Chess players?

SpookyPistolero

SpookyPistolero

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Messages
6,105
Any chess fans here? I used to play pretty often and was decent, and now I've started playing more often (on the computer) and I swear I've gotten worse! Very depressing.

Does anyone have any good tips for improving chess play other than just trying to play more often? I try to play one difficulty level above what I'm capable of (if that makes sense).

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Good instruction books are invaluable for improving your game. I recommend Fred Seinfeld (If he is still in print. It's been a while since I was into it that intensely.) You also really need to learn by memory the classic openings and defenses.

I found Bobby Fischer's books helpful, particuarly in the end game.

Dang, it's been years since I have played. I kinda miss it.
 
I used to walk past a chess club in New York that had a sign by the door:

Open till 10:00 PM.
Sometimes open later.

I'm not good enough to say, really, but while practice is good, practice against a person is better than against the computer.
It's hard to take the machine seriously, even if it is "perfect". :)
 
I haven't played chess in years. I love the game. I may I have to take it up again. The last time I played, I was horrid. It had been such a long time.

I used to be on the chess team in HS.
 
I played years ago and found pogo.com where you can play others for free on the board games and increase your skill level.Played two minute games ....fast and furious!
 
I don't play enough these days, something that I'm always trying to fix. I'm not a big fan of playing on the computer to be honest, playing a live opponent in front of you is so much better. You can play as many psychological games as games with the pieces. Just like poker really.

Some of my fondest memories in life come from when my best friend and I played at least one game every single day for a couple years about ten years ago. It's a lot of fun when you really know your opponent, his or her tricks, and more importantly after a while you understand their understanding of your tricks; you get to play double reverse tricks, and it gets so fun.
 
Thanks guys! Lots of good info. I really do miss playing against an individual, but sadly I've not got any buddies for it! And I also agree the computer is a bit sterile.

I still play on yahoo games from time to time, that's the 'next best' I think.

I'm gonna look into some chess books at Half-Price Books. For some reason I never looked into memorizing the 'standard' opening moves.

It's funny too, I always wanted to be on the chess team when I was in high school! Had too much other junk going on. Funny what you decide was a missed opportunity.

Thanks guys-
 
I have found a lot of real lierature online. For example ...

1984 - George Orwell - www.liferesearchuniversal.com/orwell.html#1984

THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF OLIGARCHICAL COLLECTIVISM by Emmanuel Goldstein - http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/1984-17.html#seventeen

THE PRINCIPLES OF NEWSPEAK - www.liferesearchuniversal.com/appendix1984.html#append
---
Chaucer - http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/
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Don Quijote de la Mancha de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - http://aaswebsv.aas.duke.edu/celestina/EDICIONES-BILINGUES/INGLES/DQ-1-00.HTM
---
Procopius, The Secret History - www.isidore-of-seville.com/library-procopius/secrethistory-1.htm

Sun Tzu on the Art of War - www.literatureproject.com/art-of-war

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli - http://www.the-prince-by-machiavelli.com/

:D
 
SpookyPistolero said:
Edited to add: I've been searching around this site a good bit, seems pretty helpful so far: http://www.chesscentral.com/chess_beginner.htm
Click to expand...

I like that! Added to my games list ...

Backgammon - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backgammon
Chess - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
Mancala - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala
Poker - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poker
Solitaire - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire
Gomoku 2000 - http://membres.lycos.fr/gmk2000/

ChessCentral - Best in Chess - www.chesscentral.com/chess_beginner.htm
 
MikeH said:
You also really need to learn by memory the classic openings and defenses.
Click to expand...

Yep. I think the rigidity of the openings of western chess can discourage beginners and amateurs from improving... all that memorization is quite the task. Fischer himself made a variant of the game where the position of the pieces could be randomised somewhat to make traditional opening knowledge a non-issue. There's historical precedent for such an approach in games like sittuyin - Burmese chess.

Spooky, I'm in the same boat with regards to having no one to play with. Especially to play my favourite variants with.

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I ascribe to the words of wisdom I read in a Fritz Lieber short story years ago:

"Chess makes you crazy." Interestingly, the story was about the first human vs. computer championship-level game. Story was written about 1950....

Chess is one of those games you can approach on many levels. I would suggest some reading in theory; the opening, the mid-game, the end-game.
The essential tactics and strategy; position, power, and time.

It's not really enough to play against a superior player unless you get some realization as to why you are loosing...

I knew I was in trouble when I started dreaming about chess. That was about 1966.
Have not played seriously since.
 
My son whips my hiney every time we play. He's had a class, and he then taught me. I'm amazed at what he does on the board. Oh, and my son just turned nine.

thx - cpr
 
Here's a tidbit: Neuroscientists, studying chess players, find that at the "Master" level the way that the players brain processes the game changes significantly.
At the lower levels, the player spends a great deal of time in analysis of the board and possible results of various moves and combinations.

At the master level, it's much more about pattern recognition. The player can look at the board and almost instantly analyze the positional strengths and weaknesses.

That's why these people can do the typical "playing against multiple opponents" trick so often seen. They simply don't have to analyze much. A glance at the board, and all becomes clear.
Somewhat similar to music, actually. When an individual learns to sight-read music, it's all done in the "processing" hemisphere of the brain, and is relatively slow and painful.
At some point, the page full of hen-scratches and fly-specks no longer has to be puzzled out; the student can read it as easily as we read the printed word. At that stage, it's handled by a different section of the brain entirely!
 
A work buddy and I fooled around with cylindrical chess before I retired. Fun for a change of pace, and a brain-stretcher. Imagine that the left and right side edges of the board meet to form a cylinder. Permits pieces to move to the other side of the board, to command additional squares, etc.
 
C.S. Graves said:
Yep. I think the rigidity of the openings of western chess can discourage beginners and amateurs from improving... all that memorization is quite the task. Fischer himself made a variant of the game where the position of the pieces could be randomised somewhat to make traditional opening knowledge a non-issue. There's historical precedent for such an approach in games like sittuyin - Burmese chess.

Spooky, I'm in the same boat with regards to having no one to play with. Especially to play my favourite variants with.

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Click to expand...

What in tarnation is that piece in the Rook's square?
 
I can see where "standard" openings might be seen as rigid, but there are quite a few, and they evolved over many years due to their functionality.
At least at the level I was playing, if you ran into someone playing a non-standard opening it almost always meant the fellow was self-taught, and knew nothing of the standard principals of development.
In short, an easy mark....
 
I played chess everyday at work for almost 9 years. They made us take an hour lunch break (hate em, 30 mins is good) and we needed time to kill. A great game. I am (or was) a decent player. I had a great set of chess books by the same auther. I'll try to find them and post the authors name. Very good set of books that I havent looked at in years (if I still even have them).
 
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