Learning to Play Chess (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Learning to Play Chess

[Jeff Lilly]

It's interesting that you got so many "synchronistic" hints to tackle something that you couldn't see much importance or significance in. I had a similar experience recently. For years, I enjoyed writing fiction, but couldn't see any particular value in it, other than entertainment. Then in the last couple of weeks I started getting a lot of signals about it, and I even got some direct information about the function of fiction -- I found out what fiction is for. (I wrote about that here.) Once I learned that, it was a lot easier to justify spending time on it. :-) Maybe, Steve, one day you'll find out what chess is really FOR, and then your Significance strength will be happy, too.

[Brutha]

You live in Vegas, there should be an chess club that meets at least one time a week in your reach.
Having personal interaction with other chess players allows them to comment on your errors and help you learn. I would think that it is more effective than reading books for a beginner.

[Domenic]

In middle school (and early high school IIRC) there was a really nice program called Academic Chess that I learned from. I highly suggest their "books," which at least when I was playing were named after various reptiles: egg, snake, lizard, alligator, etc. with the more intimidating ones being harder. They were great for teaching tactical concepts and then making you wire them into your brain by giving you 5-10 puzzles to solve using that concept, of increasing difficulty. Definitely a fun, easy, and thorough education in chess tactics.

You might also enjoy the story behind it.

I bet if you contact them, and ask for copies of the books, they would give them to you. You might get something out of telling them that Domenic Denicola recommended you; I worked with the founder and others in the core group for several years as a tournament coordinator and wrote a program to calculate ratings for them. But, I have no idea who answers their contact form, or if they remember me, so *shrug*.

Yay chess!

[Lazy Bobes]

Hi Steve,

chess game is one of the most amazing desk games you can find, once you dedicate some time to it I am sure you will fall in love with it. I can recommend you couple sites. First = Kurnik - Play Free Online Games (chess, bridge, canasta etc.) once you register I am sure you'll find equal oponents to you and will enjoy the game. If you can later in your blog postpone your ELO development through the time will be greatly appretiated. I guess If you so good as you say I mean your strengths you should be able to get to 1300.... But do not be dissapointed if you get deeply under 1200 once you start. Second website is www.chessgames.com where you can start your day with a chess quiz, freshly prepared every day. The difficulty starts from Monday - very easy to Sunday almost insane, this will develop your skills quickly and also its pleasant kick off for your brain every mornig.

Anyway, maybe we will meet on kurnik.org ha

Robo

[qed]

To become good at chess, what you need to do is learn to recognize patterns and how you can make them unfold in your interest. Since you don't have enough time to learn by trial and error which is probably not the most efficient way anyway, you might want to pick up a chess strategy book which teaches you the most common patterns (why reinvent the wheel?!). Once you learn to recognize and implement those in realtime gameplay, perhaps you can also come up with your own games.

In the future, you might also want to try picking up playing an instrument. It's the same strategy except it involves more physical aptitude.

[CannibalSmith]

Don't insult your intelligence with chess, Steve. Play Go instead! Chess is so simple that computers can beat human world champions at it. The best Go programs, on the other hand, play at novice level.

[Bellicose]

Steve, hold up. Before you start to learn to play chess, I would consider at least looking into Go. If you are unaware, Go is the oldest strategy game in the world. I do not have the time to go into the history of the game at the moment, but when I saw your post on learning chess I had to at least sign up and try to stop you. Go is considered to be a superior game and has an active online community to play 24/7 as well as a many books and resources. If you have no idea what I am talking about, Go was played in the movie "A Beautiful Mind' and "Pi". Google "KGS GO" this will bring up the place I play online and the website should direct you to some links to learn to play, or you can start off at the site for the US Go Association at Welcome to the American Go Association. shoot me an email if you are interested I would gladly teach you how to play, or direct you to useful books and resources.

[Bellicose]

Originally Posted by CannibalSmith

Don't insult your intelligence with chess, Steve. Play Go instead! Chess is so simple that computers can beat human world champions at it. The best Go programs, on the other hand, play at novice level.

I didn't even see this post, when is started lol. that is great. yes Steve Go is something you want to look into, and I would be very interested in reading posts about your journey into Go. Seriously contact me and I will teach you how to play online, and can use skype or something to make it easier.

(recent article)
'Geek' game gains popularity - Top Stories

[Addict]

Yea, you're damn right I was going to bring up Go. And I'm still going to bring it up! But I wont lecture you about how great the game is; I'll say just one thing:

The only negative is that my fifth strength (significance) holds me back a bit, since I don’t consider chess important enough to devote much time to it. I have a hard time seeing chess as anything more than a mild diversion, something I might try while taking a break from more serious pursuits.

And in that aspect, Go prevails:

Gentlemen should not waste their time on trivial games -- they should study go.
-- Confucius, The Analects, ca. 500 B. C. E.

There's also the fact that your fifth strength actually would help you playing Go, since figuring out which areas on the board are significant and which you can sacrifice is so vital to playing well.

[Phill]

I played seriously when I was much younger and knowing how analytical you are, I think you will enjoy the game.

A few years ago I played some live games on yahoo chess....check it out. You can actually play against other players of your ability which will get you a rating..which you could share in a future post.

One word of caution....tough games take up time.

I would also recommend a book focusing on the strategy on the first 25 moves (the opening). It is pretty much accepted that if you can secure the best positioning control of the board within that time, you give yourself the best chance to dominate and win the rest of the game.

Best of luck!

Phil
My soon to be new website

[RyanTM]

I am a chess novice myself, but when I read:

Amazon.com: Master Checkmate Strategy (Road to Chess Mastery Series): Bill Robertie: Books

I found myself thinking about chess at a deeper level. I was looking at how I could force my opponent to trade their pieces. Also, I was able to see more moves open up for me. Previous I thought those moves to be bad because they put me in my opponent's line of fire. I learned that it's okay to be in the line of fire as long as you can back up your piece.

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Addict

There's also the fact that your fifth strength [significance] actually would help you playing Go, since figuring out which areas on the board are significant and which you can sacrifice is so vital to playing well.

You may be interpreting Significance a bit too generally. The label "significance" points to Steve's unique talent "tapestry" of neuron connections in Steve's brain, so you can't really consider it in isolation.

I can't be certain, but I think for Steve significance means that he focuses on the big picture on a macro scale, not just the micro scale. I guess what I'm saying is that "stretching" talent theme descriptions such as significance doesn't seem to work too well unless it is actually grounded in your talent "tapestry".

For example, one of my talent themes is Achiever. The basic definition is that I have this feeling of discontent most of the time and I have a drive to get things done. While that may be true, especially when you factor in my Activator theme (a need to start things immediately), in practice, it doesn't work that way. Why? Because I have more then 1 talent (as do we all). Since Strategic is my #1 strength, I'll only be interested in starting something if I feel it's significant (a mixture of Strategic and Achiever, in that I'm able to look at many possible strategies and pick the most optimal one because my Achiever theme drives me to constantly try to improve my selection). Only when I feel something is worthy will I want to start doing anything with it.

[Brutha]

The best Go programs, on the other hand, play at novice level.

While a pro will beat a Go program anytime, I wouldn't call the level on which computer programmes play a novice level. There bots at KGS that play as 1 kyu.

First = Kurnik - Play Free Online Games (chess, bridge, canasta etc.) once you register I am sure you'll find equal oponents to you and will enjoy the game.

In general there are a lot of people on Kurnik that don't know anything about strategy (at least the Go players on the server).

I would rather recommand a pure chess server for someone who wants to learn how to play and don't learn flawed ideas about the game (my own experience lies in Go but learning chess is probably similar).

In general Go is a more whole brain game than chess.

In Go you generally to find the objectivly best possible move and make that move afterwards.
In chess you rather try to make a move that wins you the game and you try to provoke your opponent to make errors.

I think that Go needs more long term thinking when chess is more about hard calculation of possible moves that are 5-10 moves ahead.

I would also recommend a book focusing on the strategy on the first 25 moves (the opening). It is pretty much accepted that if you can secure the best positioning control of the board within that time, you give yourself the best chance to dominate and win the rest of the game.

Even when I don't know that much about chess I have read an article that makes the case that beginners make every few move errors that are greater than the advantage gaint by player a correct opening.

[cylentwolf]

So I knew there was going to be some people pushing go since it is a good mind game compared to chess. They are pretty good opposites. One is about territory the other about individual pieces (a typical eastern western thing if you ask me

You might want to pick up "the art of learning" by Josh Waitzkin, he is the kid in the movie searching for bobby fisher. While the book is a bit flashy there are a few chess insights he makes just by inference. Since you are taking it slow it might be a good start.

good luck.

[Iamsuperman]

Finally! I knew I would only be a matter of time! Welcome to my world Steve !

First off you couldn't be more wrong in saying that chess is just a diversion. Do a google search for "benefits of chess" and you'll see what I'm talking about. The lists of proven ways chess improves the mind are endless! It amazes me that chess isn't taught as a course in public school, although apparently New Brunswick public schools are starting to catch on.

For getting started: I learned from Chessmaster 10th edition, with Josh Waitzkin teaching. I found it far more interactive then learning from a book so it's what I'd recommend.

For chess tactics I'd recommend the chess tactics server: Chess Tactics Server It will asses you're playing ability and give you problems accordingly. The main drawback to this is that you're supposed to solve the problems in 10 seconds and there's no option to change that.

Another way to practise tactical problems is through chessgames.com daily problems. They have problems ranging from very easy to very difficult. They post one problem each day with the easiest problem on Monday and the most difficult on Sunday.

For good human opponents I use playchess.com because you can use it for free although you have to make a new account about every month. Don't bother checking out yahoo! chess, it doesn't even compare.

Best of luck in the black and white jungle Steve!

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by Iamsuperman

For getting started: I learned from Chessmaster 10th edition, with Josh Waitzkin teaching. I found it far more interactive then learning from a book so it's what I'd recommend.

I'd definitely agree. It inspired me go beyond my trail and error method of learning. Steve tends to put a lot of emphasis on experience, but I think he'd agree that, in some situations at least, you have to learn things that aren't experienced in a general situations. He even wrote on that in the post where he talked about Black Jack if I recall correctly.

It's refreshing to see Steve writing on a topic that isn't overtly productive. Things like chess are what make life life and not just a production, kinda like Frisbee golf.

[Dan.Linehan]

I love Chess.

[lexils]

Steve,
With computers it is far easier to learn chess these days. When I was a kid my dad and I played checkers until I could beat him about half the time. We decided to learn chess, but did not know anyone who played.

We got the rules from our book of games and started teaching ourselves. We had some strange misconceptions for awhile. We did not realize a rook, bishop, or queen could actually stop anywhere on the possible path, we thought it had to go as far as possible. Makes for an odd game, using pawns as stoppers a lot!

We eventually figured it out. By my senior year in high school I had played a lot of chess, but only with my father. I had not the foggiest idea how I stacked up against anyone else so I signed up for a chess tournament at school.

To my surprise I was clobbering everyone until my schedule made me drop out. My dad never gave an inch, and never ever conceded. I had to go to the bitter end to win with him, and I guess that was superb training.

So I would recommend playing with a tough player and don't let them resign if you get them in position where you can likely win, have them make you play out the endgame too. It sharpens your discipline.

I still miss those games with my father...

[toddster]

While intelligence and strategic thinking are very much a factor in the making of a Chess GrandMaster, the key is the number of games played and scenarios seen. This is because chess players don't actually evaluate every possible future move. It has been found that a Grand Master does not evaluate any more moves than a sub-Grand Master. They just evaluate better ones because their brain can recognize more patterns and discard those that do not need to be evaluated faster.

For more info, read about chunking theory and Chess.

Encyclopedia of Educational Technology

Chunking (psychology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Savage]

I looked at the puzzle from ChessGames.com today, but I didn't understand the solution. Is the goal for white to achieve checkmate in one move? If the white queen takes the pawn at h7, how does that checkmate black? Can't the black king just move down and take the white queen on the next move? It doesn't look like h7 is threatened. What am I missing?

I can see checkmate happening by moving the white rook to h3 on the next move though. Was that basically the point? To find the move that makes checkmate inevitable?

I'm not familiar with chess puzzles. When you see a puzzle, what exactly are you trying to do? Achieve checkmate in one move? Find the best tactical move?

[Jaroszewski]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

I looked at the puzzle from ChessGames.com today, but I didn't understand the solution. Is the goal for white to achieve checkmate in one move? If the white queen takes the pawn at h7, how does that checkmate black? Can't the black king just move down and take the white queen on the next move? It doesn't look like h7 is threatened. What am I missing?

I can see checkmate happening by moving the white rook to h3 on the next move though. Was that basically the point? To find the move that makes checkmate inevitable?

I'm not familiar with chess puzzles. When you see a puzzle, what exactly are you trying to do? Achieve checkmate in one move? Find the best tactical move?

The goal was to guess what Sergey Karjakin played in the real game. The benefit for you is understanding the "why," and I think you did that: 26... Kxh7 27.Rh3#, as moving along H will keep the king in check by the rook, and 27...Kg6 or 27....Kg8 will put it into check by the Knight in e7.

I didn't know this pattern was called "Anastasia's Mate," so I guess I learned something too!

The objectives in chess puzzles are diverse. Generally it's to find checkmates in one or various moves. Sometimes, like in the one that was up today, it was to find the right move made during a game — that it was a mate in 2 was a coincidence. You may also want to look into the previous moves to see how one could have avoided getting checkmated.

If you're capable of identifying the patterns in a puzzle, you'll be able to do that in a regular game. IIRC, although I cannot find the source right now (I'm sure it's Chessbase.com), Vladmir Kramnik used tactical puzzles during his training for the World Championship in Elista, 2006. He has severe back problems, so he solved those puzzles well into his 3rd or 4th hour of practice to test if he could still think straight.

[Fortune]

About the significance bit: You have said that you go to the park to play frisbee games with your friends. How about going to the park to play chess with your friends or total strangers?

I don't know how popular playing chess outside is in the States but when I lived in Munich, there were many places to play. There was one place just outside a subway station that had these huge chess boards in the street with enormous pieces, and early in the evenings there was always a crowd watching to see the games being played. Of course, arguments would always break out about what the next best move was, etc. Great times.

[Chris_1977]

As already noted, go is much better than chess.

[Kingston]

I'm happy to give you some tips:

First, study some opening theory; that will give you confidence because at least your start out strong. Wikipedia's chess opening is a good place to start.

Get James Eade's Chess Player's Bible. It's the best beginner book I know, because it covers everything a beginner should know, with strong visual 3d pictures.

Register a free account at Gameknot, the best chess game website I've seen. You can play turn based games, with up to 15 days per move, with several people at the same time. I just play relaxed a few minutes a day, whenever I feel like it. Highly recommended!

Steve, when your rating (at Gameknot) is at 1350 after some practice, please be bold enough to challenge me to a game.. I would be honered.. My name is "Macaristas"

Enjoy your practice!

[Kingston]

Allow me to muse on the "significance" of chess. It changed my thinking in three ways:

1. A much deeper appreciation of the logical complexity of life. If a limited game is this deep, imagine the implication for daily reasoning. I now feel how bounded rationality really is. This hit me hard as a brick around rating 1200.

2. Mental discipline. You have no choice but to think everything through, or lose. Even when you work hard you lose, and then you are forced to learn your lesson.

3. Intellectual humility. Because level and play is measurable, you see how much there is to understand about a subject, and how huge the difference is between beginner, intermediate, and a "black belt".

I also played Go, but not as much as chess. Go makes me appreciate subtlety and indirection more. Go taught me that any situation is far more neutral than it looks at first sight, so we have always enough reason to be less excited than we usually are.

[Savage]

How is it that when I blog about something I figure must be totally benign, it still ends up sparking some controversy?

[tomn8er]

Hey Steve, if you want to learn how to play better join the Internet Chess Club or ICC. They offer a 14 day free trial in which you do not have to give your credit card information or anything like that. This is where the grandmasters play, so they have no shortage of free tutorials for both beginners and advanced players alike. This program is suprisingly great for beginners, as they have a wide skill-range of opponents out there and several different-levelled bots that you can play against. Also none of that three-days-per-move bs I've encountered on many other free sites. I tried this trial membership at the ICC a couple times in the past two years and had a fun time and would definitely reccommend it. Good luck!

[Rick Abelson]

I agree with the club idea. I lived in Vegas for 30 years and there are lots of clubs. Best game for the mind ever invented, IMHO. Duplicate bridge is a close second.

[Phill]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

How is it that when I blog about something I figure must be totally benign, it still ends up sparking some controversy?

I was thinking the same thing

We seem to have a debate brewing. I encourage you to just start playing...it's the best way to begin to understand the strategies and learn. You will find that your game will develop very quickly from the mistakes you will make.

Phil

My soon to be new website