Correct Attitude to Learning chess (making it rewarding and enjoyable)
“You can lead a horse to a river, but you cannot make it to drink”
Correct Attitude to Learning chess
Let us look at the Correct Attitude to Learning chess (making it rewarding and enjoyable). When I learned to play this game I was taught to be polite and courteous. The players I played did have a meltdown if the results went south, but they never lost their cool.
Nowadays, there is a lot of offensive, cranky nervous response, which may just be a generation-gap behavior, but is frustrating for those of us who learned this game in those times – when there was no social media influence and the impact of adrenalin-rush movies.
It becomes even more disturbing when I see my new online chess students getting frustrated (to put it mildly). Also, it seems more pronounced from the Western World kids – Ed
My personal observation, after over two decades of chess training experience, is that there should be no place for pride and taunting or overly depressing feelings because of the results.
Our approach towards our games, whether they be training games or a real chess tournament, dictates whether we end up shaky and down – or – positive and happy – while learning and savoring the game at the same time. That is why chess learning for beginners is a delicate process for both the coach and the budding chess players.
Maybe that’s because back then, we enjoyed the classes, thanks to our majority of the fantastic teachers, or we had a good bunch of friends to be spending time with, within a class or outside. Chess learning for beginners was a fun project for us coaches.
So does that mean that nowadays, chess learning for beginners and advanced players has changed direction? Or could there be other factors and external influences, like social media and screen devices, that are distracting the chess learning experience? I guess it is true to some extent. But it was also something more than that.
It was that the academy had nurtured a culture of respect for learning environments, a culture where even if a child lost a chess game or seemed sad, she/he was never taunted or disrespected.
All this was done with subtle monitoring by the Teachers and the trainers. Of course, there was healthy criticism involved here too.
Understanding this influence tells us something about how proper chess learning for beginners can be influenced.
By valuing children and their performance in chess and training regimen, the children slowly learn to value their own work and themselves (self-esteem).
Slowly, as chess kids entered higher levels, they matured and became independent and responsible for their own chess learning.
We, chess coaches, earned respect not because we were good instructors but because of what motivation we gave.
The chess kids learned not to glorify one player over another, whether in chess or scholastic. Every chess kid in the chess academy is important, and good results in chess are as much looked upon as in scholastic.
They learned to question their games, their lessons, and other players’ chess games, and also defended their points for such scrutiny.
Eventually, it came to taking responsibility for all their actions.
Chess Lessons, meant for me, will not be learned by everyone in equal measure because of plenty of circumstantial factors that affect how much each individual learns. But those who take away these essentials are those who will find it easier, to progress everywhere.
Academies and coaches that foster such learning are a rarity. But it helps to recognize what these factors are so we can help cultivate them even outside the school.
What is the Correct Attitude to Learning chess from a coach’s perspective?
Here are tips for us all – whether we are chess coaches or parents of chess players or merely chess aficionados.
1 Try not to involve your EGO.
My chess lessons and methods are evolving every day.
I tell my chess students to play with a Correct Attitude to Learning chess, one that is devoid of ego.
After all, we will not become chess grandmasters overnight.
Sometimes we will win – and feel good about it – but we will also lose, to stronger players and spend most of the time sulking about it.
2. Focus on chess learning as a fun experience than a chore.
Our aim as chess learners should be to have a correct Attitude to Learning chess – To treat a game as a test of understanding of chess, not an anxiety exercise in keeping up the ball-park of performance at a high level.
3. To search for truth in every position.
Every move is theoretically a test of our decision-making abilities, some more important than others, and whoever is more composed, will make the sound decisions and win the game.
During chess learning for beginners, questions like –
Should I exchange my Bishop with my opponent’s knight at f6 or not?
Should I play the obvious looking move or do a forcing calculation before choosing the right line?
Should I convert into an endgame or keep the pieces on board for favorable times?
will arise and confuse the chess kids, and for me, this is an enjoyable experience, irrespective of the result.
4. Every loss is a lesson. Learn from it.
When results are going south, I look at which moves and decisions were right and wrong, and how they can be used for future scenarios by my students.
The next time when they face a similar situation on the chessboard, the chess lessons that they have learned previously will provide the right guidance.
This is a very pleasurable and fulfilling experience for both me as a chess coach and my chess kids!
Never worry about chess ratings. I tell my students to not look at them. Those are just numbers – like shadows, they too will always follow our consistent performance’s upward graph.
5. Never blame anyone for your losses
As long as we continue blaming external reasons (or other people) not to learn eg: boring teachers, complicated textbooks, faulty assessment methods, school infrastructure is bad, etc., learning will always elude us.
What we need to have is a Correct Attitude to Learning chess – a small paradigm-shift, reduce the importance to our egos, and then the learning will be fun.
Lessons I learned
I am enjoying giving online chess lessons much more when I am devoid of any ego while playing with my students.
Developing an attitude of meditation throughout the game has made me what I am – a learner.
Hopefully providing lifelong satisfaction in this game. These are perhaps the biggest lessons learned by me.
About the Author
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar.
Over the last two decades, I’ve trained more than 500 students in chess, from India and abroad through online chess classes.
My experience helps me to identify the weak spots in the student’s chess armor, and that is where I provide help in making them reach their personal Milestones in chess with the Correct Attitude to Learning chess.
Many of these students went on to become school champions, district champions, state champions and went on to participate in national and international level chess events having achieved a decent FIDE rating up to 1900-2000 and an online rating of 2300 to 2500.
If you are interested in learning chess, do drop me a mail at kishchess at Gmail dot com or WhatsApp (+91 98410 70891)
Last night I read this parable on Chess and meditation as told by Osho. A young man, who had a bitter disappointment in life, went to a remote monastery and said to the Master, ”I am disillusioned with life and wish to attain enlightenment to be freed from these sufferings. But I have no capacity for sticking long at anything. I could never do long years of meditation and study and austerity. I would relapse and be drawn back to the world again, painful though I know it to be. Is there any short way for people like me?”
”There is,” said the Master, ”if you are really determined. Tell me, what have you studied? What have you concentrated on most in your life?” ”Why, nothing really. We were rich and I did not have to work. I suppose the thing I was really interested in was chess; I spent most of my time at that.”
The Master thought for a moment and then said to his attendant, ”Call such-and-such a monk, and tell him to bring a chessboard and men.” But the attendant said, ”Sir, that monk does not know how to play chess.” The Master said, ”Don’t be worried. You simply call him.”
The monk came with the board and the Master set up the men. He sent for a sword and showed it to the two. ”Oh monk,” he said, ”you have vowed obedience to me as your Master, and now I require it of you. You will play a game of chess with this youth, and if you lose I shall cut off your head with this sword.”
Chess and meditation – the story continues.
And the monk does not know much about chess. Maybe he can recognize the chessboard, or maybe he has played once or twice when he was young. But to put this man against this young, rich man, who has never done anything but play chess, is simply a death warrant. And then the Master says, ”You have surrendered to me, and you have told me I can do anything I want with your life or with your death. Now the moment has come. If you lose I shall cut off your head with this sword.”
And a naked sword is there in the hands of the Master, and he is standing just close by. ”But I promise that if you die by my hand, you will be born in paradise. If you win, I shall cut off the head of this man. Chess is the only thing he has ever tried hard at, and if he loses he deserves to lose his head also.” They looked at the Master’s face and saw that he meant it: he would cut off the head of the loser.
They began to play. With the opening moves, the youth felt the sweat trickling down to his heels as he played for his life. The chessboard became the whole world; he was entirely concentrated on it. At first, he had somewhat the worst of it, but then the other made an inferior move and he seized his chance to launch a strong attack. As his opponent’s position crumbled, he looked covertly at him. He saw a face of intelligence and sincerity, worn with years of austerity and effort.
The other was a beggar – a BHIKKHU – his eyes were silent and calm. He was not disturbed even by the idea of death. He was playing because of the Master’s request, and he had surrendered himself so there was no problem in it. Even if paradise were not promised, then too, he would have to follow. He was playing calm and quiet. His eyes were very silent and very intelligent – and the young man is winning! and the monk’s moves are going all wrong! The young man looked at the monk – the grace, the austerity, the beauty, the silence, the intelligence.
Chess and Zen = Chess and meditation
He thought of his own worthless life, and a wave of compassion came over him. He decided: ”To let this man die is unnecessary. If I die, nothing is lost to the earth. I am a stupid man, I have wasted my life, I have nothing. This man has worked hard, disciplined his life, has lived a life of austerity, a life of meditation, and prayer. If he is killed that will be a loss.” Great compassion arose in him. He deliberately made a blunder and then another blunder, ruining his position and leaving himself defenseless.
The Master suddenly leaned forward and upset the board. The two contestants sat stupefied. ”There is no winner and no loser,” said the Master slowly. ”There is no need to fall here. Only two things are required, ” and he turned to the young man, ”complete concentration and compassion. You have today learned them both. You were completely concentrated on the game, but then in that concentration, you could feel compassion, and sacrifice your life for it. Now, stay here a few months and pursue our training in this spirit and your enlightenment is sure. He did so and got it.
A tremendously beautiful story. The Master created a situation and showed the whole path. This is DIRECT – showing the path. He showed all that can be shown!
There are only two things different – and similar – between Chess and meditation.
Meditation means being utterly absorbed into something, totally absorbed into something, completely lost. If you are dancing and only the dance remains and the dancer is forgotten, then it is meditation. If you are gambling and only gambling remains and the gambler disappears, then it is meditation.
It can be any activity. Meditation is not averse to any activity. Meditation requires only one thing: be absorbed in it totally, whatsoever it is.
For Zen all that matters is totality, utter concentration, absorbed, lost, drunk into it. So much so that you are not standing behind aloof. This is fundamental.
Chess players enjoy stunning victories, yet they also suffer harsh losses. Getting too bogged down in the lost outcomes can lead to depressing thoughts that will hamper your full potential – leading to a lack of confidence. And while winning can be good for instant gratification, too much happiness can lead to over-confidence.
I tell my students that, for me, Chess and meditation are both the same. Why they would ask?
Because, when I play, all thoughts from my ever-thinking clunky mind, disappear. All that remains are the 64 squares. Thoughts related to business or day to day activities vanish.
That is why many people who see professional players with poker faces, think it is boring because they cannot fathom the deep stillness that every serious chess player feels. But if only they could feel that moment of being there, watching only chess moves analyzed sub-consciously by the brain, they will understand what Chess and meditation are all about, actually.
Ref: Message from Masters ” Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol 3 ” – Osho
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar. Over the last two decades, I’ve trained more than 500 students in chess, from India and abroad through online chess classes.
My experience helps me to identify the weak spots in the student’s chess armor, and that is where I provide help in making them reach their personal Milestones in chess.
Many of these students went on to become school champions, district champions, state champions and went on to participate in national and international level chess events having achieved a decent FIDE rating up to 1900-2000 and an online rating of 2300 to 2500. If you want to take private lessons, do drop me a line at kishchess at Gmail dot com.
To know more about online chess classes click here.
For those of you who have not heard of this book Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith – let me say that it aims to show new avenues for training for an already advanced player. The author presents a road-map of improvement in your Chess training.
The real value of this book is its instruction that is interspersed with lots of personal experiences from author and his chess colleagues. The book focuses mainly on increasing one’s strength at classical time control chess (more than 60 minutes per player per game). So if you are a casual blitz player you will not be benefited by this book.
Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith – who can benefit?
This book is for class A players (those who are 1800+ in elo) and above. For those who are rated below 1800 FIDE rated, it may help if you have a trainer working with this book. Remember that this book is for Tournament players and not for the casual blitz player.
Pump Up Your Rating – voted the ChessCafe.com Book of the Year 2013 – read here.
About the Author:
Axel Smith – Author
The author is Axel Smith is an IM (International Master) from Sweden and a FIDE trainer. Axel Smith is an upcoming Swedish IM, who is on his path to achieving a GM title. He is also a succesfull coach with many students climbing the success ladder, to his credit.
Smith talks seriously about his chess preparation; he prepares in detail for his opponents sometimes going to great lengths like looking at his opponent’s ICC games too check out their weaknesses. Now isn’t that a creative streak?
Nothing motivates him more than winning in chess.
What is shocking is that anything not related to improvement is not worthy of his attention as he feels that studying Chess history is unimportant – “I don’t think I have ever seen a complete game by Bobby Fischer,” he frankly reveals in the book.
Why should you read Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith?
I know for sure that had I read this book I would not have wasted my 3-4 years of chess training some 15 years ago.
This book is a labor of love and fills an important gap in an improving chess player’s library. It answers many questions that a budding chess player has or should think of like finding a good training partner for those who can not find chess players nearby and how to use chess software to aid in preparation.
During training, Smith reveals that he does not watch TV, or use smart-phones or the Internet; and he avoids reading books while playing in a tournament, as these are a cause of distraction.This may not appeal to some as each person has his own way of unwinding and relaxing.
He comes across as some one who has walked the talk and wrote it all down.
What does the book look like?
It consists of two big parts and each part is a book topic by itself!
The first part deals with How to think in Chess, pertaining to the basic positional ideas and strategy. He talks about pawn levers (and how they are the anchor of all planning), piece exchanges and imbalances, and finally the most important skill of all – calculation.
Chapter one – Pawn levers.
Chapter two – Exchanges and imbalances – art of exchanging and the timing so as to create an imbalance in the position.
Chapter three – Critical decision making and questions that need to be answered while coming across such positions.
Chapter four – Calculation (different from Kotov’s tree of calculation)
The Second part deals with techniques on training in Chess. This is the fun part of the chess book and will make you read everything in one go.
Here Smith explains how he improved by following what he describes in this second part, in four chapters:
Analyzing your games and making a ‘list of mistakes’
A program to study tactics;
Openings trainingusing Chessbase software for the creation of ‘opening files’ and looking at games
Learning the most important theoretical endgames first – roughly 100 in number.
He comes across as a live-wire author who is teaching you what you must learn and what you may avoid, in order to save precious time.
As a bonus, you get an Appendix that has a List of theoretical endgames – however they are to be downloaded in PGN format from their official site which is here.
The database discussed in Chapter 7 – Openingscan be downloaded (in PGN format) here.
For anybody thinking about buying the book – I can wholeheartedly recommend this one; it has delivers on everything it promises.Jacob Aagaard described it on Quality Chess blog as “reminding him of his own Excelling at Chess, only better”! Pump Up Your Rating by Axel Smith is a refreshing new book for chess coaches and players who are trying hard to make progress and find that they are stagnating. Those who are in need a different set of training techniques that are not old school, will gain a lot from this book. Some techniques may sound radical but then it worked for him so who knows – it may work for you…
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Get it from here in Amazon (India) or Flipkart India
Chess in the Digital Age is an enchanting 356 pages guide that explains almost all aspects of using ChessBase.
Let us start with the basics first.
What is ChessBase?
ChessBase is an amazing chess database software mainly used by top professionals and by amateurs. It has evolved constantly from a very basic chess data reference tool to a full-blown chess database software.
Much like the Swiss knife of Chess
What is the book about?
For those who have been using the ChessBase Software (and I am pretty sure at least 75% of chess players around the world have used it at one point in time or the other) for straight forward game collections and annotations or for mundane tasks like viewing a game or playing a game online, this book will show what ChessBase software is actually capable of doing.
Here a small caveat – though the author has done a very good job explaining the key features with real-time case studies, it can by no means be labeled as ‘complete’. However, that does not take any credit away from the utility value of the book which is a path-breaking one.
Why this book?
I am sure most of you would have by now figured out a few basic functions in Chessbase, but a lot of the nerdy stuff features are not obvious unless you see them in the true perspective of results.
You may argue that there is a user-manual in the program as is the case with all software, and pretty much is explained in there, but it’s written more with an eye for technicality, than the utility point. The how is explained, but not the why and when and what if.
When one opens Chessbase it appears as a mysterious piece of software that appears easy to operate but you get a gut feeling that it has some secrets that are hidden deep inside waiting to be unraveled.
After going through this book you will realize that you have been actually right all along. There were many functions that you did not even have an inkling of.
In other words this book is like the hitch-hiker’s guide to the Chessbase galaxy!
How does the book deliver?
Showing hundreds of helpful screenshots from the program, Jon Edwards explains the following tasks with ChessBase:
Effective Opening preparation is de-mystified with suitable examples.
How to get a collection of important games in any opening, middlegame position type, or even endgame positions
How you can install and see what engines think about any given position.
How you can perform an analysis and see where you and your opponents erred.
How you can publish your games in a book or the web/Facebook
What about practical examples?
What the author Jon Edwards has done is to take pains explaining 14 general features (aptly called ‘scenarios’), such as training and teaching, position searches, opening preparation, playing on the Playchess server using ChessBase, etc, and explains clearly how to go about accomplishing these activities.
The fact is that this book is a ready-reckoner because Chessbase is one life-saving utility for 99% of today’s chess professionals.
Do we need to have the Chessbase software?
The book is full of screenshots, which are helpful so that the program need not be open in front of you (though that would be highly recommended) and he does not miss anything major.
So is Chess in the Digital Age a complete reference manual?
Though every little function is explained to the point, I should add that this book is not a complete reference manual. The author merely elucidates how he uses the various features of Chessbase for his specific purposes (scenarios).
That said however if you are a serious chess player, this book should be in your collection of essentials. And although the book was written with Chessbase 12 in mind, it still works with the latest release of Chessbase 16.
The only sore point in Chessbase Complete Chess in the Digital Age is that the images used in the book could have been good quality color images to better illustrate and engage the reader’s eye. Hence my half-star less in the rating. It has nothing to do with the content – which is 5 star!
One brick at a time and the house is built. We all know that going slow and steady is what it takes to reach a milestone. But what are the milestones in chess and more importantly, how to aim or fix these milestones and achieve them? How can we go about building a successful chess career while maintaining the enthusiasm quotient on an upward graph?
How often do you wonder, “I wish I were good at chess…” Maybe you want to be better at chess tactics or strategy or endgames. Maybe you’d like to be more confident or less panicky while playing a strong player.
Building a successful chess career requires work. It is not often that you can suddenly get better at chess with a tricky opening trap or gimmick.
However, I think a lot of chess players don’t improve simply because they don’t know how to build their knowledge and chess skills at the same time.
In this article, I want to outline a simple 10 step strategy to get better at chess. It does require work, lots of regular and repetitive work. But it can help simplify the process of crossing milestones in chess.
Let us discuss some important milestones in chess from top to bottom in terms of their difficulty level:
Grandmaster Title
International Master
Fide Master Title
Candidate master and
Decent Fide Rating.
Playing a full game of chess.
Learning the basics.
While striving to reach these milestones is desirable, understanding the way to approach these goals is essential to make the journey smooth and enjoyable.
How do we reach (and cross) milestones while building a successful chess career?
What are the ingredients that help in building a successful chess career? How can we maintain the momentum that we had when we first started?
What I really believe in, is the idea that a real journey is no different from a psychological one.
Where there is fun, merriment and company, the journey becomes less tedious and less time consuming.
1. So the first step in Building a successful chess career is to make sure that you are passionate about this on a daily basis.
Deeply passionate.
By that, I mean that your whole day must be focused on this single passion.
You can relax now and then but at the end of the day if you did not engage in your pursuit of chess goals then it is not an earnest endeavor.
2. Form a group that shares your passion. Better still if all family members are involved!
Join a club or make one if there is none! That way the energy levels will be sustained. Back in those days when I was an amateur, I used to invite a lot of chess friends and they helped me when my energy was low, due to stress from other real-world situations.
That was actually a boon for me as if I had not had these friends to push me up I would have quit and stagnated, resigning to my fate.
3. Teach someone.
Yes… it may be strange to hear but teaching someone will give you a sense of what you have understood fully and what you have only a superficial understanding of.
You will be morally responsible and that will bring sincerity to your efforts.
I gained a lot by teaching some younger players a few things about chess training and in return, I was daily increasing my knowledge by conscious reinforcements and boosting my energy levels.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Sometimes a stronger player will take the pains to teach you something ONLY if you bother to ask.
Just try it.
I have met quite a few good souls who later on turned out to be good friends on my chess journey! You can try it out in your club or during a tournament.
5. Don’t be afraid of criticism.
Sometimes players who are far younger than you will chide you for your game quality. Take it in your stride.
After all, that kid is giving you a free lesson!
These nifty tips will be in your memory for a long time.
6. Spend some time doing self-study.
That is the most important tip I cannot stress enough.
Too many students of mine need to be weaned off the spoon-feeding that they undergo as beginners.
When they reach a certain level they must be forced to study on their own for some time daily.
This will give them a sense of achievement that will drive them to higher pursuits. A coach can only act as a battery charger.
The ‘capacity of the battery’ is what you will be increasing by self-study. It is your prerogative.
7. Meditate daily.
It is the hidden compass in your life that will constantly guide you on your path.
8. Take a break.
Once a week. This will help rejuvenate your mind and body and settle things down in a proper perspective.
9. Exercise regularly.
While everyone knows that exercise is a good idea, the scientific evidence about its benefits in old age is there for all to see.
Remember that Chess has to retirement age.
So if you love chess you will be playing it for a long time to come, only if health issues are taken care of.
10. Good Diet.
Remember that this is not just for Building your chess career, but for your system as a whole!
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar.
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar. Over the last two decades, I’ve trained more than 500 students in chess, from India and abroad through online chess classes.
