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How to get good at chess
Study the games of great chess masters
Find a player you identify with and follow their careers, such as Bobby Fisher, Morphy, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tal, Korchnoi, Shirov, and other legendary figures.
They also have fascinating life stories you can get familiar with.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
The familiarity of it
Chess is more familiar than you think.
- There is a king who doesn't do much himself because everybody "got his back."
- There's a queen who does whatever she likes.
The history of chess
- Chess emerged in fifth-century India. In ancient India, there were no bishops, castles, or queens, but elephants, chariots, and ministers of war.
- In early Islam, the game was played with elegant cylinders and conicals in ivory or stone.
- In the 12th -century Norway the kings were bearded brutes with lustrous hair, flanked by shield-biting berserkers.
- Chess standardized in the 19th century and became the Staunton version we play with today.
Chess is a great teacher
Chess either gets you hooked or makes you avoid it because it is not played enough.
The number of different possible positions on the board adds up to 10 to the power of 120. The numbers of the pieces involved are frequently quoted and always unimaginable.
But chess is a game of logical consequences and sly entrapment. It is a magnetic field of forces that are charged with energy. It is an endless pursuit that gives it an edge.
Chess Is More Than a Game
Chess first originated in its early form more than 1,500 years ago in India or China, but the modern variant has been around since the 15th century.
Chess played by the ave...
Ask the Right Questions to Narrow Focus
- When novice players play chess, they focus on what to do with the pieces. They may try and visualise a few steps ahead, but mostly just react to the board without considering the reasons behind the pieces.
- Professional chess players focus on how their opponents think. They seek to ask the right questions to understand their opponent's process.
Whether in chess or life, don't be fooled by what's on the surface. The best approach is to have a framework in place to trim the fat and focus on what matters. Ask enough pointed questions to lead you to clear answers.
Balance Calculation with Imagination
In chess, students learn famous patterns and tactics. If an opponent does one thing, you are expected to react with another.
While it is good to recognize appropriate cues and employ the tactics you have learned, sometimes it is good to look towards where you want to end up and fill the gaps in a new way rather than using the past to move in a predictable direction.