Elements of a chess profile

Submitted by DrDave on Mon, 04/06/2007 - 00:00

So, last week we launched the summer coaching sessions. I explained the idea of the profile, and went on to ask everyone to complete the 3+3 exercise described below:

Three things I do well (or try to do well)
Three things I do badly (or want to do better)

The items were written onto coloured sticky notes, and I arranged them into rough groups on a table. Doubtless other arrangements were equally legitimate. The idea was for everyone to to start to build a confident picture of your strengths and weaknesses: try and draw up your own list of what A-M might stand for, and what might be your B and E or your M, and what might be your J!

The good	The bad	Dr.Dave's comments
GENERAL Playing a game better now	GENERAL I am not experienced in chess game enough	The main thing beginners need is practice!
OPENING Opening Try to open well Try not to block any of own pieces during opening Openings that become endings	OPENINGS Castling I have no schemes of openings Have such a restricted opening repertoire Early development of pieces rather than just pawns Opening Openings Openings, particularly d4...? Openings Not delay castling Remember opening repertoire	I was happy that this didn't dominate the picture: although in the last game I annotated, I piddled all over their third and fourth moves...
TACTICS Checking Combinational pressure Creating potential pins Piece combinations Avoid gross blunders Try to spot moves	TACTICS Move more slowly and carefully Lose quickly! To look before I commit myself to all the replies Positions with much open space and active queens To avoid loose pieces Protect vulnerable pieces Calculations that go more than a few moves deep Visualisation Use more reverse moves	I don't agree that chess is 99% tactics, but tactical alertnesss does decide an awful lot of games. This isn't just about knowing about tactics, it's about imagination and vision. Fortunately, they have the same treatment: doing tactical puzzles.
STRATEGY Strategic position Looking for holes in the opponent's position (outposts) Active squares Playing closed positions Understanding the value of pieces in the current position Sometimes a good strong attack Passing and not taking	STRATEGY Middle game Learn how to think through/play 'small' (subtle) moves more effectively Manoeuvre more rather than swap pieces Visualising exchanges more efficiently Co-ordinate my pieces better Closed positions (strategic play) Better at planning Thinking ahead structurally Not enough attention on whole board	There's lots to this, of course; I was interested to hear a theme of 'exchanges' coming through.
ENDGAME Simple end games Strong endgame	ENDGAMES Avoid dropping endgames -- needless half point Long games Endgame	Traditionally, the ground where weaker players lose to stronger ones. Are we sure that this isn't a weakness for more of us? Or does it never matter in our games?
THE CLOCK Time management Time pressure Not move too fast Good position obtained in very good times -- against opponents taking a lot longer Use of the clock (playing at the right speed)	THE CLOCK Dealing with time pressure I am usually running out of time	Ah, the 33rd piece is often the final straw... I would remind a couple of people that there are no points for having time left at the end of the game.
DEFENCE Steady, careful development Cross-cover ever more effectively Good defence	DEFENCE Defence	Again, many would have you believe that club players are worse at this than the rest of their game.
RESOURCEFULNESS Improvisation in new/unseen positions/openings Judging 'strange' positions I try to remain mentally positive Play till the end Finding resources to save a lost position	HESITANCY Not attacking enough Exchanging pieces too early Be more aggressive	These aspects of practical play should not be overlooked in the avalanche of available theory.

Well, depending on what level you're at, different treatments might be appropriate. I have drawn up a preliminary guide to books -- not that you should read all or own any of them, but so that you might find something to move you on, whatever your level and whatever you want to work on. I expect for every book there is a better one... but it's a starting point. I'll try and supplement this array with some web links soon. Contributions welcome.

Topic/Class	E	D	C	B	A
Opening books	Chess Openings for Juniors (Walker) See also: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/italian-game-beginners and http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/colle-system	An Opening Repertoire for the Attacking Player (Keene/Levy)	Ideas behind the Chess Openings (Fine)	Winning with e4 (Bishop’s Opening) (Emms)/ d4 (QGD Exchange) (Dunnington) Meeting e4 (Sicilian Four Knights’) (Raetsky)/d4 (QGD Tarrasch) (Aagaard/Lund) See also:	Specialist monographs e.g. Play the French (Watson) See also: http://www.chesspublishing.com
Tactics	Winning Chess (Chernev/Reinfeld) [D]	Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors (Hays)	Test your Chess IQ (1) Livshitz See also:	Penguin Book of Chess Positions (Alexander) [D] See also: Claus Kaber	Test your Chess IQ (2) Livshitz See also:
Strategy	The Most Instructive Games Of Chess Ever Played (Chernev) [D] See also: strategy handouts	Simple Chess (Emms)	The Middle Game 1/2 (Euwe/Kramer)	The Power Chess Program (I/II) (Davies)	Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy (Watson)
Endgame	Capablanca’s Best Chess Endgames	Winning Endgames (Kosten)	Endgame Strategy (Shereshevsky)	Rate your Endgame (Mednis/Crouch)	Batsford Chess Endings (Speelman)
Games collections	Logical Chess, move by move (Chernev)	Best Lessons of a Chess Coach (Weeramantry)	Chess: the Art of Logical Thinking (MacDonald)	Understanding Chess, Move by Move (Nunn)	Secrets of Grandmaster Play (Nunn/Griffiths)
Practical play	Chess for Tigers (Webb)	How to Reassess your Chess (Silman)	The Amateur’s Mind (Silman)	Secrets of Practical Chess (Nunn)	The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (Rowson)
Players to study	Morphy	Tarrasch, Lasker	Capablanca	Alekhin	Botvinnik