Knowing your endgames is an important step in improving your level of chess. Knowing the main theoretical endgame positions is usually the first step towards improving your endgame understanding. Then, it is time to move on to typical ideas and maneuvers that tend to repeat themselves and are important to know in some positions. Last, you can study complex endgames and see how strong players handle different types of endgames.
We often stress how important it is to pay great attention to pawn moves, as they usually leave behind unpleasant weaknesses.
These are small pluses that can be developed during the game – they give something to play against and develop a plan around. In positions where there are no important weaknesses in the opponent’s camp one common idea is to provoke them by creating threats that can only be parried with a pawn advance. Even if this may not look like a big achievement at first, slow play can be developed around them.
For most chess players a tournament is a chance to show what they’ve learned and proved those hours spent in training.
However, competitions don’t always go as planned and this usually depends on many factors, some of which will have absolutely nothing to do with chess. It could, of course, also be that your training hasn’t been consistent or focused on improving your chess weaknesses and this can all be identified after a thorough analysis of your own games. But besides adjusting your training plan, what else could you do to enhance your tournament performance? From my experience as a chess player and a trainer, there are a few things that can affect your play.
Having a deep positional understanding is one of every chess player’s goals and one of the features that make a difference between a master and an amateur. But the strategy is not only about weaknesses and pawn structures; it extends to the pieces on the board as well – a chess player must be able to asses which of his pieces are better and recognize different patterns present on the board.
Are you 1200-1700 rated Club Player who wants to smoothly transition from opening to the middlegame and if necessary the endgame… ultimately winning your game? GM Marian Petrov is covering some of the most important [yet often missed at the club level] aspects of chess and making sure you get every advantage your deserve in your games whether you’re in opening/middlegame/endgame phase!
For many years, the Catalan has been a rather exclusivist opening, being seen mostly in elite tournaments and very little at the amateur level. In the match between Garry Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi in the Candidates Semifinal in 1983, five of the eleven games were Catalans.
Chess training is different for everybody. Everybody wants to get better, but the goal of a training schedule is not the same for everybody. There is no universal recipe for success; each player has to create their own training program based on their weaknesses. Some players need to improve their positional skills, others their calculation. Some may need to work on their openings, while others should study and get better at the endgame phase.
Have you ever stopped and asked yourself in which positions you feel comfortable? I know that for a long time I did not.
It is all too easy to get carried away with your repertoire, you choose to play the King’s Indian because you have seen a few beautiful games ending in some spectacular mating attacks. Or you go for the Marshall Attack because you get to attack. The variations are so exciting and they require memorization and understanding so the whole effort goes in that direction.
In a time where the opening phase has become extremely important, every chess player must give this phase its due attention. With various good books available, the quantity of information on the internet and the powerful engines, it is no wonder that it is now very difficult to get a big advantage out of the opening, never mind winning a game out of it.
This is a true beginner’s course which will take you from just ‘knowing the rules of the game’ to a competitive player which can hold his ground against more experienced opponents.
This course is also perfect for those who have been playing for a while, but haven’t really studied chess and want to get a clear understanding of some of the basic strategy elements and tactical patterns.
