Category Archives: Chess

Reflections 2023

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I haven’t played serious chess for a while and doubt I will again.  The chess achievement I am proudest of is winning the Exeter Chess Club Championship six times.  However, I think I have never been the best player in the club, certainly not the highest-rated, on any of these occasions.  So how come?  In a Swiss, you have to win all or most of your games, and there’s usually one crucial game against the favourite.  Evaluations and ?! mostly by Stockfish and me.

2003-2004: graham bolt – The briar patch

This was before Graham’s Hedghog period, and he rather helpfully played into a line that I knew fairly well and which I think is not dangerous to Black.  Graham of course is highly dangerous, but seemed content to wait for me to lose rather than press strongly for his own cause.

2004-2005: Brian Hewson – the patriarch

Brian is a very experienced and practical player but allowed himself to covet a pawn, which gave me a sustained initiative that was wearisome to defend against, resulting in a slip.

2006-2007: Simon Waters – the centre

Simon is a big old-fashioned centre-forward of a player, who has got the better of me more than once in complications.  Lots of elementary errors after his pawn sac.

2012-2013: Pablo Medina – the briar patch 2

Pablo’s forthright style made a big impression on us all but chose in this last-round play-off game to avoid any possible preparation by discarding his favourite 1.e4 for 1.d4 and a Dutch.  I had to be more familiar with this than Pablo but I didn’t especially outplay him, he just lost his way late in the game.

2013-2014: Tim Paulden – the briar patch 3

In a rather loud echo of the last game, Tim sought to avoid any of my prep by… playing into my main defensive system, so I always felt comfortable and got on top.

2014-2015: Tim Paulden – A waltz on the clifftop

We both prepped for this — Tim’s favourite at the time was the Nimzo-Larsen, which I believed then and now can be handled with a sensible move order, but I very quickly grabbed a hot pawn and soon regretted it.  Yet I found a little wrinkle at the end of a forcing line and Tim followed me down the garden path.

2014-2015: LAURENTZ Hartmann – a tale of two bishops

Laurentz and I both played this Botvinnik system, and on the day he thoroughly outplayed me in the opening and got an equal game at least.  I kept a straight face and kept going, and gradually took over the light squares.

 

Reading matters

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A set of books to have on the go:

Opening: White .
Opening: White odds .
Opening: Black e4 .
Opening: Black d4 .
Tactics .
Strategy ,
Endgames ,
Praxis .

For example:

Opening: White EMMS: Starting Out: Scotch Game
Opening: White odds COX SO: 1.e4, COLLINS A simple chess opening repertoire
Opening: Black e4 PEDERSEN Easy Guide Scheveningen
Opening: Black d4 GALLAGHER SO: King’s Indian
Tactics HAYS Winning Chess Tactics
Strategy SILMAN Reassess your Chess
Endgames de la VILLA 100 Endgames
Praxis HARTSTON Kings of Chess, TAL Life and Games

Chessable and YouTube doubtless offer much the same content, but I have never had a dodgy connection with a book, so tend to prefer them.

Next steps:

Opening: White .
Opening: White odds .
Opening: Black e4 .
Opening: Black d4 .
Tactics: patterns .
Tactics: visualisation .
Tactics: calculation .
Strategy: patterns .
Strategy: evaluation .
Strategy: planning .
Endgames: knowledge .
Endgames: principles .
Praxis .

Do you coach beginners?

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Dear Dave, 
Hope this email finds you well. 
I’m looking for a coach to teach chess for my 7-year-old daughter. 
My friend recommended you, but I don’t know whether you are available or have available space for a beginner. 
Look forward to your reply.

Thanks for your interest.

I am available for coaching and have space, but I would not like to charge you money to teach a beginner.

Beginners mostly need practice, and some basic advice which is freely available.

If she has no opponents at home or at school, then I suggest you sign her up at ChessKid.com (a child-friendly place to play) or at lichess.org (an adult space, but you can turn off chat, so you can only say things to each other like ‘Good game’ and ‘Thank you’).  You can also get computer and ‘phone apps which play chess:
https://www.dadsuggests.com/home/best-chess-apps
The free level of ‘Play Magnus’ might amuse.  Some of the free chess apps like Stockfish are of Grandmaster strength, so watch out for that!

Beginners nearly always lose (or win) games because they miss (or spot) captures and simple tactics.
There are places where you can practise simple tactics for free, including lichess.org.
https://lichess.org/training
To learn what the simple tactics patterns are, you can refer to
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/middlegame-tactics-advice
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/course-chess-tactics
Someone made a video series out of that last collection:

And for defending:

Playing games and revising simple tactics are the most important things to start with.

She will also need to know how to finish off a game of chess:

And to start a game properly:
https://devonjuniorchess.co.uk/content/openings-advice

For more basic advice, try these resources:

https://www.chessinschools.co.uk/chess-at-home

and if modesty permits:
https://onionschess.co.uk/content/4-book-deal

If she does not like to read books, there are many videos on YouTube which are free.  I have made some myself, as you see.

I hope some of that is helpful.

For coaching, I charge £30 per hour, and for a month’s worth of lessons, I expect you can buy all the books your daughter might need for her first year or two of playing chess!

If she starts to play on lichess.org, let me know what her online name is (I am drdaveexeter), and I will be able to see her games, and I can tell you which bits of advice need more attention.