pIsh has been kind enough to give me his copy of Igor Khmelnizky's Chess Exam and Training Guide.  You remember me banging on a couple of years ago about knowing your chess profile, having an idea of what your strengths and weaknesses are?  Well, this book does what I was telling you to do: it gives you a rating for a set of diverse features.nbsp; So, if your study of your own games gives you no clues, or you'd like a second opinion, I think you can't do better than this book.

Our esteemed colleague Dan Frean asked me recently about teaching chess in Maths lessons. In the spirit of BBC's Any Answers, I don't think ignorance should be any barrier to trumpeting my ideas...  I'll just dump the e-mail here, and add the links and the examples in later when I've got a bit more time.

I'm anxious not to use chess in a way that emphasises existing differences
in chess ability...

I'll soon fix that...

First, we discussed some statements from Jonathan Rowson ( Chess for Zebras ), who very nearly said:

Chess is more a game of skill than a game of knowledge.

He did indeed say:

Improvement begins at the edge of your comfort zone" (p.14)

[ Vygotsky ! shouted Ish.]

Some members have asked if I plan to do some coaching sessions again this year and I am of course :br / 1 flattered to be asked,br / 2 happy to do it,br / 3 hopeful of receiving your suggestions, andbr / 4 grateful for any offers of support.br / br / You all know the starting point by now:br / br / List three things about playing chess that you are good at (or likebr / doing):br / 1br / 2br / 3br / br / List three things about playing chess that you are not so good at and want to improve:br / 1br / 2br / 3br / br /