"Some people just learn the moves then spend years & years moving pieces without much success because they lack a realistic game plan for improvement" ~ Mr. Andrew ~Click for other sections: Pawns Speedchess History of chess What makes chess so great?

Welcome to my chess website. Above are some photos of Annapolis Chess Club where we play each & every TUESDAY NIGHT. There are no dues, fees or costs, we play games until we are blue in the face and the store closes at 10pm. There are chesslovers there rain or shine, sleet or snow, hail or smog, locusts or floods, at 6:00pm inside the Annapolis Barnes & Noble, corner of Old Solomen Road & route 665. It's in the Harborside Center mall, right next to Whole foods supermarket.

But exactly how do we improve our chess skills? There are specific things which you must do. Improving our chess ability can be compared to climbing a mountain and you cannot expect to sprint all the way to the top of the chess mountain. It's just not that simple. There are 'plateaus' which you will find that you need to acclimatize yourself with. That's just the way it is, you will get to a certain level and not be able to get further for a little while. The amount of wait depends mainly on how accurately your learning focuses on your specific needs.

Beginners can usually be taught to attain an 800 (Elo rating*) in less than twenty days. Chess players can then be frustratingly stuck around 900-1000 points for years or they can be taught the proper tools they need to progress to higher ranges in less than 6 months. An earnest student will derive terrific satisfaction by following this type of customised instruction. They will benefit greatly by witnessing measurable milestones. Successfully sequenced foundational study is the best way up the chess mountain.

Elo Ratings Explained
Elo* Arpad (b 1903) was chairman of the USCF ratings committee in 1959 and the originator of the Elo scale. He was a lecturer in physics and astronomy at Marquette Universary for 37 years and state champion of Wisconsin 8 times between 1935 and 1961. His rating system indicates the relative strength of a chessplayer based primarily on past results in tournament play and is soundly based in statistical theory.

For example Bobby Fischer was rated 2780 in the year 1972. Kasparov's all-time highest rating was 2851. Kaspy was #1 in the world ratings almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005. Experts are 2000-2200. Masters are rated 2200-2400. Grandmasters & International Grandmasters are rated above 2400 and players at these levels receive titles and recognition by how well they fare under match conditions against other Grandmasters.

In order to achieve and maintain an official Grandmaster rating, you have to play in sanctioned events and demonstrate how well you play against other Grandmasters. These results are tallied up as percentages and you then have to score a certain percentage (the exact percentage depends on the average rating of the opponents you play). If you make that percentage, you are said to "make a norm"-

You will hear of national 'norms' or turning in 'norms' or scoring one 'GM norm'. Thats the general jist of how chess ratings work. Annapolis chessclub has players from beginners to expert, which means players are rated 500-2000.

WHAT DO THESE RATINGS MEAN DURING A GAME?
A very simplified explanation of Elo ratings is that a player will have a 50/50 chance of winning against another player of the same rating. A more detailed understanding of these ratings reveals that in reality, two similar ratings will result in each player recieving 50% of the points available in match play. This scale of odds adjusts to the differences in skill ratings. For example a player will have a 24/76 chance (of winning the 5 total point available in match play) against any player rated 200 points higher than them. Nothing can definitely predict the outcome of any one game - no statistical technique can do that. These ratings are used worldwide in tournament pairings and also serve as exceptional benchmarks for focusing on the steps of chess tutoring.

Often students of the game are misled by well intentioned chess coaches that by memorising openings, learning some middle game theory or studying endgames they will automatically get better. But I ask, where is the proof? Just listening to these students it is clear many may even believe they are ascending the chess mountain, simply due to the effort, but where are they? Have they been actually been at 700 for five months and not really improved? Are they stuck at 1000 for over a year, yet chalking up wins against weaker players? Listening to hours of theory or just playing games mindlessly is not enough to assess their personal progress up the chess mountain. The correct method is the most accurate one, Elo ratings.

WAYS TO EARN ELO ALTITUDE!
Students will always reach a certain point in their personal ascents and then just ~not pass thru~ , at least not right away, it takes time. Mountain climbers do not expect to tackle Everest on their first hike, it takes them many years of training to get to the top. Have fun by climbing the little hills first. Chess is a mighty mountain complete with base camps, tough stretches, pitfalls and triumps. We build and accumulate the skills we learn on the small chess hills, because we will need to have them in our 'mental backpacks' as we continue our journies. There are important base-camps in high altitude climbing. When I hiked to the top of Machhu Pichuu in the Andes, base camp was in Cusco. We had to stay at base camp for 3 days to prepare for the climb.

Ok, here's the answer------------> To get better, you must do just 4 things: PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! and........PRACTICE ! Only kidding.......(well not really).


THEE FOUR MAJOR ASPECTS of CHESSPLAY IMPROVEMENT ARE:
1)Play, 2)Study, 3)Involvement, 4)Practice Plan



(1) PLAY CHESS
Win lose or draw, play lots and lots of chess. This is just fine with me because playing is a terrifically fun mind exercise which makes you smarter!! Playing means winning & losing games. Just remember that you are never really losing when you are learning or having such healthy fun. Learn something from each win or loss, just never be a poor sport. Losing can be a MOST IMPORTANT & MOST PRECIOUS lesson, when understood. It's just part of the learning process. But if you lose 10 times and then learn absolutely nothing, you really are a loser! But when you learn & remember & improve by digesting a lesson, you have not lost at all, you have just gotten stronger.

(2) STUDY CHESS
PART 2a Along with playing chess, you need to study a bit if you want to get better. First you need to make sure you know all of the rules, for sure.. Especially all the special moves like castling & en passant. Then you should learn the basic principle strategy of the game such as controlling the center, 7 wise moves, connecting your pieces, attacking and defending pieces, piece values and next tactics-tactics-tactics-tactics, tactics, TACTICS.

PART 2b After strategy, you should learn more about tactics, then change your middle name to tactics & eat tactics for lunch breakfast & dinner.... Don't start studying the major openings at all until you understand the elementary tactics. LIKE: Skewers, pins, forks, double attacks, crossroads, x-rays, removing defenders, trapping, decoying, gambits! SOME purists say that decoys & gambits are not really tactics, but I DO......

PART 2c Anyway, before you hit 1400 points, it is simply too soon to spend time on the major openings, that comes later. Don't waste your time, first learn basic strategy to play sound and solid chess. Do not try to get quickie wins with cheap-o opening traps. OK? SURE?!?! you may win a few games, but really, this is just for beginners fun. You will never get 'good' this way & good players will just punish you for trying to toy with them.

PART 3
GET INVOLVED IN CHESS
Ok, now, you've followed the first two steps & everything is great, right? Or is it? Because if all you do is play chess on the computer & read books by yourself then you are soon bound to lose interest at some point. So get involved, find chess players, challenge your friends, go find a chess club, get a rating & improve it. Definitely play in over-the-board tournaments. Get involved somehow and you will see that chess is more than a just a game - it is a nice community of persons without any discriminations. A great way to create quality time with friends and make new friends.

***FINALLY, do remember this:***Just like learning Ju-Jitsu, hopping onto a skateboard, shooting hoops or blowing into a harmonica for the first time, chess is not different. NOBODY gets good quickly, even the shortcuts will take a little time. So if you want to get 'good', accept this & just stick with it & very very soon you will start chalking up some extremely pleasing results. Guaranteed!


PART 4 the most OBVIOUS yet MOST OVERLOOKED and most essential part.
Ok, now about the whole ~PRACTICE~ thing.

Of course PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE is very obvious. This is where a sensible game plan IS ESSENTIAL to create the BEST WAY to practice. The goal of which is to get MAXIMUM benefit from practice. You can spend years just pushing the pieces & never really 'get good'. You can read & read & read and read and read and read and read read read read READ READ chess books, until your eyes glaze over but still not notice any important advances in your 'over the board' play. There are very obvious reasons for this. Foremost, if what you read about is not needed IN YOUR OWN GAMES then you are wasting your time!!! more on this later.......

...Back to practice

You can find the best practice by playing against better players and asking them questions about your game in progress. Great players enjoy sharing with new players! Even still, they do not even have to be that great, do never forget you can still practice with just about anyone. HERE IS A GOLDEN KEY: It is really valuable & important to talk about the game right after, to discuss the battle when still fresh in the minds of both players AND persons watching. You can learn more by losing than when you win a game! Surely a loss gives you the lesson which you needed most...........

Read that again & digest it and really really get it....'A loss gives you the lesson which you needed most' ~ Can you dig it ~ !

The best way to get better at chess is to play a lot against many different players. This way you are exposed to loads of different styles. Just play & play and trap & read notes about your games. TRAPPING lessons by writing them down for frequent review. Start a misteaks file. Begin a logbook of your loss lessons, RIGHT NOW. I don't mean of every move, but of the lessons you learn, you can lose a game but don't lose the lesson it taught you. After you get stung enough times by a bee, you learn to be careful!

Some of my old 'bee-stings' are found by clicking the "My notes" button at the bottom menu. Some of which have happened many times!

They are the CHESS PRINCIPLES which I have gathered from my very own games. You should do what I do, WHICH IS: Write & READ your OWN notes! Not only read, but also thoroughly re-read, digest & practice to really understand & implement. Start putting a * little star next to the repeat violators. This way it is clear what the most recurring slip-ups are..


YOU WILL SEE an increase in your Elo chess ratings very soon.
Don't ever get discouraged, just keep playing and taking notes . . . . . . . . . . . . MAKE A MOVE!

The Chess site That is ALL OVER THE PLACE!!
www.LUBIENSKI.com
Andrew Lubienski, 9 Sliverwood Circle #3, Annapolis MD 21403
EMAIL: Lubienski@hotmail.com ~ Cellphone:(305)942-3290 ~ Landline:(443)822-9234