ACTIVE LEARNING is any
strategy that involves students in
doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.
Reviewing your games is the most important aspect of your
training. In my book
Chess Exam and Training Guide, I have a section devoted to this subject.
In short, when reviewing your games, you should strive to:
evaluate your opening preparation to see if you need to make
adjustments,
discover turning points and assess how you handled them
identifying and classifying your mistakes
discovering new ideas and better moves and practicing them
further against a friend or a computer.
A few days after I got my latest book
"Chess Exam
Matches: You vs. Fischer" from the printer, my good friend Nigel
Mitchell invited me to do a simul and a presentation of my book at the
North Penn Chess Club
(NPCC) in Lansdale, PA, where he is one of the officers. I eagerly accepted,
recalling fond memories from my past tournaments there in the '90s and a
simul a couple of years back. The final details were worked out with Eric
Funk, another officer of the club. Finally, on December 11, I arrived at the
club and saw many of the familiar faces, among them Don Funk, Bob Kampia and
Father Farrell, as well as some new faces.
I spoke a bit about my career as a player, a coach, and
about my books. Then Eric reminded everybody that I haven't lost at the NPCC
yet and suggested they try changing it that night. This friendly note, along
with some cocky comments from a high school kid who was eager to challenge
me, set a competitive tone to the night. I certainly welcomed this and was
looking forward toward some exciting games.
As it happens so often in the movies, the loudest "mouth"
(the kid) went down first. He certainly has skills and my main suggestion to
him was to relax a little. Then, one by one, the remaining competitors fell.
I spent a couple of minutes with each player discussing highlights of our
game. Some of these key fragments you will find below.
In a subsequent "thank you" e-mail, Eric expressed gratitude
and conveyed positive feedback from the participants. I'm looking forward to
future visits to the NPCC and will always be happy to give them a chance to
score that elusive victory!
Lesson 1: Sharp openings require good preparation
Black to move
What to do with the c6-N?
Igor - Don
This wild position is from the Alekhine defense. Don had to play
8...Nb4 with unbalanced position. Instead, he played 8...Nd4?,
which, after 9.Nxd4 Pxd4, allowed my Q to get to h5. After a
typical 10.Qh5+ Pg6 11.Bxg6+ Pxg6 (12...Kd7 13.Qf5+ Pe6
14.Qxe6#) 12.Qxh8, White won the exchange. Black had some
compensation, but erred soon and lost.
Lesson 2:
Assessing placement of the pieces
is a key component of creating a plan
White to move
What to do about Black's
assault on the Q-side?
Igor - Eric
A little while earlier, Eric had sacrificed a Pawn and
got some initiative on the K-side. I traded the Qs, and calmed things
down there, but now my Q-side is under assault. In fact, I saw no way
to save both the a2-P and the c3-P. So, I've decided to launch my own
attack based on the more flexible P-structure and a temporary
misplacement of the Black pieces. Indeed, after 19.Pc4! R8a8 20.Pf4
Rxa2 21.Rxa2 Rxa2 22.Pf5, the R on a2 had no impact and the B on
e6 had no targets and was an easy subject of my attack.
Black to move
Can he take the b3-P?
10 moves later we arrived to the following position.
Eric sacrificed one of his Ps, hoping to get one back quickly, but
then he saw that he would have been checkmated if he took the b3-P -
34...Rxb3 35.Rf6+ Kg8 36.Ne7+ Kh8 (36...Kg7 37.Ph6+ Kh8 38.Rf8#)
37.Ph6. In view of the checkmate on f8, Black must give up the B.
Nevertheless he will be checkmated in 7 moves (check for yourself if
interested).
Instead, Eric pulled the R back. Still the position
was lost - 34...Ra7 35.Pg6+ Pxg6 36.Pxg6+ Kf8 37.Rd8 Rd7 38.Pg7+
Kf7 39.Rxe8 1:0
Lesson 3: Do not be afraid to go into
complications when you have material advantage.
Just use extra caution when calculating!
White to move
How should he proceed?
Igor - Will
Earlier, I won the e-P, and now could probably cruise to the
victory, thanks to a good placement of my piece. However, when I saw
an opportunity to inflict more damage on Black's position, I didn't
hesitate: 1.Be7 - clearance (d5-R is attacking the N) with a tempo (the
f8-R is threatened as well). After 1...Re8, I executed one of
my favorite tactical methods - "desperado" 2.Bxc5! After
2...Nf6!? (2...Pxc5 3.Rxh5+-) 3.Rf5!, Black wasn't able to
recover the pawn. Hence, I gained two-P edge which made converting my
advantage easier.
Lesson 4: When defending, keep passive until
you are certain that you are ready to strike.
White to move
How should he proceed?
Igor - Nigel
Over the past 2-3 moves, Nigel's pawn on h6 seemed like a juicy
target, but I didn't feel like I had enough attacking power. Also, the
position was closed, making my attack somewhat of a gamble. However,
the most recent explosions that Nigel had started in the center gave
me a necessary jump-start.
Black just sacrificed the N on e4 (14...Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Pd5) and
expects to win the B back (e.g. 16.Bd3 Pe4). Instead, I grabbed the
h6-P - 16.Bxh6! (White has other winning moves as well - e.g.
16.Pxe5 or 16.Nxe7+ Rxe7 17.Bf5) Pf6 (16...Pxe4 17.Bxg7)
17.Bxg7 Pxe4 18.Qh6 and soon Black resigned.
Lesson 5:
If you can't stop a P, prepare to battle the Q
Best-selling and award-winning author Igor Khmelnitsky
gathers examples from Bobby Fischer's games that are educational, entertaining, and can be studied without a board.
In each of
the examples you will take a seat of Fischer's opponent and be asked
to come up with an assessment and a move. Based on your response
you are assigned points towards your rating evaluation and a game
score towards your "match."
Once finished, you will learn how well you have done in the
"match," have an estimate of your rating, and know what you need to
work on to improve your game.
In this book, you will discover:
60 diagrams with multiple-choice questions of varied complexity.
Comprehensive answers with diagrams to make reviewing easier.
Distributions of answers and other statistical reports by
rating.
Ratings are assigned Overall and by 13 distinct categories.
Bonus section: 20-exercise warm-up, tie-breaker, tips and
training suggestions.
Ordering
information:
Order
direct from
IM Khmelnitsky
and get an autographed
or even personalized copy!
More on chess training (serious and enlightening):
60 diagrams & 120 total questions of various difficulty.
Comprehensive answers includes diagrams for easy reading away from the
chessboard.
Distributions of answers, percentiles and other statistical reports by
rating group from unrated to 2400+. Match yourself against players of all
levels, up to grandmaster and see how you stock up.
Results evaluated and Rating assigned overall & by 29 distinct
categories: Motive:Misplaced Piece,
Advanced Pawn, Lack of Protection, Back
Rank Mate, Mating Net, Simplification.
Theme:In-Between Move, Decoy, Interference,
Clearance, Deflection, Discovered Attack, Double
Attack, Removal of the Guard, Pin, Skewer,
Trap.Objective:Checkmate, Force a Draw, Win Material, Pawn Promotion,
Reaching Standard Endgame. Stage:Opening
vs. Middlegame vs. Endgame Situation:Attack vs. Defense Result:Win
vs. Draw
Comprehensive reports on each of the categories with examples, training
recommendations and book/materials suggestions.
Chess Exam and Training
Guide:
Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve
IM
Igor Khmelnitsky's book, Chess Exam and Training
Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve (2004, IamCoach
Press) - winner of Book of the Year from CJA - Chess Journalists
of America (2005).
"...will quickly and accurately test your
combinational ability, positional judgment and endgame expertise...
Instructive and Entertaining!" - Alex Yermolinsky, Grandmaster,
former US Champion and Olympic team member.
