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)
Your mind is much more powerful than you think – It works the way it wants till you wake up.
Mind is the magical wand that fulfills all your desires. You will be amazed at the potential of your mind. Its ability to absorb, analyze and use any such information at the appropriate times, is what makes it effective in completing a complex task.
So is it that simple to just train the mind and achieve success? Maybe it is the secret… ?
Nothing could be further than the truth. Or rather the complete truth.
Mind is much more powerful than you think
The fact is that our brain is intrinsically lazy and mechanically wants to shut out hard work. So anytime you want to do any thing that involves the brain you tend to yawn and feel sleepy.
It is the mind’s way of telling you – ” Hey dude! I think we can take a small nap instead of doing this boring stuff.” And you feel that you are tired and ought to sleep instead of doing that work at that time.
However try this small experiment and see what happens. Start doing something that is not demanding for your mind (to work) – like watching a good movie or listening to music. You will see that you are back to the normal alertness that you are accustomed to daily.
So the trick is to make the mind believe that your work is interesting instead of tedious/boring. And that can be only brought about by approaching all such work in a passionate way.
Here are some tips that will stop that ‘yawn’:
1. See through the noise.
This means that whenever your mind wants to sleep think if you are really sleepy or is the mind playing any trick. Even though the topic is interesting for you (that is why you are reading this article in the first place), you are unable to stay focused and this implies you don’t find the study interesting. Instead go for a more interactive way to deal with the topic like listening to a video about that topic or in the case of Chess, trying doing some online play for a few minutes.
2. Feeling drowsy after having food?
Eat dry fruits daily for better energy levels the whole day.
If you are experiencing such a problem, try to rest for 15 minutes soon after lunch/dinner. That will not just help you rejuvenate your mind, but will also prevent any time loss. Try to optimize your food in such a way that it does not lead to drowsiness such as:
Avoid excessive fat and carbohydrate content and choose something that will keep you active for the duration that you want to study.
Do not overeat under any circumstances. Large meals can cause severe drowsiness, as your body takes blood energy from your brain and other functions to engage in digesting your food in the stomach. It’s a delicate balance. Eat less, not enough energy to keep your brain effective; eat more, get all sluggishness, digesting that food.
More of salads and fruit slices to provide micro-nutrients. Especially the dry fruits that are healthy like walnut, almonds, figs etc.
Sprouts are good too but in the breakfast time.
3. Choose that subject that interests you more.
That will also help you save some time so that you can study the less interesting subjects when you are really active and can manage long hours without getting sleepy. A boring subject will only make you yawn more. And in that case you need to see if the mind is really feeling sleepy or if it is playing any tricks on you.
4. Exercise can also affect how you feel.
If you can exercise regularly, then this can help you maintain energy levels naturally, but again, watch your eating as you may have a large meal because exercising makes you feel hungry, but you are using up more energy to digest it, and this may lead to a sleepy lazy feeling. The trick is in making small bursts of food eating and satisfying your hunger pangs in moderation.
5. Sleep well.
Quality sleep is more important. If you do get enough sleep, but you don’t get good quality sleep then this will also make you sleepy during the day. The reasons for lack of quality sleep are
A small amount of light in the room.
You are watching TV or computer just before going to bed.
You are eating too close to bedtime.
You are thinking about too many things so your brain is keeping you semi-conscious thinking about many things.
You are overweight / have a genetic predisposition to snoring.
Research has found that sleep and wakefulness are not two different states. They have a gradual overlap, and if you are feeling sleepy in the daytime, then your brain is wanting to go into ‘self repair’ mode job that it undertakes at night. It is hinting you to give it the time to do so, and if it isn’t allowed to repair it may fail through one of a number of chronic conditions that are piling up.
So take heed and follow these steps and see your chess pursuits showing positive growth. The changes will be reinforcing and keep persevering till you maintain this process automatically. Truly the Mind is much more powerful than you think
*** Empire Chess is offering a huge discount on digital and hard copies! Make sure you get the deals while they last.
Under the Aegis of AICF,TNSCA, KDCA & MCA (AICF Event code: 115226/TN/2015 – TNSCA Approval No. R07/2015-16)
Venue: MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL (Main Building)
Modern School Road, A.G.’s Office Colony,
Nanganallur, Chennai 600 061
Modern Senior Secondary School is a new generation CBSE SCHOOL situated at Nanganallur in Chennai.
Sri Lakshminrisimha temple, Nanganallur
Nanganallur is known for its myriad of temples dedicated to the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and the place appears to have a religious aura during festive occasions. It is also home to Modern Senior Secondary School that has showed a phenomenal support to chess playing students and Chess tournaments.
Apart from a robust scholastic endeavor, Modern School gives great importance to Co-curricular and extra curricular activities and encouraging chess among its students; and this has paid rich dividends.
K.Sasikiran, Grand Master – Alumni of Modern School, Nanganallur
The School is very proud of its alumni, K.Sasikiran, Grand Master and Arjuna Awardee in Chess who is ranked among the top 5 in Indian Chess list of Grandmasters. Following in his footsteps, the School has a host of eminent chess players.
Players like RK Ranjith,Anjana Sowjanya, Arun Hariharan,Saravana Krishnan, Santhosh Bala, Pon Krithikka, Mohanapriya, Radha Krishnan, Narasimhapriyan, V.Shvetha, T. Vishwanath, Akash PC Iyer, K. Anshuman and many others have been inspired by this school’s motivation and its teachers interest in Chess.
They have brought many laurels for the school and made it a force to reckon with among CBSE schools Zonal and National Chess championships.
There are many upcoming juniors who are slowly inching their way up.
Every year, starting from the year 2008, Modern School has been conducting the Fide rated Chess tournament and this is the first ever International Rating Chess Championship at the School level.
Modern School Venue for the International Chess Tournament at Nanganallur.
This year, from 1st August to 5th August 2015 they are conducting conducted the annual 8th Modern School Nanganallur Chess Tournament 2015 for school children and there was a huge response to the event as it is one of its kind as far as chess tournaments go.
For the 5 days duration there was a carnival like atmosphere and children from various schools converged at the main building to participate in the tournament.
Meet the people behind the 8th Modern School Nanganallur Chess Tournament 2015 :
Many children from India and abroad take part in this event, that is now a permanent fixture for 8 years now. Kudos to the School and especially to Mr. Ravichandran, Mr. Santhanam and the P.T incharge Mr. Ramadoss who have built this program from its inception.
Special mention must be made of the Principal Dr.(Smt.) Mrs. Mohana – M.Com., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D, who takes personal interest in hearing the chess players’ results and motivates them even amongst her very busy schedule, and that too with a perennial smile.
Like wise the Vice-Principal Mrs. L. Padmavathy (M.Com., PGDCM, C.I.C, D.W.T, B.Ed) who is adored by all, and the Office staff who have worked hard in maintaining a professional routine.
Recognition in Chess:
The Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi allotted the Southern Zonal Chess Tournaments to the School, in 2004 and 2006 under its Competitive Sports Program. The final all India Chess Championship was conducted in the School in 2007.
With this background, the School endeavors to conduct Modern Senior Secondary School International Rating Chess Tournament every year. We at Golden Chess Centre, wish them a very huge success in the coming years!
Day to day Chess-results and pairings will be pasted here from chess-results.com
Please note: The results are/will be updated as soon as the pairing is ready.
As a gesture of appreciation, Golden Chess Centre Nanganallur, will analyze any games played by the children (free of any charges) and also give tips on how to improve their game.
Question: Hi Coach @GoldenChess! I’m a newbie in the chess scene and am from Madipakkam (near Nanganallur) in Chennai. I have a problem and that is – Chess Openings – how to study – for beginners especially. The doubt is: should I study all the major openings and if so which ones do I have to study as priority?
To be more specific, my concern is – I am very familiar about the Sicilian but after 1. e4 if my opponents do not play any Sicilian line but takes me into an unknown territory that I can’t manage, what must I do ?
Do I have to study all the openings in this case ?
Last week somebody advised me that I have to study the openings that fit my playing style. What is your take on this?
Thanks for all you tips! – Aadhithya (age 15)
HiAadhithya – First of all, I guess that your question is basically about building your White repertoire. In the long run, if you are serious about improving your chess, the answer is – yes! Hard work does pay. For example – you may start with 1.d4 and play the Colle system – or the Sicilian Grand Prix with 1.e4 as white. But there is every possibility that you will soon feel bored with that opening.
Chess Openings – how to study – for beginners (or how not to study!)
What openings you choose is up to you, and depends on your goals in chess and your personal tastes. So if you are already rated 1800 or thereabouts, you can pick theoretical lines to build your repertoire and polish it everyday.
However if you are lower rated – you said you are a newbie so I assume you are a post-beginner – then you need to only understand and remember the major lines in a selective set of openings and more importantly, improve your middlegame understanding.
Try completing the combination books selected from this link from Amazon.
Note however that you will not have a ‘style‘ of play until you have a quite decent understanding of the game by which I mean 2200 elo rating.
Until then you don’t have a style – what you have is a collection of responses and weaknesses.
So in summary –
Study only the important openings that you will play and encounter and choose the 4 or 5 common variations of that opening, to begin with by reading books by the great Grandmaster of the past (I have listed some suggestions below).
Play them regularly with friends or at online chess playing sites such as Chesscube.com, Chess.com, ICC or Playchess (ChessBase).
Try playing with chess software like Lucas Chess (read a good review here)
Don’t hesitate to change openings if you feel you are not enjoying it.
Don’t waste your time on off-beat openings that are not important, you are not a master yet and
I suggest to really master tactics by doing them daily on a real chess board rather than openings for your age and level because you will lose mainly by tactics and not because of the minimal advantage that was gained by that uncommon variation.
Book Suggestions: I suggest you to get a few books that are a collection of GM games annotated by the Grandmaster himself and go through them with your coach or another player who is stronger than you.
I have avoided providing the latest Grandmaster’s book list as the above list of older books gives a good understanding of an opening’s evolution. These books will discuss about the opening plans and ideas and that will be a good foothold to begin with. I hope I have answered your question on Chess Openings – how to study – for beginners
Once a grasp of these ideas are absorbed in place, we can then continue our learning with the later day Grandmaster’s books such as those by Shirov, Anand, Gelfand, Karpov and Kasparov.
Additionally, I would request you to share some of your OTB (On the Board) games or online games to make this discussion more meaningful.
Do drop in at Golden Chess Centreat Nanganallur (Chennai) and we will see how to guide you in your self study.For others who have found my suggestions useful why not visit my Facebook page and follow it by liking it so that you can be notified for more such articles like this?
Note: The links in this page are affiliate links which means I earn a small commission from any purchases. Prices are exactly the same for you if your purchase is through an affiliate link or a non-affiliate link. You will not pay more by clicking through to the link.
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!
Dear Coach. How important is Physical fitness in Chess? I wonder if we must take into account the state of our health when we are about to play a chess game. Will it affect our performance in chess and if so, what are the precautions we need to take, to maintain a balance?
Yours sincerely – Abhishek.
Dear Abhishek.
We are not talking about casual chess games but a serious Chess tournament.
Chess is addictive.
We continue playing when given a chance regardless of how we are feeling mentally or physically. This is a sure recipe for blunders in chess.
Now, coming to your question.
Is Physical fitness that important?
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Physical fitness for your chess games.
At first glance, you might think that Physical fitness is not important, and you can always rely on your brain’s abilities alone.
Well, this is not entirely true. Of course, you are endowed by nature with a sharp analytical mind, for daily pursuits, but they might not meet your requirements in chess.
Since chess needs certain specialized abilities, you want to get the mind to function at a higher than normal peak to meet your milestones in chess.
Without making an appropriate selection of physical training, your physical fitness and stamina won’t be adequate for chess tournaments.
You don’t want your games to end badly due to the loss of concentration, after 3 hours of an intense grueling chess fight, do you?
One of the most crucial aspects of chess abilities is – focus in chess.
A chess player without consistent levels of focus in chess won’t be able to perform at optimal fervor. And that’s the exact recipe for disaster that you want to avoid.
Your Physical fitness can help with a powerful performance in chess that reeks of consistency.
Fortunately, ‘focus’ is a lot like a mental muscle. The more you work on it, the more powerful it gets.
My job as a Chess coach + trainer is not merely teaching chess, but building requisite resilience, focus in chess, and other impactful areas.
5 Tips on achieving peak focus in chess via Physical fitness
1. Play chess only when you are clear-headed.
We function better at different times of the day, and it varies from person to person.
For e.g., I play better at night, while you may play at your best in the afternoon. We need to figure out our optimal performance times and play only when we are focused.
So as far as mental health is concerned – yes, it is essential. But that is not the complete story.
In the case of a serious OTB (over the board) chess tournament game, the stakes are much higher.
You need all reserves of energy, and must also be psychologically focused and clear.
A simple daily routine, like early morning running or brisk walking, increases mindfulness and a state of being in the present.
That is because the human mind must not be disturbed while doing something that needs our complete processing power.
It could throw our brain into an imbalanced state of mind.
It also makes us feel irritated and lose focus in chess.
Furthermore, it’s all about putting away diversions, whether they are physical, your mobile phone, or psychological (your fears), and being in a zen state of mind.
Developing focus in chess along with Physical fitness is the key.
A simple rule of thumb to regain focus. Start by taking several deep breaths while focusing on every breath.
When you feel your mind begins to wander, gently guide your attention back to your deep breathing.
3. Do not stress yourself about the results.
The third most important piece of advice I give my students (and the parents), is to treat all training games as match games, and all match/tournament games as training games.
That way the pressure is taken off the mind and the transition, to a peaceful and thoughtful state of mind, is flowing.
This state of mind is essential to harness the full potential of our minds. And train with this neutral outlook, all the time.
4. The most important factor that helps in achieving all this, is Physical fitness in Chess.
Even though Chess is a mental game, the physical fitness of the chess player helps a lot, in generating the required mental energy.
To keep calculating, at sustained depths in a chess game, mental equilibrium is desirable, to say the least.
Try cultivating the habit of morning walks or better still running as it will provide the much-needed oxygen for the brain to function clearly.
Clearly, exercises are great stress busters!
5. Build up stamina and lung capacity.
Talking of physical fitness I must say that it is very important to have good stamina and lung capacity, to handle all the tension that arises during a serious chess game’s pressure.
One way to increase lung capacity is to blow rubber balloons that kids play with or do aerobic exercises for 10 minutes.
In case these are not possible, try climbing up and down a flight of stairs for 5- 10 minutes.
Or even cycling.
To sum up – Role of Physical fitness and performance in chess.
Play only when your mind is clear and capable of focus in chess.
Play when there is no distraction.
Take all training games as serious games and all tournament games as training games.
Make sure you build up your Physical fitness in Chess by regular training for that super performance in chess.
Hey, I’m Kish Kumar.
