Monthly Tips

What players should do if they get discouraged....

Many players make the mistake of playing in one tournament and losing, in my opinion, you should try out chess in some fun games. Dont get burned out by playing in tournaments, there will be plenty of them. I suggest you try going to a chess club,or joining an internet chess server. The internet offers many different levels of players, and it doesnt affect your overall rating. The whole point of chess is to enjoy it, dont try to hard or pressure yourself to play,just because there is a tournament. Chess is a game afterall, but to get better and better you have to make it more than a game. I have been on the verge of burnout in chess numerous times. for those of you who are curious, I am currently an 1175 player, I have played for 9, and I have always thought of chess simply as a game, unfortunatley I never improved till I began to realize Its more. I actually know what to do in many different situations . If you have just started out in chess or you have played for so long that you feel you have wasted 3/4 of your life, Then take a break,dont quit altogether. Quitting will only make situations worse, taking a break can cause a lessening in your ability but still its better than nothing.

3/3/99

The Best way to improve your play...

The only true way to improve your abilities is to study and play as much as you can. this goes for anything. If you feel you arent a very strong player, then play stronger players and learn off them, you should look at some openings once in a while too. Continuos Study in anything can help, however suppose you dont care that much about chess, then there is one other option left, get a computer Chess program, you wont regret it, you will have hours of fun with it and you will have a preference of how tough you want it to be. you can also try internet chess which is accessible as long as you have java capabilities, a very neat touch.Anyways, the whole point of chess is to have fun and not try to hurt your chances.

Does Speed Chess ruin your play.....?April 1,1999

Speed chess is called Speed Chess because it is just like the drug speed, you get addicted, forgive my weird analogy but its true. Speed Chess is the ultimate weapon against you besides Bughouse or Double Speed or whatever it is called. Speed Chess will most likely make you want to play faster and more carelessly, it convinces your brain you can win at any speed. But in Chess this is not true, the worst thing you can do to ruin your chances is to play speed before your games. There is one exception, Someone I know does this frequently and gets away with it. He is a very talented player, but he will stop to go play speed during his tournament game occasionally. This is not a good Idea and if you take my advice your rating will be higher the next time you need advice