Improve Your Chess!

 

In general, what problems are you having?

After some reflection, the general problem was my performance. My tournament performance simply did not match my perceived chess knowledge. In fact, I would say that my performance does not match my actual chess knowledge.

Like an aging chess player whose chess knowledge must greater than his/her younger opponents, I simply had trouble applying that knowledge at the board. Consequently, my tournament results were a poor indicator of my chess knowledge.

Having come to chess as an adult, many would say that I was handicapped. Bill Wall said the following in an article regarding "The Age of Chess Masters",

Most chess masters become masters by learning the game of chess at an early age. Seldom does a player become a master after learning the game later in life. There are a few exceptions. However, most strong masters began at a very early age.

Although this fact is indisputable, I never subscribed to the fact that a child's mind is more adept at learning than that of an adult. Rather, I believe it is their naiveté that is their strength. Many of us, myself a good example, get caught in a sort of information trap. We study, we read, and we learn. However, when we play we are unable to demonstrate that knowledge.

GM Kevin Spragget summarized it as follows in his article "Becoming a Chess Master":

You become a chess master by gradually improving your playing level. You go from level to level...each level may be perceived as requiring a little more information, and even a slightly different type of information.

Many players 'choke' at a certain level and have difficulties getting to the next because they have too much information in their heads! They get confused...remember that in chess what is important is the APPLICATION of information, not the ABSORPTION of information.

Players with a limited knowledge base, simply do not have this problem. They are taught and put those teachings into immediate action. Also, young players tend towards combinative play. This is natural when one considers their knowledge of positional play remains limited.

My problem came from the way adults choose to learn. Adults understand the value on knowledge. We quickly build our knowledge base. However, unlike the child, we avoid the simple brute force nature of combinative play. Afterall, in life, abstract thinking is rewarded while little value is placed on the efficiency of calculation.

In my practice, I forgot one very important thing: correct positional play relies on the underlying tactical possibilities. Without a good understanding of applicable tactical opportunities, won positions can be lost in a single move. As a consequence, I began to focus on tactics.

By studying tactics, I was able to make immediate progress. In fact, my 400 point gain can be attributed almost exclusively to building a library of tactical patterns. The ability to recognize tactical opportunities released my repressed chess knowledge. Now my tournament results are more in line with my positional understanding.

Yet many questions involving positional analysis remain as you will see.

Written by: Kevin Monte de Ramos
Next >>
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ©2002 by KMDR Research, Inc.

Last Update: June 3, 2002