Author: Pallav Nawani
Date: 20:26:55 11/07/05
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No idea how well you play currently. Chess is a game that requires 'visual memory', something humans are naturally good at. Chess programs play it different, of course. You don't have to _try_ to memorize anything, it should happen automatically. Since you are a beginner, you should work at tactics, and ignore most everything else (except basic things such as pawn formations etc). Definitely ignore openings. If you are a weak player, you can improve just by watching two chess programs play. Find two relatively weak chess programs (Lots available at http://wbec-ridderker.nl) and set them to play each other in Arena or Winboard. choose a time comtrol that allows you to think a bit about the move just made. Now watch. Over time, you will start to notice patterns, such as how one program won a piece by attacking the opponent king, etc, or how one program broke the connection between the rooks (of the opponent) by interposing a smaller piece at a square which was protected by a (his own) pawn, etc. This will improve your tactical play. This is a slow process, and over time you will begin to see these possibilities when you are playing yourself. Slowly you will start to use these tricks as well. I was a _very_ weak player once (Now I am just weak :-) ) and I think I improved about 100 Elos just by doing that - and I wasn't even trying to improve, I was just coding my own chess program and having it play with other programs to test the strength of my chess program :) You should also buy some chess learning software, either Chess Mentor or Chessmaster, and go through the tutorials. Don't try to memorize anything, don't even bother to learn openings at this point, just learn tactics. Just go through the tutorials and then go through the tests. Just by going through them you should improve your level of play. All this helped me quite a bit, though I am still a weak player. Pallav
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