Find solution
How to learn about opening theory in chess?

Some questions about my chess learning?

  • Some things you need to know about me. - I own chessmaster grandmaster edition. I play the computer and learn a lot from Josh Waitzkin. I'm currently on his endgame course. In his first chapter, he just teaches how to play and stuff so I skipped that, but in the second chapter, he spoke about finding forks, pins, skewers, discoveries, and removing the defender, and using them against your opponent to your advantage. Next in chapter 3, he talked about tactics and strategy. First gave a brief discussion about openings and how to NOT memorize opening variations, and how to "generally" play the opening. Then talked about pawn structure, when to trade, knights vs bishops, good vs bad bishops, and taking advantage of weak squares. It was just strategical information. Then I took his next course, The Art of Learning. Here he talked about the heart of chess like learning from losing, loving the game, using adversity against aggressive opponents, being original with the game, having fun, and learning to deal with what you opponents give you. He also along the way, had you practice by taking past games, and asking you what you think the best move is. Now I'm on his endgame course, where he talks about strategical endgame. I learned about king and pawn endgame play, and am currently learning about endgames with both sides having a bishop of the same color. He has many other situations too. Next, will be Psychology of Competition after endgame study where it's pretty straight forward what he will talk about. He will also as usual, ask you what you think the best move is. Then he after that he shows more of his annotated games where you can watch and learn. So right now I'm studying the endgame. I do not have a rating. Never played competitively. I plan to eventually. I drew a game with Josh Age 7 rated 1365. Now for my questions: -Is Josh Waitzkin's, learning academy enough for my chess learning, or do I actually need a coach? He does teach A LOT about chess as explained above, and I know many of the basic strategies. -How to study the opening. Josh Waitzkin says not to focus much on the opening, but he meant not to memorize and not take it so seriously. This is true. But I still need to study them. I sometimes have no idea what people are saying when people say, "Phillador's Defense, Sicilian, Benko Gambit, etc." I need to learn what these are. So what do I do about that? How do I study that?

  • Answer:

    You cannot learn to play properly from a computer program or online. You need a real live breathing human to teach you over the board. You then need to join a club & play in over the board tournaments,

Anon's Converse at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I agree software and Chess books used alone have strict limits how far they can help your chess progress a trained teacher can answer all your questions and show you how to play in a structured and systematic way of course lessons are only part of it to improve you have to work and learn from playing in order to acquire experience this takes time. If you plan on playing competitively take lessons from an experienced teacher you'll learn more in one hour from a NM or IM than you will from you're silicon friend.

alec39

I have not gone through Waitzin's course, but based on your description, I would say that it is excellent, and covers the key information needed to be a good player. You will probably be able to beat most of your friends, play a respectable game against almost anyone, and perhaps win your school championship. But is it enough to play competitively in open tournaments? Probably not by itself. It sounds like a good start on fundamentals, but there is no substitute for years of practice, study, and experience. A coach helps. All the top grandmasters have a coach. There is no reason to think you would not also benefit from one. As far as openings go, I agree with Waitzkin's advice 100%. A book like Seirawan and Silman's "Winning Chess Openings" can provide your with more of the basics, both for particular openings and openings generally. A more detailed book, if you feel you must have it, would be "Fundamental Chess Openings" (FCO) by Paul Van Der Sterren. For novices FCO is probably preferable to "Modern Chess Openings" (MCO) which is the traditional encyclopedia for intermediate players, because FCO has more explanation of the reasons for the moves. A third alternative is Wikipedia which has a surprising number of chess articles, including an article on almost all openings. There is no deep analysis there, but considering the price, it can't be beat if you just want to know what a particular opening looks like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_openings

liberal_60

I have not gone on the computer software, but based on what I read from you the software is doing the right job in teaching you chess. Practice what that software teaches by playing a lot. You can try playing online FICS. By playing in FICS, you will have an idea on what things you need to address. You will also have an online rating. Once you fully learned all the things that software taught you, you can by chess books to further improve your game..

Ryan

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.