make each move, stop and look for captures, checks, and threats by each player. This will greatly improve the quality of your game and reduce mistakes.
Read articles by chess coach Dan Heisman on how to improve your chess.
Play fast games (with a clock) as well as slow games. The fast ones will let you play more games in the same amount of time and practice tactics. The slow ones will let you think more deeply about your moves.

blitz chess at washington square

2010-11-21T20:19:00.002+03:00

RUSSIAN PAUL playing a young master. has 4 mins and the young master has 3 mins. Time scramble at the end.

blitz chess at washington square park 2

2010-11-21T20:15:00.002+03:00

Yaacov Norowitz(speed GM,white shirt)plays Noah(2300+).Noah has 3mins Yaacov has 1:45.

Former World Chess Champion Kramnik Plays Robot

2010-11-21T20:11:00.001+03:00

November 2010 Chess Tournament at CNA-Q

2010-11-11T14:18:00.001+03:00

Chicken Chess Master

2010-02-26T10:09:00.003+03:00

CNA-Q Chess Club Players

2010-02-14T14:26:00.000+03:00

2010-02-08T17:48:00.006+03:00

Play online chess

Chess News TV

2010-02-07T14:29:00.005+03:00

Example game from CNA-Q Chess Tournament: Koloud vs?

2010-02-03T18:24:00.002+03:00

Play chess online

Scott VS Muthana-complete game being recreated

2010-02-03T18:20:00.001+03:00

Play online chess

Scott VS Muthana #2

2010-02-03T13:42:00.010+03:00

Play online chess

Future World Champion?

2010-01-06T04:30:00.000+03:00

Illya Nyzhnyk, also known as Dril, is shown in this video at the age of 8 years and one week. From the Ukraine, he is currently 13 years old. Visit his personal website here.

How to Play Chess: Beginner instructions and Video

2009-12-03T23:57:00.002+03:00

Many ask for a tutorial on how to play chess. Chess.com has an excellent beginner tutorial here, with a video you can watch here.

Benefits of Chess

2009-12-03T02:33:00.011+03:00

Research has shown many real and desirable benefits of chess in terms of education and personal development. Here are a few divided into Personal, Social, and Academic categories:

Personal

• Increased confidence
• Self Esteem
• Discipline
• Commitment
• Intellectual Maturity
• Overcome fear of risk-taking
• Responsibility for Actions
• Measurable Individual Accomplishments
• Increased English Skills
• Improved communication
• Planning Ahead
• Analyzing Actions & Consequences

Social

• Sportsmanship
• Empathetic Awareness
• Cope With Undesirable Situations
• Learning From Mistakes
• Belonging to a Good and Diverse Crowd
• Cultural Enrichment
• Team Spirit

Academic

• Develop math abilities
• Logical Reasoning
• Complex Decision Making
• Increased concentration
• Developed critical thinking skills
• Develop Creativity
• Better problem solving
• Learn to strategize
• Learn to recognize patterns and develop tactics
• Build memory skills
• Analyze and evaluate
• Increase Pattern Recognition
• Increase Science Achievement
• Improved Attendance
• Academic Competition for All

Chess Game on GameKnot.com

2009-12-01T15:09:00.000+03:00

Play chess online

Chess in Education: Examples of Research Supporting the Benefits

2009-11-28T16:47:00.000+03:00

Where it chess being used in schools, what are some examples of research and positive feedback about it, and where can you learn more?

Chess in Education: Where is it being used?

In 30 countries around the world, chess is part of the required school curriculum. In Venezuela, Iceland, Russia and other countries, chess is a subject in all public schools.

Starting this year, chess is being offered as a Board Approved and Authorized (BAA) high school course at the Robert Bateman Sec. School, Abbotsford, in British Columbia, Canada. So chess is now offered as a full credit high school course, on an equal with Science, Socials or Mathematics.

The mathematics curriculum in New Brunswick, Canada, is a text series called "Challenging Mathematics" which uses chess to teach logic from grades 2 to 7. Using this curriculum, the average problem-solving score of pupils in the province increased from 62% to 81%. The Province of Quebec, where the program was first introduced, has the best math marks in Canada and Canada scores better than the U.S.A. on international mathematics exams. (http://www.chess-math.org)

Research Samples Showing Benefits of Chess

Robert Ferguson, executive director of the American Chess School in Bradford, PA. studied junior-high students, each of whom was enrolled in an activity -- either working with computers, playing chess, taking a creative writing workshop, or playing Dungeons and Dragons -- that was designed to develop critical and creative thinking skills. By the time the students had spent about 60 hours on their chosen activities, the chess players were well ahead of the others in several psychological tests, scoring almost 13 percentage points higher in critical thinking and 35 percentage points higher in creative thinking. (http://www.quadcitychess.com/benefits_of_chess.html)

During his governor's teacher grant from the New Jersey State Department of Education, William Levy found that chess consistently (1980-1987) promoted self-esteem after a year of exposure. Many students' self-images improved dramatically. (William Levy, ``Utilizing Chess to Promote Self-Esteem in Perceptually Impaired Students,'' a governor's teacher grant program through the New Jersey State Department of Education, 1987.)

In The Case for Chess as a Tool to Develop Our Children’s Minds by Dr Peter Dauvergne, of University of Sydney, educational and psychological studies were surveyed to examine the benefits for children of studying and playing chess. The author concluded that chess can:

1. Raise intelligence quotient (IQ) scores
2. Strengthen problem solving skills, teaching how to make difficult and abstract decisions independently
3. Enhance reading, memory, language, and mathematical abilities
4. Foster critical, creative, and original thinking
5. Provide practice at making accurate and fast decisions under time pressure, a skill that can help improve exam scores at school
6. Teach how to think logically and efficiently, learning to select the ‘best’ choice from a large number of options
7. Challenge gifted children while potentially helping underachieving gifted students learn how to study and strive for excellence
8. Demonstrate the importance of flexible planning, concentration, and the consequences of decisions
9. Reach boys and girls regardless of their natural abilities or socio-economic backgrounds
(http://www.auschess.org.au/articles/chessmind.htm)

What do Educators Say? (Compiled by Dr. Robert C. Ferguson)

• Public School 68 in the Bronx noted standardized scores increased 11.2% in reading and 18.6% in math during the 1994-95 school year. Principal Cheryl Coles wrote: ``As encouraging as our scores are, the benefits of our Chess Education Program far exceeded anything that these scores could ever hope to indicate. There were significant outgrowths in varying degrees in all curriculum areas. Such as: increased enthusiasm for learning, increase in general fund of knowledge, increase in pupil attendance, increase in self-confidence, increase in parent involvement, etc.''

• Dr. Fred Loveland, superintendent of the Panama City schools, voiced his opinion: ``Chess has taught my students more than any other subject.''

• The article ``Chess Improves Academic Performance'' from the NY School Chess Program features a number of testimonies from school principals, including: ``Not only have the reading and math skills of these children soared, their ability to socialize has increased substantially, too. Our studies have shown that incidents of suspension and outside altercations have decreased by at least 60% since these children became interested in chess.''

• ``I see them (students) able to attend to something for more than an hour and a half. I am stunned. Some of them could not attend to things for more than 20 minutes.'' -- Jo Bruno, Principal, P.S. 189

• Rob Roy of Connecticut: ``Children with special problems can also learn chess. I taught a successful course for emotionally and educationally disadvantaged children in the Waterbury schools and used chess as a way for them to learn and practice self-control.It was like turning on switches in their heads. You see the child looking at a problem, breaking it down, and then putting the whole thing back together. The process involves recall, analysis, judgment and abstract reasoning.''

• Beulah McMeans, a guidance counselor at Morningside Elementary School in Prince George's County, MD, uses chess ``to help raise the self-esteem and higher order thinking skills for young students, particularly those at risk.''

Further Links and Resources:

1. The Brainy Benefits of Chess http://www.parents.com/kids/development/intellectual/benefits-of-chess/

2. http://www.chesshouse.com/why_study_chess_a/108.htm

3. http://www.okschess.org/starting/benefits/

4. http://www.americanchessinstitute.com/?q=node/2

5. http://www.quadcitychess.com/benefits_of_chess.html (Dr. Robert C. Ferguson)

6. http://www.auschess.org.au/articles/chessmind.htm

7. http://www.chess-math.org

Schools Recognize Benefits of Chess

2009-11-23T01:18:00.002+03:00

Studies worldwide have shown that playing chess has benefits, especially for young children. Inspired by this knowledge, a growing number of teachers in the U.S. are trying to incorporate chess into their students' lives.

Best Places to Play Chess Online Free

2009-11-22T01:46:00.002+03:00

ChessOK.com

ChessOK.com. You can play online in your browser, or download their powerful software for more features. Mostly Russian players. You can use their software to automatically check your game for mistakes once it is finished. Also, I really like the colors and design of their boards and pieces. It also allows you to store your games.
Owl21. Relatively new. Continually improving. Great interface and sounds. There are many Spanish speakers here.
Internet Chess Club (not free: about $60 US dollars a year) Definitely the best chess club on the Internet. Features include ability to watch some of the strongest players in the world play live, listen to chess-related radio programs, and study from a huge collection of chess training videos. Expensive, but worth it if you are serious about improving your chess. 7-day free trial available twice a year.
GameKnot. Offers both very long games (e.g. one move/day or longer) and blitz. Good interface. Blitz doesn't give any control over who your opponent is.

Others to Consider:

The Free Internet Chess Server. Started by ICC members unhappy at being charged money, FICS is not very pretty but it has a large community and a powerful specialized browser (client) to play chess in. It also allows you to instantly run a computer check after you play a game to see what your mistakes were. It also allows you to store your games. Its main drawback is the complicated and confusing interface.
Chess.com. A relatively new chess community that has many great discussions and features. However, there are better places to actually play chess.
Playchess.com by the makers of the powerful (and expensive!) Chessbase training products. They offer the ability to use their client free. The colors of the interface are excellent, but like their other products, using their features is confusing when it shouldn't be. Mostly European players. Has in interesting feature that shows where in the world the online players are.
Yahoo chess is popular but is probably the worst place to play on the Internet. There are many people cheating with software, and players there tend to be childish. If you manage to win a game, it is unlikely your opponent will accept another game with you, instead prefering to kick you from the chess table. Beware of abusive language as well. One advantage is that you can email your moves to your yahoo email account. The other websites I recommended above all do that as well though.

American Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Interviewed About The Benefits of Chess

2009-11-20T01:27:00.002+03:00

18-year old Magnus Carlsen: 2nd in World

2009-10-23T11:15:00.009+03:00

Video interview with the currently 2nd best player in the world from Norway, Magnus Carlsen. Choose the CC (closed caption) option on the lower-right to show the english subtitles.

Training videos for Slav Defense

2009-10-14T15:19:00.006+03:00

(from chessvideos.tv)

The Slav Defense is a popular, stable opening played by many of the World's strongest players. Watch these training videos to learn about it:

Chess with a Can?

2009-10-14T15:16:00.001+03:00

In a promotion for a new drink, The Amp Can decided to challenge New York's Finest Chess Players at Washington Square Park. The competition was stiff but the Can took on all comers, eventually taking on 10 Players in a Simultaneous Game.

What Do Basketball and Chess Have in Common?

2009-05-20T17:38:00.007+03:00

Play Chess Against a Computer Free Online

2009-05-10T00:56:00.009+03:00

Mr. Spock from Star Trek playing 3-D Chess

Training Videos on the Ruy Lopez

2009-05-05T15:17:00.002+03:00

Basic Position of Ruy Lopez
(from chessvideos.tv)

A great way to improve your chess is to watch training videos. Here are some examples on the Ruy Lopez opening by Jrobichess:

Three more by KensofficeUSA:

Kasparov Plays Many Players at Once

2009-04-16T06:47:00.002+03:00

Kasparov is the strongest chess player in the history of the game, having been the world champion for decades up until recently. Here is a video of him playing many opponents at once: