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Blogs > EsX_Raptor
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1 2 Next All
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2801 Posts
January 24 2009 20:29 GMT
#1
Not long ago, the University sent a mass e-mail to every student at our university informing us of an upcoming chess tournament that will be taking place next week.

For some reason I strongly feel I can do something man! But as you see, I suck balls at playing chess even though I consider myself of low to intermediate level.

Are you a pro chess player? If you are, is there some way you know that will help me improve quickly in my openings, mid and late game? I'm mostly concerned about the openings as I suffer from the same syndrome many writers experience: Not knowing where or how to start!

I'm so willing to spend this next whole week just preparing for this.

Thank you!

*
Azrael1111
Profile Joined July 2008
United States550 Posts
January 24 2009 20:31 GMT
#2
Pfft, not what I was expecting.
MER
Profile Joined June 2008
Bulgaria125 Posts
January 24 2009 20:34 GMT
#3
On January 25 2009 05:31 Azrael1111 wrote:
Pfft, not what I was expecting.


Same here
SmoKing2012
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States385 Posts
January 24 2009 20:34 GMT
#4
On January 25 2009 05:31 Azrael1111 wrote:
Pfft, not what I was expecting.


Indeed
How do you like them apples, ho-bag? And how do you like those very same apples, Eggars!
SnowFantasy
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
4173 Posts
January 24 2009 20:34 GMT
#5
On January 25 2009 05:31 Azrael1111 wrote:
Pfft, not what I was expecting.

actually i was going to come here and make a joke about chess.

won't really work anymore
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2801 Posts
January 24 2009 20:35 GMT
#6
Judging from the posts above...

I'm never using a deceiving title again t.t
naonao
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States847 Posts
January 24 2009 20:45 GMT
#7
On January 25 2009 05:31 Azrael1111 wrote:
Pfft, not what I was expecting.

Huge Dissapointment
InfeSteD
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States4658 Posts
January 24 2009 20:46 GMT
#8
Here some help mating

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]
w/e
SnowFantasy
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
4173 Posts
January 24 2009 20:48 GMT
#9
I could recommend you books to read and stuff but there isn't TOO much you can do in a week to get really good at it.

Typically openings at a beginner level shouldn't be your main focus of study. A lot of GM's (grandmasters) will recommend a beginner/low level player to study tactics, lots and lots of them. I think this should be at least 30% of the time you spend studying. If you can't find books I'm sure you can look online for free webpages that will help you out.

Once you start to improve your sense of tactics move on towards the endgame. Learn basic endgame situations (King-pawn vs king, King-queen vs king, King-Rook vs King should be where you start off as these are the most basic and are pretty common). Since you only have a week I don't think you should do much more than this right away. It can take some time to get it down.

From here I'd say this is where you want to put some study in the openings. From my point of view you shouldn't aim to memorize the opening but rather understand it. If you memorize one opening out 30 moves deep and he plays a completely different one your time is wasted. If you learned some basic/advanced opening principles you'll kind of be able to walk yourself through a bunch of different scenarios. I would say just focus on just a few openings and get them down pretty well. Most people will either open with a king or queen pawn opening (1.e4 or 1.d4) so get a response to both of them. When you're white I would recommend opening with the king pawn (1.e4) as the position tends to open up faster which makes things a little less complicated.

The middle game is pretty complicated and I think you should study this last as the ideas are harder to grasp and you don't want to get stuck trying to learn everything or you may run out of time.

If you have any questiosn lemme know and I'll try to answer them as best I can. ^^
SnowFantasy
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
4173 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-24 20:52:16
January 24 2009 20:49 GMT
#10
Wow I hit post and my screen is flooded with animal porn.

Infested you might want to spoiler that. Its most definitely NSFW
to OP: its hard to give advice because I don't really know how good you are already. You said low/intermediate or w/e but I don't know what that means. :s
Myrmidon
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States9452 Posts
January 24 2009 20:50 GMT
#11
I was actually thinking, "Help me, mate!"

For openings, here's two database sites I know of that are very useful:

http://www.eudesign.com/chessops/ch-clear.htm
http://www.chessgames.com/
SnowFantasy
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
4173 Posts
January 24 2009 20:51 GMT
#12
If things start to look really bad you can buy Pocket Fritz:
http://www.chessbaron.co.uk/chess-G3001.htm

Once the game gets rough take frequent "bathroom breaks". >.<
EsX_Raptor
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States2801 Posts
January 24 2009 21:04 GMT
#13
True, intermediate level sounds a bit ambiguous

I mean, I know all the moves that can be made on the board by which pieces and so on, as well as a couple of the tactics such as a fork, discovered check, x-ray, etc but honestly I suck.

http://www.chess.com/play/computer.html

That computer can beat me real bad on Easy t.t that might serve as a hint of my skill level...
numberThirtyOne
Profile Joined March 2008
United States294 Posts
January 24 2009 21:06 GMT
#14
I can show you how to get mated. At least that's what happens to me whenever I play.
voIDRAys are the most bm unit in SC2
Naib
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Hungary4843 Posts
January 24 2009 21:16 GMT
#15
On January 25 2009 06:04 EsX_Raptor wrote:
True, intermediate level sounds a bit ambiguous

I mean, I know all the moves that can be made on the board by which pieces and so on, as well as a couple of the tactics such as a fork, discovered check, x-ray, etc but honestly I suck.

http://www.chess.com/play/computer.html

That computer can beat me real bad on Easy t.t that might serve as a hint of my skill level...



Not to discourage you, but if that's the case then most likely you'll get rolled by anyone who spent more than a few months with studying chess... U.S. universities even do scolarship programs for good chess players (one of my friends went to the U.S. with such a scolarship)...

I wish you good luck nevertheless! And if you got that dedication, and start now, who knows - you might achieve something and be prepared for the upcoming tourney (the one after this)
Complete the cycle!
Zapdos_Smithh
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
Canada2620 Posts
January 24 2009 21:18 GMT
#16
Chess is actually pretty sweet once you get into it. I would have gotten more into it if I joined a club or something.

Ya just read up online, you will find standard openings, etc.
Djabanete
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States2786 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-24 21:24:09
January 24 2009 21:22 GMT
#17
Just ask her out. Otherwise you'll never know!






Oh, um...
I recommend Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, which is a great book for developing some tactical acumen; as well as How To Think Ahead In Chess, which is a nice old book that's extremely helpful for beginners, as it teaches exactly three openings: one to use as white, one to use as black against P-E4, and one to use as black against P-E4. It's very well written, talks through lots of illustrative games, and shows how basic principles can be applied even by a novice player to get the advantage. After reading it carefully (it's not too long) and playing some games with the recommended openings I actually got a lot better very fast (although it won't make a grandmaster out of you )! (edit: it's by IA Horowitz and Fred Reinfeld.)
May the BeSt man win.
Duke
Profile Blog Joined May 2006
United States1106 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-01-24 21:38:56
January 24 2009 21:23 GMT
#18
beat easy on 2nd try! :D im out of practice

cant win as black
Fontong
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States6454 Posts
January 24 2009 21:24 GMT
#19
Err, where do I vote?
[SECRET FONT] "Dragoon bunker"
micronesia
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States24664 Posts
January 24 2009 21:36 GMT
#20
I bought chessmaster grandmaster edition recently and it feels like a very useful tool.

I just beat my colleague at chess yesterday for the first time so I'm feeling pretty good about it.

There's only one kid in my club who can consistently beat me at chess, I believe :D
ModeratorThere are animal crackers for people and there are people crackers for animals.
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