David's Chess Journey - Installment 20

Opposition

One of the things I love about my new coach is that she is really helping me understand basic endgame principles, including opposition. We go through several basic positions and makes sure that I understand the basic concepts. This week I had the following game where I had no time on the clock and was able to apply opposition (though she pointed out I could have done better:)). It is great to have a titled player teach you the concept, apply the concept in a game and then share the game for feedback. That loop is one of the most powerful things about having a coach.

Here is the game:

Humor

Taking yourself or anything too seriously makes it very hard to have fun and enjoy the underlying activity. For me, this has been a real issue with chess. I tend to take myself as a player (even as a beginner!) and the game way to seriously. I would say I am not alone as it relates to chess. One thing I love about my new coach is that there is a good deal of laughter during the lessons. If I miss something easy or say something silly, we laugh. It helps me find joy in the game and remember that this is, after all, a game that should bring joy. Real life has real stress. Chess should bring challenge, yes, but not stress.

I think laughter is a secret to finding lasting joy in chess and I don't hear that talked about a good bit. There is too much talk about grinding, doing the work, etc. That is all fine and good, but if there is not laughter and joy along the way, what the heck is the point?

Beginner Tips

I finally got the courage up to listen to the episode of Perpetual Chess (the best chess podcast by miles if you haven't checked it out, you should!) and something I said really resonated with me. I said that there are two issues with materials that are created for beginners. Both of the issues stem from the fact that the people who create content for beginners are often very strong players. Because they are so strong, they typically forget two things: (1) what beginners don't know and (2) what beginners are capable of achieving.

As to the first issue, what I mean is that often material for beginners will assume knowledge of concepts and terminology that a beginner doesn't understand or know. Authors who are fluent in chess don't really know how to talk to beginners who are anything but fluent in chess.

On the second issue, there is a lack of belief in the potential of a beginner, particularly adult beginners like myself. As I've said before, I think the limitations experienced by adult improvers will slowly be removed with improved tools, stronger computers and the ability to more with less time. While I'm sure there has always been adult improvers, it does seem after COVID and the Queen's Gambit, there are more of us now than there ever has been. I think many of us are going to do great things and defy the general consensus about how much improvement is possible.

With that said, I do think there is something uniquely helpful about a beginner like myself creating content for beginners. A person who is not fluent in chess can be a more effective teacher. Of course, any content that a beginner like myself creates will not be perfect and better resources will eventually be required for further advancement to be possible.

So, here are my beginner tips for this week:

1. Don't Play OTB Tournaments (Yet).

This one might be controversial, but as a beginner I would strongly encourage you not to do OTB tournaments that are rated - yet. The reality is, you are not ready and the first several OTB rated games have a huge influence on your rating.

Learn from my mistake. I went to my first OTB rated game when I really didn't know how to move the pieces, didn't understand any of the basic concepts, couldn't annotate my games, and had never played with a clock. The time control was 90+30 and I had no idea what was going on or what I should be thinking about.

I lost every game. I then tried another tournament and lost every game but one. I then tried going to my local chess club to play rated games and lost every game. There is a pretty simple explanation, everyone that I faced was a serious and experienced chess player. I was neither.

It is true that playing strong chess players is the best way to get better. However, you can do that online. I always set my games on Lichess such that I'm playing players at my rating or 150 points higher. That is a good sweet spot for me. I lose more games than I win, but I learn from each of the losses.

So why not do that with OTB rated tournaments? You can go to my USCF page and see why. My rating is something like 277. Yes, that's right. I'm probably the lowest rated USCF rated player out there. All because I went to tournaments without knowing how to play and dug a hole that is going to be very difficult to get out of. With a rating of near 1500 Lichess Rapid and 1672 Lichess Classical, I'm not the strongest player out there, but I'm better than 277:)

So, wait until you develop some real strength online before you hit an OTB rated game. You will thank me. If you come out of the gate with a couple of wins, your rating will be quite strong and you will be set on the right course going forward.

2. Take a Long View.

As an adult beginner, you are walking into a conversation that has been going on for a long time. It was like when I went to law school. The professors were using words and thinking in ways that were totally unfamiliar to me.

If you always set your settings to play stronger players, you are going to lose lots of games. As you study concepts that are new to you, you will always feel a bit lost. But, that is okay. The point is to learn bit by bit, to get stronger bit by bit. The right perspective is to think about the chess player you are going to be in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years.

As one of my professors said to me a long time ago, the secret to being excellent is to be average every day. Be consistent and over time the results will come.

3. Establish a Pre-Move Routine and Stick to It

Beginning chess players are blunder factories. We are always finding new ways to blunder. One of the best ways to mitigate this reality is to come up with a pre-move routine. It is like a pre-shot routine in golf. It can't be super complicated, but it should be the same every time.

For me, it is the simple routine of looking for checks, captures threats. I also use the confirm move function to blunder check. I make the move and then see if the move gives my opponent any changes. If not, then I confirm the move. A better player can do this without that feature, but it is a good one for beginners like me.

4. Work on Your Mental Game

There is a great chapter in The Amateur's Mind by Silman on the mental game. I think that is a good place to start thinking about and growing the mental aspect of chess. As an adult improver it is very important to grow in the mental game as well as the technical aspects.

5. Check Out Chess Dojo

While I'm taking a break from the Dojo, I still think it is the best program out there. Check it out!

6. Play Every Day

As I said earlier, consistency is key to improvement in any pursuit. You don't have to play a ton every day, but you should be playing a bit of chess every day. Taking a rest day is totally fine as well.

Hopefully this was helpful. The goal is to gather all the tips up after I've exhausted what I have to say, cull the less helpful ones and then expand the ones that are the most helpful as a free guide for beginners.