Karel van Delft and Merijn van Delft
Developing Chess Talent
KVDC © 2010 Karel van Delft, Merijn van Delft
First Dutch edition 2008 First English edition 2010
ISBN 978-90-79760-02-2
'Developing Chess Talent' is a translation of the Dutch book 'Schaaktalent ontwikkelen', a publication by KVDC
KVDC is situated in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, and can be reached via www.kvdc.nl
Cover photo: Training session Youth Meets Masters by grandmaster Artur Yusupov. Photo Fred Lucas: www.fredlucas.eu
Translation: Peter Boel
Layout: Henk Vinkes
Printing: Wbhrmann Print Service, Zutphen CONTENTS
Foreword by Artur Yusupov
Introduction
A - COACHING
Al Top-class sport Al.1 Educational value 17 Al.2 Time investment 17 Al.3 Performance ability 18 A1.4 Talent 18 Al. 5 Motivation 18
A2 Social environment A2.1 Psychology 19 A2.2 Personal development 20 A2.3 Coach 20 A2.4 Role of parents 21
A3 Techniques A3.1 Goal setting 24 A3.2 Training programme 25 A3.3 Chess diary 27 A3.4 Analysis questionnaire 27 A3.5 A cunning plan! 28 A3.6 Experiments 29 A3.7 Insights through games 30 A3.8 Rules of thumb and mnemonics 31
A4 Skills A4.1 Self-management 31 A4.2 Mental training 33 A4.3 Physical factors 34 A4.4 Chess thinking 35 A4.5 Creativity 36 A4.6 Concentration 39 A4.7 Flow 40 A4.8 Tension 40 A4.9 Time management 41 A4.10 Objectivity 44 A4.11 Psychological tricks 44 A4.12 Development process 45 A4.13 Avoiding blunders 46 A4.14 Non-verbal behaviour 46
3 AS Miscellaneous A5.1 Chess as a subject in primary school 47 A5.2 Youth with adults 48 A5.3 Women's chess 48 A5.4 Biographies and interviews 49
B - TRAINING
B1 Organizing trainings Bl.l Structure and culture 51 Blo2 Computers and the Internet 51 Blo3 Individual trainer 52 Bl.4 Mentor 52 Bl.5 Guest trainers 52 Blo6 Self-fulfilling prophecy and selection 53 Bl.7 Youth player as a trainer 54 Blo8 Training partners 54 Blo9 Team training 55
B2 Didactics B2.1 Introduction 55 B2.2 Training group 56 B2.3 Trainer 56 B2.4 Training plan 57 B2.5 Motivation to learn 57 B2.6 Contents 58 B2.7 Methods 58 B2.8 Study environment 60 B2.9 Duration and frequency 60 B2.10 Keeping order 60 B2.11 Supporting activities and tools 60
B3 Training components B3.1 Tactics 61 B3.2 Strategy 62 B3.3 Opening 64 B3.4 Middlegame 66 B3.5 Endgame 66 B3.6 Annotated games 67 B3.7 Variation calculation 68 B3.8 Endgame studies 70
B4 Practical play B4.1 Visiting tournaments 71 B4.2 Time-controls 72 B4.3 Supervision during tournaments 72 B4.4 Preparation 73 B4.5 Playing games 75
4 B4.6 Analysis 75 B4.7 Analysis examples 79
85 Training tools B5.1 Computer programs 89 B5.2 Building up databases with own games and positions 89 B5.3 Dangers of computer usage 92 B5.4 Chess magazines 92 B5.5 Chess books 92 B5.6 Browsing 93 B5.7 Chess movies 93 B5.8 Chess CD-ROMs and DVD's 93 B5.9 Internet sites 94 B5.10 Chess on the Internet 94
86 Training procedures B6.1 Pawn structure 94 B6.2 Seven-column notation 95 B6.3 Correspondence chess 95 B6.4 Visualization of move sequences 96 B6.5 Theme tournament 97 B6.6 Game quiz 97 B6.7 Training decathlon 97 B6.8 Chess puzzles 100 B6.9 Psychological tips 100 B6.10 Simultaneous display 100 B6.11 Tactical exercises contest 102 B6.12 Talent day 102 B6.13 Chess variants 105 B6.14 Fairy tale books 105 B6.15 Winner stays on 105
87 Miscellaneous B7.1 Monday-evening training 106 B7.2 SBSA 109 B7.3 Two- or three-dimensional training 111 B7.4 Training with Dvoretsky 111 B7.5 Chess and autism 114
C - ORGANIZATION & COMMUNICATION
Cl Organization C1.1 Top-class sport and recreational sport 121 C1.2 Chess club or foundation 122 C1.3 Policy plan 124 C1.4 Costs 124 C1.5 Volunteers 124 C1.6 Calendar 125 C1. 7 Evaluation, second opinion 125 5 C2 Communication C2.1 The importance of communication 126 C2.2 Inquiry 127 C2.3 Contacts with the media 128 C2.4 Press release 128 C2.5 Email newsletters 128 C2.6 Internet site 129 C2.7 Flyer, poster 130 C2.8 Making a CD-ROM or a DVD 130 C2.9 Club bulletin 130 C2.10 Sponsors 131 C2.11 Live commentary 131 C2.12 Chess newspaper 132 C2.13 Chess stand on a market or a festival 135
C3 Tournaments and events C3.1 Weekend tournament 136 C3.2 Blitz tournament and rapid tournament 136 C3.3 Tournament scenario 140 C3.4 Chess festival 140 C3.5 Chess party 141
C4 Youth chess C4.1 School chess club 141 C4.2 School competition 142 C4.3 Youth chess tournaments 142 C4.4 Chess camp 142
CS Miscellaneous C5.1 Creative Tournament 143 C5.2 The Chess Experience 144 C5.3 Three-day chess event in Apeldoorn 145 C5.4 Youth Meets Masters 149 C5.5 Match of Champions with live commentary 152 C5.6 Lightning Chess Foundation 152
D - INTERVIEWS D1 David Bronstein 155 D2 Loek van Wely 159 D3 Artur Yusupov 164 D4 Jan Timman 167 D5 Rob Hartoch 171
E - APPENDICES E1 Analysis questionnaire 175 E2 Score form Youth Meets Masters 180 E3 Points of attention for a consultation about (self-)training 182
6 E4 List of psychological tips 183 E5 Keywords tournament planning 188 E6 Scenario weekend tournament 189 E7 Subjects for a parents meeting 205 E8 Study guide SBSA youth training 206 E9 The SBSA Youth Academy project in Apeldoorn 211 E10 Training with diagrams or board positions 219 Ell Tasks of a team captain 224 E12 Inquiry youth section De Schaakmaat 225
F - GLOSSARY 233
7
Foreword by Artur Yusu pov
The first time I heard about Karel van Delft and his chess activities in Apeldoorn was from my chess mentor Mark Dvoretsky. He recommended me to visit the place. In 1999 I received a phone call from Karel, who invited me to give some chess lessons in Apeldoorn. It would be the first time, but not the last, that I stayed in Karel's house. Of course his son Merijn, now an international master, also attended the workshops. I slept in the so called Bronstein suite, a small bedroom in which David Ionovich Bronstein once spent a few nights.
The chess atmosphere in the house was very impressive. Somehow I had the feeling that there was a chess player in each corner of the house, because many young chess players who attented trainings also stayed in Karel's home. I was very impressed by the chess concept in Apeldoorn: the young players were not only learning some chess ideas from a grandmaster, they were also asked by Karel to give chess lessons to local kids themselves!
I liked the atmosphere so much that I tried to visit Apeldoorn every year. The next opportunity was the so-called 'Chess Experience' week, in which youth teams from Germany and Israel and two teams from the Netherlands played each other and took lessons together from Mark Dvoretsky, Yochanan Afek and me. Later I even started to play for the local team, Schaakstad Apeldoorn.
Recently, after almost ten years of our friendship, we were looking at old pictures in a photo album. I was very pleased to see that many of our students from the first training sessions had become strong players. Some are even strong grandmasters now. Just to mention some names: Jan Gustafsson, Daniel Stellwagen and Sipke Ernst.
In this book you will find a lot of ideas about the development of chess talent and about the creation and stimulation of a local chess culture. Karel and Merijn explain their views and share their experiences in the area of training young talents, coaching pupils, organizing chess events, and communicating and transmitting information to the chess audience.
The reader will findmany useful topics and answers to many practical questions: what is the role of the parents, how to stimulate creativity, how to develop self management, how to analyse your own games, and even: how to organize a weekend tournament ...
Karel has worked with young kids for many years. In this book he gives a lot of tips for coaches. I like the part of the book where Karel interviews several grandmasters and trainers about ways to develop chess talent. Karel and Merijn look not only at technical aspects of the training, they also study the psychological aspects of coaching.
The quite unique thing in the Apeldoorn chess culture is that everbody gets involved in the chess activities: from beginner to grandmaster! This is reflected in the weekly SBSA email messages, which are sent to more than 600 recipients.
9 There are several good traditional events in Apeldoorn, such as Youth Meets Masters, which contribute to the special popularity of chess here. Karel is the motor behind the Apeldoorn chess culture and his practical advice can be very useful for chess organizers.
Being a chess parent himself, Karel knows about all the problems that parents can have in trying to help their talented kids along the difficult road of self improvement. This book is strongly recommended for chess trainers, chess parents and chess organizers. And of course for the chess talents themselves!
Grandmaster and FIDE Senior Trainer Artur Yusupov
10 Introduction
How do you develop chess talent, and how do you go about developing a chess culture locally? In this book we discuss subjects in the areas of coaching, training, organization and communication. It is the story of a voyage of discovery, a journey riddled with successes, failures, and, time and again, fascinating encounters with a multitude of chess players. This journey began in 1990, when 11-year-old Merijn van Delft was allowed to join a school team at the school chess championships of Apeldoorn. At the age of 6, he had learned the rules of the game from his father Karel. This took place on Saturdays in a cafe, after a morning of shopping on the market. At the school championship, the battle with Marijn Visschedijk, who was three years younger, was blood-curdling. Merijn managed to draw a rook ending with a pawn less. At that time we could not suspect that both players would become national youth champions later on. This was an experience worth repeating. Merijn wanted to learn to play better, and Karel broadened his knowledge of sport psychology and the organization of training sessions. Merijn became a member of the club De Schaakmaat ('The Chess Mate') in Apeldoorn, but the club's youth competition, which was held on Saturday mornings, could not be combined with his soccer activities. At home, Merijn exercised tactics from books of the Step-by-Step Method by Dutch 1M Cor van Wijgerden and Rob Brunia. Karel formed a training group, which consisted of Merijn and a couple of friends. One of the first subjects of study was the book 'Judgement and Planning in Chess' by Dr Max Euwe. With multiple Dutch junior champion Marc Jonker, Merijn analysed his own games in one-hour sessions once a week. They kept this up for several years. Merijn also visited many tournaments. Since there were more young players in Apeldoorn who wanted to be trained, Marc Jonker, Renate Limbach (who, sadly, would later on pass away at a very young age) and Karel van Delft set up a youth training system which would last for about 5 years. Contacts were established with (grand)masters and other strong players, who gave training sessions in Apeldoorn and often stayed the night. Guests came from Belorussia, China, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Israel, Uzbekistan, England, Germany, Georgia, Poland, and a few other countries. Those contacts were easily made. During a world championship in Groningen, a brief conversation with Mark Dvoretsky led to an exchange of emails, and during the annual Liberation tournament in the nearby town of Wageningen, Baruch Kolthoff had struck up a conversation with David Bronstein. Many top-class chess players turned out to be normal human beings who had a telephone number and an email address. With, among others, David Bronstein, Loek van Wely, Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov, the development of chess talent was discussed. A number of talks were done in the shape of interviews. Karel had the idea that those interviews might contribute to the development of a multi-faceted chess culture, and that young players would be stimulated by contacts with top-class players. There were many talks with many chess players. For example with Yochanan Afek, who gave many trainings and gladly shared his rich experience with Apeldoorn trainers and organizers. It didn't take long before Merijn achieved his first
11 results. At 16, he became Dutch champion in his age category, and in 2003 he became an International master. In 1998, Cees Visser, Merijn van Delft and Karel van Delft started the SBSA, which is short for 'Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn' ('Foundation for the Promotion of Chess in Apeldoorn'). This gave rise to numerous initiatives. A number of those activities will be mentioned in this book. The foundation cooperates closely with chess clubs and school chess clubs in Apeldoorn. SBSA supported the initiatives by the local clubs SVA and ASG to merge into Schaakstad Apeldoorn (i.e. 'Chess City Apeldoorn'). This concentration of forces, together with the attraction of sponsors, resulted in the recruitment of a team that now competes on the highest level in the Dutch national club competition. Karel was the team captain for six years, then Merijn took over for four years. The bottom line is that approximately half of the players must originate from Apeldoorn, and that players 'from outside' should also participate in local tournaments and give youth trainings. Today, a handful of youth players from Apeldoorn have made it to the first or second team of Schaakstad Apeldoorn, and various national youth titles have been won.
In this book, with 'the development of chess talent' we mean: reaching the height of your powers. Performance ability is a resultant of talent, training circumstances, motivation, physical condition and mental skills. This book is aimed at trainers, coaches, organizers, youth players and their parents, and others who may be interested. Many of our readers may be standing at the beginning of a journey that is similar to the one we started all those years ago. Our coaching philosophy presupposes a considerable sense of responsibility with young players for their own development and results. We believe that good training contributes to a successful personal development. At the board, chess is an individual sport. But in a broader sense, chess is teamwork, and it offers the possibility to meet many people and acquire new insights. Chess players differ in talent, age, gender, character, motivation, style of learning, available possibilities, experiences, etcetera. The chess player does not exist. Certain pOints of advice in this book may be more relevant in certain phases of development or for certain individuals, and less for others. If we give novice chess players the advice to apply certain verbal rules of thumb, we realize at the same time that a grandmaster's thinking is less verbal, and more space-oriented. However, sometimes you have to be taught something explicitly in words in order to make progress, whereas at a later stage you will learn less verbal and more differentiated. This book does not hand the reader recipes, but it does provide ingredients for talent development and the creation of a chess culture. You can apply the contents to your own situation, and use what is useful for you. Many aspects of chess development intertwine. To dissect them is, in our opinion, the best way to make these aspects easier to grasp. This approach will now and then lead to repetition, but this will make for easier reading. You cannot be conscious of an abundance of advice all the time, and you don't have to. You can incorporate your insights into your daily routines, and then you will start using them automatically after a while. The information in this book serves as a springboard and a signpost for young players who want to develop further. With the help of their trainer, their coach or their parents they can solve their own
12 puzzle with this information. In this book we will often use the terms 'trainer' and 'coach' alternately. These duties overlap, and they are often performed by one and the same person. We will always choose the term which best suits the subject under discussion. We have been able to consult a great number of youth players, parents, trainers, coaches and strong players. We are very grateful to them for their cooperation. We thank Willy Hendriks for his permission to include his article on the SBSA Youth Academy here, and also Dharma Tjiam for his contribution to the Apeldoorn Analysis Questionnaire. We thank Yochanan Afek and Harold van der Heijden for their permission to publish their endgame studies, Arne Moll and Roeland Pruijssers for their game analyses, Peter Boel for the translation, Henk Vinkes for doing the layout, and Sipke Ernst for his contribution as editor. We also thank Fred Lucas, Cocky van Delft, Cobie Joustra and Ferdi Kuipers for their pictures and Trix Meurs for her drawing. Pictures without credits are mostly by Karel van Delft. Above all we thank Artur Yusupov, with whom we have had many inspiring conversations about the contents of this book.
We invite you to visit our site www.chesstalent.com. Reactions are welcome via email to [email protected].
Karel van Delft Merijn van Delft
13 I Jeugdschaak rubriek i� , Apeldoorns Stadsblad
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KHI. 23.U h50('(i, tnnar zwart gaal ook voor Zoutdt' I nt'n M("! tlllJO school Df� K'H'( man AI� J"I4I)('<1", p;Jrtij,�nheht 19 1,x(f)j.!;).fli.21J Dg4+Kfll,'t1 24. Oh6 Kg8. 25. Lxh7. Kh8. 26. W1OSt. 6. Lt'4! 1..<:5? B('\.er was · S I)(!el lk2 6 m t (1<:In mag J(' du.' mstllre.n f'n d,.n Oq? mal ,io1f'\'CIl M 14 Merijn van Delft as a member of a school's chess team. 15 A - COACHING A1 Top-class sport A1.l Educational value To p-class sport can offer many good things: experiences, friendships, prizes, social recognition and surprising, sometimes even paradoxica l insights. To develop a specialism at a young age has many advantages. Chess contributes positively to the education of people. Cognitive skills like research, calculation and reasoning are important in other areas of life as well. Also, social skills are developed, such as resilience, persevera nce, self-respect and respect for the opponent, the ability to formulate thoughts and exchange thoughts with others. Training in groups and visiti ng tounaments together is fun, and it stimulates the development of cogn itive and social skills. A1.2 Time investment We ll-motivated young players can play chess for ten to more than twenty hours a week without any problem. Especially if this is instead of the twenty hours that ma ny youths spend in front of the television or a game computer. This is true for teenagers, and sometimes also for children from eight years old or so. Four year-olds can already learn the moves and then play a game where both sides have one piece, when the trick is to capture the opponent's pawns. If children ta ke pleasure in this game, they will later automatically play chess more often. Children and teenagers are capable of much more than is often expected from them, and most of the time they are perfectly capable of indicating themselves how much time they can - and want to - spend on trainings and self-study. Chess study is inspiring if trainings are varied, if they yield new insights and skills, if there is room for creative thinking and fun, and if researching skills are developed. This applies to trainings in group sessions, but also to individual study. One condition is that the study material and the exercises are in line with the interests and the development level of the participants. For any form of top class sport, twenty hours per week is a normal time investment. Some people see this as monomaniacal. But this is not necessarily the case, as long as there is a well-thought-out scheme for trainings and competitions. If you want to reach to the top, you're going to have to invest time. If we calculate properly, we see that most grandmasters, like other top-class sporters, have invested at least 10,000 hours in their careers : ten years times fifty weeks times twenty hours. 17 A1.3 Performance ability Performance ability is a resultant of talent, training circumstances, motivation, physical condition and mental skills. Coincidence also plays a role. The world is full of talent, but it makes a lot of difference if a young player grows up in an environment where there is much scope for development. With only performance ability you won't get there. Ta lent development also means hard work - putting in hours. The good news is that this can be fun if you go about it in a well-thought-out way. Al.4 Talent Ta lent means having the capacity to develop certain necessary skills - having developing potential. With only talent you cannot achieve anything. A plant that does not get any water, will wither. You have to develop these skills. This takes quite some effort . You have to train, gain experience in competitions, and you have to internalize these experiences. In chess, important cognitive skills are calculation, pattern recognition, creative thinking and systematic reasoning. A good memory is also important. Besides these, a realistic self-image and good self-management play a large role too. They form the basis for self-confidence, the ability to assess situations objectively, concentration, the courage to take initiatives, decisiveness and resilience. You can develop talent if circumstances allow this. You need, fo r example, a chessboard and a good trainer. For development, intrinsic motivation is also of infl uence, which means that you do something because you yourself want to do it. Intrinsically motivated chess players can be recognized by the twinkling in their eyes if they see a beautiful chess position. In order to develop talent, you must start at a young age. There are so-called 'sensitive periods' which are best suited for developing certain qualities. From the age of about four, children can start playing chess. That is certainly not too early. At that age they have already completed as complicated a task as learning a language. Just like a language, chess consists of a complex body of information, with its own characteristics and rules. Chess is comparable to a language. Opinions diffe r as regards the extent to which talent is innate (nature) or acquired (nurture). However, it is clear that the brain potential of people is almost always developed far from optimally, and that anyone who wants to can develop his own talent further. The amount of talent is a given - making optimum use of it is a challenge. A1.S Motivation Being motivated means that you want to achieve something. We differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation means that you like to occupy yourself with an activity because of that activity itself; with extrinsic motivation we mean that you do something for an external reward . One important task of a trainer is to create a fascination for the game by demonstrating the beauty of it, and by allowing his pupil to experience his own developing opportunities. Trainings and competitions should be fu n and they should be a challenge. If a young player is not enjoying trainings and 18 competitions, something is wrong. Yo ung players need to be taught self-discipline; they should understand that it is important that they study regularly, exercise their skills and acquire knowledge. For example, you must exercise tactics on a daily basis, just like you brush your teeth daily. 'I don't feel like it' is not a good reason. You can explain to children that they themselves will not accept it if their parents 'don't feel like' driving them to tournaments by car. A deal is a deal - either you want to play chess on a certain level or you don't, and if you do want it, you will have to make some sacrifices fo r it. Of course, these things are negotiable - for example, the time of day when tactical exercises are made. What is convenient? Immediately after school or early in the morning? If a child can make choices fo r itself and is partly responsible for its own training schedule, it will be much better motivated to follow this up than if someone else decides this fo r the child. Which is just as well, since a good chess player is a self-willed (young) individual. The way in which chess trainings are given and the course of tournaments can either increase or destroy motivation. Good circumstances for trainings are a stimulating social and physical environment, clear feedback on achievements, interesting study material, attainable (intermediate) goa ls, variety, interactive procedures and responsibility. In competitions a sufficient amount of success experiences is necessary. A stimulating social environment consists of emphatic parents, friends to train with, a club with a good atmosphere and an enthusiastic trainer. A stimulating physical environment consists of, among others, a quiet playing venue and a training room where it is easy to concentrate. It is a good thing for coaches, trainers and parents to realize what the motives of a youth player are to practise a sport at a certain level. Adults may ma ke out for their children that playing chess, or, for instance, badminton, is good for them, but it is better to ask them what they themselves think. Children can have a number of motives for playing chess: curiosity to discover a new game, enjoyment of the game, striving for a certain competence level (the will to win) and social contacts. Several of these motives can play a role simultaneously. Intrinsic motivation is a much better motor for development than extrinsic motivation. Interesting positions can continue to fascinate, but at a certain point winning a medal isn't worth the investment of severa l hours' study any more. When you give rewards, it is usefu l to ask yourself if you are feeding intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. Young children love trophies and medals, but promising them an ice cream or a chocolate bar if they win is also fi ne. Older youth players prefer to play for money prizes. No problem. However, if the beauty of the game itself is not the chief motivator, their motivation will fade away in the long run. A2 Social environment A2.1 Psychology Psychology is the science that studies the way people think, feel and behave. By studying thinking, feeling and behaviour you will get better at describing, explaining, predicting and influencing these phenomena. Insights derived from psychology can be applied in chess via: 19 more efficientand effective training more efficient and effective behaviour during games the development of a stimulating chess cultu re. Tra iners and coaches can pass on psychological insights to young chess players. This works best if it is connected to their own experience, if it is presented transparently and concretely, if it is applicable and taught in doses. Yo ung players often fi nd psychological insights interesting. If these are discussed in group trainings, they will quickly regard it as normal, and then young players will not be ashamed of their psychological shortcomings. Just like you can talk about shortcomings in your opening re pertoire, you can also discuss fa ilure in self-management together (see also the paragraph on self-management). Here is a nice game: mention a proverb and explain what it has to do with chess. For example: Don't sell the skin till you've caught the bear. We can translate this into chess terms as: keep concentrating, even if your position is objectively winning. A trainer can write down new insights in training reports. This will eventually provide the trainees with a checklist with which they can assess their performance. A2.2 Personal development It is good for young players to develop introspection and to have responsibilities. This contri butes to their personal development and their ability to perform on the chessboard. It is important fo r ambitious young players to bear as much as possible responsibility for their own development. This involves dialogues with trainers and training partners, but also activities like training beginners themselves, or writing articles for the club bulletin or for a website. By giving lessons yourself, or publishing a game analysis, you force yourself to think carefully about your insights and to put them into words. This will increase your understanding and, consequently, your performance ability. Moreover, teaching chess at a lower level is a useful way to repeat all kinds of themes. Te aching is important for the development of your social and communicative skills, and it contributes to a realistic and positive self-image. This will improve your self-management during games and is also importa nt for being successful in everyday life . The Hungarian psychologist/pedagogue and chess trainer Laszlo Polgar, the father of three successful daughters, also stresses that it is important for an ambitious young player to be partly responsible for his own development. In this context he uses the term 'co-author of your own upbringing'. A2.3 Coach Coaching is supervision. There are various coaching styles. A coach or a trainer can assign tasks to a pupil, but it is much more productive if a coach cooperates with a young sportsman on the same level. This is already possible at a quite young age. The sportsman is responsible for his own actions, and the coach has an advisory role. This contributes to an optimum self-awareness and a positive self-image. The sporter is the director of his own performance. This stimulates his intrinsic motivation. Via dialogues, the coach can stimulate the 20 sporter to develop himself, using his own knowledge, insights and experience . This involves both technical skills and personal skills like introspection, self control, creativity, communicative abilities and a sense of responsibility. A good coach is empathic, i.e. he is able to empathize with the sportsman and fee ls involved. The coach and the sportsman can, by mutual agreement, draw up a training programme together. Experience shows that strong players who have not had a didactic education but are empathic can still be good trainers and coaches. This is certainly the case with individual training and supervision. If trainers and coaches communicate their own insights and experiences in a clear manner, if they are interested in their pupils and confront them with critical questions (which lead to self-reflection), then they can pass on a great deal of knowledge and insights about the game and about self-management during game analysis. Tra iners and coaches have their own interests. For instance, a trainer enjoys sharing his fascination for the sport with others, passing on knowledge, understanding and experience, and researching positions with well-motivated yo ung players. Tra iners and coaches may also be interested in gaining access to the world of top-class sports via their pupils. However, a coach or trainer's co mpetitive spirit should never stand in the way of the playing pleasure and the development of youth players. Herman Grooten, an experienced chess trainer and former top-class sport coordinator for the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB, observes that in The Netherlands he is seeing an increasing number of youth trainers who link the successes of their pupils with their own ego. 'It is a well-known pitfall to link the results of your own pupil to the self-esteem of trainer and pupil', he claims. 'I always warn against this phenomenon during my trainers' courses, but my advice seems to fall on deaf ears. A little more self reflection would be in order here.' It is important for a trainer to allow his pupils some room to develop their own style. He can help them discover the weaknesses in their play and offer them training material that focuses on those weaknesses, he can give hints about their play, but it is altogether wrong to straitjacket them intellectually. Moreover, in the long run this will have a contra productive effect, since aspiring youth players should take the direction of their development into their own hands. Obviously, youth players have their weak moments. For example, they may not feel like making their homework sometimes. A trainer should speak to them about this: promises must be kept. On the other hand, it is useful to establish a 'small change' rule: for instance, you can agree that a sportsman is allowed to miss ten percent of the trainings or the homework. Yo u cannot burn the candle at both ends, and there will always be practical problems at certain moments. Such arrangements contribute to the ability of youth players to bear their own responsi bi I ities. A2.4 Role of parents The world is full of young talents. Only few of them reach the top; in puberty, the effort and motivation of at least five out of six selected talents decreases. Th is is how it works in many sports. Of infl uence are the quality of training circu mstances, the role of parents and social infl uences (for instance, friends 21 who may or may not practise the same sport). Also, a lack of good results can play a role. Some examples of good training facilities are: good trainers, sufficienttime for training, training partners of the same age and/or level, and the availability of good study material. Without parents or other adults to support the children, youth players will not be able to reach the top. Parents determine to a large extent whether possibilities will be within the reach of their children. Their role is to pay for trainings and tournaments, to bring the children there, to remind them of arrangements, to stimulate the children to study independently, to react enthusiastically to successes, and to listen to their accounts of their experiences. To p-class sport demands at least ten to fifteen hours of training and playing per week for under-ten-year-olds, and even more time for teenagers. In a plan for talent development, the Dutch Olympic umbrella organization NOC*NSF outlines three hours a day fo r physical sports. Experience teaches us that ambitious young chess players can also easily work two to three hours on a daily basis. It is true that now and then an 8-year-old becomes a national champion in his category on the sole basis of talent and a few trainings. But such successes will be short-lived if he does not work systematically with a good trainer from then on. Besides trainings, there are competitions and practical matters that need to be taken care of. Many parents (who themselves often spend hours before the television every day) are worried about the time investment. Often they do not realize how much surplus value top-class sport can have for the personal development of their children, provided it is practised in the right way. Pa rents of talented or at least ambitious youth players should contemplate their role self-critically. Demanding too much of a child will hamper its performance. On the other hand, they will not be doing their children a favour if they allow them to treat their sport non-committally, for example by not keeping their appointments with trainers, training partners or tournament organizers. It is fine if parents are spectators at their children's games. However, they should not hang around the board of their child all the time, and they should watch out for getting involved in the discussion about the game content afterwards. Their intentions may be sincere, but their child will feel awkward and the development of its own sense of responsibility will be hampered. Asking questions about a game is fine, but giving comments should be left to trainers and other players - unless the youth player asks for it himself. Actually, young players will hardly ever take any technical advice from their parents anyway, so the latter can save themselves the trouble. The behaviour of some parents can be frustrating for trainers. They do not mind paying extra subscriptions, expecting top ra nkings (preferably on the world stage), but their child should not put too much effort in chess study ('much too busy with his homework, he's only a child') . In such cases a trainer can just as well tell the parents right away that their child will never find the way to the top. Also, he should seriously consider terminating the cooperation. It is important that trainers and coaches involves parents with their children's competitive development. Pa rents often have questions about top-class sport - out of interest or out of ignorance. There are even some parents who claim to know it all. If trainers and coaches give them well-thought-out answers, this will enable the parents to contribute constructively to their child's development. 22 On competition days, a trainer or coach can have informal chats with them. This will result in a relationship based on mutual trust, which may sometimes lead to surprising insights on both sides. Tra iners and coaches can tell the parents that they can phone or mail them if they have any questions. Tra iners and coaches are well-advised to point out the own responsibility of the parents to them. If necessary, the parents should contact the trainer or coach themselves. Contacts with parents can provide the coach and trainer with a lot of useful information about their pupils. Nobody knows all the answers, not even an expert trainer or coach. It is important that they are capable of listening well! Children may be using certain medicins, they may have personal problems, or they may be (slightly) autistic; their parents may be getting a divorce, or something unpleasant may have happened at school. All of these factors may influence the social fu nctioning of children and, consequently, also their co ncentration during trainings and their performance in competitions. Many practica l problems require 'a cunning plan' (see also the paragraph under the same title). There is no general recipe for any problem, but often a creative solution is possible. If parents think along with the trainer or coach, the latter ca n take profit from this in many ways. At tournaments, certainly events with young chess players, parents talk a lot to each other. Here and there a 'grapevine' may grow, which is contra productive. It is wiser to stay away from such 'grapevines'. Matters that concern also other parents, youth players or the sports organization, can be discussed at parents meetings, or in a club bulletin, in a newsletter or on a website. During a parents meeting a trainer can speak to many parents at once, which saves time. Another advantage is that parents are also confronted with each other's questions, ideas and opinions. Especially in a club setting, such meetings can contribute positively to the development of a stimulating chess culture. In 2007, SBSA held a parents meeting in Apeldoorn, where Artur Yusupov was interviewed by Karel van Delft about talent development. Parents of SBSA youth training partiCipants were allowed to ask questions. Of this meeting a video has been made, which youth training partiCipants and their parents later received on DVD. In one of the weekly SBSA email newsletters, a summary of the interview has been published . The agenda of a parents meeting may feature the fo llowing items: reports on activities, the introduction of new initiatives, an inventarization of suggestions, questions, or an appeal for help with organizational matters. In the appendices we give a more extensive list of subjects. If parents make active contributions to all kinds of organizational matters, this will ease the organizers' task and contribute to a stimulating chess culture. In the end, parents are only human beings. A chess father once told us that he never visits crucial matches of his child, as he tends to get too nervous on such occasions. Another parent claimed that it made him ill. 'Being a chess parent is heavy stuff', a novice chess father concluded . A school chess trainer recounts: 'During chess matches and tournaments of my children I am often standing on the sideline, and I notice the parents' negative influences on their children. In the past few years I have watched plenty of talent go down the drain.' He is a supporter of parents meetings: 'After all a parent is the third player on the chessboard.' 23 A3 Techniques A3.1 Goal setting An ambitious chess player wants to achieve an aim - he wants to play at the highest possible level. Only very few people manage to become world champion, but it can also be an acceptable aim to end up in the top ra nkings of a regional championship. Everyone sets their own goals. Ambitions and pleasure in play can perfectly go hand in hand - they can even strengthen each other. It is important to set goals that are realistic. If a youth player, his parents or his trainer or coach set their goals too high, this can have a very frustrating and contraproductive effect. At tournaments, competitions and trainings, it is best for a youth player to focus on performance goals. These are realistically chosen goals where you strive for an achievement that is optimally attainable. You take yourself as a point of comparison - not someone else - and, for example, you want to improve your time management. Fear of fa ilure is unnecessary. You have every reason to be self-confident and concentrated. If the opponent is better at this point, then so be it. It's not important. You want to use your own qualities to the fu ll and perform optimally. You want to learn from your experiences and perform even better next time. If young chess players focus on result goals (1- 0), they will feel compelled to win at all cost. This can easily lead to constrained play and fear of fa ilure. For the same reason, pep talk aimed at result goals by a parent, trainer or coach is useless. 'You'll win this, won't you?' is an advice given with good intentions, but it is empty talk. It is better to create optimum performing conditions, like good preparation and a good rest before play, and to give practical tips. These may be about time management, the choice of opening, or about taking a walk before a game. Goal setting improves your results. In order to be effective, goals must meet the following criteria: aimed at performance instead of result high but attainable, realistic challenging, resulting in an enjoyment of your sport specific, concrete aimed at a not too distant future measurable should be followed by feedback, the trainer/coach must eval uate the results with the player Having said all this, of course a player still wants to become a champion. The fi eld of tension between result orientation and achievement orientation can be solved in a simple way: at every turn your thoughts should be aimed exclusively at fi nding the best possible move. Experience teaches that a score of 7,5 out of 9 often suffices fo r first place in a tournament. Then why should you want to win every game? As you see, there is even room for three draws! If we put this into perspective, a little relativization is in order. A chess talent develops by jumps. Now and then an incubation period occurs, when newly- 24 gained insights are internalized, and it takes time before this is expressed in achievements. It is important to be purposive, but it should not be a problem if this is not immediately expressed in a higher rating. Most talents will even find that their rating remains level for a number of months. A3.2 Training programme Yo ung players with ambitions must train a lot and play many games. Room for sponta neity is important: studying games that you fi nd interesting can be done at any point in time. However, in order to achieve results it is also necessary to work systematically via a training programme. In such a programme the fo llowing things are determined : goals (which books, collection of tactical exercises, etc.) timing (e.g. tactics before school, game analysis in the evenings) activities (tactical exercises, annotated games, etc.) tools (books, computer, etc.) procedu res (self-study, with partner, with trainer, etc.) location (study, club venue, etc.) It is important to realize why you train like you do, and to divide your time well over the various components. For example, a training programme can be put together by drawing up a matrix where you write the week days in horizontal columns, and in vertical columns you can indicate subject, procedure, timing and the amount of time spent; which literature, location, and additional comments. Drawing up a training programme is a fo rm of goal-setting. It is advisable for a youth player and his trainer to draw up a training programme together. The trainer has expertise and the youth player is the one for whom the programme is designed. One-way traffic from the trainer to the player is a waste of time. A programme and a week schedule will only be effective if the youth player realizes its use and helps designing it. He should feel responsible for it and decide for himself what he wants to achieve, and if he wants to make an effort for this. Pa rents must be involved in these matters. They transport their children, pay for trainings, arra nge various things, and they are also a sounding board for their child. Sometimes it is also necessary for them to remind a child of certain appointments it has made which, consequently, have to be met. If parents do not support the programme, the whole thing will be a guaranteed fa ilure. A training programme covers a certain period. Approximate season's programmes and trimester programmes can be drawn up. In a week schedule this can be laid down very concretely. With individual trainings, the trainer and the pupil can check during weekly meetings if the schedule of the past week has been completed. The youth player may keep a diary where he records his learning experiences. The trainer can look at these and give comments. Feedback by a trainer on self-study is important: it is stimulating, and it allows for an optimum processing of experiences and acquired insights. Also, the way in which the pupi l studies and makes exercises can be discussed. Next, a new week schedule is drawn up. The programme must be evaluated regularly and adjusted according to 25 experiences, progress and new possibilities cropping up. The drawing up of a training programme does not take a lot of time if it is developed into a routine. Besides, it is useful and enjoyable to reflect on experiences. If a trainer and his pupil evaluate experiences and make new appointments in good consultation, this will contribute to the pupil's positive self-image and to his development of self-management. It is possible that these tasks are fu lfilled by different people. For example, a parent can supervise the week schedule. One trainer can analyse games and another strong player can follow the process and give advice, for example about the choice of which tournaments to play. It is important that the programme is flexible and that it leaves room for spontaneity. An opportunity to play an extra tournament may present itself. Or maybe there are enjoyable activities at school, sometimes preventing a youth player to play chess. A chess friend may, in his enthusiasm, borrow an interesting magazine or book that he wants to have a look at. A search on the Internet may yield interesting games, positions or stories. A good chess player is a researcher, and therefore the training programme must leave room fo r research of all kinds of interesting themes that crop up spontaneously. A good idea is, for instance, to solve ten diagram positions with tactic exercises five times a week. This gives you two extra days to make those exercises if you cannot make it at one time or another. Another idea is to outline three-quarters of the training time beforehand, and leave one quarter fo r browsing. Browsing means to spontaneously get going with certain subjects, think about them, search on the Internet fo r information, talk about them with a training partner, etcetera . There are no universal recipes. Age, ambition, learning style and all kinds of individual possibilities and restrictions have to be taken into account. A trainer and his pupil can develop an inspiring and effective training programme in consultation, and they can adjust the content where necessary. A training programme helps you to structure your activities. It makes it easier to summon self-discipline, as the programme clearly indicates what must be done on each day. Sometimes a player does not feel like doing anything for an entire day. Sometimes, then, he has to be 'made to feel like it', but at other times he can be allowed to take a day off. If the weather is good for swimming, self-study can be postponed for a couple of hours or for a full day. If the programme indicates an appointment with the trainer, the training will take place. A week schedule also enables you to switch activities, for instance, by making more than your daily portion of tactics on one day and spending more time on another theme on the next. The training programme should consist of varying procedures. Some things are better done alone, others preferably with a trainer and/or a training partner. It is also useful to alternate tactics with positional subjects; for example, by spending 15 minutes a day on tactical exercises and half on hour on positional subjects. If you want to get results, you should work methodically. A plan consists of a goal, tools, procedures, obstacles and a time schedule. With training plans as well as chess exercises it is useful fo r a trainer to ask his pupil to classify these five elements systematically. By asking questions, the trainer can adjust the discovery and the classification of the various aspects. 26 A3.3 Chess diary 'The weakest ink is stronger than the best memory', Confucius said. If you want to become a better player, a chess diary is useful. You can learn something from every single game you play by analysing it. You can record your conclusions in your diary. These notes may be quite short, as long as you write down the most important things. You will go a long way even if you learn just one single thing from every game. This diary can be in the shape of a notebook, a text document on a computer, or a loose-leaf file. In it, a chess student can record notes from training sessions, and also remarks on games he has studied, or on chess literature. You can also include observations about your own behaviour. For instance, you may have been given a tip about concentration exercises, or your trainer has explained to you that it is very unsportsmanlike to call other chess players 'patzers' (how good are you anyway?). Otherwise, a diary can contain pictures, newspaper clippings, articles from club bulletins, ra nking lists of tournaments you've played, reports on trainings, etcetera . Keeping a chess diary has four adva ntages: while you write, you contemplate what you have learned and experienced. This helps you to understand things better and to memorize new insights. you collect a list of things that you know and are capable of. By re reading the diary you will refresh your memory. you can write down rules of thumb in it. These are general rules that you take into consideration during a game. it is fu n to browse backwards now and then. In the diary you will work mainly with texts. Apart from that, it is usefu l to collect interesting positions in a separate database of a computer programme like Fritz or Chessbase. A3.4 Analysis Questionnaire If you want to become a good chess player, you must analyse your own games. It is a tough job to make a good game analysis. The Apeldoorn Analysis Questionnaire (see Appendix 1) helps you to plumb the depths of your own games and to study the way players perform during a game. The answers to the questions provide you with a technical and psychological analysis of strengths and weaknesses, which will provide you with starting-points for improving your play. The Analysis Questionnaire is useful for youth players as well as adult players and trainers. Using an analysis questionnaire, a chess player and his trainer will concentrate on certa in aspects of the game, and on the former's performance at the board. This is different from the classical way of analysing, where a chess player critically assesses his play move by move (see the paragraph on analysis). A tried-and-tested method is when a participant of a training group analyses one of his own games and fi lls in the questionnaire. Before the training, he hands in the completed questionnaire to his trainer and the other players from his training group. During the training they discuss the game, while studying the 27 answers in the questionnaire. As a procedure, this questionnaire offers some variety during trainings. It is not necessary to always use this questionnaire for analysis. The Apeldoorn Analysis Questionnaire has been developed for youth trainings in Apeldoorn by Dharma Tj iam and Karel van Delft. A trainer can abridge this list or add to it as he sees fit . Abridging is recommended with younger players, as otherwise they will be confronted with too many subjects at a time. Lucien van Beek and Karel van Delft have made an inquiry among youth talents at SBSA trainings in Apeldoorn , asking them what they thought of the questionnaire. As it turns out, their responses to the task of indicating the ten most important technical and psychological questions vary. Probably all the questions are relevant, but not for everybody all the time. A plausible explanation is that youth players tend to look back on their most recent experiences only if they are asked to make a selection of the most important questions. If a trainer thinks the list is too long, he can make a smaller selection of questions, or he can ask his trainees to take ten questions which they themselves consider the most re levant for a certain game. In a great number of trainings and workshops, the authors have spoken to eight-year-old players and upwards about psychological aspects of chess. A majority of the youth players are interested in those. It is important for the trainer not to make abstract observations. He will be able to pass on psychological insights optimally if he gives them concrete names, which are related to concrete experiences in games. A trainer should speak about psychological subjects in a well-balanced way. A youth player is only able to internalize one or two insights per training. Psychological insights sink in best if a young player discovers them by himself. A trainer can accomplish this by asking directed questions about private experiences during a group discussion or an individual training. A3.5 A cunning plan! Yo uth players run into all kinds of problems. Not for every problem there is a clear solution, but fo r many problems there is one. The coach should analyse the situation, be creative and come up with tricks. Often he can make the youth player solve the problem by himself. With a cunning plan! If a player plays too cautiously, he can get into time-trouble, or perhaps he does not trust himself to start an all-out attack. A trainer will first try to fi nd out the cause for such caution. Does the player lack self-confidence, for instance, or is he a perfectionist and does he fi nd it hard to make decisions? The trainer can assign the player to employ sharp variations in a number of games. By doing this, the player will learn how it feels to play in sharp positions, and his fear of such play may subside. A youth player is best able to acquire new insights if the trainer explains to him how something works, and if, besides that, he also experiences it himself during a game or a training session. If a youth player, when solving a sheet of diagrams, makes more mistakes near the end, this may be caused by a decline in energy. Once during a youth training session in Apeldoorn, the participa nts were asked to hold a chair over their heads. That was easy, but after a few minutes, various chair carriers started to think otherwise. They were allowed to put down the chairs and the training went on. Half an hour later they were asked to hold the chairs over 28 their heads again. They succeeded without trouble. By way of explanation, the participants were told that as regards energy, the brain works just like a muscle: you have to give it a rest now and then if you want it to perform optimally. This means that during the course of a training session, or during a game, or for example during your homework, you have to take a break regularly. During private trainings, the then six-year-old youth player Yassine Mouhdad was often very busy. When his trainer Karel van Delft set up a position, he started to get bored and displayed irritating behaviour. The trainer devised a cunning plan. Our young friend was told to set up the positions himself from then on. As there were no coordinates on the board and, moreover, he was regularly seated behind the black pieces, this was a good challenge. The training sessions were no longer interrupted, the boy developed a constructive learning attitude and the training sessions beca me more fun. A3.6 Experiments An experi ment is a systematically planned tryout in the framework of a research project. A chess trainer must stimulate young players to develop into researchers. That is good for their chess development and also for their personal development. Experimenting is a tried-and-tested method to enjoy chess. Certain kinds of experiments should be part of every training session. A researcher thinks philosophically (i .e., contemplative about the use, the essence and the possibilities) and analytically (what is in which way related to what) about subjects and tries, often systematically, to develop new ideas. Next, he will check if his hypothesis (i.e. his assumption) is correct. For example, a youth player starts playing a new opening. He can read books and consult data bases on it, he can browse on the Internet, or look at annotated games. He can also study opening traps. The next thing is to use the opening in practical play in order to gain experience with it. This can be done in training games with a training partner, during the club competition, against a computer programme, via a chess server, or in tournament games. A chess player can also discover interesting positions when he is studying annotated games or his own games. Such positions demand closer investigation. They can also be tested in games against a training partner or a computer. Or sometimes a player can try to get such a position on the board in a game. Making mistakes is inherent to any development process. You can learn from your mistakes and you mustn't be afraid to make them. You can learn from your mistakes by analysing your games well and writing down your conclusions in a diary and/or a database with positions from your own games. A chess player can experiment with technical questions, and he can also experi ment with his own behaviour. For example, if he regularly suffers from time-trouble, he can fi nd out what his performance will be if he never thinks longer than three minutes per move for twenty games in a row. If he has trouble concentrating, he can decide to remain seated at the board during the entire game, or, on the contrary, walk around regularly during a game to relax. By learning to experi ment, you will learn to use your imagination and develop creative abilities. You will get to know your possibilities and (temporary) limitations, and learn to express your thoughts on certain situations. You will learn to deal with setbacks and to relativize, develop an eye for paradoxes, 29 and discover that sometimes there is more than one way to solve a problem. It is usefu l for a chess player to express his findings during an experiment into words in his diary, and to discuss them with his trainer. The latter can help him to reflect on them and to draw conclusions. Fear of fa ilure in experiments is a bad counsellor, especially for youth players. Obviously a chess player will play it safe if this allows him to win a game or even a tournament. But in such cases a youth player should not be 'chicken'. For optimum enjoyment of the game and optimum development, a youth player must realize that he is the 'director', who is responsible for his own development. This involves research and the exploration of new horizons. The trainer should keep on encouraging his pupils time and again to experiment, and he should provide them with training material to help them with this. If you are able to experiment and you are not afraid to do it, this will feed your intrinsic motivation. Children can occupy themselves fo r hours on end playing, for example with their Lego train. This is beca use they have the freedom to make their own discoveries and give them shape. This playful way of discovery learning is connected with aspects of both a cognitive (thinking) and an emotional (feeling) nature. A3.7 Insights through games A trainer can clarify insights in aspects of self-management or knowledge acquisition via games. For example, he can ask a group of trainees how long they can hold their breath. After thirty seconds, most of them will be quite short of breath already. It seems to last ages! But if thirty seconds is 'ages', then why should a chess player panic if he has only two minutes thinking time left?, the trainer may ask. In Apeldoorn, entire games are completed in two minutes at the official Dutch Championship Lightning Chess, an event that has been organized here for severa l years now. If there is a computer around, the trainer can also tell his pupils to google 'record holding breath', which turns out to be around fifteen minutes. People have trained on that. Practice makes perfect. That goes for chess, too. Another game is to ask a trainee to close his eyes. You can also use a real blindfold. Next, the trainer walks the test subject with the rest of the participants to another room. There he is allowed to open his eyes for one second. Then he is asked to descri be what he has seen. As a rule, he will have seen plenty: colours, shapes, movements, objects, relations, you name it. An awfu l lot, in any case. The trainer may ask his pupils how on earth it is possible then that they cannot see what is going on in a simple chess position with only a few wooden or plastic pieces. With such provocative questions the trainer can crank up a discussion. Finally someone may realize that you can see a lot in one second because you recognize everything you see. Knowledge is recognition. It works the same way in chess. If a chess player knows many patterns - and they can be learnt - , he will be able to recognize them in a position. Then, if he also knows the characteristics of these patterns, he can put this knowledge to good use, whether it is tactical motifs like a discovery attack or a pin, or openings, middlegame positions or endgames. With a little creativity trainers can invent severa l games. They can also ask their pupils to come up with a new game at the next training session. A chess student can write down the insights he has gained in a diary or in a report on 30 the training. It is usefu l to browse through this information now and then. He ca n take example from it and devote extra attention to certain behavioural aspects in future games. A3.8 Rules of thumb and mnemonics Apart from the rules of the game, chess has a number of other general rules. They can be formulated into rules of thumb and mnemonics. There are many exceptions, but still it may be helpful to apply them, especially if you are tired or stressed. One example of a mnemonic when a piece is under attack is CIEPC: Capture, Interpose, Evade, Protect, Counterattack. An example of a rule of thumb is: If you cannot choose between playing a pawn or a piece, play the piece. A piece can always go back, a pawn can not. Or: Each strengthening involves a weakening if you move a piece or a pawn, certain squares are covered but others aren't any longer. There are lots of rules of thumb and mnemonics. It is usefu l to write them down in a diary if you encounter them during the analysis of your games or when playing through annotated games. A4 Skills A4.1 Self-management Self-management is a central notion in chess. Objectivity, a realistic self-image and a sense of responsibility are qualities that contri bute significantly to the development of good self-management. A top-class chess player cannot do without good self-management - during training sessions, and certainly also during games. He has to divide his time well, manage his energy, control himself, cope with setbacks, and concentrate well. A child can develop a sense of responsibility if this is stimulated by its environment. A youth player should be as important a co-author of his own development as possible. He must be able to make his own decisions about his own situation. Ta king control of your own life is the key to success. This stimulates your fi ghting spirit, your analytical ability and creativity at the board and your effort during trainings, and it stimulates active self-study. It also contri butes to the development of your personality. You will learn to re-define problems as challenges. This happens when a youth player learns that the outcome of an event is largely determined by his own actions. We cannot repeat often enough that well-thought-out chess training is aimed to stimulate both chess skills and personal development. Tra iners, coaches and parents can stimulate the development of a sense of responsibility and of self-management in a number of ways. Youth players are members of training groups and club teams. It is important that as a group, they feel responsible for various practical tasks, such as setting up chess material and cleaning up together. They must help each other technically with the preparation for games and their analysis. Tra ining partners and trainers should tackle each other in case such tasks are neglected. The trainer should make clear arrangements with the group about this. If this is under discussion, he should express himself directly and clearly and give a good motivation (always mention a reason). Of 31 course, he should require that the person in question still perform the agreed task. During a training session, many types of cooperating procedures between youth players are possible. They are jOintly responsible for the result, and also for each other. Youth players can assume small organizational and training tasks at primary school chess clubs and regular chess clubs. The task of the parents is to see to it that everything goes according to plan. Where necessary, they can give constructive comments, or lend a hand. Ta sks must be doable. If they do not lead to a perception of success, this will work counterproductively. Te aching a big group can be difficult but, as a rule, it is perfectly possible fo r youth players to fu nction as individual trainers by analysing with motivated younger players. If a youth player is responsible for a training session, this will improve his self-image and stimulate the development of his social and cognitive skills (his ability to structuralize his thoughts and put them into words, to practise patience, to listen, to ask or reformulate questions, and to consult others). All too frequently, youths are given too little responsibility. This can lead to misbehaviour, as youths will not feel that they are taken seriously, they will get bored and (quite rightly) take a rebel stand. Another thing is that children and youths may like to test the trainer a little - 'How fa r can I go?' There is an easy answer to this: a joke is fine, but we are here to enjoy an interesting training session. During a training session a trainer can reverse the roles and ask a youth player to continue the lesson. He can also ask someone to handle the subject material for a second time, with the trainer playing a slow student. This formula struck a chord with the then six-year-old Ya ssine Mouhdad, who would become Dutch youth champion roughly one year later. Even though he could not yet read, he did want to have the manual on the table in front of him. That's what his trainer did, and it looked quite impressive. Such a new role is something you have to get used to, but this boy played it with verve. His eyes twinkled, and he sat up straight. You could see him grow two inches. To teach instead of being taught is no small matter. Suddenly you have to formulate questions instead of answering them. This means that you must be thoroughly aware of the essence of the theme under discussion. Of course, a young teacher will lose the thread here and there at his debut. The trainer can help him on his way with a question or a remark. Beari ng responsibilities promotes self-reflection. Keeping a chess diary with brief notes on experiences in the areas of acquired chess knowledge and self management can contribute to this. It is useful for a youth player to regularly show this diary to his trainer. The latter can give constructive comments, and he can show interest by asking for fu rther explanations. Giving compliments has a stimulating effect. In case of fa ilure, the trainer can ask how the youth player would react himself if he were shown something like this. QUite a lot of talented young players are capable of plenty of things at a youthful age. However, overestimation and overburdening must be avoided. It is not easy fo r every youth player to keep a diary. For involved parents it can be a nice task to discuss what has happened in the training sessions, and to write down a few words on it - or they can help the youth player to write something himself. A youth player's sense of responsibility is also stimulated if he draws up his own training schedule and explains it to his trainer. In a conversation with the trainer this schedule can be developed further. 32 Via the Analysis Questionnaire a youth player can try to make his own strength/ weakness analysis. This is a form of self-critical reflection, which is important, as a chess player who wants to develop optimally should be objective, and he should welcome honest criticism. The trainer can give comments on the answers in the questionnaire, possibly in a training group where the participants take turns in presenting a completed questionnaire. If such sessions are conducted in a positive tone, they can yield useful self-insights and interesting discussions. Obviously it will have to be made clear that fa lse modesty about shortcomings is out of the question. It is better to stimulate a more or less 'healthy mach ismo' (also with girls) like: 'I am so strong that I will gladly admit my mistakes, so I can learn from them and become stronger', or words to that effect. A4.2 Mental training Mental training is aimed at solving mental problems and shortcomings in self management. Desirable thoughts, feelings and behaviour can be rei nforced, and undesirable thoughts, feelings and behaviour can be toned down or removed. This creates self-awareness and skills, and causes the subject to feel happier. Some examples of mental problems are: a diffuse self-image, lack of motivation, concentration disorder, stress, insufficient stamina, an inability to live up to expectations of others, demanding too much of oneself, lack of composure, or lack of confidence. A mental training can be given by a psychologist or a qualified trainer/coach, and this can be done in various ways. A mental trainer can gather information about a chess player by means of conversations, questionnaires, tests and observations. It is important to have an open exchange of thoughts. Mental blockades are often unconscious. It is difficult, if not impossible, for people to have a completely objective self-judgement. Via mental training, a chess player can gain insight in his subconscious motives and blockades. As soon as there is someone who has these questions 'in view', they can get a 'grip' on it. The development of new ways of thinking and new behaviour cannot be realized in the wink of an eye. This is often emotionally stressful as well. But the good news is: it's dogged as does it. Some mental techniques are: set clear goals and formu late them on paper before critical situations, such as important games - try to visualize the possible course and determine how you want to tackle problems relax before a game talk to yourself during a game evaluate experiences in a diary and in conversations with a (mental) coach Causes of mental problems can be charted by a trainer or a player with a so-called 'reversed tree diagram'. This term is derived from the 'tree diagrams' in opening books, where possible continuations are depicted as a series of branches. These look like the branches of a tree - hence the name 'tree diagram'. The more you look to the right in such a scheme, the more branches you see. In the menta l 'reversed tree diagram', it is the other way around. There is one problem for which you can imagine severa l possible causes. These causes have different 33 backgrounds or circumstances. You can put these on paper in a scheme. We will give a simple example. A player has concentration problems. Possible causes are a bad physical condition or a lack of self-confidence. An insufficientph ysical condition is caused by regular lack of sleep or insufficient physical exertion. Lack of self-confidence can be the result of very ambitious parents who keep interfering. A trainer can express various relevant issues in catchwords and incorporate these in a scheme that illustrates the mutual relations between the various issues. Every factor is a 'switch' that the trainer can 'turn ' in order to increase his pupil's skills. Mental training can take place in a separate setting. A qualified trainer can also incorporate it into his trainings. The theme of mental training is extensively discussed in the book 'Schachpsychologie' by Reinhard Munzert and 'Mentale training in de sport' by sports psychologist Rico Schuijers. Other outstanding books in the area of sport psychology are 'Succesful coaching' and 'Coaches' guide to sport psychology' by the American author Ra iner Martens. A4.3 Physical factors According to former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik's model, chess has four aspects : technique, psychology, physical condition, and coincidence. Former world champion Garry Kasparov found that his physical and mental condition were infl uenced positively by practising physical sports. He observes that they increase his stamina, his attentiveness and his quickness of response. Six-time Dutch champion Loek van Wely shares this experience. If a chess player is tired, he isn't able to concentrate well, and so he will do a bad job at processing info rmation, calculating, and thinking up ideas. A healthy body contri butes to good achievement - during trainings as well as competitions. This means that you should: eat healthily and moderately sleep sufficiently be well-rested manage your energy during the game build up a basic physical form by regularly practising physical sports Energy management implies alternating exertion with relaxation. This enables you to prolong your thinking performances on an optimal level. During a game, for instance, a player can divert his thoughts and relax his body by walking around for a bit. A short stroll between games in a tournament also has a relaxing effect. Kees Gorter, a general practitioner in Apeldoorn, has done some research on the infl uence of physica l condition and nutrition on attention and concentration (see the tournament book of the Creative Youth Chess To urnament, Apeldoorn 1994). Citing Dr. Harm Kuipers, a Professor of Exertion Physiology at the Maastricht University and a one-time ice-skating world champion, Gorter emphasizes the importance of the neurovegetative system on the stress balance. He advises against heavy physical exertion before a game. However, between games a short exertion is good in order to stimulate the alertness of the 34 system, although fatigue should be avoided . In principle, bad sleeping before a game is not a big problem, as physicians conclude that in such situations the neurovegetative system is hyperactive . Mental work does not cause any significant lowering of the blood sugar level in the brain. To o much sugar stimulates the working of the gastrointestinal system instead of the brain. This causes a sense of numbness. To o little sugar leads to shakiness and loss of concentration. During games, it's best for a player to take light nutrition. Sweets with a lot of fat are strongly contra-advised . A limited use of cafeine (coffee, a coke) stimulates the neurovegetative system. This results in an increased attentiveness and adequate response. Alcohol, even in small doses, has an adverse effect on alertness. Isotonic drinks are best, since they produce a smaller load on the water balance. Proteins and vitamins never give any problems, Gorter says, citing Saris, Professor of Human Nutrition at the Maastricht University. A varied and balanced nutrition is especially important. Gorter observes that quickness of response especially infl uences pattern recognition. A surplus of stress hampers concentration, leading to a decline in performance. Gorterclaims that a surplus ofte nsion can be lowered or neutralized by physical relaxation exercises and breathing exercises, self-hypnosis, and biofeedback procedures. He points at the fact that such procedures must be learned beforehand . He mentions three golden rules of nutrition: sufficient variation in the menu, as fresh ingredients as possible, and sufficient liquid. One point of attention in this context is the ideal temperature for studying. Th is issue was once ra ised at a Monday evening training. The heating was turned too high, and when the trainer asked what was better for training : 30 degrees Celsius or 3, Martij n knew the answer: 3 degrees, 'because you always tell us to keep a cool head.' Research has yielded 18 degrees Celsius as the ideal temperature for studying. This subject deserves closer investigation - any chess player can try it out himself. It is also advisable to pay attention to air humidity, light and the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. A4.4 Chess thinking The thinking of a chess player entails a number of functions, for example: memory, calculation, reasoning, combining, the application of rules of thumb, and pattern recognition. A chess player may have a greater aptitude for certain fu nctions than for others. Other fu nctions are best taught at an early stage, in a so-called 'sensitive period'. The Russian psycholog ist and chess grandmaster Nikolay Krogius, fo r example, descri bes in his book 'Psychologie im Schach' that players who have learned to play chess after their tenth year make more tactical mistakes than players who have learned the game earlier. There has been much research on the thinking of a chess player. A classic work is Dutch psychologist and chess player A.D. de Groot's 'Thought and Choice in Chess' (1946). In a conversation with Renate Limbach and Karel van Delft, De Groot explained that he had mainly investigated cognitive aspects of chess . Just like many other authors on chess psychology, he had never occupied himself with the question which conditions determine the development of a stimulating (youth) chess culture. Neither had he looked any deeper into training procedures. He had written severa l articles for a magazine on didactics, in which he reasoned that the Polgar experiment, in which the three Hungarian sisters 35 Zsuzsa, Zsofia and Judit received extensive chess training by their parents at home, might have benefited the development of the personality of these girls. After all, specialization does have advantages. In his book 'Thought and Choice in Chess', De Groot distinguishes between fo ur stages in chess thinking that a chess player passes through regardless of his level : the 'orientation phase' (which moves are worth considering; candidate moves), the 'exploration phase' (trying out possibilities by calculation, bringing down the number of candidate moves), the 'investigation phase' (deeper and more serious research) and the 'proof phase' (is the remaining candidate move good? If not, return to an earlier stage). Sometimes, via analysis at a later stage, yet another candidate move will surface. The big difference between a grandmaster and a lesser player, according to De Groot, is not that the grandmaster calculates more deeply, but that he has a greater arsenal of patterns with accompanying evaluations at his disposal, with which he can test any given position. In a research project by De Groot and Jongman titled 'The Eye of the Master', it turned out that strong chess players were much better at reproducing a chess position after having looked at it for a while than less strong players. If the pieces were placed randomly on the board, the results were virtually identica l. This is an argument in favour of the supposition that chess players recognize patterns ('chunks') in a chess position. De Groot did groundbreaking work on the subject of cogn itive psychology. One of his few predecessors was the Frenchman Alfred Binet, who conducted a research project on intelligence and the conditions for blindfold chess in his work 'Psychologie des grands calculateurs et joueurs d'echecs' (1894). Binet concluded that the ability to play blindfold chess was founded on three basic conditions: chess knowledge and experience, imagination, and memory. In a memorandum titled 'Chess instruction in school?', De Groot has suggested that chess education might have cognitive effects as well as social effects. Creative thinking appeals to the imagination. The psychologist Amatzia Avni claims that creative thinking is a skill that can be learned. More on this below. The majority of chess pOSitions contain a multitude of possible variations. A human being cannot possibly calculate them all. The recognition and the combination of patterns provides you with starting-paints for the assessment of a position and the selection of candidate moves. When assessing a variation, some chess players chiefly rely on their calculating abilities. Others give more weight to their intuition. We can defi ne intuition as the unconscious recognition of possibilities, leading to the selection of a solution. There is no conclusively ana lysed scientificmodel of human thinking. If this would exist, it would contain many variables, like age, character, learning style, ambition level, etcetera . However, there is nothing more practical than a good theory. A number of aspects of thinking and learning are known from research and from experience. The application of those insights is a direct contribution to the development of talent and capacity. A4.S Creativity Creativity means making connections between matters and ideas that are not connected at first sight. It enables you to find, use and develop more possibilities than appears possible. Creativity is seeing something that others 36 also see, but having different thoughts about it (after Einstei n). You definethe problem in a different way. Chess is a game of possibilities and limitations. Pattern recognition, calculation, technique, positional principles and the use of combinations play a role. You do not see that which you do not look at. A creative chess player's mind is open to paradoxical possibilities. He searches for the unexpected himself. Creativity is a skill that you can learn, claims the Israeli chess psycholog ist and FIDE chess master Amatzia Avni, who has devoted a number of chess books to this subject. He mentions nine pOints of attention for the development of creative thinki ng: 1. Awareness of psychological blocks deterring creativity 2. Correct definition of the problem 3. To lera nce to unorthodox ideas 4. Integration of known elements 5. Widening of horizons, preventing specialization 6. Use of imagination 7. Criticism and doubting 8. Self disciplined training 9. The motivational aspect of creativity Remarkably, in a conversation with Karel van Delft during an open youth championship in Israel, Avni said that he considered chess to be an antisocial sport. His children don't even have to think about going to play this game. Avni's approach is cognitive: aimed at thinking aspects. Just like many other chess authors he has not occupied himself with social psychological aspects. You can acquire a skill in stages. You pass through four stages: 1. Unconsciously Unable CA pin? Never heard of it') 2. Consciously Unable CA tough job, these diagram exercises') 3. Consciously Able (practice makes perfect, you master the technique) 4. Unconsciously Able (you recognize pins unconsciously and apply the technique) You can develop creative thinking by training systematically on it, studying positions that are diametrically opposed to common thinking patterns. This requires an open mind to new and surprising ideas. It can even lead to a so called 'flow', a state of consciousness where everything fits, where you are operating self-conSCiously, concentratedly, energetically and exploratively. Creativity is sometimes regarded as synonymous to intuition, and considered to be something magical and unfathomable. However, intuition is nothing more or less than unconsciously recognizing patterns and making connections. These things do play a role in creativity, but there is more to creativity. Psychology teaches us that the expectations of people largely determ ine their observations. Then it is only logical that diffe rent expectations will allow for different observations. People normally approach problems by verifying them: by investigating if something is true. Another approach is fa lsification: investigating if something is not true. This helps when you are fighting against mental fixations. As an example of mental fixation, the Russian grandmaster and psychologist Nikolay 37 Krogius indicates the 'Restbild': in your mind, a piece is still on a certain square. With such a fa ulty assumption you will then develop a fa ulty line of reasoning. The Scottish grandmaster Jonathan Rowson pOints out the fact that strong chess players often use the word 'maybe' in analysis. This signifies a fa lsifying approach to problems. Thinking is infl uenced by emotional factors. For instance, it is difficult to anticipate your opponent's moves. Sometimes it feels as if you are helping your opponent by finding a good move for him, as former draughts world champion To n Sijbra nds once told us. In the 1990's he was involved in youth chess activities in Apeldoorn, among others with a lecture on self-management for youth chess players in a two-day workshop in a youth hostel. He lost a off-hand chess game to Merijn van Delft, who was twelve at the time. In a draughts game, played blindfold by Sijbrands, Merijn's play was so dramatica lly bad that at a certain pOint Sijbrands became unsure of the exact position. There was no meaningfu l pattern to be discovered in Merijn's play. A practical advice is to get up now and then during a game and look at the position from your opponent's side. Draughts players do this much more often than chess players, who apparently have more trouble coming up with such an idea . Adopting a different way of thinking is trainable. Also in creative positions, the chess rules apply. It's just that the solutions to these positions are more surprising. However, if you have never seen a discovered attack, you probably won't think of finding the solution to a position in that direction. Many people think convergently: they look fo r concrete solutions. Creative chess players first think divergently, their thoughts move in all directions. They think that everything is possible. They are looking for the question not the answer. They combine a clea r-headed approach to bringing or restoring order in the elements of a position with their fascination fo r a quest for original discoveries and ideas. In short, creativity is a trainable way of thinking, which allows you to fi nd, use and develop more possibilities. It means having great expectations of the unexpected. The development of creativity can be a regular item in training sessions. Tra iners can stimulate pupils to build up a database with surprising moves. They can agree that every participant brings along one creative position to each training session. During the training, the participants first try to solve the positions. Next, they put into words why the position is so difficult and/or beautiful. Along the way, new thinking patterns and principles are drummed into their minds. Solving endgame studies stimulates creative thinking, and composing endgame studies does so even more. A trainer can hand out studies that are soluble at his pupils' level. If a study is too difficult, the trainer can give one move as a hint, or try to put the students on the right track by asking questions. Playing through creative positions also stimulates creative thinking. SBSA youth trainer Yochanan Afek is a renowned specialist of endgame studies. One of his studies has been included in Mark Dvoretsky's 'Endgame Manual'. Dvoretsky made the decision to write this book when he was staying in Apeldoorn for a few weeks, together with Afek. During that stay, Dvoretsky and Afek gave, among others, workshops to talents, and they gave a free simultaneous display for children of the primary school De Regenboog. Author Karel van Delft regularly accommodates strong chess players at his home. In return , he sometimes asks them to participate in a free activity for youth players. The simultaneous display 38 was a great success, and afterwards dozens of children asked Dvoretsky for his autograph. 'I feel just like Frank de Boer, the soccer player', he laughed. A4.6 Concentration The ability to concentrate is important, and it strongly infl uences performance. This is certa inly true for chess players. To concentate is to direct your attention to something (i.e., to focus on something), and to be prepared to spend a lot of energy on it. Concentration can decline due to various physical or emotional causes; for instance, if someone gets tired or distracted, or is worried about something, or stressed. Stress occurs if someone wants to perform above his capacity in an area he considers important, and where he thinks he can exert influence. It is a form of anxiety, where the mental strain is greater than the capacity. You can try to escape from stress by using certain pills, by doing re laxation exercises, or even by hypnosis. The best thing is to use your senses and choose a well-thought-out, realistic approach. Yo ur concentration will be optimal if you are well-rested, able to deal with your task and motivated to bring the task to a happy concl usion. That has everything to do with a positive, realistic self-image and with self-management. Good pre game preparation contributes to this, in a technical as well as a mental sense. Such preparation consists of opening preparation, studying your opponent's games (a strength/weakness analysis), as well as a tactical warming-up and some thoughts about the possible course of the game (what will I do if he does this or that). Pep talk is useless. A chess player should know what he is capable of and what he wants already during his trainings; a coach or parent should not start about this subject right before the game. If you feel fine, if you are looking forward to the game and you have fa ith in a good performance, then you can reach an optimum state of concentration, the 'flow'. Conditions for good concentration are: be well-rested don't eat too much before the game do a certain amount of exercise before the game set a realistic goal manage your energy (alternate exertion with relaxation) if necessary, place your fi ngers over your ears and your hands around your face to prevent distraction think systematically and creatively think exclusively in the present (i.e. about the next move) divide your time well During a training session, a game can make a lot of things clear. The question is asked : what is the best way to destroy your concentration? The trainer writes down the answers (going to bed late, occupying yourself with other things, being afraid of your opponent, nonchalance, thinking that the other is perfect, negative thoughts, underestimation, overestimation, not feeling like playing, trying too hard, perfectionism, allowing yourself to be distracted). Next, the trainer tells the participants to think of the opposites to all these answers, and this results in a nice recipe for players who want to learn to concentrate better. 39 The trainer can pri nt out the list, and trainees can, for instance, attach it to a page in their chess diary. It is useful, where possible, to translate diffe rent advices into one single notion that covers the entire spectrum. In the case of concentration this notion is: focusing. Here, as with all skills, the saying that practice makes perfect holds true. To start one game with good intentions to concentrate does not mean that your results will immediately be optimal. A4.7 Flow Optimum concentration is also called 'flow'. Flow is a notion coined by the American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and it can be described as an optimum mental state for a sportsman. To p-class sportsmen perform optimally in a state of fl ow. Basketball players use the term 'in the zone'. The legendary soccer player Pele once described how he experienced flow during a game in a fu ll stadium. Suddenly he entered a state of total relaxation in his head and he had the feeling that he could go on running forever. If we translate the term to chess, flow means: you can still feel the tension of the contest, it is clea r that something is at stake, but you enjoy it rather than experiencing it as a hindrance you become fully absorbed in the game and forget the rest of the world you have a sense of control, of self-confidence you feel good and you are creative variation calculation seems to go by itself, the variations are coming to you just like that everything goes according to plan, the game continues as if by itself You cannot conjure up a fl ow - it is the result of years of hard, efficient work. When a chess player's capacities (technically as well as physically and psychologically) reach a maximum level, he can reach a state of flowdur ing a game. A4.8 Tension Te nsion, or, in other words, stress, occurs when you perform tasks that you consider important. You will experience it not when you are putting flowers in a vase at home, but rather during the fl ower arrangement world championships. If you accept your own self and your task, you will be able to control tension. This also involves accepting setbacks and carrying on with your task. It will be helpful if you consider that your opponent is also suffering from tension and if you see it as a challenge to prove that you can handle it better. Then you will convert a problem into a challenge. Te nsion is a natural reaction. People in prehistoric times had it when they encountered a bear on their path. The body produces extra energy if it is threatened by danger. You can transmute this 'fright' into either 'flight' or 'fight'. But you must make a choice between the two, otherwise you will turn rigid and be in trouble. You can compare it to a boy who wants to jump over a ditch. If he takes a run up while thinking 'go' and 'stop' at the same time, he will freeze and end up in the ditch. In such cases we speak of fear of failure. This fear may be fed by a belief that you 'cannot do it 40 anyway'. You can also develop fear of fa ilure after a number of defeats of which you have not analysed the causes properly. Resilience, fighting spirit Some players give up the fi ght quickly in a bad position. Others are tough defenders. Stamina, resilience and fi ghting spirit sometimes yield points from objectively lost positions. A winning game is not won just like that. Just think how often you have let slip a win yourself. Also, players often get too optimistic or too careless if they have a better position. You can exploit this by making things as difficultas possible fo r your opponent if your position is worse. Sometimes it helps if you complicate the position, increasing your opponent's liability to make a mistake. Often it helps to just stay patient. In his outstanding book 'The Seven Deadly Chess Sins' Rowson calls this 'the theory of infi nite resistance'. Of grandmasters it is known that you have to beat them three times in a game before you can net the pOint. It becomes even more diffi cult if you have just botched a promising position. Try to switch to another mode and make the best of it. For an ambitious youth player it is useful to play in tournaments where he wins often enough to experience some success and develop his own style. Meeting with sufficient resistance will also gain you new experiences. Taking leave of a game Some players fi nd it difficult to recover from a lost game. Sometimes this affects their play in the next game as well. Either their motivation deteriorates, or their urge to force a win becomes even stronger. It is best to say goodbye to a game in a constructive way - by drawing useful conclusions from it. Then you will go to the next game in a positive mood again. A4.9 Time management Time-trouble Time-trouble means that you have too little time left to think carefu lly about the remaining moves before the time-control. You can prevent this with better ti me management. Recording the used time for each move during the game will help you to discern patterns in your time use during the analysis of your games. Yo u can even visualize this by registering it in a diagram. Some players get into time-trouble frequently, others hardly ever. Some players seem to get into time-trouble on purpose, in order not to have time for doubts. That is choosing the line of least resistance, and it does not lead to optimum results. It is better to strive for self-knowledge and self-acceptance as well as task acceptance. Sometimes you see players lose on time. This is actually of no use whatsoever, unless it would be that a player can console himself with the thought that 'my position wasn't that bad, if I had only had more time" ,' - a petty excuse . Time-trouble can have various causes. Before you search fo r a solution, you should first fi nd out what the problem is. In other words: fi rst the diagnosis, 41 then the therapy. It may be that your opponent is a good deal stronger. Consequently, he poses you great problems that you cannot solve, or only with difficulty and at the cost of a lot of time. Your opponent recognizes all kinds of themes, whereas you constantly have to calculate or reason. The remedy is very simple: learn to play better. Bad preparation can also cause time-trouble. If you do not keep your opening re pertOi re up-to-date, it is logical that your variation calculation will take a certain amount of time. Also, if you do not regularly practice tactical positions, calculation will obviously take more time. Or you may be indecisive, which also takes time. Regularly playing blitz games can help, or you can decide to spend a maximum of three minutes per move in games with a two-hour time control during a given period. If indecisiveness is caused by doubts about your own abilities, it makes sense to try and determine the things that you are not good at. If you notice that you are not good at calculation, you must make more exercises with tactics and other positions where variations must be calculated . If you fear the power of your opponent, do not dread his presumed abilities; just try to play an interesting game which may even yield you a point or a half-point, or some new insights in any case . Time-trouble can also be the result of inefficient variation calculation, meaning : continuous switching between various possibilities. It is better to first make an inventory of the 'candidate moves'. The next thing is to examine them piece by piece and make assessments. Then have another look at the candidate moves - an idea that you have found after one candidate move may also be usefu l after another. Finally, choose the move you consider best, and check the one ply possibilities of all of your opponent's pieces. You can do an experiment to check if it is really disastrous to play a move after maximally three minutes' thinking. Ta ke your last twenty games and fi gure out how often you have lost a game by bad time management. Then play twenty games using maximally three minutes per move. If you still have doubts after three minutes, play the move that you feel is the most interesting. After these games, look again how often you have lost. It is possible that you lose now and then by playing too fast, but this may be compensated for by more victories. Obviously you should only consider games played against opponents of approximately equal strength (rated maximally 100 Elo points higher or lower). It can also be interesting to check in a number of (training) games how often in the end you played the move you had already thought of within the first ten seconds. If you analyse afterwards, in a large percentage of cases the first move you thought of will turn out to be fine.You should realize that in many situations there are severa l more or less equally good moves. You might consider to play not necessari ly the best move, but simply a good move, at a number of turns. Finding a move that is just a tad better can sometimes cost you oceans of time, which is better invested at other moments in the game. Even at national championships, grandmasters blunder winning positions when they have no time left in the endgame. Many players tend to also blitz out their moves if their opponent is in time trouble. Except when you are virtually losing, this is not to be recommended. Of course your opponent can think in your time, but you are the one who decides on your next move, and this will always make it harder for him. Moreover, by playing in blitz tempo you may easily blunder yourself. Some sly dogs purposefully create so many complications in a position that both players end 42 up being in time-trouble. This is a gamble, they are hoping they will be the stronger in the ensuing time-scramble. In time-trouble, quite often exchanges are made too quickly (simplification does not necessarily mean improvement) and players tend to put too much focus on the absolute value of a piece (a pawn = 1 point, etcetera ) instead of its relative value (its function). You should check for yourself if you are strong in time-trouble. You can also opt fo r running your own race and playing a good move instead of 'the best' now and then. If you still end up in time-trouble, then it is useful to arrange your pieces thus that they protect each other. You can also use move repetitions and checks to reach the time-control. In any case it is useful to have more time on the clock than your opponent. Moving too fast Beginning youth players tend to play fast. They end up with a lot of extra time, and blunder a lot along the way. This often irritates ambitious parents. The question is whether these children would blunder less if they stared longer at a position. Themes that they do not recognize, they will not recognize either if they take more time to study a position. Te chniques that they do not master, they will not be able to apply with more time either. In short, they have nothing to spend all those minutes on. Youth players play chess beca use they like the game. That should be the starting-point. To tell them to use more time is of no use to these children. Not even if the coach draws an angry face while telling them this. The following rules can help, however. They may be useful tools for beginning youth players to help them think a little more systematica lly and blunder less. Use the 'CCAP' rule at every move - look at: Check Capture Attack Plan Use the 'CIEPC' rule if a piece is under attack: Capture Interpose Evade Protect Counterattack Deeper thinking can also be stimulated by the following exercise. With every training game, write the fo llowing down on a form with four columns: own move second possible own move expected move by the opponent actual move by the opponent 43 Th is stimulates a player to consider more than one possibility at a time, and to anticipate what their opponent may play. The recorded moves also give the trainer starting-points for advice. A4.10 Objectivity Objective thinking is a desirable quality for chess players who want to develop fu rther. Chess can provide you with valuable - if sometimes harsh - life lessons: if you are not objective (i.e. honest), this may be severely punished. You may suffer from wishful thinking, meaning that you only see what you want to see, which can lead to wrong decisions. Or you may assess the position too pessimistically and thereby miss certain chances. During a training, chess is mainly science and art. During an actual game, it is a sport: two players crossing swords within a limited time-span. Moreover, they both have a limited chess knowledge, possibly they have physical limitations, and their self-management may be lacking in all sorts of ways. Sometimes a player suffers from 'over-objectivization'. He realizes that he is objectively lost and is no longer motivated to put up a really tough fight. By that he will sell himself short. An alternative is to play as strongly as you can. Especially if the position is complicated, or if you manage to complicate it, the opponent may make a mistake. Strong players usually play purely against the board . They assess the position objectively and search for the best move, regardless of their opponent's level. This way they prevent the game from being lost by underestimation or overestimation of their opponent. Other players stick to 'inter-subjectivity'. This means that they do take their opponent's circumstances, character, capacities and style into account. Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson describes this phenomenon in his book 'The Seven Deadly Chess Sins'. Rowson has played a number of team competition games fo r Schaakstad Apeldoorn, and in Apeldoorn he has joined in trainings with Mark Dvoretsky. In his book he descri bes a game with Merijn van Delft. That game was played during a rapid tournament between six players in a cafe in Apeldoorn, featuring his team mates Manuel Bosboom, Jan Gustafsson, Lucien van Beek, Boris Avrukh and Merijn va n Delft. A4.11 Psychological tricks Tricks are cunning schemes, methods to mislead. During chess games, technical as well as psychological tricks are used. An example of a technical trick is an opening trap. By using your chess knowledge and by a critical study of the position, you can prevent yourself from fa lling into such traps. Psychological tricks aim to infl uence your thoughts, causing you to make mistakes. There are many different psychological tricks. For example, your opponent can pretend to be very nervous after he has made a move. If this makes you reckless and you do not pay attention, you may fa ll into a trap. Or your opponent may make a nasty remark like: 'My, you look pale today.' Not a very sportsmanlike gesture, but it has been known to happen. If you notice that someone is trying to play a trick on you, you can do something about it. If you understand what's going on, this makes a big difference. You can think up countermeasu res. The simplest measure is to ignore your 44 opponent's behaviour, in other words: act as if nothing has happened . Another co untermeasure is to parry your opponent's behaviour, for instance, by reacting with a joke if someone makes a remark before the game. This way you will show that you are not prepared to allow yourself to be confused, and you will simply assess the position objectively during the game. At a junior world championship, Apeldoorn player Marc Jonker once played an opponent who kept staring at him in an irritating manner. 'I gave him a wink, and then it was over', Jonker told us. Yo ur opponent's behaviour may surprise you - by his opening choice, for example. In such cases it is best to take some time to think about what is going on. This is better than playing a wrong move, since you can blow an entire game with one single mistake. It may, for example, be a good idea to stand up and get something to drink. With a little imagination you may be able to think of a counter-joke while doing this, but in fact it is already sufficient if you realize that your opponent is playing a trick on you. Then you can simply ignore it, just look at the board and play on. Of course, when you are confronted with outright incorrect behaviour you can call the arbiter. A4.12 Development process Acquiring skills The acquisition of technical and social skills happens in phases: you acquire an inSight, you practice with it (now and then putting your foot in it), and in the long run the insight will become an automatism. This process follows the stages that we have discussed earlier: 1. Unconsciously Unable, 2. Consciously Unable, 3. Consciously Able and 4. Unconsciously Able. A step forward is often only made after a temporary setback or a period of stagnation. This is because your thinking system has to adapt to the switch to a new level. This is called 'a n incubation period'. Transferring from learning to practice Yo uth players often do not apply acquired techniques in games. This has to do with the way in which they train. With tactical lessons, children often know what to look for. That is usefu l if you want to exercise a certain technique, but after that it is necessary to practise a mix of different themes. It is also very important to analyse your own games. In them, all kinds of tactical motifs occur, only now in the context of an actual game. Loss of form There are times when nothing seems to go right. Your performance is below level and you are hopelessly out of shape. In such cases, it is okay to be annoyed for a while, but there is no sense in getting depressed. It is better to study the reasons for your loss of form . Perhaps you have trained too intensively, or you've had too many other things on your mind - like homework, illnesses in the fa mily, or perhaps you have fa llen out with someone? Or maybe you haven't 45 trained enough on certain items? Sometimes something can be done about loss of form : take a rest, change your week schedule, improve your training on certain items. Sometimes nothing can be done about it. Maybe you are experiencing growing pains. With every growth process (e.g. when you learn new things) temporary setbacks occur, when all your knowledge and insights are being attuned to your brain in new ways. This takes a little time, but there is no reason to worry. Loss of form is not the same as loss of motivation. In competitions you can fa ll back on your motivation and your routine, and refrain from taking too big risks. You're not obliged to tell your opponent that you are out of shape; indomitability and a vigorous attitude can take you a long way. It is significant that many players who have not played chess for a long time notice that their tactical skill has deteriorated more strongly than their positional understanding. A4.13 Avoiding blunders Blunders are big mistakes that a player normally does not make. They do not appear out of thin air. There are various possible causes: carelessness, fatigue, or time-trouble. Determining the cause is a must, in order to prevent a player from making such blunders again. If the latter occurs, it is necessary to take measures. There is only one real remedy fo r time-trouble: take care that it doesn't come to this. A player who is over-confident in winning pOSitions can teach himself to 'look through the eyes of a patzer' before he makes a move : with the mnemonic CCAP (Check, Capture, Attack, Plan). In any case, it is a good habit to always relax and take a good look before you make a move. Many blunders occur when moves are played a tempo. Grandmasters are very disciplined in this respect : they do not even recapture a piece without thought. A4.14 Non-verbal behaviour People show something of themselves in all kinds of ways, and they are not always aware of this. They do certain things, or don't do them - behaviour - and talk in a certa in manner (paralingual communication). Consciously or unconsciously, they also speak 'body language', or display 'non-verbal behaviour', as it is also called . This behaviour may consist of sign language, but it also includes the way someone dresses, the way he is seated, and the emotions his face reveals. Kasparov has been known to pull faces when his opponent made a blunder. A well-known example is his fa cial expression in the World Championship match in Sevilla in 1987, after Karpov had blundered. If you observe carefully, you can discover a lot about people without them telling you anything. You can practice this. During a training session, a trainer can give his pupils various notelets with words like 'angry', 'in love', etc., written on them. The pupils are asked to act out those emotions and the group must guess which emotion is expressed. This is a nice in-between exercise to bri ng some relief during a training session. The experience can also make a player conscious of non-verbal behaviour. Now and then during a game it can be useful to pay attention to non-verbal behaviour. It may reveal what your opponent thinks of the position. But be carefu l with this. If your opponent also knows that something like non-verbal behaviour exists, he can feint a certain attitude. 46 Good actors can imitate most non-verbal conduct very well. There are certain bodily functions that cannot, or hardly, be controlled . For example, if someone's eye pupils widen significantly, you can quietly assume that you have scared the hell out of him. Once a photo was made of Kasparov right after he had lost to Jeroen Piket in a VSB tournament in Amsterdam. He looked very upset, and this wasn't an act. AS Miscellaneous AS.l Chess as a subj ect in primary school Are there good arguments for the introduction of chess as a (facultative) subj ect in primary school? This question was the occasion for a terminal project by Karel van Delft at the faculty of psychology of the Amsterdam University in 1992. Research was done on six primary schools in Apeldoorn . Among others, 77 chess players from the 7th grade were compared with 201 non-chess players. The research clearly showed that the chess players performed Significantly better in the Dutch eITO school test end test on arithmetics, reading and writing, and data processing. Significantly, when a distinction in gender was made the boys showed the same pattern, whereas with the girls the chess players only performed better at arithmetics. After a correction on children with an extremely low score (below the 15th percentile score - mainly non-chess players), the picture remained the same. The graph below illustrates this. At a school where half of the 34 children began to play chess in the 3rd grade, the chess players already turned out to be better pupils from the start. However, this group turned out to be too small to draw any clear conclusions. Next, it was presupposed that the better children play chess, the better they will perform at arithmetics and data processing. This hypothesis was tested with 106 pupils from the 6th grade (three school classes), half of whom played chess. With boys there turned out to be little or no connection between their level of arithmetics and their chess-playing. With girls a certain connection was found between arithmetics and chess skills. This group also showed that boys are better at chess and arithmetics than girls. We should add that the fact that hardly any connection was found, may have been because lots of other factors, like motivation and the effects of training, had blurred the image. Incidentally, no difference in intelligence was found between the chess players and the non-chess players (Raven-test). The chess abilities were measured with an especially designed chess skills test consisting of a number of exercise diagrams. We deliberately opted against rating lists of school competitions, since in that setting features like impulsivity, self-consciousness, fighting spirit, etcetera , may easily be of influence. This research also showed that the connection between competition results and theoretical chess knowledge was Significa nt, but not very strong. In any case a differentiation in gender has turned out to be advisable for this type of research. This had not been done in earlier research. It also turned out that there are clearly less girls who play chess than boys. Apparently there is a mechanism of (self- )selection at work here. This research was especially aimed at findingou t if so-called cognitive effects 47 of passing on knowledge exist in chess teaching. As Prof. A.D. de Groot already claimed a number of years ago, in a memorandum called 'Chess instruction in school?' for the benefit of the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB, it cannot be excluded that chess teaching also has a number of non-cognitive learning effects. We can think of things like: learning to accept defeat, learning that progress can be made by study, etcetera . De Groot also supposes that chess can be related to a productive and creative way of thinking: distinguishing alternatives, systematically going through options, making your own decisions, learn ing to think conditionally and think ahead, and critical reality-testing. However, these suppositions are based on research that has been done on adults (retrospective interviews with, among others, Boris Spassky and the Dutch writer Godfried Bomans). TA BLE- Average percentile scores of chess players and non-chess players for the CITO school test at a primary school in Apeldoorn . Data of eight successive school years. Boys Chess players (56) Non-chess players (82) Linguistic skill 63.1 % 46.8 % Arithmetic skill 72.9 % 59.7 % Data processing 68.8 % 52.3 % Girls Chess players (21) Non-chess players (119) Li nguistic skill 62.4 % 60 .6 % Arithmetic skill 72.6 % 56.3 % Data processing 65.0 % 59.4 % AS.2 Youth with adults Stronger youth players should be given possibilities to develop themselves. If they rise above their peer group in playing level, they need an alternative to face stronger resistance. They can play against adults; at tournaments and also in club and team competitions as a club member. Often the fact that those competitions are played in the evenings is a problem. Some clubs adopt a shorter playing time with games involving youth players. AS.3 Women's chess On average, girls perform less well in the area of chess than boys. In the youngest age categories in clubs and primary schools, the amount of boys and girls playing is often equal. When they move up to secondary school age the number of girls strongly decreases. A role is played by the fact that at this age, boys tend to concentrate on one single interest, whereas girls tend to become interested in a variety of things. Also, boys are often more competitively inclined. They train harder to obtain results. If girls do not make any progress, 48 they often quit when they move up to secondary school. Girls who do achieve results often turn out to continue playing chess. So we can conclude that the experience of success plays a role in motivation. More girls tend to join a chess club if there are other girls. That is more fu n and it motivates them to continue playing chess. That girls are capable of achieving less in the area of chess than boys has been disputed by the achievements of the Polgar sisters. These three Hungarian girls, Zsuzsa, Zsofia and Judit (who are now adults) received education from their parents at home. According to their father, Laszlo Polgar, who is a pedagogue and a psychologist, talent is the result of nurture rather than nature. Of the girls, the eldest (Zsuzsa) and the youngest (Judit) have become grandmasters, while the middle sister (Zsofia) is an International master. Judit has even reached the world top-ten. In Germany and France, among others, there are separate women's competitions, in The Netherlands there is not. Firstly, the fact that there are much fewer female top chess players is caused by the fact that fewer women fa natically play chess. Opinions differ as to the question whether positive discrimination of women and separate women's competitions are advisable. This could have the advantage that a number of girls and women will have more stimulating success experiences. A disadvantage might be that the top players will experience less challenge. AS.4 Biographies and interviews In books and magazines and on the Internet there are interviews and biographies of chess players. They regularly conta in usefu l info rmation for readers who want to improve in chess. For this reason, in this book a number of interviews have been included with strong players who have visited Apeldoorn : David Bronstein, Loek van Wely, Artur Yusupov, Jan Timman and Rob Hartoch. Now and then a trainer can hand out such an interview to his pupils, and ask them to underline instructive passages. These can be made the subjects of a group discussion. 49 Stefan Kuipers. (photo www.fredlucas.eu) B - TRAINING 81 Organizing trainings B1.1 Structu re and culture The coaching of young top-class sportsmen is not only a question of 'structure' - i.e. rules and schedules. 'Culture' is at least equally important: what is the degree of motivation of all the parties involved, and how do they get on with each other? Chess can be a highly social activity. At the board you are on your own, but training can be done with others. You stimulate each other, learn from each other and collect knowledge of other insights and approaches . It can also be great fun. The most important thing about chess remains that you derive pleasure from it, socially as well as intellectually. Bl.2 Computers and the Internet Everything used to be diffe rent. Chess players browsed through chess magazines searching for new opening variations - some of them collected opening ideas in a card tray. Games were adjourned after 40 moves and resumed later on. The computer and the Internet have exerted a strong infl uence on the chess world in a time span of approximately two decades . Chess players use the computer in different ways. You can install a chess program like Fritz and play games against it. It is also possible to analyse games and positions. In many chess programs, databases with games and positions can be stored. It is also possible to create databases with your own games and/or positions. Good chess programs have an opening book as well. Chess publishers put CD-ROMs and DVD's with training material on the market: annotated games, for instance, or collections with tactical positions, endgame studies and videos on which chess masters explain games. Via the Internet, you can use a computer chess progra m to play against other players worldwide. This is done via chess servers like ICC or Chessbase's Playchess. Chess trainers often use computers . Via Internet they are sent games by their pupils in pgn format and these are entered into their chess program. Via a chess program they can easily select positions from games and put the diagrams on paper or add them in a text. The computer is also useful when preparing for opponents. Data bases (on CD-ROM, DVD or via the Internet) conta in games of many players, and with them their opening repertoire. A chess engine can also check if there is a tactical flawin an intended plan. Chess organizers also often use computers. With the help of computers and special programs they can quickly make pairings for competitions and 51 tournaments. These can be published in no time with a printer and/or via the Internet. With the help of a computer it is also possible to make communication bulletins, tournament bulletins and other written publ ications. There used to be a time when all this was done with typewriters. Organizers can make up and store tournament scenarios with word-processing progra ms. In the next event, often a limited number of changes will be enough to actualize the scenario. With the help of computers it is possible to create web-pages that can be viewed worldwide. Via email, quick and cheap correspondence is possible. With a computer, a chess organizer can make beautiful email newsletters - and do this quickly. The computer also enables you to manipu late photos and films. These can be put on a CD-ROM or a DVD together with gamebases and texts. You put a sticker with an imprint on it, and with a little volunteer work an event can be documented for not more than one euro per disc. Bl.3 Individual trainer Yo uth players who want to develop into strong chess players need one individual trainer, or severa l. The most important thing for their own development is that they analyse their own games. By checking openings, analysing with the opponent, own ana lysis on the board and via a chess program, a chess player can make a provisional evaluation of his games. However, a trainer who is a strong chess player can show in words and variations where the youth player has shortcomings. Moreover, he can give specificadvic e and refer him to specific training material and literature. Youth players should send all their games to their trainer(s), preferably with their own comments, verbal and with variations. Individual trainers discuss certa in themes (for instance, the opening repertOire) with their pupils. They also give directions for self-study and they can discuss week schedules and diaries with their pupils. They can also indicate the tournaments in which the youth players may take part in the coming period. Bl.4 Mentor A modest club member can be a stimulating mentor for a youth player. In group trainings, an individual pupil cannot show up to full adva ntage. A mentor can, fo r instance, train on a weekly basis with one pupil or two. They can analyse each other's games, talk about self-study and visit tournaments together. A mentor can take over various tasks from a trainer or coach. A mentor has to have a certain chess level, but the most important thing is that he is enthusiastic and shows commitment to his pupil(s). Bl.S Guest trainers As a variant of regular trainings, it can be inspiring to have a workshop by a guest trainer. The latter can be a well-known strong player or a trainer with a certain specialism. Each trainer has his own style. For ambitious youth players it is an enriching experience to be confronted with various studying methods and visions. After all, development walks on two legs: knowledge and understanding on the one hand, and fascination on the other. If you want to achieve something 52 in chess you have to work hard - on your chess knowledge and on yourself. To a large extent this work consists of self-study. Trainings are nothing more than spri ngboards and signposts. Therefore, inspiring guest trainers can have additional value. 81.6 Self-fulfilling prophecy and selection People partly see what they expect to see. If what they see is not realistic, this ca n have negative consequences. In a scientific research proj ect, students and sea cadets after seeing a movie were asked to indicate how many policemen had received blows during a student riot. The students perceived less than the actual number, the sea cadets perceived more. Likewise, tactica lly-oriented chess players will more easily fi nd tactical possibilities in a position, whereas positionally-oriented players will more easily find positional continuations. If a trainer puts it to a talented youth player that he will never be any good, the youth player will start to believe this. If he then exerts himself less, he will not achieve much and this trainer will be proved right. That is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In this respect the notions 'false positive' (wrongfully assessed as sufficient) and 'false negative' (wrongfully assessed as insufficient) are of importance. Someone may or may not have talent and motivation, and he may or may not be selected for extra trainings. If a youth player is not selected for the wrong reasons (false negative), then he will be deprived of developing possibilities. If he has no business being in a selection group (false positive), useless time and effort will be invested in him. Anyone who assesses if a pupil qualifies for extra training, runs the risk of fa lling into various traps. There is, for example, such a thing as a 'birth effect'. Dutch psychologist Ad Dudink has proved this with young soccer players. Of the adult top-class soccerplayers, a conspicuously large percentage turned out to be born in autumn. An almost eight-year-old child is on average physically stronger than a child that has just turned seven. If these children train and play together in groups of a given birth year, the older one will likely outclass the younger one and he will be selected sooner - whereas this does not say anything about his developing potential. If a youth player breaks down under the stress on a selection day, this may also lead to wrong conclusions about his talent. Such pitfa lls can be avoided by using different methods of assessment, and at different times. For example, by looking at training effort, making an inventory of competition results, having the pupil make a chess test, and by talking to parents and trainers. And, last but not least: by talking to the child itself and observing it. Moreover, some youth players may not yet perform well because they have not been playing for long, or because they have not received any good training. Mentality also plays an important role in the decision whether or not a child is permitted to join a training. Some youth players do not feel like exerting themselves, others are prepared to work quite hard and will quickly catch up. Ta lented players can often be recognized by their ability to develop their own ideas during trainings and games. Real talents are explorers, they like to try out 'crazy things'. A child that has adorned half of its bedroom with chess attributes may not become a world-class player. But it may grow up to be someone who develops great activity in the chess wold. Provided he is given the chance ... 53 81.7 Youth player as a trainer It is useful for youth players to regularly give trainings or give live commentary at a club, at school, or before friends. If you teach, you must think about what you say. You have to catch ideas in words and repeat insights and concepts to yourself. You will also make new discoveries. This will increase your chess understanding. By giving trainings, youth players develop social skills and a sense of responsibility. They become more assertive and learn to make a contri bution to a social community. If more youth players give trainings, there will be more trainers available and more children will be able to learn to play chess. It is known from experience that many youth players enjoy teaching. What young trainers can do during their trainings, depends on their own skills and the level of their pupils. The size of the groups may vary. A young trainer can start with a one-on-one lesson, and if this works out well he can start teaching a group. Youth players can start teaching at a quite young age. Although, if a six-year-old teaches the game to the girl next door beca use she wants someone to play with, we should perhaps just call this 'explanation'. A young trainer can, for instance, give a lesson about a tactical subject from Van Wijgerden and Brunia's Step-by-Step method. This is well-structured subject matter. An experienced teacher can supervise and give didactic tips. Another possibility is for the youth player/trainer to explain certain subjects, like wrong solutions to exercises, to pupils in a separate setting, as an assistant of the teacher. Or a young trainer can discuss with a small group of players their own games and interesting positions. In a playful way, during the analysis, the young trainer can transfer a lot of knowledge and understanding, as well as many techniques. If the young trainer is motivated, if he asks many questions and allows his training group to discover many things by themselves, such a training will soon be well on its way. 81.8 Training partners Alone is still alone. Cockroaches move faster if they know that other cockroaches are around. If people do something together, they can stimulate each other too. Not all learning subjects are suitable for teaching in groups. The study of complicated theoretical material is best done in leisurely circumstances. The definition of 'leisurely' differs for each individual. For some it has to be quiet, others like to have music. A number of training tasks, such as tactical exercises, you will do on your own. In most cases, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, the development of skills and the investigation of problems are more successfully done in a group than individually. If you learn together, you will pOint out new ideas or fl awed reasoning to each other. In a playful way, you will stimulate each other to carry on longer, and to delve more deeply into certain subjects. Also, it is more fun. Training in a stimulating environment enhances the motivation of youth players. In a group, youth players develop social skills like making appointments, expressing their opinion, listening to each other, admitting their mistakes, and plumbing deeply into problems together as well as looking for solutions together. It is useful to alternate individual study with collective training. You can, for example, first study an opening yourself, then play a training game with it and 54 then analyse that game together. Some of the advances of a training group can also be achieved in a one-on-one session with the trainer, provided that the latter builds up this training in an interactive way. This means that he will ask many questions and, by means of discussion, will urge the pupil on to learn in an explorative way. 81.9 Team training Members of a team can train together, for example by analysing games or preparing openings together. They can also put some money on the table and hire a trainer. The latter can analyse games, help them with their opening preparation, discuss various themes and give tips for study. A small number of chess clubs hire a strong player, preferably an International master, to play first board in their first team and also give team trainings and youth trainings. Even at the lowest level, soccer clubs often have a professional trainer - in the chess world this is a rarity. Artur Yusupov has given various trainings to the first team of Schaakstad Apeldoorn. 82 Didactics 82. 1 Introduction 'Properly taught, a student can learn more in a few hours than he would find out in ten years of untutored trial-and-error. ' - Emanuel Lasker Didactics is the art of teaching. Good teaching increases the enjoyment as well as the effect of trainings. The most important thing about a training process is that pupils get faSCinated, they enjoy their development, they feel independent and responsible for their development as well as for the course of the training . A good chess training stimulates the participants' chess development, but also their personal development and social skills. To p-class chess can only be attained by pupils with a lot of potential and a great urge to develop. Motivation can be stimulated, but if a pupil prefers to do something else, there is nothing fo r it. No hard feelings. Limited talent can go together with great motivation. Good trainings can contribute to an optimum development of a pupil. The quality of a training is what counts, not the quantity of the subject matter that is treated. If pupils are taught to investigate thoroughly, if they learn to think systematically and creatively, if they consult each other, manage their time well, get on with their self-study and, above all, if they are motivated, then the aim will be achieved. Knowledge can evaporate, but the understanding of methods hardly ever does. In the end, a chess player mainly relies on self study. A training helps as a springboard and a signpost in this process. In a good training, knowledge and understanding are acquired and skills are exercised. A good trainer pays attention to the development of the right attitude. Important aspects fo r the development of chess talent are the ability to concentrate and objectivity. The ability to concentrate is stimulated by a trainer if he stresses its importance and asks his pupils to analyse positions seriously. He stimulates objective thinking by stressing the importance of objective analyses and by stimulating pupils to take an assailable attitude when their own games are 55 discussed - technically as well as mentally. Sometimes this means that he must conquer his shame, but if this is regarded as a norm in the group, this won't be such a difficult step to take. 82.2 Training group An effective group size varies with every procedure. It also depends on the level of the group and the experience of the teacher. Not all group members are equally fa r in their development. A teacher can take this into account by giving lessons on different levels, i.e. when giving explanations, he mentions both simple and more complicated issues. It is important that a trainer talks to his pupils about self-study during the lesson. Do they have their own niche to study? Do they plan it? Do they find a week schedule useful? Do they write in their diary what they have done each day? Pupils' learning styles vary. One likes to be told the information in words, the other will take it in more easily if he sees it before him. Explanation is the most effective if it happens via several different communication channels. Th us, a trainer should demonstrate positions and variations on the board while giving verbal explanations at the same time. He should take into account that not every pupil is equally quick-witted. The trainer should give his group the opportunity to take their time thinking about a question. Learning things by heart is often useless. It is better to give information about a subject and to have the pupils exercise with it. Then they will acquire the necessary knowledge while playing, and it will sink in better. All the pupils should be involved in the process. For the investigation of positions it is useful to divide the group into sub-groups that are as homogenous as possible. After the analysis, the trainer asks simple questions to the lowest-level pupils, and more difficult ones to the better pupils. 82.3 Trainer An empathic teacher is an important determining factor for success. A committed teacher will enj oy embarking upon an adventure with his pupils in a leisurely atmosphere. The teacher and the pupils are partners who take each other seriously. This will set the tone for their mutual relationship in a stimulating environment. Obviously, the teacher is the one with the knowledge, and he may be expected to give shape to the learning process. But a trainer should know his limitations. A relatively weak trainer (compared to his pupils) can do a useful job by stimulating the pupils, by passing on knowledge to them that he commands himself, by giving tactical exercises with unambiguous solutions, and by discussing interesting pOSitions that he has studied thoroughly himself. A weaker trainer can also ask stronger club players to discuss their games with his pupils. The teacher's language is very important; pupils should understand what a tra ining is about. Also important are the trainer's speed of speech, and he should allow enough breaks. Pupils should be given the time to think about what they have been told. Experience shows that a strong player without much didactic experience can still be successful in a smaller group, and especially as an individual coach. It is important that he feels committed to his pupil(s) and that there is a lot of interaction between teacher and pupil(s). 56 B2.4 Training plan Tra inings are aimed at acquiring knowledge and understanding, developing a certain attitude and exercising skills (applying knowledge and understanding in practice). At the start of a course the trainer draws up a plan, including study goals, and presents this in a survey, in which he also points out study material and practical matters like the times and the location of the trainings. In each training he tells the pupils what he \l'>{ill be dOing, how he will go about it, and for which reasons. He will ask for suggestions and listen to reactions. Students will become interested in themes if the choice of subject, the level of diffi culty, and the methods connect to their perception of their environment and their level. Each theme will pass through severa l stages in a training : introduction, explanation, exercises, tests. B2.S Motivation to learn Motivation is an important factor for learning . If a teacher is able to motivate his pupils, they will achieve optimum results. Reward and punishment by the teacher hardly play a role in a group of motivated pupils. They will reward themselves by enjoying the game and the group process, and by achieving results. Tra inings are interesting if they are suffiCiently challenging . The trainer must watch out for underburdening as well as overburdening. It has a stimulating effect if children can qualify (as with the Step-by-Step Method), and if tra ining sessions have a built-in competitive element via points that can be scored. To o difficult subject matter, long listening periods and monotonous lessons are guarantees for causing students to stop playing chess. But if they discover all sorts of principles and inSights, the latter will sink in better. Moreover, the discovery of new ideas will stimulate their fascination for the game. Success experiences and positive reinforcement enhance motivation. This means that the teacher should think carefully about the level of the lessons, and that he should reg ularly give individual pupils stimulating comments . Sometimes the weather outside is simply too nice. If pupils are less inclined to train on such days, the trainer is better advised to organize something more entertaining , like a simul. Discipline is important for progress, but allowing ten percent of 'change' (absence, doing something else) will keep things pleasant. Pupils can handle an optimum study load if they know that they bear part of the responsibility for the trainings and are also allowed to give shape to them. If a lesson turns out not enjoyable, the trainer must immediately search for the cause. Perhaps the subject matter was too difficult, or he may have been speaking too long. The trainer should immediately put such issues up for discussion and search together with the pupils for a better procedure. Energy management is a necessary condition for effective study. Regular short breaks will keep the heads clea r. Also, when making exercises during a training the pupils should be allowed to take their time. It is stimulating to have a training partner. Partners will ask each other critical questions and provide each other with new insights. Moreover, it is often more fun to investigate something together than it is to do this on your own. It is also easier to stick to your planning if you have made appOintments about it with someone else. As fo r homework on tactics, it is advisable to alternate easy positions (i.e. simple 57 examples and repetitions) with difficult ones. This can be done in various ways, for example: repetition on one day and a new subject on the next. 'Repetition is the mother of learning.' Repetition of exercises that have become easy fo r the pupils also provides them with success experiences, which will inspire them to study further. B2.6 Contents A trainer should make use of examples to introduce and to clarify subjects. He should move from concrete matters to abstractions, not the other way round: first the elements, then the whole - first easy, then difficult. The general rule is: The younger the children, the more concrete the subject matter should be. Children pass through stages in their chess development: material, space, time. This order should also be followed when you offer them training material. Information overkill is useless. Former World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca once said: 'I do not know much, but what I do know I command well.' Learning material and exercises should correspond to the pupils' experience and their perception of their envi ronment. Via an analysis of one of his own games with the help of an analysis questionnaire, a chess player can express how he has experienced a game. This provides a trainer with starting-points for the contents of his trainings, and for advice on self-management. Chess players do not only learn during training sessions - they also learn from experiences gained in tournaments. It is important for a teacher to give attention to such experiences. Th is may lead to group discussions about a certain position or theme. B2.7 Methods It is important fo r lessons to be varied, both in procedures and in subjects . Monotony hampers learning. A good training offers pupils a chance to discover many things by themselves. A good trainer varies between frontal teaching (the teacher stands before the group), investigation in groups and individual analysis of positions. In many Dutch school and chess clubs, pupils first follow a tactics lesson from the Step-by-Step Method and then play a game. With exercise sheets their theoretical knowledge of tactics is tested, but what they do with this in practice remains undiscussed. However, it is highly important that a tra iner or a strong player analyses the youth players' own games with them. This can be done immediately after the latter's fi rst game has been played (and recorded). Analysing your own games is the key to development in chess. A trainer can first have the pupils investigate their games individually, and then he can discuss them in a group setting. This forces the children to fi rst make their own assessments. It is important that exercises are done in a challenging atmosphere. A teacher should not be speaking too long - he should stimulate pupils to ask many questions, and to answer his. There must be a dialogue, an explorative learning conversation. The teacher should ask many 'why'-questions. Frontal teaching is effective for the introduction of subject matter, but it has a stultifying effect if it is the only procedure used. Research and discovery are central in a well thought-out tra ining session. The trainer should select good examples, where new knowledge and insights are right on the horizon of the pupils' accumulated 58 knowledge and insights. The Russian educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky called this the 'zone of the proximal development'. The Dutch psycholog ist Carel Frederik van Pa rreren has also written about this. Just a brief search on the Internet can help a trainer gain more insights in this area. It is effective if a tra iner teaches his pupils to work actively with the subject material. He explains a subject, then the students are given exercises around this theme, and they draw conclusions and put these into words. If a trainer teaches his pupils to put new pieces of knowledge and understanding into words, and if he stimulates discussion, he will stimulate them to think systematically and conceptually. Systematic thinking means that students first assess a position according to general characteristics. Then they select the candidate moves, which they calculate to the end . The results are compared, and then a decision has to be made about the best move. Conceptual thinking is thinking in concepts, themes and plans. Think of yesterday's newspaper or the TV news. What was it about? Much knowledge and understanding is lost because nothing has been actively done with it. It is important that students do something with their newly-acq uired knowledge, like solving diagrams or making a summary in their diary. A trainer should also check in the games played by his students if newly acquired knowledge is correctly applied into practice. For subject material to sink in, it should be practised regularly with questions and exercises . That can be done, for instance, in the form of a quiz where students can earn pOints. Learning proceeds in incubation stages. Sometimes it takes a while before insights are really internalized. Sometimes also, progress goes hand in hand with a temporary setback in results. This is beca use present knowledge and new insights must be integrated into your thinking, and this often goes in fits and starts. If a position is too difficult for a normal analysis, the teacher can stimulate the search for a solution with directed questions. A trainer should use clear examples for the discussion of a certain theme. For the acquisition of techniques the trainer should first show a few examples and tell his pupils to make a few exercises on that theme. The next step is to offer them slightly more complicated positions, where the students can discover the theme by themselves. A trainer should give his pupils enough time during trainings to analyse a position. The room should be quiet while this is done. The students must concentrate well, just like during a game. This contributes to the development of a good competitive attitude. The analysis is followed by a group discussion, where the trainer observes how the students react and where there may be holes in their knowledge, and then he delves deeper into those. By alternating the procedures, a stimulating atmosphere can be created . With one task, a pupil can work individually, with a slightly more difficult one 'cribbing is obligatory' and cooperation is necessary. Asking students in turn to tell something about a theme or about one of their own games will stimulate their ability to express themselves and to consult each other. If you want to make progress in chess you should do a certain amount of self-study: exercising tactics, studying annotated games, analysing own games, studying openings, practising endgames and studying interesting endgame studies. The trainer can explain the best way to go about this. He can also devote a group session to this subject. The result of such a discussion may be that it is better to exercise tactics for 15 minutes every day than for 59 an hour and a half every week. It is effective to alternate 'learning things' (for example, studying annotated games) with 'do-things' (for example, making tactical exercises). B2.S Study environment A quiet training environment is very important. The interior of the training space contributes to this substantially. Good tables and chairs are a welcome bonus. Noise and distractions will disturb the learning process. Also, the temperature should be good and there should be a sufficientamoun t of fresh air. B2.9 Duration and frequency The ideal intensity and duration of training sessions depends on how much the students can handle. The more interesting and varied a training is, the longer its duration can be. The amount of subject material that students can handle is often related to age and to cogn itive level. A well-thought-out structure of training components will strongly influence the atmosphere in the group and the effect of the training. Habit formation and regular training are important requirements for success. It takes time to learn to play good chess. Good planning is important. It allows a student to reserve sufficient time for trainings without them dominating his life . With good planning, energy is used efficiently and an optimal learning performance is possible. B2. 10 Keeping order A trainer should be able to make do with not more than an occasional reprimand. Group members can also mutually correct each other. This will happen sooner if they feel jointly responsible for the training routine. Keeping order is hardly an issue with well-motivated students. If things get too jolly, the teacher can reclaim everyone's attention either with a joke or by ra ising his voice. If this doesn't work, he can ask the students in question dead seriously if they wouldn't prefer to leave. Of course, a child can display difficult behaviour if it has a personality disorder or if it has problems at home. It is important that a trainer has an eye for such circumstances. In such cases he can talk to the child and its parents outside the training, and search with them for a solution. Without question there are group rules, but it can be a great re lief fo r a child if its problems receive attention. In case of a personality disorder (i.e. autism or ADHD), a teacher can give a pupil extra attention and structure. B2. 11 Supporting activities and tools A student can actively and, consequently, effectively internalize new knowledge and understanding if he summarizes everything concisely in a diary. This new knowledge can consist of all kinds of things: fo r example, rules of thumb (general rules), opening traps or mistakes in self-management. A chess student can combine a diary with a database, where he can give comments to positions or games with text and variations. The study of games and positions can easily be repeated via a database, and it will also be better remembered as well this 60 way. A student can partly turn 'learning things' (acquisition of knowledge) into 'do-things' by making a summary in a diary. The more actively someone learns, the more effective it will be. If a teacher gives a summary of a lesson on paper, or via an email.this will stimulate reflection on the learn ing material. This contributes to systematic knowledge augmentation. Older training participants can also make a summary themselves. A student tracking system can be of practical service. In it, a teacher can take stock of, for instance, performance with exercises, tournament visits, etcetera . This way, a bad performance will immediately attract attention. This can be an occasion for a repetition of certain learning material. It can also be an occasion for a talk between the trainer and the pupil and, possibly, his parents. In such a talk the trainer can define a problem and give advice. Of the above-mentioned remarks, a teacher can make a checklist. With it, he can look at his own functioning point by point during trainings. He can bring weak points into vision by agreeing with another trainer to observe each other during a training, and to judge each other with the help of the checklist. With the study of tactics, the success rate of the course will be highest if a student gets quick feedback on the exercise he has done. It is not effective if you make your homework, hand it in to your teacher and then it is discussed one week later. Ta ctical exercises, for example, can be done by students themselves with the Step-by-Step Method on CD-ROM. Here, they immediately see the answers and can check right away what they have done wrong. A student can note his mistakes on paper and re-do these exercises later on. Before a training, a teacher can make a summary of the subject material. But he can also distribute it afterwards (by email, for instance). In an email report, subjects can also be mentioned that have spontaneously cropped up during a lesson. A trainer can stimulate reflection by concluding (a part of) the lesson with the question : 'What have we learned here?', and the students can take turns mentioning examples. A trainer can use various aids. In case of fronta l teaching, a demonstration board is useful; in smaller groups or individual lessons he can use a computer. During frontal lessons, every student shou ld have their own board for trying out variations. 83 Training components 83.1 Tactics '99% of chess is tactics.' Ta ctics are the basis of everything. After the rules of the game have been learned and the first games have been played, the development of a chess player starts with the learning of basic tactical motifs like double attack (attacking two of the opponent's pieces at the same time with one piece) and pin (attacking a piece that can not move as then the piece behind it is under threat). These basic tactical motifs form the ABC of chess. We heartily recommend the well thought-out Step-by-Step Method by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden, where all the tactical motifs are explained in a systematica l way. This method consists of manuals and work books - see the website www.stappenmethode.nI. It is 61 being used on virtually all school clubs and chess clubs in The Netherlands. This method is also suitable fo r self-study by youths as well as adults. The Step-by Step Method has been translated into various languages, and today it is also very popular in Germany. By exercising a lot of tactics you will steadily improve your recognition of positions where certain combinations are possible (pattern recognition). The younger you start with this, the better. It can be compared to learning a language. Research by Krogius proves that top-class players who have started after their tenth year make more tactical mistakes at a later age. Ta ctical abilities are developed best by exercising - almost - daily, e.g. for 15 minutes. The authors of the Step-by-Step Method advise against working through the Steps too quickly. The newly learned skills should be allowed to sink in - only then will you be able to use them in your own games. However, it can never be the intention of a trainer to slow down eager young players. To day, for every Step there are extra workbooks as well as plus work books, providing the motivated player with even more material to practise with. Furthermore, the Step-by-Step Method has also been put on a DVD, which has the advantage that while you are making the exercises you get direct feedback via the correct answers. Repetition is the key to success. Dutch youth champion Roeland Pruijssers worked through the Step-by-Step Method seven times until he had a good command of the material. It can have a stimulating effect to alternate difficult exercises with easier ones. Exercising tactics only is not sufficient for a novice chess player. It often happens that children who have fi nished Step 5 still blunder pieces in their games. It is just as important - and this is often forgotten! - to play many games and discuss these games with a stronger player or a trainer. Further on in this book there is more information about how to analyse your own games. The problem with exercising tactics is that you are constantly searching for good moves for your own side. Not until you play and analyse a lot will you really learn to also search for good moves for your opponent, which you should always take into account. More books with tactical exercises on all levels have been published. A classic is 'The Anthology of Chess Combi nations' (published 'by Chess Informant). In this book, thousa nds of different combinations from the past 200 years are presented on 424 pages. For the sake of variety, it is also fun to practise tactics on the Internet, fo r example on the Berlin chess tactics server Emrald (see chess.emrald.net) . 83.2 Strategy 'Pawns are the soul of chess.' - Francois Andre Danican Philidor Ta ctics involve a concrete and forced sequence of moves. Strategy and positional play are the counterparts of tactics. The two fo rmer terms are often mixed up. This is a little confusing, since their meanings are similar, but not exactly the same. Strategy means making plans; with positional play we mean putting pieces on good squares. Chess players are often classified, according to style, into tactical and positional players. Ta ctical players tend to look fo r complications and think concretely all the time. Positional players prefer to avoid complications and try to improve their position step by step. This is a 62 classical distinction. However, a modern top player should be an all-rounder. The old-fashioned image of a chess master who devises a master plan and consistently follows it through during the entire game is not correct. A chess game is usually a sequence of short strategic operations supported by tactical calculations. The ultimate aim in a chess game is to checkmate the enemy king. Apart from this, the most important strategic element by far is the centre, i.e. the fo ur squares in the middle of the chessboard . This is because the more centrally a piece is positioned, the more possibilities it will have. A knight in the corner only looks at two squares, but a knight in the centre is eyeing eight. This applies to all the pieces except the rooks. A predominant misunderstanding among very inexperienced chess players is that if you put your pieces in the centre, they will be vulnerable because they can be attacked from all sides . The opposite is true. You must trust your own strength : if you are beautifully centralized, you yourself are strong. Some people also say: it's better to have a bad plan than no plan at all. This saying holds a grain of truth. If you cannot think what your plan should be, you could consider: 1. A direct attack on the enemy king. Active, assertive play is surprisingly often successful. As the opponents get stronger, unmotivated attacks on their king will obviously have less chance of success, but it will not do you any harm to experi ment with them. 2. Centralization. Just put all your pieces in the centre, this can never be tota Ily wrong. 3. Improving your worst piece. If you keep doing this conSistently, you will keep your position healthy. In the Step-by-Step Method a modest start is made with strategy. As said, the development of the chess player starts with mastering the basic tactical motifs, and strategy comes after that. The strategic exercises of the Step-by Step Method are often perceived to be difficult. That's not such a bad thing - only it is important to discuss the exercises extensively with a trainer until all is clear. A good follow-up on the Step-by-Step Method is the book 'Chess Strategy for Club Players' by Herman Grooten. In this book, all the important strategic elements are dealt with in separate chapters, for example: weak pawns, strong squares, passed pawn, open file, the seventhra nk, the bishop pair and harmony between the pieces. Each chapter is full of instructive examples and concludes with half a dozen exercises. These exercises are also often perceived as being quite tough. Here again, it is important for the trainer to explain that it is not a bad thing to make mistakes. A nice procedure is to do such strategic exercises in a group setting, so that you can support each other and learn from one another. Strategy is not something you learn in one day. Here also, repetition is the key to success. Browsing through this book for a second time, you will keep discovering new things. You will also acquire a better understanding of strategy by analysing your own games with a trainer or a stronger player. Jonathan Rowson has written an interesting argument about solving difficult exercises in his book 'Chess for Zebras'. If, while playing through instructive examples, you are sitting in your chair nodding understandingly, then afterwards you will have the feeling that you have become a stronger player - that now you 63 understand more of the game. On the other hand, if you are making difficult tactical or strategic exercises, you will sometimes despa ir and get a more negative impression of your own chess abilities. The paradox is that in the first case you have learned relatively little, whereas in the second case you have trained your skills and in fact this has made you a better player. Rowson calls this the kind of training that pushes you up against the edges of your comfort zone. In short: however hard the exercise, you will learn more from studying a position first and racking your brains than from checking the solution right away. Chess talent can express itself in the determination with which a young player tries to find solutions. Rowson, by the way, is writing mainly about adults - obviously for very young children other laws apply, and fo r them it can be frustrating to spend too much time on one problem. Fo r very young children it may be better to play through the solution together in such cases, thereby transforming it into an instructive example. Beside the basic strategic elements there is the fascinating combined action between the factors material, time and space. The pieces have an average value (pawn 1 point, knight and bishop 3 points, rook 5 pOints, queen 9 points), but these evaluations are highly relative. For example, a rook that is standing motionless in a corner, as it does in the starting position, is worth not more than 1 point. However, a rook that is running rampant over the board may be worth 6 pOints. The more space a piece gets, the higher its value becomes. You can, for instance, also sacrifice a piece to gain time for a quicker activation of your remaining pieces. More books have been written on strategy. We recommend 'Secrets of modern chess strategy' by John Watson. In this book, all major and minor developments are discussed that the game of chess has gone through strategically since Aaron Nimzowitsch's classic 'My System'. Also very nice are 'Piece power' by Peter Wells and '101 tips to improve your chess' by To ny Kosten. Such books are often available only in the English language, which leads to another useful piece of advice fo r ambitious non-English chess players: pay good attention during the English lessons at school ! A classic work with exercises is 'The Best Move' by Vlastimil Jansa and Vlastimil Hort. Another instructive book is 'Power Chess with Pieces' by Jan Timman. And, of course, Max Euwe's classic 'Judgement and Planning in Chess' should be part of this list. To day this book has an old fashioned flavour, but at the time it was groundbreaking and it is still interesting to read. Chess is 99% tactics and 1 % strategy. Another way to put this is that actually there is no distinction between tactics and strategy - they are inextrica bly connected. There is a good chance that when plunging into thought, conjuring up all sorts of beautifu l strategic plans, you are suddenly taken by surprise by a tactical possibility for your opponent that you haven't seen coming. 83.3 Opening The opening is the initial phase of a chess game. In Step 2 of the Step-by Step Method the three golden rules fo r the opening are introduced: 1. Pawn in the centre 2. Pieces out 3. King safe. In other words: control the centre, develop your pieces and castle. These rules are very simple, but especially the consequent development of all the pieces (rule 2) is something that chess 64 players keep sinning against even at a relatively high level. Other rules of thumb for the opening are: don't make too many pawn moves and don't get your queen out too soon, because this will cost you too much time. More haste, less speed, but in the opening every move counts and you should not lose time there. If one of the two players obtains a lead in development, this often leads to a direct attack on the other player's king and a quick victory. A related subject is opening traps, i.e. well-known short-circuits in the opening phase of the game. For novice chess players it is useless to study opening theory. As long as you are still working on the Step-by-Step Method , in principle the golden rules of the opening apply. Nevertheless, a fi rst acquaintance with the various openings will follow soon. With white it is recommended to open the game with l.e4, which is the most direct and active move. In order to learn about the combined action between material, space and time at an early stage, it is good to play gambits like the King's Gambit and the Evans Gambit. A gambit is an opening where material is sacrificed for active play and attacking chances. To l.e4, the classica l - and possibly best - reply is l ...eS. Another good, active possibility is l ...cS, the Sicilian Opening. There are different Sicilian variations, but a nice one for young players is the Dragon. An excellent introduction to openings is given in Paul van der Sterren's 'Fundamenta l Chess Openings'. In this book, the backgrounds of the openings are unfo lded with plenty of verbal explanation, helping you with your opening choices. Playing active openings is the best way to develop your tactical skills. With an eye on talent development and top-class sport, a marginal note is in order here. As soon as young talents play in the national top regions in their category, it is time to trade in the gambits fo r a serious opening repertoire with principa l main lines. Remember that we are talking about children from about 12 years of age here (or even sooner, if a child is up to it), who have already completed a long stretch. In The Netherlands this tends to go wrong sometimes. Ta lented players keep playing children's openings too long, and consequently fa il to join in with the international elite. In order to compete internationally, hard work is required, and this also involves a serious study of the openings. By playing principal main lines you will still force yourself to calculate a lot, but you will get many more diffe rent positions on the board, which will allow you to develop more broadly. From this point of view, Merij n van Delft has written an opening series in the former Dutch magazine Schaaknieuws, where he presented a complete repertoire for the white player based on main lines after l.e4. There are an enormous amount of opening books, but these are often rather specialized and do not make up a complete repertoire. True, all the relevant information is in the databases, but for young players it is not so easy to find their way in a collection of more than three million games. Actually, the (Dutch-language) Schaaknieuws series is a manual for using databases. The young talent must know the most important variations and he must know where he can fi nd more information. A good training procedure to get a good command of openings is by taking so-called model games (in the aforesaid opening series in Schaaknieuws, for every opening a number of model games were summed up) and discussing them in the form of a quiz. The study of theory alone is obviously not enough. 65 You have to play games with these openings yourself and then analyse them. This can be done, for insta nce, by organizing theme tournaments with a certain opening variation as a theme. Playing blitz on the Internet can also be a good school, provided that you do this seriously and look up the theory afterwards. In conclusion, we would like to remark that you can only really master an opening by playing real games with it. With opening training, things often go wrong in practice. The trick is to understand in which situations opening study is totally misplaced and, on the other hand, in which cases it is important. Consulting a strong player or a trainer can be helpful here. 83.4 Middlegame The middlegame is distinguished from the opening and the endgame in the sense that it does not have any concrete theory. In the middlegame, real chess is being played, and the player who is tactically and strategically the best versed will gain the upper hand. The remarks made on tactics and strategy at the beginning of this chapter apply here. To become more skilled in the middlegame it is also important to study exemplary games by strong players . Tr ue, there does not exist a concrete middlegame theory, but this study will make you familiar with many typical positions containing certain standard plans. See also the last paragraph of this chapter, on annotated games. To day, opening theory has developed so fa r that the distinction between the opening and the middlegame is not always clear. In such cases we can speak of an integrated whole. There are two factors that have ra pidly accelerated the development of opening theory. Since we have the Internet, all information has become available to everyone. Besides, computer chess programs have become so strong that the development of opening theory is no longer the privilege of the grandmaster elite. The boundaries between middlegame and endgame are not 'always very clear either, but usually we speak of an endgame when the queens are exchanged. However, if there are still many other pieces on the board, we often speak of a queenless middlegame. A knowledge of endgames will enable you to determine in middlegames how you can liquidate into favourable endings. 83.5 Endgame The endgame is the finalph ase of the game, and as such the decisive one. One small mistake may undo all your previous exertions, and often it cannot be remedied any more. Endgame play is chess in its purest fo rm ; since there are only a limited amount of pieces left on the board, it is crucial for all the pieces to perform optimally. Therefo re, a good study of the endgame will teach you a lot about the possibilities of the pieces and the way they cooperate. A beautiful example is trying to force mate with bishop and knight. Both pieces must cooperate perfectly to succeed in mating the enemy king. However, many people do not like studying endgames that they may never get on the board, and they prefer to look at openings, with which they think they can score more quickly. In the Step-by-Step Method, besides tactics a lot of attention is also paid to the endgame: mating combinations, pawn endings (the 'square', key squares, 66 outside passed pawn, candidate first, protected passed pawn, zugzwang, breakthrough, pawn race), material advantage, queen versus pawn, rook versus pawn and rook endgames (Lucena position and Philidor position). These basic endgames are presented with enough exercise material for students to practise them sufficiently. In the endgame, the king becomes an important piece. You could say that here the king is worth four pOints in general: stronger than a minor piece (knight or bishop), but weaker than a rook. By attaching a value to the king with pOints it becomes clear that you will simply play with one piece less if in the ending you forget to activate your king. Not all endgames need to be studied intensively, but clearly an intensive study of the rook plus pawn versus rook endgame is extremely profitable. In this respect, the booklet 'Was man Ober Tu rm-Endspiele wissen sollte' by Karl Otto Jung is brilliant in its simplicity. Rook endings are the most frequently occurring endings. Here, rule number one is: in most cases activity is more important than material. Old-fashioned endgame books were often rather dull, but there is a new generation of endgame books that are much more accessible and practice-oriented, like 'Silman's Complete Endgame Course' by Jeremy Silman. The modern classics among the endgame books are 'Endgame Manual' by Mark Dvoretsky and 'Fundamental Chess Endings' by Karsten MOiler and Frank Lamprecht. Karsten MOiler has also published a good DVD series on endgames. If one of the players has a clear material adva ntage for no compensation, it is said that the win is a matter of technique. Te chnique is not at all easy, but on the other hand, it doesn't require magic. Te chnique has two important aspects. In 'Chess Strategy for the Club Player', Herman Grooten has written instructively on so-called 'schematic thinking'. Also, technique is not an intuitive knock of the master, but a matter of continuous accurate calculation of all sorts of short variations. In other words: technique is tactics. 83.6 Annotated games In order to become a better player it is useful to play through a few annotated games every week. These are games where the game moves (also called 'text moves') are explained in words and variations. In this way you will get to know many typical positions with their standard plans. Do not restrict yourself to games with openings that you play yourself. Annotated games can be found in books like 'Understanding Chess Move by Move' by John Nunn and magazines like 'New in Chess'. The more verbal the explanations, the better. It is important that you study these games actively. This can be done in the following way: 1. Play through the game and try to understand the comments. Write down moves and comments that you don't understand and present them to your trainer or a training partner. 2. Play through the game again and write the two or three most important rules of thumb ( = comments with a general importance) in your diary. 3. Play through the game once more and 'predict' the moves for the winning side. For every move, mention at least one reason why it should be played. In this way, you can check if you understand the course of the game and you will notice which phases remain unclear to you. Moves 67 that you understand are easy to memorize. For moves that you haven't been able to remember, you should read the comments one more time. 4. Collect important thematic positions in a computer database. By learning in this active way, you will reflect more upon what is going on and you will acquire knowledge, understanding and skills. It will enable you to recognize the acquired themes more quickly, and also to apply the acquired techniques in your own games. It is an intensive way to study, but it does yield results. It is better to study one single game thoroughly and really learn something, than to play through more games rather superficially without picking up anything from them. Games by the old masters are called classical games. Garry Kasparov has described chess history in his magnificent 'My Great Predecessors' series. To urnament books are a related way to write about chess history. The best known example is 'Zurich International To urnament 1953' by David Bronstein. More recent publications are 'Curacao 1962' by Jan Ti mman and 'San Luis 2005' by Alik Gershon and Igor Nor. Game collections by the world's best players are rewarding sources of inspiration as well. The best-known in this genre is 'My 60 Memorable Games' by Bobby Fischer. A modern classic is 'Fire on Board' by Alexey Shirov. 83.7 Variation calculation Va riation calculation is in fact tactics for advanced players. Ta ctics is the application of basic motifs, and of course it involves calcu lation. As soon as we can no longer speak of one clear motif, and the calculation of lines starts to become more outlandish (as in a real game), we speak of variation calculation. Novice players do not yet have the ability to calculate deeply, but as they develop further as chess players, variation calculation will become more and more part of their games. Visualization, i.e., playing the moves inside your head, plays a large role in variation calculation. The younger you start with visualization, the better your command of this skill will be. Variation calculation takes places in steps: 1. Candidate moves. Before you start calculating, you must fi rst make a list of the moves that need to be considered. Ta lented young players are often good at calculation, but they don't always know very well what they should calculate . This is a matter of experience and training on all facets of chess. The more knowledge and understanding you have, the better your feeling will be for crucial variations. 2. Calculating variations. According to the classical theory of variation calculation (Alexander Kotov, among others) you must systematically calculate all the candidate moves through to the end. Modern theory (e.g. John Nunn) relativizes this and claims that it can even be very functional to jump to and fro between differe nt variations, because things you have found in one variation could possibly be used in another. 3. Decision-making. A time-control of two hours for forty moves means that you have an average of 3 minutes per move. Obviously, in certain crucial positions you will need to spend more time. But this cannot be 68 done too often, otherwise you will get into time-trouble. For a human player it is impossible to calculate everything, therefore when you make a decision you must partly rely on your intuition. There is a considerable amount of literature on variation calculation, with tips and exercise material to train and improve this skill. In Nunn's book 'Secrets of Practical Chess', the subject of variation calculation is illustrated with sample games. Also interesting is 'Improve Your Chess Now' by Jonathan Tisdall. In the books by Dvoretsky and Yusupov, variation calculation also gets a lot of attention. A good way to train variation calculation is by solving endgame studies (see the next paragraph). l.to r. Artur Yusupov, Karel van Delft, Jonathan Rowson, Jan Gustafsson, Merijn van Delft, Harmen Jonkman, Lucien van Beek and Victor Mikhalevski during a workshop in Karel van Delft's living room. 69 B3.8 Endgame studies There are endgame studies in all shapes and sizes. For practical players, endgame studies that start from a realistic position are the most interesting. Such positions can be used in training sessions to exercise variation calculation and creative thinking. This training procedure is recommended in the books by Dvoretsky and Yusupov. The young Dutch grandmaster Daniel Stellwagen has taken this advice to heart, and he has developed a passion for endgame studies. In 2003 he even won the Dutch Solving Championship for Endgame Studies with an unprecedented 100% score. Harold van der Heijden, from the obviously 1. gS? fa ils to 1. . . . fxgS, Dutch city of Deventer, is very active after which Black can advance his own in the world of endgame compositions, pawn with check. Neither is 1. eS? any and he has gathered the largest good, since after 1. ... fxeS 2. gS e4 3. collection of endgame studies in the g6 e3 4. g7 e2 5. g8Q elQ, both sides world, with around 75.000 of the have a queen. Therefore, the solution estimated total of 100.000 published must be a move with the king. After 1. studies. Kh3? Kf3 there is nothing better than This collection is published on CD-ROM, 2. eS fxeS 3. gS e4 4. g6 e3 5. g7 e2 6. see home.concepts.nl/rvhe16442. g8Q elQ and this is also a draw. Harold is also a study composer himself, and he showed a typical So eventually, by elimination, every example as an exercise for the solver will end up playing the surprising participants of an SBSA chess festival in Apeldoorn in 2003. The beautifu l 1. Kh l!! thing of this study is that anyone can solve it. If Black now plays 1. ... Ke3, White replies with 2. eS fxeS 3. gS and the black king blocks its own pawn. And after 1. ... Kg3 2. eS fxeS 3. gS, White will promote with check. The move 1. ... Kf3 looks clever, but after 2. eS fxeS 3. gS e4 White suddenly plays 4. Kg l, stopping the black pawn. But what if Black denies all the problems and plays 1. ... Kfl? Then there follows: Harold van der Heijden. White to play and win. 2. eS! fxeS 3. gS e4 4. g6 e3 S. g7 e2 6. g8Q elQ Va n der Heijden explains: 'Clearly Draw? No! the win should be brought on by a breakthrough of the white pawns. But 7. Qg2 mate!' 70 After Va n der Heijden had demonstra 1. RaS+! ted this solution many times to non successful solvers in Apeldoorn (who Insufficient for the win is 1. RdS!? had tried all possibilities except l.Kh1), Qh5+! 2. Kb4 Qb5+! 3. Kc3 Qxc6+ 4. Artur Yusupov walked by. After about Kd2 Qg2+ 5. Kd3 Qf3+ 6. Kd4 Qf4+ 7. ten seconds he said: '1. Kh 1 and mate Kd5 Qg5+ S. Kc4 Qc1+ 9. Kd5 Qg5+ on g2'. 10. Kc6 QxdS=. Endgame composer Yochanan Afek 1. ... KxaS 2. fSQ+! has played a role in the development of chess culture in Apeldoorn as a The alternatives don't work: 2. Rh4? trainer and advisor. On the website Qd5+ 3. Kb6 QdS+ 4. c7 Qd6+ 5. Kb5 www.chessvibes.com he has a weekly Qd5+= and 2. Bh7? Ka7 3. fSQ QxfS column where he presents an endgame 4. RxfS=. study. For Karel van Delft's 50th birthday he composed the following 2 . ... QxfS 3. e7! Qxe7 study: 3 . ... QcS 4. Bf7 Ka7 5. eSQ and 3 ...Qf5 4.Bd5 Ka7 5.RaS also win for White. 4. BdS+! Ka7 S. RaS+! KxaS 6. c7+ Ka7 7. cSN +! 1-0 There is a Dutch club for endgame study composers - see www.arves.org. This club publishes an international magazine called 'EG'. Issues can be downloaded on www.gadycosteff.comj egjeg.html Yochanan Afek. White to play and win. 84 Practical play B4. 1 Visiting tournaments If you want to become a good chess player, you must play a lot and analyse your own games and your behaviour in them. To urnaments are good opportunities for gaining a lot of experience. There are blitz tournaments (five minutes thinking time per player), rapid tournaments (20 or 25 minutes) and tournaments where the time-control is minimally two hours per player per game. To urnaments are announced on chess websites, for instance on the sites of national chess federations. For youth players there are separate tournaments, but talented youth players often com pete in events with adults beca use they meet stronger resistance there. Yo uth players who want to develop fast should not restrict themselves to youth tournaments. It is necessary for them to regularly play serious games 71 with regular time-controls. How many games they play, is a matter of consultation with their trainer. An average of one game a week (for example, in a club competition) is probably the minimum. Ambitious youth players should, as a rule, visit tournaments where they can win at least half of their games. This will be sufficient as a success experience. Suffering too many defeats will eventually lead to a cramped playing style. Visiting tournaments also has a social aspect. You meet a variety of people and it is fun to visit tournaments outside your home town with a group of club mates or friends. B4.2 Time-controls Most players prefer 'real' chess games, with a minimal time-control of two hours per player. There are also other playing tempos, like ra pid and blitz. Then there are players who have abandoned all board play and occupy themselves exclusively with computer chess, correspondence chess, chess problems, or endgame studies. Young children with little experience are best advised to play short games, totalling half an hour, for instance. They should play games with enough time to think. Yo uth players do not yet have a lot to think about, so it's no use having them play games that last much longer than the time they will use. However, at a certain pOint they reach the stage where they start playing longer games, and then they can participate in weekend tournaments, for insta nce. In most six-round weekend tournaments in The Netherlands, participants are allowed to take one bye (free round). As a rule one round is played on Friday evenings, three on Saturdays and two on Sundays. In Apeldoorn, participa nts are allowed to take two free rounds. This offers the youngest players the possibility to take part in the tournament without getting too tired . If youth players quickly fi nish their game in a weekend tournament, they can analyse with their opponent, watch other games, or play blitz. Of course it will be great if an organization can fi nd a strong player who is willing to analyse games with youth players. B4.3 Supervision during tournaments In competitions a player must perform - he must show what he is capable of. Sports psychologist Peter Blitz claims that 'to perform is to present', meaning: you must show your tricks. A game differs from a training session in a number of respects : there are interests at stake, there is an opponent, there is an audience watching and playing time is limited . A chess player can prepare fo r games by training and by preparing for specificop ponents. By evaluating technically, but also physica lly and mentally his game experiences in trainings a chess player will become stronger. It is also important to pay attention to organizational aspects. It frequently happens that players do not take possible train delays or traffic-jams into account, causing them to arrive late for a match. If you are less than one hour late, you can still play. But you will have less time to think and the agitation caused by your late arrival is bad fo r your concentration. During trainings, chess is a science - during matches it's a sport. In both situations, chess can also be an art. It is necessary for trainers to observe their pupils regularly during games and tournaments . Then they will notice aspects of their self-management that 72 are not visible on the scoresheet of a game, such as time management, sitting position, energy management and mental issues. On some of these issues, a trainer will already be able to give specific advice during a tournament. Aspects that require closer discussion and exercise can be discussed during trainings. It will stimulate youth players if a trainer visits a tournament with a group of his pupils. A trainer can either play there himself, or simply observe his pupils. Sometimes a player gets nervous during a tournament - for example, if he has a chance to win it. This may lead to inadequate behaviour, like wrong opening choices, bad time management, or stress. In such cases it is importa nt that a trainer has contact with his players between games and gives them advice. If the trainer is not present in person, he can also contact the players by telephone. Youth player Roeland Pruijssers from Apeldoorn was once one-and-a-half point ahead of the fieldwith three rounds to go at a Dutch U-16 championship. He very much wanted to become champion, but he started to fear that all sorts of things could go wrong. During the tournament he had no contact with any trainer. Pruijssers decided to employ certain vague sidelines in the opening, and in the final round he even managed to end up in a lost position within twelve moves - with white. That year he failed to become Dutch junior champion. In 2008 Roeland (who had become an international master in the meantime) played the Dutch U-20 championship in Ve nlo. He was 18 years old. He was staying in a chalet in a holiday resort with his club mates Stefan Kuipers, To m Meurs and Armen Hachijan, who also participated in this championship. Merijn van Delft was on the spot as a coach during the entire tournament, and stayed in the house with the boys. Every day the players and their trainer prepared intensively for games, and in the evenings they analysed the games that had been played that day. This time Roeland did become Dutch champion . It stimulates youth players if during tournaments, strong players discuss participants' games and these discussions can be watched by all the players present. For many youth players this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If they play at a small club, they often do not get many opportunities to discuss games with an international master, or to be a spectator at such an analysis. B4.4 Preparation To perform optimally, a player must be well-rested, concentrated, motivated, and he must feel good. It is helpful for many chess players to look forward to a game in a leisurely way. On the day of the match, they have a leisurely breakfast and take care that they arrive in the playing hall in time. Sometimes they take a little stroll. During tournaments these activities often follow a fixed pattern, which has a relaxing effect. The higher a player's level, the larger is the role of opening preparation. In the evening or the morning before the game, the player looks at his opponent's games and prepares opening variations. Nowadays, with the help of the computer and databases, you can get an overview of the opening variations your opponent plays in a split second. A useful option in the database programme Chessbase is to select all the games and download them into a tree diagram by clicking on 'selection to book' with the right mouse button. This way you can click your way through the games, and very quickly learn which lines your opponent plays. It 73 is advisable to keep pen and paper close at hand, and to write down the most important games. In the tree diagram you cannot see when a certain move has been played - for that you must return to the game overview. If you really want to go about this in a professional way, you can also look what your opponent plays with the other colour, to avoid cOincidentally preparing a variation in which your opponent specializes himself. Another such tip is to look up your own games in the database, to see what the opponent may know about you. Besides paying attention to your opponent's opening repertoire, it is useful to play through a number of his complete games to get a good idea of your opponent's strong and weak pOints. When everything has been weighed up, the player determines if he will use his own repertoire or prepare something new for the occasion. Help from a coach with preparation can be very valuable, especially at championships. Should no games by your opponent be available, then you can prepare in a general way by rehearsing known opening lines. However, especially during a tense or tiring event it may be wiser to just relax before the game. Another option is a 'warming-up' with tactical exercises. Especially if you haven't played any games for a while, your tactical skill has probably deteriorated quickly, and then a tactical warming-up is recommended . During championships, young players tend to be nervous. A little competition stress is healthy, because this helps you to focus on the game. However, too much stress will have a paralysing effect. By regularly paying attention to this during trainings, at least part of the stress can be removed. In a group training, for example, experiences can be interchanged. By thinking beforehand what you are going to do in certain situations, you can reduce stress. 'Angstgegner' A so-called 'angstgegner' requires special preparation before the game. An 'angstgegner' is an opponent who is equally strong or weaker than you in theory, but whom you have repeatedly fa iled to beat. Losing against a considerably weaker player can have different causes - technical as well as psychological ones. An opponent with a strong personality can cause a player who is susceptible to this to be unsure of himself. His play becomes cramped, he makes mistakes or does not dare to take his chances. Also, an opponent may have a playing style or an opening repertoi re that isn't to your taste. A player who interprets such defeats wrongly may lose self-confidence, which, consequently, will cramp his style on a fo llowing occasion. As a result of this 'self-fulfilling prophecy' (i.e. a prophecy that you believe in as a consequence of which your own behaviour will bring about the same effect) he will lose the next game again. By 'force of repetition' - you keep thinking that you just cannot win - you subconsciousy strengthen the image of an invincible opponent. The first necessary condition fo r getting rid of an 'angstgegner' is to recognize the phenomenon. Understanding is a prerequisite fo r goal-oriented action. Analyse your defeats against your 'angstgegner' as objectively as you can and try to fi nd out what went wrong. Analyse defeats by your 'angstgegner' against other players and think of reasons why you may be able to beat him. Think before the game how you want to play against him, and what you will do if he reacts in a certain way. A necessary condition fo r winning is the belief that you 74 can win. By the way, the same conditions are valid when you face theoretically much stronger players. B4.s Playing games In fact, while playing a game you have to think about a huge amount of things at the same time. It's enough to drive you crazy. Therefore, the most important practical rule is: forget everything you've learned and just play a nice game. All the knowledge you have acquired should come to you subconsciously. Consciously trying to apply all sorts of (artificial) rules will have a contrary effect. 99% of chess is tactics, so just sit down, calcu late, and play your game. In an optimum state of mind you will enjoy playing and your concentration will be good (see also the paragraph about flow). At moments like this, chess is a sport. This means that you must be practica l, fi ght for all you are worth, and be sportsmanlike. Being practical means that you should not try to play a perfect game, as this is virtually impossible. Perfectionism is one of the main causes of time-trouble. Dividing your time well is a true art which requires a lot of practice. In a sport you must fi ght with all your might for your chances. This also involves sportsmanship. Young players who behave unsportsmanlike due to inexperience should be conSistently taken to task. The same goes fo r inexperienced parents who lose sight of reality in the heat of the battle. Thinking about the result of the game or about the tournament ranking can have a very negative influence on concentration. A player should focus on looking for the best possible move at each turn. This will allow him to think constructively, and also to control his nerves. A player can train on this aspect, claims Danish grandmaster Sune Berg Hansen. About playing a game John Nunn has written an exceptionally instructive chapter called 'At the board', which is the first chapter of his classic 'Secrets of Practical Chess'. This book came out in 1998 and had a second edition in 2007, with a lot of new material about the role of the computer. Nunn also pays a lot of attention to a variety of aspects that are connected with decision-making and variation calculation. The other chapters are about play in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. B4.6 Analysis During a game it is very important to look upon chess as a sport: what counts is to win, and in a limited period of time a number of practica l decisions have to be made. However, after the game the moment arrives when chess becomes a science. The discussion after the game is called 'analysing' or also 'post-mortem'. Analysing your own games is a crucial link in your chess development. Yo u can learn best and quickest from your own mistakes. One of the reasons fo r this is that you have a stronger emotional involvement with your own games. If you learn only one thing from every game, you will go a long way. In these modern times it is important to force yourself to first analyse by yourself, and only then use the computer. This will substantially improve the learning effectiveness. Analysis is the search for what could have gone better or differently in a game. Under the surface of the move played there are often an abundance of possibilities. 75 This is what makes chess so interesting. Simply put, analysis is trying out other moves. Many moves force themselves upon you automatica lly and are just begging to be tested (during the game you can only make one move at a time!), but some moves are counter-intuitive and harder to fi nd. The discovery of a surprising, creative move can give you a lot of satisfaction. Analysis is more fu n when it is done together with others. This also means that you should be open fo r suggestions by others. Many players are just full of their own ideas, convinced that they are right, and unable to listen to others. Respect fo r each other is an important thing. Even a relatively weak player can suggest a good move. l.to.r. Roi Miedema, Merijn van Delft and Roeland Pruijssers. It is good to regularly analyse your games with a strong player. This stronger player will have a better understanding, he 'reads' the game better and has more experience, and consequently he will be able to point out mistakes to you that you would not have found yourself. Starti ng when he was twelve years old, Merijn van Delft paid Marc Jonker one-hour visits every week for a couple of years to analyse his games. Just like exercising tactics and playing many games, such analysis sessions are indispensible for a young player who wants to develop. There is a number of golden rules with respect to the analysis of your own games: 1. Always analyse with your opponent after the game. This is how Loek van Wely became strong: he played an awful lot, and after the game he invariably analysed with his opponent. The analysis immediately after the game is also called 'post mortem'. You may decide to make some notes already during this analysis. If you have a good memory, this is not necessary, but in that case you must remember to save your notes timely, because after one week you will have forgotten a lot. During a tiring tournament where severa l games are played on one day, it is wise to limit the analysis to a short discussion after each game, and save your energy for the next game. 76 2. Create a database in the computer for saving your own games. You can name it 'My games', or 'Merij nbase', or something like that. Enter all your games here, regardless of the result. 3. Analyse all your own games. If you have little time, just reproduce the fi ndings from the post mortem, but at least indicate a few critical points. These notes do not have to be correct or complete by any means - everything that you save in your computer will not be lost and you can continue work on it at another time. If you have more time, you can, of course, make a complete analysis. You can learn something of any game - win, draw or loss. 4. Publish your analyses. This is a well-known advice from former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. Jan Timman writes in his books how he painstakingly followed this advice, acknowledging the role this has played in his development. Some players do not publish their game analyses, for fear that it will allow their rivals to prepare better for them. This fear is unfounded, because the greatest expert on your own games will always be you yourself. By publishing your games you will force yourself to regard them more critically. If you really do want to keep a variation you have found in a critical opening position secret, then there is an elegant solution: just give the first move of the variation, for example by writing: 'Also critical is 16.hS!?'. As soon as your own analysis is sufficiently developed, turn on the computer. You can make a game analysis with the computer by following the steps given below: 1. Unravel the opening phase of the game with the help of databases, books and articles. Find out what the first new move is. 2. Add all the comments that you have in your head - the variations you have thought of during the game as well as the variations that have been discussed during the post mortem. 3. Play through the game with an engine like Rybka or Fritz and work out variations. 4. Pinpoint the turning-paints of the game and put question marks in the right places. A game analysis should be a logical whole. In the starting position there is an approximate balance between equality and a slight edge for White, but as soon as one of the players makes a mistake, this should be reflected in the assessment of the position. 5. Round off. There should be a balance between variations and text, the analysis must be a carefully edited whole. Everything in it must have a function - it should not be there for nothing. No inaccuracies, no red undancies. Writing a fully-fledged game analysis is an art of its own. Apart from technical factors, psychological factors also play a part during a game. It is useful to try and bring these factors to the surface in your ana lysis. It is interesting to know which mistakes you have made, but it is even more interesting to know why you made them. There can be all kinds of reasons: nerves, underestimation of the opponent, indecisiveness, etcetera . Apart from the classica l way of analysing, it is also possible to analyse a game with an 77 analysis questionnaire (see the paragraph on the Analysis Questionnaire). This may bring to light certain new aspects that you have not thought of before. A nice procedure is playing correspondence chess. Here, as opposed to normal chess, you are allowed to touch the pieces and you can investigate variations much more deeply. The following paragraph contains a few examples of game analyses. In a written analysis, certain symbols (or creative variants of them) are used to assess the moves: !! excellent move good move !? interesting move ?! dubious move ? bad move ?? blunder N new move For the assessment of a position the following symbols exist: +- winning advantage for White ± clear adva ntage for White � small adva ntage fo r White equal position CXl unclear position (this can be interpreted as laziness on the part of the analyst, but Nunn's convention is: 'a complicated position that is approximately equal') � with counterplay ex; with compensation fo r the sacrificed material + small advantage for Black =+= clea r advantage for Black -+ winning advantage for Black The three possible results of the game are: 1-0 White wins '12 - 1/2 Draw 0-1 Black wins. 78 B4.7 Analysis examples 7 . ... Bg6 8. Qe2 e6 9. Ne3 In the previous paragraph we have 9. Nbd2!? explained what the analysis of a game entails. Below we give three 9 . ... Nf6 examples of a game analysis. In all three cases, the original analysis has By transposition we fi nd ourselves on been kept intact. The first one is very 'normal' Nimzowitsch paths again. extensive, but it gives a nice picture White has a space advantage, and of all the things that can be included Black has problems with his queenside in an analysis. A real chess player also pawns. Still, for the moment Black's analyses his defeats! position is solid. He can possibly play along the b-file, and White must Arne Moll - Tom Bottema continue energetically. Dutch tt, 27 November 2004 Analysis: Arne Moll 10. h4!? 1. e4 Ne6 Played by none other than Julian Hodgson, but perhaps not the best I had mainly prepared for Booij and choice . Stronger was 10. Bg5!, which Peek, and was slightly surprised when I had played myself in an earlier I had to play Bottema. As I had no idea ra pid game, as I discovered when I what was his customary reply to 1. e4, checked. Black is in fo r a rough ride, I was very pleasantly surprised when fo r example: 10 . ... Be7 11. Bxf6 ! Bxf6 he played the Nimzowitsch, which is 12. h4 h5 13. g5 Be7 14. 0-0-0 Qb8 after all an opening that is regularly 15. Nd2!± Moll-Rebel, ra pid 1994, and played at Euwe (i.e., the name of Boj kovic- Micic, 1990. Moll's chess club at the time). 10. ... hS 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4?! I was glad with this move. Now White More circumspect is 3 . ... Nf6. gets a closed position, where he can target the weakness in Black's camp 4. BbS at ease. 10 . ... h6!? is what I had expected, and I did not yet know what 4. d5 I was going to play after that. 4 . ... a6 S. Bxe6 bxe6 6. h3 BhS 7. 11. gS Nd7 g4!? 11. ... Ng4? 12. Nd2 e5 13. d5+ Strictly speaking, a novelty, even followed by f2 -f3. though it leads to transposition. The idea to chase the bishop to g6 is 12. Qe4!N known in this type of position, but not specifically here. Also possible Again a move that pleased me. White is 7. Nc3, but with this move order, increases the pressure, also preparing probably the most principled move is Nc3-e2-f4 in passing, and forces Black 7. c4! to make further concessions. Hodgson played the impulsive 12. d5!?, and 79 after 12. ... c5 (12. ... cxd5 13. exd5 the matter, but also the psychological e5 14. Nd4 Nb8 15. f4 Qe7) 13. e5!? side. At this moment I fe lt stronger than dxe5 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 ever: not only had I been unbeaten 16. Qxe5 Qd7 Black's active bishop for months, but on this specific day I pair weighed up against his destroyed felt especially fit and sharp. This was pawn structure, Hodgson-Wockenfuss, illustrated by my moves: they were all 1985. to the point and they all came with a clear threat - following in the footsteps 12. ... es 13. dxes! of Grischuk. The text move also fits perfectly into White's plan of besieging This was my idea. After 13. d5 Nb6 the black queenside. The knight is White has accomplished nothing. pinned, moves like e4-e5 are hanging in the air, and Nd4-c6 is coming. 13 . ... Nxes 14. 8e3! 15. ... 8e7 16. Nd4 es?! White continues his pointed play. Bottema now sank into deep thought, This move came as a surprise. I had presumably calculating Bxe4. However, prepared to play a highly pleasant I had seen that this was not possible. pressure position, but now things Therefore, Black must retreat further. suddenly get much more concrete. Incidentally, this should have worked 14 . ... Nd7 out favourably fo r White, and therefore Black could also have conti nued in 14 . ... Bxe4? seemed tempting, but it Nimzowitsch style with his cat-and is wrong after 15. Nxe4 d5 16. O-O-O! mouse play: 16. ... 0-0 17. Nc6 Qe8 with the following possibilities: 16. ... 18. 0-0-0 was what I had expected . dxc4 (16 . ... Nxe4 17. Qc6 Ke7 18. White has a very pleasant position, as g6!±; 16. ... Qc8 17. Qc3! Nxe4 18. becomes clea r if Black tries to force Qc6 Ke7 19. c4 !±) 17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. matters : 18 . ... Ne5 (18 . ... Nb6 19. Nxc5± Nxe7 Qxe7 20. Bxb6 cxb6 21. Qb4±) 19. Nxe5! (19. Nxe7?! Qxe7 20. f4 15. Qa4! Ng4) 19. ... Qxa4 (19 . ... dxe5 20. Rd7 or 20. Qc4) 20. Nxa4 dxe5 21. Bc5!± 17. Ne6 Qb6 Better was 17 . ... Qc7. 18. 0-0-0 Re8 What else? 19. Nxe7? Only now, during analysis, do I see It looks a little strange to give that this move, which I have long exclamation marks to White's last four condemned as wrong, may not be so moves. However, they do not only bad . For a long time I thought that this serve to indicate the technical side of was the introduction to an incorrect 80 sacrificialco mbination, but just as Fritz The right move, but not for the reasons sometimes bri ngs humiliating blunders I had in mind, as we will see. Still, to light, it can also sometimes lay bare maybe something like 'intuition' exists amazing attacking twists - such as after all - who knows? In any case, here. Yet, I cannot avoid giving this now the white attack indeed turns out move a question mark, since with it to be strong enough for at least a draw, White unnecessarily makes things but the variation complexes are so extremely hard for himself. White extremely complicated that any clever could have crowned his positional trick can turn the tables immediately. pressure play much more easily with After the quiet 21. b3? Qb4! Black has the beautiful move 19. Ne5!!, totally all the chances, for example: 22. Qxa6 destroying Black's pawn structure, fo r Rb6 23. Qd3 Ra8iii ; 21. Qa3 Qb4! example: 19 . ... Rc7 (19. ... Rd8 20. Nc4 (20. Nxg6!? fxg6 21. Qc4) 20. ... 21. ... Qxb2+ 22. Kd2 NeS! Qb4 (20 . ... Qc7 21. Qxa6) 21. Nxd6 Bxd6 22. Rxd6 Qxa4 23. Nxa4 Bxe4 24. Rhd1 etc.) 20. Nxg6 (20. Nc4!? Qc6 21. f3 !± and Black is totally restricted, whereas all his weaknesses remain) 20 . ... fxg6 21. Qc4± 19 . ... Kxe7 20. f4 White is burning his bridges behind him. Safer was 20. Bf4!? - which I hadn't looked at - 20. . .. Rc6 21. Rhe1 Ne5 (21. ... Rb8 22. Nd5! exd5 23. Qxc6! Qxb2 24. Kd2 Qd4 25. Ke2 The only move, but I thought I had Qc4 26. Kf3 Bxe4 27. Kg3+-) 22. Bxe5 already seen the 'refutation'. 22. . .. (Fritz gives the sharp 22. Rxd6!? here : exf5? 23. Rb1+-; 22. ... Nb6? 23. 22 ...Kx d6! (22 . ... Rxd6 23. Bxe5 Rd7 Qxa6; 22 . ... Rb4 23. Qxa6 Ne5 24. 24. Bxg7 Rb8 25. Bf6 Ke8 26. b3;!; fxg6!! See the comment after move and I prefer White here, even if it is 23. not as clear as Fritz thinks) 23. Rd1 (23. Bxe5? Kxe5 24. Rd1 c4 doesn1 23. f6 +?? work for White) 23 . ... Ke7 24. Bxe5 f6 25. gxf6 gxf6 26. Bf4 with an unclear Uh, oh! This is the beginning of a fata position) 22. ... dxe5 23. f4 ! and morgana that was to victimize the perhaps White is still better, although entire playing venue. I thought I had I'm not so sure of it. calculated everything brilliantly: this intermediate check forces the black 20. ... Rb8! king to the f-fi le, after which I play my rook to f1 with tempo, preventing Nf3+ During the game I thought this was at the same time. What both players the losing move, but in fact it is Black's hadn't seen is that Black actually only chance. After other moves he will doesn't need Nf3+ at all. Correct was simply be crushed . the simple yet horribly complicated 23. fxg6!, which I had turned down in 21. fS ! view of 23 . ... Rb4 (23 . ... Nf3? 24. 81 Ke2 Qxc3 25. Qxa6!+- and d6 fa lls; White can not make any progress, 23 . ... fxg6 24. a3!) 24. Qxa6 Nc4 (24. although he can keep trying with, fo r ... Nf3 25. Ke2 Nd4 26. Bxd4 cxd4 27. instance : 33. Qf4!? Rb2! 34. Rhdl!? Qa7+-) and this seemed to me to be (34. gxf7 Qc4 35. Kf3 Qc3=) 34. ... too risky for White. However, I had fxg6 35. Rxb2 Qxb2 36. Rd2 Qb5 37. missed that White now also threatens Kf2 unclear. Qa7+ and xf7. This makes the position so complicated that I now present the Variation B: 25 . ... Qxc3!? I think that below variations in the hope that the this is the safest way for Black. By the reader can add his own fi ndings to way, after 26. Qa7 (26. Rd3 Qxc2 27. them. My tentative conclusion is that Bd2 Rd8!) he would have to fi nd the the position can be held ... by both brilliant 26 . ... Ke8 !! (26 . ... Kd8 27. players. 25. Ke2! The correct way Qxc5! (27. Bxc5 Qxc2 28. Kf3 Rb2- to play for a win. Now we get two +) 27. ... Qxc2 28. Kf3 d5 29. Rxd5! variation complexes: exd5 30. Qxd5 Kc8 31. Qc5 Kd7 32. Qxb4+-) 27. Qxf7 (27. gxf7? Kf8) 27. Variation A: 25 . ... Qxc2 26. Bd2 (26. ... Kd8 28. Rd3! Qxc2 29. Bd2 and Rd2? Qxc3) 26 . ... Nxd2 A fascinating now another pretty trick: 29 . ... Qxd3! position, which has cost me many an (29 . ... Re8 30. Qxg7) 30. Kxd3 Ne5 hour's work. Initially, I thought that 31. Ke3 Nxf7 32. Bxb4 Ne5 (32 . ... Black can now draw with the trick cxb4? 33. gxf7 g6 34. Kd4+-) 33. Bc3 Rxe4+, but then I realized that White Nxg6 34. Bxg7 Rg8 with a complicated can still play for a win by giving two endgame. Both sides have their trumps intermediate checks. The variations and their sources of worry - chances are too nice not to show - hopefully are probably about equal. the reader will forgive me for this small sidestep: 27. Qa7! The idea is 23 . ... gxf6 24. gxf6 Kxf6 to protect c3, and we will soon see why this is necessary (not the direct 24 . ... Kf8 25. Rbl+-; 24 . ... Kd8 25. 27. Rxd2 Rxe4 28. Kf3, as now Black Rbl+- has the pretty 28 . ... Rf4!! (28 . ... Qxd2 29. Nxe4+-) 29. Kg3 (29. Kxf4? 25. Rhfl Kg7 26. Rb1 Qxd2-+; 29. Ke3? is impossible now in view of 29. ... Qxc3 - here we see why Played with full confidence, and here it is useful for White to protect c3!) I left the board to take a walk. So I 29 . ... Rg4 30. Kh3 Qxd2 and White was going to win, and apparently my has to give perpetual check). 27 . ... opponent thought the same, for when Kd8! Now this is the right square. 28. I returned he had played : Qa5! The idea becomes clear. 28 . ... Kd7! Or also to c8 (in any case the 26 . ... Rb4?? king cannot go to e8, since then White wins beautifully: 28 . ... Ke8? 29. Rxd2 The expected move. White remains a Rxe4 30. Kf3 ! Rf4 ! (30 . ... Qxd2 31. piece up. Not until the next day did it Qb5+-) and now: 31. Ke3 !! and c3 sink in to us all that we had collectively is protected, therefore White wins!). missed a simple trick. Quite simple - if 29. Rxd2 Qxc3 ! Now this is necessary. only you see it! - was: 26 . ... Qa3 !!, (again, bad was 29 . ... Rxe4 30. Kf3 ! after which Black simply remains two Rf4 31. Ke3!!+-) 30. Qa7 Kc6 31. Qa6 pawns up. There are no variations. Kc7 32. Qxd6 Kb7 and it looks as if Te rrible. 82 27. Rxb2 Nc4+! 30. Rg 1 Th is intermediate move confused me. Another possibility was 30. Re l Nc4 I hadn't seen it! Now I cannot go to 31. Rb3 with an unclear position. d3 with my king, as then b2 falls with check! I now saw that I could go to e2, 30 . ... Nc4 31. Rb7 but then pawn c2 might fall prey to the black bishop (which would capture on 31. Rb3!? e4 first). Therefore, I played my king impulsively to the only other square 31. ... Kf6 32. Nb6 where it protected c2, completely forgetting that my bishop on e3 Exchanging knights looked like the remained unprotected now. 27. ... correct decision, but now it seems to Rxa4 28. Nxa4 Nc4+ 29. Kd3 Nxb2+ me that this exchange favours Black: 30. Nxb2 d5 31. Bxc5+- his king can become active more quickly. However, 32. Nc3 Ke5 wasn't a bed of roses for White either. 32. ... Nxb6! The right decision. True, White now wins back a pawn, but Black remains the more active. 32 . ... Ne5?! 33. Nd7 Nxd7 34. Rxd7 favours White, since the black pawn front will be annihilated ; 32 . ... Ne3 33. Nd7 Kg7 34. e5! 33. Rxb6 Rd8! 28. Kc1?? 33 . ... Ke5 34. Rg5 28. Ke2 Rxa4 29. Nxa4 Nxb2 30. Nxb2 Bxe4 31. Nc4! Bxc2 32. Nxd6+- wins 34. Rg S!? easily fo r White, especially since he will eat up all the queenside pawns. It White wants to have two passed rook is unbelievable that I didn't go for this, pawns, but unfortunately these cannot but maybe this game had sapped too be set in motion quickly enough. There much of my energy already. were more important things to attend to first: the march of the central black pawns, supported by their king, will 28 . ... Rxa4 29. Nxa4 Nxe3! be fast. Incidentally, it was doubtful Of course. Now it's a completely whether there was anything better for diffe rent story. The black centre is White. dangerous, and White's pieces are off side. Suddenly the position is highly 34 . ... Bxe4 3S. RxhS dS! 36. Rxa6 unclear, and I wouldn't be surprised Rg8 if Black is already better here. In any case Bottema displayed flawless Now Black is very active. Nevertheless, technique from here on. here I still thought that I ought to be better with correct play. Those two 83 passed pawns ... but the white rooks Rb6 52. Ka i (52. Kci Rf6-+) 52 . ... do not coordinate at all and the black Bxc2! 53. Rxc2 Rxh6 54. Rxfl Rh i 55. pieces are much better positioned. Ka2 e4 56. Kb3 Rbi 57. Ka2 Rb6 and Black should win. 37. Ra3 c4 38. Rg5!? 42. ... dxc3 43. Rxc3 Bd3 44. a3!? Black being in slight time-trouble, I tried to confront him with a diffi cult In order to be able to play the king choice. But obviously he does not to d2. The immediate march of the exchange rooks. h-pawn would also end badly, for example: 44. h5 Ke5 45. Kd 1 (I hadn't 38 . ... Rh8! seen this possibility, by the way) 45. ... Kd4!? (45 . ... f5 46. h6 Kd4 47. Rci 38 . ... Rxg5? 39. hxg5+ Kxg5 40. Rc3 ! f4 looks good for Black as well) 46. Rci and only White can play for a win. e5 (46 . ... c3 47. h6 e5 48. Rh4 e4 49. h7 Rh8 50. a4 f5 51. as f4 ) 47. Rh4 e4 39. Rh3 Bf5 ! 48. h6 f5 49. h7 Rh8 50. a4 f4-+ Solid and strong. Black plays the 44. ... Ke5 45. Kd 2 Kd4?! ending excellently. 39 . ... Rxh4? is what Fritz wants to play, but after 40. More convincing was 45. Rb8! 46. Rxh4 Kxg5 41. Rh8! the white a-pawn Kdi Kd4 47. Rci c3-+. is very dangerous. 46. Rf2?! 40. Rh2 d4 After this move the game is lost. More White has made no progress tenacious was 46. Rh3, intending to whatsoever with his pawns, his king take twice on d3, but obviously Black position is still bad, and the black pawns would not allow this: 46 . ... Be4! 47. are starti ng to become menacing. It is h5 f5 48. h6 f4 and Black should win. clear that something has gone wrong. 46 . ... f5 47. Rf4 + Ke5! 41. Rg 3 Ra8 Also here, Black chooses the correct 41. ... c3!? plan. His king goes back to f6 and then he merrily starts rolling his pawns. 42. c3 48. Ke3 Kf6 ! 49. Rf2 e5 50. h5 f4+ This appears to favour White, but this 51. Kd2 Kf5 remains to be seen. Another possibility was 42. Kb2 Rb8 (42 . ... c3 43. Kb3 Only here did I realize that for the first e5 44. Rf2) 43. Ka i (43. Kci c3) 43. time in more than a year I was going to ... c31 and Black seems to win after score a zero in the team competition. all, see: 44. h5 Rb2 45. Rgg2!? (45. Fortunately, my team had already won h6 Rxc2 (45 . ... Bh7 46. Rf3 Ke7 47. the match . Rhf2!) 46. Rxc2 Bxc2 47. a4 Be4 48. as d3-+) 45 . ... e5 46. h6 Bh7 and 52. h6 e4 53. Rh2 e3+ 54. Kel f3 now, for example: 47. a4 Ke6 48. as Kd5 49. a6 Rb6 50. Rg7 Rxa6 51. Kbi A sorry sight. The black pawns will 84 reach the other side, whereas the with it against Jadoul. This time I was white ones are nowhere to be seen. better prepared. To ease the pain I played on for a bit, against my better judgment, of course. 10. Bg5 55. Rxd3 cxd3 56. h7 Rb8 57. 10. b4 axb4 11. axb4 e4 12. dxe4 Rh5+ Kg4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Rxe4 is comforta ble for Black. More accuracy is needed after And White resigned. A tense, 10. Nd2, and now: instructive, and, above all, difficult game! a) 10 . ... Be6? 11. Nd5! gives White a pleasant adva ntage as Black will no 0-1 longer get in d5: 11. ... h6 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Rb8 14. b5 Ne7 15. Qb3! Analysing your own games is always Keeping the bind. 15 . ... Nf5 16. e3 useful. Yo u can learn concrete things Nd7 17. Qc2 Ne7 18. Ba3 Nf6 19. Qb3 as well as draw general lessons from Qd7 20. b6! White breaks through. 20. it. Often it takes a little time before ... c6 21. Nxf6 Bxf6 22. Bxd6 Ra8 23. you can use these new insights. In Qc3 Nc8 24. Ne4 Bg7 25. Bxe5 1-0, 2001, Merijn van Delft suffered a Jadoul-Van Delft, The Netherlands tt painfully quick defeat at the hands 2001; of the Belgian master Michel Jadoul. Extensive analysis showed what had b) 10. ... Nd4! 11. e3 Ne6 12. b4 axb4 gone wrong. Not until two years later 13. axb4 c6 Now Black maintains a did the same opening reappear on the dynamic pawn structure. 14. Nf3 Bd7 board, and fi nally Merijn was able to 15. Qc2 Qc7 16. Bb2 h5 17. Ra 1 Rxa 1 use his new knowledge: 18. Rxa 1 d5!? 19. Nxe5 d4 20. Nxd7 Qxd7 21. Nd 1 dxe3 22. Nxe3 '12 -112 GM Dorian Rogozenko Gurevich-Shirov, New Delhi 2000. Merij n va n Delft Hamburg, 7 June 2003 10. ... h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. b4 axb4 Analysis: Merijn van Delft 13. axb4 Bg7 14. b5 Ne7 15. Nel? 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. This move is too slow. The attacking g3 0-0 5. Bg2 d6 6. 0-0 Nc6 scheme that I use in this game is known from the following game: 15. An important nuance. After 6 . ... e5 7. Nd2? e4! 16. Qc2 (if 16. Ncxe4? f5 and d4! I would have been forced to play the knight cannot go back) 16. ... e3! the line with 7 . ... Nbd7. 17. fxe3 Nf5 18. Nd1 h5 19. Rxf5 gxf5 20. Nfl h4 with adva ntage to Black, 7. d3 Vaganian-Lautier, Manila 1990. Better is 15. Qc2 or 15. Qb3. After this move White can no longer hope for an opening advantage; 7. d4. 15. ... c6 16. Nc2 d5!N 7 . ... e5 8. Rbl a5 9. a3 Re8 On two occasions, Akopian did not get more than a draw with 16 . ... Be6 17. Although this variation is known to be Nb4 Qd7. equal, in 2001 I suffered a painful loss 85 Artur Yusupov and Roeland Pruijssers during Youth Meets Masters. (photo www.fredlucas.eu) 17. Nb4? Bxe3 31. Kg2 QxcS, White can still fight. The text move loses at once. Consistent, but bad. White should already have opted for a modest set 26 . ... Bd4+ 27. Khl Nxg3! up with 17. bxc6 bxc6 lS. cxd5 cxd5 19. Qd2 (19. d4 Bf5), after which Not a difficult concluding move, but a Black keeps the better of the play with pretty one. 19 . ... Bf5 0-1 17 . ... e4 The following attacking game brought The white bishop has to stand by Roeland Pruijssers well on his way to helplessly while the long diagonal is his Dutch U-20 title: occupied by black pawns. 1M Roeland Pruijssers lS. Qb3 Be6! Roi Miedema Venlo, 30 April 200S Black keeps the tension, after which Analysis: Roeland Pruijssers White is the one who has to budge. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.eS Ne7 19. cxdS S.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 cS 7.Qg4 0-0 S.Bd3 Nbc6 9.QhS Ng6 10.Nf3 Qc7 19. dxe4 dxc4 is very good for Black. 11.Be3 c4 12.Bxg6 fxg6 13.Qg4 Qf7 14.NgS QeS lS.h4 Ne7 16.Qe2 19 . ... cxd 5 20. Na4 Qd6 21. Rfc l b5N 17.g4 Bd7!? lS.hS RecS 22. RxcS RxcS 23. Qdl Alternatives are lS.Kd2!? and lS.Nh3!? The idea is to first put a knight on f4 and only then play h5. However, I had done this myself once, and in the game Pruijssers - Grigoryan, World U-1S championship, Kemer 2007, it seemed too slow. lS... gxh5 lS... h6 19.Nh3 g5 looks like the best solution for Black. However, White has 20.f4t and even though Black can defend tenaciously, it looks as if the 23 . ... e3! white attack will crash through first. This thematic sacrifice is made precisely at a moment when the white 19.Rxh5 h6 20.Nh3 Qg6!? knights are hopelessly out of play. A new idea by my opponent. However, it looks too slow. 20 ...Qf 7!? 21.Nf4 24. fxe3 Nf5 25. Qd2 h5 26. e4 Ng6! (21. ..a5 22.Kd2 b4 23.Rg1) After 26. Nxd5 Bxd5 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 22.Nxg6 Qxg6, with the fo llowing 2S. Nb6 Qc5 29. NxcS Bh6 30. Qb4 possibilities: 87 a) 23.0-0-0 b4 !? 24.cxb4 a5� 28 ... Qf8 29.Bxh6 Bxg6 30.Rhg5? b) 23.Rh3!? as (23 ...Be8 24.0-0-0) 24.g5 c) 23.g5 Be8 24.Rh4 h5 25.0-0-0 Qf7 26.Rdhl Qf3= 21.Nf4 Qe4 22.f3 Qh7 23.Kd2 23.Rh3!? as 24.Nh5± 23 ...a5 24.Rg 1? 24.g5! b4 25.gxh6 g6 (25 ...gxh6 30.Rh3! gxh6 31.Rxh6 Qg7 (31 ...bxc3 26.Rg l Kf7 27.Nxe6!) 26.Rg5 32. Kxc3 Kf7 33.Qh4�) 32.Qh3! (32. Qh4 Kf7) 32 ...Ra 6 33.cxb4 (33.Qh4?! 24 ... b4? Ra7! 34.Qh3 Ra6=) 33 ...c3 34.Kxc3 Rc6 35.Kd2 axb4 36.axb4 Rxc2 24 ...Ng6! 25.Nh3 b4 26.g5 Rf5 ! 37.Kdl Rc6 38.Rg4± Black is almost in zugzwang; 30.Rxg6 Nxg6 31.Rg5 Kh7! 25.g5 Rxf4 26.Bxf4 30 ...Qf7? This turned out to be all preparation by the black player. 30 ...Qxf3 ! 31.Kcl! (31.R5g3 Qf5 32.Kcl bxa3! 33.Rg5 Qf7 34.Kbl 26 ...Qf5 27.Qh2 Rb8�) 31... Qxc3 32.Rxg6 Qal 33.Kd2 Qxd4 34.Kcl Qa l= 27.Be3!? 31.Rxg6! Nxg6 32.Qh5 Qf5 33.Rg5! 27 ...Be8! And White wins easily. 33.Qxf5 !? exf5 27 ...b3 !? 28.gxh6 (28.Kcl!?) 28 ... 34.Rxg6 Kh7 35.Rxg7 Kxh6 36.Rgl Qxc2 29.Kel! Qbl (29 ...Qxc3 30.Bd2!) bxa3 37.Ke3 would still give White 30.Kf2 Qc2 31.Kg3 Nf5 32.Kg4 Be8 winning chances, but they would have 33.Rh3 gxh6 34.Qxc2 bxc2 35.Rh2 been smaller than in the game. Ba4 36.Bxh6± 33 ...Qf4+ 34.Kd1 bxa3 35.Rxg6 28.g6! Qf7 36.Bxg7 1-0 28.gxh6? Qxh5 29.Rxg7 Kf8 30.Qxh5 Bxh5 31.Bg5 Nf5 ! (31 ...Ng6 32.Bf6!) 32.Rb7 Bg6! 33.h7 Bxh7 34.Rxh7 Kg8 35.Rhl bxa3=t 88 85 Training tools BS.l computer programs Nowadays, the role of the computer becomes more and more important in chess training. Computer programs like Fritz and Chessbase have various functions: - Database function: In a database with several millions of games, like Chessbase Megabase, you can look up positions, openings and opponents. You can also create your own databases where, for example, you save your own games, build up a collection of positions (see the next paragraph), or save opening variations. - Analysis function: With chess engines you can analyse positions. Examples of such engines are: Fritz (please note that Fritz is the name of the umbrella program as well as the name of the engine), Rybka, Shredder, and Junior. These engines have their strong and weak pOints. For example, Fritz is stronger in tactics, whereas Rybka is better at positional play. - Opening book: The opening book of a chess program contains opening theory. Rybka's opening book has been written by Jeroen Noomen from Apeldoorn. - Playing function: The Fritz program also allows you to play against the computer. The program Chessbase is more aimed at study and has more extensive database functions. Both programs can be used to play against other people on the Internet. BS.2 Building up databases with own games and positions An ambitious chess player should thoroughly internalize his experiences from his own games. The analysis of games and positions increases your knowledge and your understanding of chess, and it contributes to the development of skills. It is very useful to collect played games in a database of a computer program and add verbal comments and variations to the moves. This is called annotation, and it helps you develop researching skills and self-reflection. Annotated games offer good starting-points for discussions with a trainer. Besides building up a database with own games, it is also useful to create a second database containing instructive positions from your own games. A chess player regularly misses tactical tricks in a game, or he makes a positional mistake or cannot find a good plan. This can happen in tournament games and competition games, but also in Internet games. Such blunders may come to light when you are playing through the game with a computer chess program, or during analysis with the opponent after the game, or during a discussion of the game with a trainer. Especially if there is a creative or a thematic move in the position, it is worthwhile to analyse it. If a player prints out such positions or saves them in his own positions database, he will have excellent exercise material which he can use repeatedly. Pattern recognition is the basis of chess, and repetition is the mother of learning. A thematic position is a certain type of position with individual characteristics which occurs regularly in games. A grandmaster has thousands of thematic positions stored in his memory. If a position is thematic, a youth player will not always recognize this. However, it may come to light during an analysis with his trainer. If a position is saved in a database it will be available 89 at a later stage and can be studied again. By regularly repeating thematic positions, a chess player will recognize similar positions earlier in a game. If a chess player consciously thinks about which positions he wants to save in his database, and why, these will be better stored in his memory than if he only observes certain positions superficially. Only if a chess player recognizes a certain position or a tactical motif, will he be able to take its characteristics and its dangers to heart. The next step is developing the skill to create such positions on the board himself. The illustrated position is taken from an Internet game by the then seven year-old Thomas Beerdsen from Apeldoorn, who won a national youth title at nine. Analysis with the programs Fritz and Rybka mercilessly brought to light that the game would have been immediately over after the move lO ... Pb4. In a Monday evening training group in which Thomas took part, the position was discussed. During the discussion, various thematic characteristics of the position were labelled and various variations were played out until the end. Ambitious youth players will do themselves a favour if they check in every game they play whether there was an interesting moment which is suitable for storage in their own positions database. ,,'W Guest62S220 - Thomasb!l8.Vtlendsmappelijke partl l. 7m + o. 200S 000,0-1 �2:9 J 1:J G • 11ft� � Notatie I SchaakformulierI Boek I Ouesl62S220 - Tholft&sb981284 0-1 DOD Vrlendschappelijke7m portij. + 0. 03.12.2005 [on, Oms} BI�z:7' 1.d4 3 PI6 6 2.LgS 4 dS 4 3.Lx16 8 exl6 3 4.e4 1 Le6 6 S.eS 9 b6 5 Thc",,,sb9S doe! :1 een remise .onbod 6.Pe3 4 bxeS 3 7.dxcS 13 LxeS 2 8.e3 10 Pe6 11 9.D&4 13 Ld7 ell!lll2!I1l4 0-0 5 11 .Dh4 22 US 1.16 12.e4 37 Lxe4 2 13.Dxe4 4 Te8 4 14.PxI6+ 34 Oxl6 10 IS.0xe8. 9 Txe8+ 3 16.Le2 2 Ox12+ 3 17.Kd2 6 Ouest62S220 doe! een remise ••nbod Pd4 9 Ouest62S220 Opgeven? (Log: AvcO.2Ss. ",ox-07s) 0-1 Rybka 1.0 Beta 32-blt I 10... Pb4 (1/35) � -+ (-2.65U Oiepte=16 I 0:01:27 10... Pb4 11.0b3 PlId5 12.0-0.0 c6 13.e4 Pf4 14.[� -+ (·2.&4) OleptB. 13 00:00.29 8;8k�� 10 ...Pb4 11.0b3 PlId5 12.0-0.0 c6 13.e4 Pf4 14.£ .+ (·265) Oiep!B 14 00 0103 1931 �N SOOop -;i �---I�--�--�--���F7��<'0>���--�I---- � . 176'1�ply 2 4 � I � 12 14 16 18 KIMr • Kiokvenster -=:�_ =-=----I������� . StartI <:> c& m • � B I!/ll I!/llVerzonden .. �ems ·II.. Gue�t625220 -n' [ii Thomas Beerdse. .. 1 1 « � !!! ." 1 2:4 3 Position Thomas Beerdsen in database. Screenprint of blitz game between Guest 655220 and Thomas Beerdsen 90 Thematic positions Chess thinking is largely based on pattern recognition, i.e. recognizing basic patterns in positions with a certain theme. A thematic position has typical characteristics. Those characteristics offer certain possibilities and restrictions. Often there are various themes that simultaneously play a role. A plan can be founded on the characteristics of those themes. White is to move. He has 8 possible moves. Then it's Black's turn. He has 10. To gether this makes for 80 possible continuations. On each next half-move (=ply), the number of possibilities grows explosively. Soon it will become impossible to calculate all the continuations. If a chess player recognizes patterns and themes in a position, he can focus on a limited number of continuations and calculate them through. He can build his plan on the results of these calculations. In this position there are three themes: the black king is within the square the black pawns can protect each other king + two pawns versus king wins Now what remains is to arrange the themes in the right order: first collect the white pawn, then promote your pawns and give mate with king + queen. In other words, you have to think in phases. Sometimes it is also possible to transpose from a certain position into a known theme. Again, a simple example: White to move draws by playing Ne3+. White exchanges his knight against the rook and we are left with a thematically drawn position. The bishop is of the wrong colour, and if the white king goes to h1, Black can never win. It is important for a chess player to know the characteristics of as many positions as possible. To a large extent, knowledge is recognition. What you do not know, you will not recognize. A chess player cannot take into account possibilities that he does not see in a position. Thematic positions can be found in games, in books, and during trainings. It is useful to write them in a notebook or enter them in a database. By regularly repeating thematic positions, a chess player will be better able to recognize them, and to create similar positions in games. 91 85.3 Dangers of computer usage The computer is an extremely useful aid in all kinds of areas (see elsewhere in this chapter), but it also involves a number of dangers. In the paragraph about analysis we already indicated that it is important to first analyse yourself before you look with the computer. All the conveniences of the computer can easily make you forget that during a game you will be on your own again. Firstly, your own calculating skills will weaken, and working with the computer will provoke laziness. Secondly, you should not indiscriminately accept everything that the computer says. Just as the written word is not the gospel truth, neither is the computer's verdict. An engine like Rybka is reasonably reliable, but especially the early versions of Fritz used to change their assessments of positions every other minute. It is good to realize that the primary task of the engine is to calculate moves; the assessment of the position is secondary and more or less arbitrary. So the computer's verdict can never be used as a compelling argument. Moreover, the computer doesn't explain anything in words, it only spits out moves. The moral of this story is that you should always keep thinking for yourself and make your own assessments. An engine is only as strong as the player who works with it. Even professionals at the highest level sometimes have trouble with the dangers of the computer. In the eighth match game for the World Championship between Vladimir Kramnik and Peter Leko (Brisago 2004), Kramnik put all his trust in a computer analysis that had been rounded off under great time pressure that same morning. However, the variation turned out to contain an enormous hole, which was beyond the computer's horizon. The entire variation appeared on the board, and even though Leko had to think up everything over the-board, he managed to put his finger on the sore spot and won the game in grand style. In fact, Kramnik lost that game without having made a single move by himself. 85.4 Chess magazines There are all kinds of chess magazines available. In The Netherlands, the English-language magazine 'New in Chess' is published. In chess magazines, strong players discuss games from tournaments and competitions. They also often contain book reviews and interviews. 85.5 Chess books An enormous amount of books have been written about chess. Many books are about openings, tactics or game analyses. A good advice to youth players is to take a look at chess books at the home of chess friends or in the library, and study the subjects that they find interesting. If you find something interesting, you will learn as you go along, and the offered information will be in tune with your own level. Some chess clubs have their own libraries. This is really helpful for youth players who do not yet have many chess books themselves. Depending on the reader's level, certain authors can be recommended. It must be kept in mind that young players will largely depend on books in their mother tongue. 92 Young players may have trouble with the language used by some authors. In Dutch chess literature, Max Euwe's use of language can sometimes be a little difficult for young players, but 'Judgement and Planning in Chess', 'Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur' and 'Chess Amateur becomes Master' are instructive works. A magnificent book about Dutch chess culture is Donner's 'The King'. Elsewhere in this book, other examples of instructive chess literature have been mentioned. There is a great English-language supply of chess books. Good authors are John Nunn (who has also written several titles for beginners), Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov (for advanced players), Jeremy Silman, Yasser Seirawan, and Lev Alburt. Youth players should steer clear of reading material that is too difficult. A book which is full of complicated variations can keep a young novice without guidance away from chess for twenty years. If your budget is limited, but you still want to have chess books, you can go to a market. These often have book stands where you can buy second-hand chess books for a few euro apiece. B5.6 Browsing Fascination is the best possible motor for development. That which you like most, you will learn easiest and best. Browsing is another word for 'rummaging about'. It is a pleasant and useful activity. A trainer can make his pupils aware of this by asking them to go to the library and choose a few chess books. At the next training the pupils can take their books and tell something about them. The trainer can add remarks and advice. B5.7 Chess movies There are various chess movies around that are suitable for youth players, like 'Long Live the Queen', 'Searching for Bobby Fischer', and 'Chess Fever'. The latter movie dates from 1925 and is in black-and-white. Throughout the movie there are shots from a tournament in Moscow that was held simultaneously, and world champion Capablanca plays a small role in it. Especially the young kittens of the protagonist are a guarantee for great succes if this movie is shown to young children. It can be found on the Internet for free. A chess club can purchase such movies, which are fun and sometimes also instructive, and show them, or lend them out at trainings. School clubs can also show chess movies. For example, on a 'chess day', when there is also a simultaneous display or a blitz tournament, or a strong player who discusses a game in an entertaining way on the children's level. B5.8 Chess CD-ROMs and DVD's Publishers are putting countless chess CD-ROMs and DVD's on the market, with chess programs, and containing material about openings or games collections of famous chess players. A useful DVD for learning tactics is 'The Step-by-Step Method'. On this DVD there are around 100 subjects that are clearly explained with texts and examples. For each subject there are several dozens of exercise positions. A great advantage of DVD's is that they give direct feedback by showing the right answers. The DVD of the chess program Fritz, published by Chessbase, also contains video footage. In the Dutch version there is a film 93 on which Merijn van Delft explains the chess rules. There are also a number of fragments from videos where grandmasters explain games. Various publishers, like Chessbase, have published a series of DVD's on which (grand)masters discuss games. On the screen, the chess student can watch the master, who gives explanations. There is also a chessboard on display, on which the moves are executed. Watching these videos is an efficient and leisurely way to learn. Every year Chessbase puts out a 'Megabase' with around three million games, 60,000 of which are commented. Strong players make use of such databases when preparing for their opponents. In order to stay up-to-date, they replenish their databases weekly with games downloaded from the Internet. This can be done, for example, on the English website The Week In Chess (www.chesscenter. com/twic/twic. html). 85.9 Internet sites There are thousands of Internet websites about chess. They give information about clubs and tournaments, but also about many other aspects of the game. A great advantage is that most of the information is free and easily accessible. Recommended is the website by the Dutch fiction writer and endgame specialist Tim Krabbe. There are also Internet sites where a player can solve tactical exercises and gain points for them, like the Berlin Emrald site. Websites of national chess federations often contain extensive chess calendars. Other interesting websites are www.chessbase.com and www.chessvibes.com by Peter Doggers. The SBSA has its own Dutch-language website: www. sbsa.nl. 85.10 Chess on the Internet On the Internet there is always an opponent ready to play. There are all kinds of chess servers - a number of them are free of charge. Many top players play via ICC, for which payment is required (there is a reduced tariff for youth players and students). If you purchase the program Fritz, you can play for free against people from all over the world via the Chessbase server. A trainer can give a brief explanation to youth players of the way these servers work. It is even better if youth players explain this to each other. This will save the trainer time, the youth players will learn to communicate better, and they will contribute to the good of the collective. 86 Training procedures 86.1 Pawn structure For beginners, a pawn is only an insignificant little thing. Nevertheless, pawns have been called 'the soul of chess'. A trainer can make the importance of the pawn structure clear to young novices with an exercise: asking them to play a blitz game and stopping the clock after a few minutes, when material is still even. The trainer asks the players to assess the position. Then he removes the pieces from the board and asks them again to assess the position. Then the trainer gives his own assessment and tells the students about passed pawns, backward pawns, pawn islands and other pawn structures. 94 86.2 Seven-column notation Chess players write down their games. Youth players are well advised to learn this as quickly as possible. If necessary it can be done step by step, writing down first ten, or fifteen, or twenty moves. Tr aining games can also be written down on a scoresheet. This has the advantage that the games are saved and the player can later analyse them - by himself, or also with the help of a computer, or with another chess player or a trainer. As a rule, young novices play the first move that seems reasonable to them, without looking for better alternatives. Also, most of the time they hardly pay any attention to the opponent's possibilities. A trainer prefers his pupils to assess various candidate moves, not playing the first reasonable-looking move that comes to mind. During a training game, a trainer can ask his pupils to write down games on a so-called seven-column scoresheet. The first three columns are for White, the next three are for Black. For the white player, column 1 is for the move played by White, column 2 is for an alternative move by White, column 3 is kept open and reserved for a good move that the trainer will later indicate, column 4 is for the move played by Black, column 5 is for Black's expected move, column 6 is again kept open and is reserved for the move that the trainer will later indicate. Column 7 is for remarks during the post-mortem. For the black player, column 2 is for the expected move by White, and column 5 is for the alternative move. Youth players acquire new ways of thinking more quickly if they gain experience with an inspiring exercise than if a trainer explains his noble intentions with an abstract story. We can compare this with behaviour in traffic. A car driver will sooner slow down to 20 mph before a speed ramp than before a warning sign. With the present exercise, the trainer will gain more insight in the thinking process of his pupils, especially if he analyses the game with his students afterwards. The exercise will teach the student to improve his ability to search for various candidate moves, and to anticipate his opponent's actions. This exercise should not be done too often, for that would become boring. It is superfluous if the students are already good at weighing up alternatives against each other and anticipating the opponent's play. Of course you could work with more columns - for example, a column where the time use can be noted. But this is not recommended as it will mean too much 'paperwork'. Moreover, it is preferable not to raise too many issues at once. This is confusing and it reduces the learning effectiveness. However, a player can write down his time use during competition. This is officially allowed by the world chess federation FIDE. Such information gives the trainer insights in his pupil's time management. 86.3 Correspondence chess Correspondence chess is a form of chess where opponents send each other moves in turn. In former times, this was mostly done by mail, but today correspondence chess is mainly played by email. This chess variant has separate organizations and tournaments, and there is a separate world championship. The players send the moves before an agreed time limit. Usually, it is permitted to use different aids, like computers, books, and even advisors. Even though such aids can be very useful, the influence of the player himself remains 95 important, since for many moves strategic choices have to be made of which the consequences can only be calculated a few moves deep. Correspondence chess can be a useful training form and an interesting new experience. It can also stimulate enthusiasm for the game. School teams can play other school teams. It is nice to play school teams in other countries. The proposed move can be discussed weekly in training groups with strong players. In Apeldoorn, a group of youth players, among them Merijn van Delft, played correspondence chess by mail for two years with the strong Dutch Premier League player Nico Schouten. Every week they were anxious to know what new moves there would be in the mail ! B6.4 Visualization of move sequences Visualization means: to make something visible for yourself. In a mental training, visualization means that you imagine how a future situation may look, in what way you will act, and which role you will play. In chess we speak of visualization of a sequence of moves. This means: to calculate a move sequence by heart and to view the position that results from this sequence with your mind's eye. This is an important skill for a chess player. Young chess players develop this skill spontaneously as they play more serious games. After all, you have to think ahead in chess, which involves making plans and calculating variations. It is possible to exercise visualization. By doing this, a chess player simultaneously trains his concentration as well as a serious mentality. There are various visualization exercises that a trainer can present as a game in the form of a competition. During a training, the trainer slowly announces a number of half-moves one by one, starting from a position that is put on the board. The number of half-moves depends on the level of the group. Next, the trainees are asked to take turns playing half-moves on the board. Each correct half-move is worth a point. If you make a mistake, you're out. In another exercise, the trainer mentions a number of squares on which pieces and pawns are standing in an ending. This exercise can be done 'blindfold', without a board, or with an empty board. Then the trainer asks on which square a certain piece should be placed. Obviously, the level of difficulty can be varied by selecting positions with more pieces and pawns or less, or with more complications or less. Chess players can also exercise visualization by reading a scoresheet and playing through the recorded game in their mind, or playing it on the board. In a session with advanced players, a trainer can sum up a sequence of moves and then ask them to assess the position. This gets more complicated if there are more possible variations. Some trainers now and then resolutely wipe all the pieces off the board. Then they ask their pupils to put the pieces on the right squares again. It is doubtful if this will make a trainee a better player. But the extent to which they succeed will provide an answer to the question how well the students understand the position - unless they have a photographic memory. A variation on this theme is to set up, or have the students set up, a previously discussed interesting position at the end of a session, after which the trainees explain what is going on in that position. Research shows that chess masters only have to look for five seconds at a logically built-up position, and then they will be able to set it up correctly again. Bad players do not manage this. If the pieces are randomly 96 placed on the chessboard, neither of the two groups will be able to reconstruct the position. The explanation of this phenomenon is that good players recognize certain patterns in a position. They do not memorize the placement of separate pieces or pawns, but chunks of information. For example, they do not see five loose pieces of wood, but a castled king's position. Since they also recognize the logic in a position (with certain possible striking differences), they only need to memorize a few characteristics. 86.5 Theme tournament A theme tournament is a tournament where the participants are obliged to play a certain opening or variation. This is a suitable method to acquire a good knowledge of such an opening. Participants are given an A4 sheet beforehand, containing information about the opening and sample games with added comments and variations. The trainer can also send them a pgn-file with opening traps. Before the tournament, the participants can play this opening in a few games against the computer or via a chess server. If the tournament lasts only one day or an afternoon, time is limited, and a rapid tournament is the obvious form to choose. It is useful to play more than one game, as then various aspects will come up for discussion. A tried-and-tested training procedure is when a trainer starts a rapid tournament by introducing the theme on a demonstration board for about twenty minutes. Then the participants play three rapid games - changing colours after every game, of course. The trainer walks around and observes the games. After each game the participants analyse with their opponent for a few minutes. After each round, the trainer takes half an hour to discuss instructive moments from the games that have just been played. After the third game, the concentration of many youth players will start to fade. Then, instead of analysing for half an hour, the trainer can give a clock simul with the obligatory opening moves. 86.6 Game quiz A trainer can discuss a game with students and ask them at various crucial moments what is the best move. The students can earn points for giving the right answer as well as for managing to give good grounds for these answers. The game under discussion can either be a game by the training participants, or an interesting game by a well-known chess player, or a game with a clear theme. Youth players often enjoy looking at a game by their own trainer. The advantage of a point sytem is that this simulates a competitive situation. Youth players very much enjoy getting the chance to earn points during trainings. They will concentrate better, and this will increase the success rate of the training. 86.7 Training decathlon Athletes perform in decathlons. These are competitions where they pit their strengths against others on ten items. Chess players can also use the decathlon procedure for training. Inspiring and effective trainings have certain characteristics: the participants are active, they are allowed to choose their own short breaks, they learn by discovery, and they enjoy what they are doing. 97 A well-built-up training decathlon can meet these criteria. A decathlon consists of ten different items. For every component the trainer can award pOints, depending on the performance level. We will give an example below, but on this theme countless variations are possible. The winner of the decathlon may win a small prize, or it may also be a battle for honours. If there are many participants, several trainers and coaches can divide the programme between them. The groups then circulate along the different trainers. The best trainers can take care of those items where the level of the trainer counts. Experience shows that well-motivated children, starting from, say, ten-year-olds, can easily sustain a decathlon that lasts a full afternoon. Once after such a decathlon, the then ten-year-old Gillian Visschedijk from Apeldoorn said: 'Well, we haven't done a lot' to her mother, who had been worrying about the length of the training day. More than five hours looks like a lot, but there had been two fifteen-minute breaks. During the components of the training programme, the participants had been allowed to take regular short breaks. For example, they could remain idle for a while during the completion of a questionnaire, or wait after their move until the simultaneous player came round again. Gillian, who later became Dutch girls' champion just like her sister Marijn, didn't notice how much she had learned. It is comparable to the amount of energy that children spend on play during the day: they can go on forever, it seems. If a training has a playful character, children will enjoy spending a lot of time on it, and without noticing it they will learn many things. Here is an example of a decathlon programme: 1. Play through a classic game from a book by Euwe, 30 minutes. The trainer gives comments on this game on a demonstration board, or, if the group is small, on a normal playing board. At five pOints during the game, he asks them to come up with a crucial move, and to explain their choice. The participants write down their moves and their explanations on paper. Each correct answer is good for one point, and a good argumentation (which may consist of either a variation or a verbal explanation) also nets them one pOint. During the discussion of the game, the trainer also answers questions that crop up spontaneously. In addition, the trainer explains to them the importance of studying classic, well annotated games, and the best way to go about this. 2. Playing out an endgame, 30 minutes. The teacher plays out the position(s) simultaneously, with the losing colour. After that, he explains the correct plan. Te n pOints for a win - and also a few pOints for every partially correct solution. 3. Clock simul, 60 minutes. The trainer and the participants each receive half an hour on the clock. The participants write down the first fifteen moves on a seven-column scoresheet. First, the procedure for this sheet is explained. Seven columns seems a lot, but during the game you only have to fill in four - two more than you normally do. Afterwards, the trainer discusses several positions from the game. A win is good for twenty pOints, a draw earns you ten pOints. A player can also earn points for the quality of his game. 98 4. Short analysis questionnaire, 30 minutes. About the simultaneous game that has just been played, the participants fill in a shortened version of the analysis questionnaire (see elsewhere in this book) with ten questions. Seven questions are about technical aspects, three are about a psychological subject. The teacher then discusses the answers from the completed questionnaires and, if necessary, sets up some positions from the games on the board. He also explains the function of the analysis questionnaire. For every adequately completed question a participant gets one pOint. 5. Tw o blitz games, 30 minutes. The trainer makes as balanced a pairing between the participants as possible. The participants play five-minute blitz games, using a clock. They can play against the same opponent all the time, or also against varying opponents. A win is good for ten pOints, a draw for five pOints. 6. Exercise sheet with ten tactical exercises, 30 minutes. The participants get fifteen minutes for these exercises. The trainer corrects the exercises and discusses the mistakes made. Every correct answer is worth two points. The trainer discusses the use of exercising tactics and the best way to do this. 7. Quiz with ten questions about study tips, 30 minutes. In the first ten minutes, the participants fill in a questionnaire which verifies if they handle their self-study efficiently. The questionnaire can consist of a mixture of open questions and multiple choice ones. The trainer spends twenty minutes on a discussion of the answers. Each correct answer is worth one pOint. 8. Indicating the crucial move in two opening traps, 30 minutes. The students must determine what the crucial mistake is in two miniatures (= games of maximally twenty moves). The trainer tells them something more about the opening in question. A correct answer is good for five pOints. 9. Five quiz questions on general chess knowledge, 15 minutes. This item consists of questions about chess rules, the participants' own club, the name of the national champion, etcetera. Discussion after five minutes. Each correct answer is worth two pOints. 10. Visualization, 15 minutes. The trainer shows the opening of a spectacular game on the board - for example, a game by Greco or Morphy. Next, he asks the students to visualize ten half-moves toward a crucial position, i.e. they must find those moves without playing them on the board and then write them down. Then the trainer executes the ten half-moves from the board position. Each correct half-move is worth one pOint. Anyone who makes a mistake drops out. 99 86.8 Chess puzzles A child's interest in chess increases if it continues making new discoveries in a nice and playful way. Varying the methods helps create an instructive and inspiring learning climate. As a form of training, chess puzzles are a suitable variant. Chess puzzles are easy to make. You print out a big diagram with a chess position, cut the sheet into four pieces, and provide all four parts with both a number (for the position) and a letter (for the quadrant). For every puzzle the order of the quadrant letters must be different. The task is as follows: lay the four quadrants on the table, arranged in such a way that a logical chess position is created, and then solve the position. Of course, the positions can have different degrees of complexity. The trainer can write the correct order of the quadrants and the solutions on an answer sheet. Such chess puzzles will look more professional if you paste cardboard on the backs of the puzzle pieces and plasticize them. 86.9 Psychological tips Youth players can take profit from numerous psychological insights about study procedures and self-management. The better they understand the importance of an insight, the more motivated they will be to apply it. Insights sink in best if they are acquired via discovery learning. The trainer can provide many insights in a playful way during trainings, by connecting them to concrete events in games played by his trainees. During each training, the trainer can ask questions about psychological aspects, and the trainees can discuss these. This should be done in a well-balanced way. Too much information at once will have a confusing effect. The trainer can conclude the discussion with a summary and the answers to his questions. Youth players will not acquire all these psychological insights at once. In a future game they may take them into account, but it remains a question if they will apply these insights well. Here also, the adage applies that repetition is the mother of learning. For a sample list with questions, see the appendix 'List of psychological tips'. 86.10 Simultaneous display A simul(taneous display) is a form of competition where one strong chess player takes on a number of different opponents at the same time. As a rule, the simultaneous player is White, and he is allowed to take back his move as long as he has not made his move on the next board. As soon as the simul player, who circulates from one board to the next, returns to the board, his opponent must make a move. The opponent is not allowed to make a move until the simul player is standing at his board. All sorts of variations on this basic form are possible. For example, the simul player can take Black, or allow his opponents to skip their turn a few times. The simul player's rounds become shorter as time passes, because gradually other opponents will be forced to lay down their kings. There are also simuls where all the boards are occupied all the time. The players who have been beaten are replaced by new participants. The clock simul is another variant, where the simultaneous player and his opponents receive a limited amount of time on the clock. The participants push their clocks as soon 100 Simul by Merijn van Delft. (photo Cocky van Delft) as they have made a move. In this variant, the simul player is well advised to go criss-cross from one board to the other and to divide his time well between the stronger and the weaker opponents. Simultaneous exhibitions against (grand)masters are often organized during festivities when a club celebrates a jubilee, or as a means to promote the game - for instance, on a market or during a tournament. Adult players or strong youth players can also give simuls on club evenings, or to the youth section of a club. Strong club players can give simuls on primary schools in order to give more exposure to their club, for example during a school festival. All that is needed for such an activity are a simul player, a simple announcement on a poster, and a space where chess boards with pieces can be put on tables. The simul player will do many opponents and the audience a favour if he discusses a few game fragments afterwards. A spectacular variant is the blitz simul, where the simultaneous player takes on four opponents with the clocks set on five minutes for both sides. Another strong player might give live commentary. Yet another variant is the blindfold simul. Here, the simultaneous player plays 'blindfolded' (i. e. without seeing the pieces) against several opponents who do have boards with pieces before them. An assistant calls the moves out loud, and as a rule the audience is suitably impressed. Apeldoorn player Johan Wolbers once played blindfold on three boards with a paper bag over his head and with his back to his opponents, on a sports and culture manifestation on the Market Square in Apeldoorn. Many club players enjoy taking on a top player in a simultaneous exhibition. Many youth players will also consider this quite an experience. Forty years after the event, one of the authors vividly remembers how his position collapsed 101 against grandmaster Robert Hubner, when he had forgotten for a moment that capturing en passant was possible. As strong players quickly recognize patterns and combinations, know their openings, calculate fast and also possess a good endgame knowledge, they are often able to find a strong move within a few seconds. A ninety percent score is quite normal for a simultaneous player. Often they concede a single draw as a reward to a player who has defended tenaciously. The simul is suitable as a form of training. For example, a trainer can play a certain opening simultaneously against his pupils, and discuss the games afterwards. Young children learn best if they immediately get comments on their moves. A simul player can immediately tell them what he thinks of their moves, and combine this with a bit of explanation. A player may, for instance, be allowed to take back his move five times. The simul is also a useful device for a trainer to practise middlegame and endgame positions with his pupils. An advantage of this is that the trainer can see how his pupils play, and thus how they think; another advantage is that the students stay focused on the subject, since they are actively taking part. A variation on this theme is when students take part in a simul in twos and are allowed to consult each other about the game. Chess players can also play each other simultaneously. Bronstein was a great champion of this variant - preferably in a theatre accompanied by music. Sipke Ernst and Arthur van de Oudeweetering once demonstrated this idea during a chess festival in Apeldoorn. They played blitz on four boards at a time. This is spectacular to watch and good for the physical condition of the players! 86.11 Tactical exercises contest It is important to exercise tactics on a daily basis. It is advisable to alternate between easy and difficult positions. This can be done in different ways; for instance, on certain days you take only easy diagrams, and on other days difficult ones. Another variant is to make ten easy and two difficult exercises every day. Variety is the spice of life. A youth player can work on a different theme each day. He can also exercise tactics in different ways. There are books with tactical diagrams, and on the Internet you can find all kinds of free-of charge tactical gamebases that can be downloaded in a computer database. The Step-by-Step Method on CD-ROM contains a lot of good tactical exercise material. Doing a tactical exercise-solving contest with a training partner can have a motivating effect. For example, both partners have to solve 20 diagrams within a certain time span, and then they count who has the most correct answers. 86.12 Talent day On a talent day, young talents can get a foretaste of more serious group trainings. A talent day can be useful to stimulate participation in top trainings, and it can also be one of various good selection methods for scouting possible talents. 'Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn' has organized several talent days in order to promote its youth trainings to school chess players in Apeldoorn. In consultation with the chess clubs in Apeldoorn, SBSA organizes a youth training in which talented and motivated young chess players participate. There is space 102 for both youth players with great ambition, and second-rank players who want more training than their own (school) club can offer them. There are a few national-level youth players who no longer participate in the group trainings, as it is not possible to form a homogenous group with a sufficient amount of players. That would become too expensive, since the trainings are paid for with contributions by the participants. Furthermore, those strong youth players al ready attend national trainings with the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB. SBSA does offer them possibilities to join workshops with (grand)masters. In return, they sometimes give individual trainings to young talents. Over the years, SBSA's talent days were created in various ways. In the spring of 2005 a series of three free-of-charge meetings was organized, for which participants could subscribe separately. This was partly made possible by a grant for talent development from the Dutch Olympic committee NOC*NSF, which was received by mediation of the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB. One of the talent days consisted of an evening where multiple Dutch champion Loek van Wely gave a simul against nearly fifty opponents. He walked around the Apeldoorn Mind Sports Centre in a square, and parents were allowed to stand behind their children. To each child the simul player spoke a few friendly words. Of this simultaneous display a film has been made, which has been put on a CD-ROM. All the participants received a copy. On another talent day, more than fifty participants were divided according to level into a morning group and an afternoon group. Each group was divided further into four groups of six or seven children. These groups circulated along four trainers, who each discussed a certain theme for 45 minutes. Lucas Smid discussed openings and opening traps, Martin van Dommelen did endgames, Merijn van Delft analysed a game by Kasparov (a player whom most youth players will know), and Mark Brussen used a computer to explain the possibilities of the chess program Fritz. The participants also played a few blitz games with him, and they did a little quiz with questions on chess knowledge. Of this talent day, a CD-ROM with films and pictures was made for the participants. The third talent day was organized as a theme tournament. Dozens of participants were asked to play three rapid games with the King's Gambit. Beforehand, they were given an introduction in two level groups by SBSA trainers Lucien van Beek and Martin van Dommelen. During the playing rounds, the trainers walked around and observed the games. After each round they discussed games with their own group. On these last two talent days, the presence of parents was also allowed. Of course, the latter were not allowed to interfere with the trainings. After these talent days, a selection was made, in consultation with the trainers, of players that were to be invited to the regular SBSA youth training. This training consists of eight meetings on Fridays and eight on Sundays, and is divided into several groups. The programme also involves a workshop day called 'Youth Meets Masters', two theme tournaments around certain openings, four SBSA rapid tournaments, and several incidental activities, like simuls and game discussions by (grand) masters. A trainer cannot make judgments about youth players after a single match or training - except in the case of a super talent. For some players, it may just not be their day. A reasonable assessment is only possible if you look at a player's games at different pOints in time. It is useful to observe a player while 103 Participants of the talent day. 104 he is playing. In a conversation, a trainer can learn more about the player's motivation and his way of thinking. Also, trainers, leaders of school chess clubs and parents can sometimes provide useful insights in the child's personality, as well as details about particular circumstances. For the assessment of a youth player's talent, it is important to take into account how long he has been playing and how much - or how little - training he has received so far. Additional information can be gained via rating lists and achieved diplomas. Moreover, some children are late-developers, who start to perform at a later stage than others. Premature conclusions can easily lead to 'false positives' (wrongly selected) and 'false negatives' (wrongly not selected). Actually, 'talent day' is a somewhat unfortunate term. There are many examples of young chess players who, on the basis of motivation, have grown to perform better than others who were natural talents. In a selection there will soon be drop-outs. These things happen in top-class sports. The organizers of a talent day may ask themselves how a child emotionally will experience rejection. Of course, a child must learn to cope with setbacks, but it is a completely different thing to needlessly frustrate its motivation and its talents. In any case, a talent day can be organized in such a way that all participants will experience that day as an inspiring and instructive one. Perhaps it is possible to organize follow-up trainings for all the motivated children, for example, by dividing them into a top group and a sub-group. You can call these groups 'A' and 'B'. A motivated second-rank player of today may be the organizer of a talent day in the future. 86.13 Chess variants Several different variants of the chess rules have been thought up, like 'Bughouse chess' and 'Janus chess'. These variants can make a nice change now and then. They may also be useful as an exercise in piece coordination. Via the Internet you can find a lot of information on chess variants. 86.14 Fairy-tale books Chess can be promoted to children in many different ways. It is important for beginners to discover the game's secrets in a playful way, and to derive pleasure from it. There are chess courses for absolute beginners in the form of fairy-tale books. There are also nice CD-RaM's like 'Fritz & Chesster'. After that, Step 1 of the Step-by-Step Method can be used as a repetition. At the start of the course the movie 'Long live the queen' can be shown. 86.15 Winner stays on 'Winner stays on' is a chess version of square soccer. Two players play blitz while the others watch. The losing player has to give up his seat to another player. In case of a draw, the black player remains seated. Prompting moves is absolutely forbidden, but cheering one of the players on is permitted. Star soccer player Edgar Davids said in an interview with the Dutch magazine Rails: 'In the end it's all about respect. Street soccer players don't need a referee. Look, such humiliation will give you food for thought. If you've been nutmegged 105 and made fun of, you will work on your skills. Practise-practise-practise, train train-train. That's how it worked with me. ( ...) We used to organize square soccer tournaments. Then you would play very good guys, three against three, and you would get a lot of resistance. You can show off, but when you were down 1-0 the fire got into it, you know. Because the winner stayed. Then you'd be the one that got the sneers. I didn't fancy that.' Just like street soccer, blitz chess can be a good education. 'Winner stays on' is also popular at parties due to its social character. 87 Miscellaneous B7.1 Monday-evening training The 'Monday-evening training' is a suitable training variant for a trainer with a group of youth players. While lending itself well for variation, this training method does not demand great technical qualities of the trainer, since the students mainly work with prepared material. A trainer's motivation is more important than a lot of Elo points. The key to the story is that you embark together on an adventurous journey into the wondrous world of chess. On roughly twenty to thirty Monday evenings every year, several youth players from Apeldoorn, aged seven to thirteen, visited Karel van Delft at home. In recent years these players were Armen Hachijan, Thomas Beerdsen and Martijn van Blitterswijk. The training lasts more than an hour and a half. During a short break there are three-minute blitz games and soft drinks. The training takes place in a study. The participants are seated at a chess table with an inlaid board, and the trainer is seated next to it at a desk with a computer on it. Discipline during the training is important. Jokes are OK - it's good to alternate exertion with relaxation, otherwise you cannot last for an hour and a half, and the training won't be any fun. Excessive chatter and fooling around are not accepted. This will needlessly shorten the training time, and the trainer also has better ways to spend his time. These training sessions are regularly attended by one or two parents. They do not interfere with the training - still, this is unusual. There is hardly a chess trainer in the world who allows parents to attend trainings. Practice shows that both the trainer and the pupils often feel inhibited by their presence. The training is aimed at technical subjects, learning to express what you think (which stimulates systematic reasoning and thinking in concepts), and also at an increase of self-knowledge and self-management. As a rule, one training consists of six to eight items. It's important that the participants have fun. They are working very actively and interactively during these sessions. The training is built up according to the principle of discovery learning. The subjects have a degree of complexity that the participants can handle with a little effort. In case a subject turns out to be too difficult, the trainer reduces the problem to various sub-questions. Apart from this training, the boys do their tactical training at a club or by themselves, and they take part in the SBSA youth training. There, trainers at Premier League level discuss their games with them. Also, two of the boys discuss many of their own games with a private trainer. The Monday-evening training starts with a brief inventarization of recent 106 Karel van Delft gives a Monday-even ing trainin g. games and experiences. The trainer gives tips and asks critical questions, for example about their time use and their concentration. He also stimulates the participants to react to each other. Tactics are important. Before every training session, the participants are given twenty tactical positions from a tactics database to study. During the training session, a few minutes are spent on the solution of six of these positions on a sheet. Each good solution is worth a pOint. This competitive element is popular, and it stimulates the boys to practise tactics at home. Youth players want to attack. Regularly positions are put on the board from manuals on mating attacks. A good book for young players is 'How to beat your dad' by Murray Chandler. Most of the discussed positions are put on the board. This can be done at a fairly quick pace. One participant sets up the white pieces, the other the black pieces - the others watch carefully if the position is correct. The advantage of this is that variations can easily be played through until the end and that a real practical game is simulated. The training is made as varied as possible. Between the discussions of two items with board positions, the trainer discusses the weekly SBSA email messages for a few minutes. Often these messages contain photographs of well-known players or tournaments. Now and then, an interesting link to a website is passed on, or a book is referred to. The trainer also discusses with the pupils which tournaments will be held in the coming weeks. Sometimes the programme includes a fragment of a chess video or a DVD. Regularly, a classic position (e.g. Saavedra) or study (Pogosiants, Afek) is put on the board. In many training sessions, several positions with frequently occurring themes are 107 shown. Lev Alburt's 'Chess Training Pocket Book' is a rich source. When solving exercises, each participant first has to think for himself. Then the trainees discuss the possible solutions. The group members give answers to relevant questions like: what's going on here, what patterns do we see? A good question is half the answer. Participants are not allowed to propose moves until the trainer considers that all of them have had enough time to develop an idea. If a solution appears to be at hand, it is played on the board, and the trainer reveals if the exercise is solved correctly. If the trainer isn't a strong player himself, he should prepare well in order to be able to give expert comments. With the help of concrete positions, lots of chess concepts pass the review - for example, a 'sea-snake' or a 'tempo' - as well as psychological insights (why do you attack forward?). This is preferably done with questions. If possible, the other participants give the answers - not the trainer. The trainees enjoy helping their training partners to make discoveries by asking directed questions. Interesting game fragments by well-known players are a recurring theme. Sometimes the boys investigate a position first on the board, and then with Fritz. Experience is the best teacher for them to work with this program. The positions may be obtained from the Internet, like e.g. some fascinating endgame position by former Dutch champion Loek van Wely. Often the positions are derived from games by the players of Schaakstad Apeldoorn's first team, which plays in the Dutch Premier League. A position by a (well-)known player like Sipke Ernst will appeal more to the boys' imagination than a position by an unknown grandmaster. They know Sipke because, like other Schaakstad Apeldoorn players, he regularly gives youth trainings in Apeldoorn. At the end of each training session, each participant mentions one position or SBSA youth training by Yochanan Afek. (photo Cocky van Delft) 108 insight that has been instructive for him. This stimulates them to reflect on the contents of the training. The trainer makes a brief report on each training and sends this to the participants by email. Sometimes he will add game fragments in pgn format. During the break and after the training, players and parents always have the opportunity to have a private talk with the trainer. Now and then the trainer will also communicate with the parents by email. B7.2 SBSA SBSA is an abbreviation for Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn (Foundation for the Stimulation of Chess in Apeldoorn). This foundation was established in September 1998 by Cees Visser, Merijn van Delft and Karel van Delft. Later there were several mutations within the board. The foundation's aim is to stimulate chess in Apeldoorn - on top level as well as recreational level. The observation that the existing clubs in Apeldoorn did not radiate a great urge for innovation at the time triggered the establishment of the foundation. SBSA has a small board that meets only a few times per year. The tasks are divided between the board members, with the secretary coordinating things where necessary. Volunteers lend a hand with various activities. The foundation organizes various tournaments every year (a weekend tournament, a blitz championship and five rapid tournaments), organizes a training series for the strongest youth players named 'SBSA Youth Academy' and incidental activities like simuls and workshops, gives advice when asked, and spreads information about chess Children of the Makula chess club . (photo Cobie Joustra) 109 activities as well as chess content. This is done on a website, with free-of charge weekly email newsletters, and a free-of-charge yearly chess paper (which appeared nine times untill 2008. Sometimes SBSA also gets attention in various media. Activities are largely paid for by participants and sponsors. Sometimes a little extra money remains, which is then used for another activity. SBSA exchanges ideas and experiences with chess players outside Apeldoorn in all kinds of ways. The weekly SBSA email newsletters are also sent to several hundreds of chess players outside Apeldoorn. There are even several dozens of readers in other countries. Regularly, guest trainers from elsewhere are invited. Following world Children of the Makula chess club. (photo Cobie Joustra) chess foundation FIDE's motto 'Gens Una Sum us' (We are one people), SBSA has introduced school chess in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. This is done on the school for poor children of the Makula Foundation, which was established by Rogers Mutebi and Cobie Joustra. SBSA has found several sponsors and sent chess material, and with the money the Makula Foundation pays its teachers: first an ICT student, later former students. SBSA enjoys a good cooperation with the chess clubs in Apeldoorn. A number of players from Schaakstad Apeldoorn's first team give youth trainings. The SBSA is of the opinion that it is important for the development of a local chess culture that several members of a club's first team are youth trainers. If youth players have regular contact with strong players, they will learn from them. Such contacts also stimulate their fascination for chess, and their motivation to 110 train. Now and then SBSA is having its cake and eating it: a (grand)master is hired to give trainings to adults and strong youth players, and in turn the latter give free workshops. This way trainers are created, and there is an increasingly active involvement of the stronger players from your city or town. At the intercession of the Dutch national chess federation KNSB, SBSA has received a subsidy from the national sports federation NOC*NSF. Partly with this money, a series of (partly experimental) activities were started to develop youth chess in Apeldoorn. A report on these activities has been made by Willy Hendriks, who has been following the project on behalf of the KNSB. His final report has been included as an appendix in this book. In The Netherlands, an increasing number of chess foundations are established, alongside the regular clubs. As it turns out, this leads to more activities. 87.3 Two- or threedimensional training During trainings and self-study, games and positions are investigated two dimensionally (with diagrams) as well as three-dimensionally (on the board). The question is if it makes a difference in training effect whether a position is studied in a diagram or on the board. Karel van Delft devoted a brief research project to this question in 2006. A search in chess literature did not yield any information; strong players are predominantly of the opinion that the impact of a board position could be greater than that of a position on paper or on a demonstration board. As part of the experiment, participants of the SBSA youth training solved tactical positions and filled in a questionnaire. This research is included as an appendix in this book. The tentative conclusion is that both two- and threedimensional presentations contribute to chess development, but it is easier for a player to become immersed in a position if it is presented on the board. Here also, it pays to think about the information on offer, to dare to experiment, and to apply what you can use in practice. 111 B7.4 Training with Dvoretsky Mark Dvoretsky is regarded as one of the best trainers in the world, and he has educated a lot of players on their way to grandmastership. His best-known pupil is Artur Yusupov, with whom he has always maintained cooperation - the two are a well-known duo. In the past years, Dvoretsky came to Apeldoorn for trainings several times, and he has become a member of Schaakstad Apeldoorn. In 2003, all experiences with Dvoretsky were recorded on a CD-ROM called 'Mark Dvoretsky in Apeldoorn', an SBSA publication. Dvoretsky regards himself as a trainer for advanced players, starting from a 2200 rating. His books (often written together with Yusupov) are simply a must for players with title aspirations. Their five-part cycle 'Training for the tournament player', 'Opening preparation', 'Technique for the tournament player', 'Positional play' and 'Attack and defence' is well-known. 'Dvoretsky's Endgame manual' is a classic. His approach is based on skills (variation calculation) and a certain way of thinking rather than on concrete knowledge. The books contain many tough exercises. A good way to train is by putting the starting positions of these exercises on the board, giving yourself 10 or 15 minutes time on the clock, and then concentrating and trying to calculate as much as possible. In short: forcing yourself to work hard, racking your brains, and then comparing your results with the solution. This has a technical training effect, but it also enables you to acquire a good competitive attitude. By using his books a training session with Dvoretsky can be simulated quite faithfully, but of course it is much more inspiring to attend a training session with the man himself. In Apeldoorn there have been workshops with Dvoretsky where he explained his approach to a broader audience, as well as trainings that concentrated on a certain concrete theme. His collection with thousands of training positions is famous. They are arranged according to theme, which enables students to concentrate on weak points. Merijn van Delft has also received individual trainings by Dvoretsky a couple of times, in which they analysed his own games. One of the most instructive moments from these trainings was the following: Merijn van Delft - GM Maris Krakops Groningen, December 1997 Analysis: Merijn van Delft 112 46. Rb7? The text move seems very logical and obvious, but it fails to grasp the crux of the position. Here is a brief overview of what this position is about: White's passed b-pawn will bring him the win, but it is vital to keep the black king out of play. The very strong pawn on g6 is also potentially very weak, and therefore it needs some support. In short, the rook belongs on the sixth rank! During the game I understood that I could harass the black king with a Ba3 check, but what I didn't grasp was that a white rook on the e-file would really keep the black king imprisoned. In other words, e6 is the ideal square for the white rook. Some more general laws propagated by Dvoretsky: • Good positional play consists of building your own plans and preventing your opponent's plans. • A prophylactic move is a move that removes the threat of your opponent and at the same time improves your own position. The latter is essential, as otherwise every defensive move would be prophylactic. • In general, but especially when converting a technically winning position, prophylaxis is an important (i.e. necessary) resource. I assume that after the above, the short move sequence 46. Rb6 KfS, 47. Re6 Be7, 4S. Re4! is no wizardry for anyone. I have analysed more than ten games with Dvoretsky, and we enjoyed many instructive moments along the way, but I think this was my most enlightening experience with him. 46 . ... Kf8 47. Ba3 Ke8 48. Bc5 Rd5 49. b4 Rg5 50. Kc2 Rxg6 51. Kb3 Rgl 52. Kc4 Rcl 53. Kd5 Rdl 54. b5 Rxd3 55. b6 Rb3 56. Kc6 d3 57. Rd7 Bg5 58. b7 d2 59. Rd5 Bf4 60. Bd6 Bxd6 61. Rxd6 Rc3 1/Z-1f2 Mark Dvoretsky gives a training to Irina Go rshkova, Marijn Visschedijk and Merijn van Delft. 113 Mark Dvoretsky plays Viktor Kortchnoi for Schaakstad Apeldoorn . Mark Dvoretsky and Karel van Delft. 114 " � � - .. ..�- .".«: .�--.: ', '/�.. ..."'---"_ -" �� . <.., ...... " -.....,' #�.J' "..?----..,---;-:::::..... t ' k;(./ � f J> ; / v' \,f ,/ i ! J t I, � if I 'I " '''- n t I ; r Drawing by Trix Meurs B7.S Chess and autism Chess is a suitable sport for many children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Scientific research on this subject is lacking, also on an international level. Experience indicates that chess stimulates social, emotional and cognitive development. A 'super championship' for Jaap de Vries 'Mate', Jaap de Vries (9) announces firmly. After an attack on the enemy king, Jaap manages to score his third full point during the national chess championships for pupils in Gouda. 'My rating is rocketing sky high!', he shouts. Jaap is not very keen on a conversation with a total stranger. But this changes if he is allowed to play a game of chess with him. Then he talks incessantly between moves. 'If I play chess, I keep learning more and more. It's a fun sport, actually.' Jaap wants to learn to play good chess. 'This is a super championship!', he says. Jaap is sufferingfrom Asperger's Syndrome. Because of this, he has few social contacts. In between tournament rounds, he plays games on his Nintendo. In fact, this is precisely what does allow him to make contact with other children, who come to him to see what game he is playing. 'If you share his interest, he is open for contact', his mother Annemieke has noticed. 'These games look individualistic, but for Jaap they are an opportunity to make contact with other children.' Jaap de Vries 116 Jaap takes in sounds much more strongly than others, says his mother. 'His brain does not filter away these background sounds.' That is why he wears custom-made earplugs when he plays chess with other children. He keeps his kinetic unrest under control with a toy snake that he can fiddle with. Jaap plays chess every week, in the youth section of De Wijker Toren. Trainer Jan Sinnige teaches a group of four beginners. 'Jaap has a good contact with the other children of the group, but not with children from other groups of the youth section', he says. 'At the chess club he can gradually build up contacts', Jaap's mother says. 'He has no friends in the neighbourhood. At the chess club he feels at home.' Maarten Beekhuis: contacts through chess In the coming season, Maarten Beekhuis (26) will make his debut in the second team of Homburg Apeldoorn. He has an Elo rating of 2126. 'I've been playing chess for almost twenty years now. During a game I'm fanatical, but I don't study very hard. I think that I like chess because I'm good at it.' Maarten suffers from the classical form of autism. After a stay of several years in the Leo Kanner House (a centre for treatment of young people with autism) in the Dutch town of Doorwerth, he is now living in a protected housing unit in Twello. There he works half-time in the public library. 'The rest of the day I'm doing everyday business like shopping and cooking. I also occupy myself with the computer, I read, and I play Scrabble.' Maarten Beekhuis 117 As a chess player, Maarten has achieved some successes. He became Dutch champion with the E-team of De Schaakmaat and with the school team of the lower classes of the City Gymnasium in Apeldoorn. At one Dutch individual junior championship (under 12), he came fourth. 'I'm probably more self-involved than most people, but I like to have social contacts. My autism makes this difficult.' Autists take language literally. 'Sometimes people mean something else with what they say, and I often miss that. That makes me uncertain.' Autism occurs in different forms. 'In any case, autism is hereditary, and there are certain symptoms - in my case, a need for structure and clarity. My perfectionism makes it difficult to separate main issues from side-issues. And new things are scary for me.' During a chess game Maarten is in his element. 'I'm very good at focusing. Via the health institute GGNet I play indoor soccer. That's fun, but it's also hard. I am a slow thinker and I cannot size up a situation at a glance: should I pass the bail or make an action myself?' Tom Meurs enjoys strategic thinking Tom Meurs (17) has Asperger's. This pre-university education student has been playing chess since he was eleven. 'They needed a player for the school chess team. So I quickly learned the rules, and it was fun.' Soon he became a member of the chess club in Ermelo, and he joined the chess camp of De Schaakmaat at Tom Meurs (left) with his trainer Merijn van Delft. 118 the Open Dutch Youth Championship. Tom trained with the Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn (Foundation for the Promotion of Chess in Apeldoorn), and now plays in the second team of Homburg Apeldoorn. His Elo rating is 2175. 'I want to cross the 2300 mark within a year. 1 train with 1M Yochanan Afek for two hours every week, and via email with 1M Tibor Karolyi, with whom I have stayed in Hungary for a week.' Tom often doesn't understand exactly what other people mean. 'Sometimes I attach too much meaning to it.' An advantage of his Asperger's Syndrome is that he is good at concentrating. 'Especially during trainings. A disadvantage is that during a tournament I sometimes feel less at ease, which is bad for my performance.' In recent months he has taken up boxing. 'That's a strategic sport. Taking blows, fighting back. You become self-confident, because you have to dare to attack as well. It is very much like chess.' The nice thing about chess, Tom thinks, is that it is a very strategic game. 'It offers you full scope to apply all your understanding and your creativity. You really have to work hard; analyse, make plans, look deeper than your opponent.' Tom has a tip for chess trainers. 'At De Schaakmaat they wanted to slow me down when I had finished Step 4 in one week. Other children finish two pages in a week, but a kid with Asperger's, who is enthusiastic, can do a lot more. Such kids should be allowed to go ahead.' His social skills have improved a lot compared with ten years ago. 'Whether this is because of chess, I don't know. I've also learned a lot from the support of my parents.' What is autism? Autism is a congenital neurological disorder. Symptoms are: limited social skills, a need for structure, and problems with emotions, empathy, self-image, language, imaginative powers and locomotion. Autists have trouble internalizing sensory stimuli as a coherent whole. Autists often have a limited field of interest, in which they can specialize strongly. To cope with the complexities of the outside world, autists seek refuge in fixed habits and patterns. We speak of the Spectrum of Autism Disorders. Category classifications are: classical autism, MCDD (Multiple Complex Development Disorder), the Asperger's Disorder, and PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). Approximately one in every 200 persons has an autistic disorder. Boys suffer from it six times more frequently than girls. The better their environment is geared to their needs, the more autists will be able to develop their qualities. Chess is suitable for autists 'Chess is definitely a suitable sport for autists. The rules of the game are clear, there is no physical contact, it's nice and quiet', says Heleen Kers from Apeldoorn. Via Heleen, a dozen children of De Ambelt - a school for special education - have joined the school chess club De Schakel. 'You can teach them in a normal way, but you must give them individual attention. And the teacher must use straight language.' 119 In Putten, the 'Foundation for Groundbreaking Talents' organizes chess lessons for young people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is done in cooperation with the local chess club PSV DoDo. Initiator Jacqueline van den Brink: 'They are often able to think very logically, and this fits in well with chess, which is a game that is very structured and surveyable. Autists are often perfectionists. When playing chess, they have a grip on what they are doing.' The experience of Poulien Knipscheer, a chess trainer and pedagogue from Rotterdam, is that as a trainer you have to express yourself very clearly, and give a lot of information. 'To autistic children who learn to play chess, it's better to explain everything in one go than to introduce the rules and their exceptions step by step.' Chess is a good means for creating mutual contact, is the conclusion of recreational and leisure activities coordinator Wicher Struik of the Leo Kanner House. 'By joining this little club they belong somewhere, and that strengthens their identity.' Peter Hamers gives chess lessons in the Leo Kanner House as a volunteer. 'When giving chess lessons to autists, your group should be small and surveyable. You must state clearly what you are going to do during the lesson and you must stick to that. Their mastering of the game adds to their self-respect. It also makes them feel more appreciated.' Four autistic boys between seven and twelve years old receive one-hour chess lessons from Willem van der Hulst, who is on an Early Retirement Scheme, on a weekly basis. 'The most important thing is to have patience. Now and then they are very busy and impulsive. You must tell them clearly what is expected of them. Also, you have to motivate them, as they often find it hard to take initiatives by themselves. You can see how much fun they're having. I have the impression that chess is very good for their development - intellectually, socially and emotionally. It also gives them self-confidence, as they learn to be good at something.' Walk-in Centre InsideAut in Alkmaar has a chess club. Many people with autism like to play chess and they do it well, says professional employee Carola Zwartjes. 'It is safe and structured here. At a 'normal' club, people with autism often miss social association with other club members.' The Australian 1M Alex Wohl has trained the talented Trevor Tao in the 1990s. 'You have to explain everything as simply as possible', he says. 'You should not assume that certain knowledge is present, or that something will be understood. You have to check all the time if what you say is getting across. With many autists you can communicate really well, but it's different than with most other people.' 120 C - ORGANIZATION & COMMUNICATION Cl Organization Cl.l Top-class sport and recreational sport Top-class sport and recreational sport are often worlds apart. But this does not always have to be the case. Of course you do not have to bother a seven year-old girl who attends lessons and plays a weekly game at the school's chess club with information about grandmaster games. But a simul with twenty other children against a strong former student of the school can be a lot of fun. Children will be amazed that such a boy or girl can play so many opponents at a time. Parents who come to watch will also think of it as a marvellous achievement. Their amazement will grow when they watch a blitz game - they never imagined that chess pieces could fly over the board so quickly! In The Netherlands people have never played chess as massively as when Max Euwe became World Champion. People clung to the radio massively. We are talking about a time when there weren't any computers - there wasn't even television. Even though hardly any Dutchman will understand the difference in level between the World Champion and the Dutch number 1000, still having a champion can stimulate many people to start practising a sport. Although, people are not always up to date everywhere. Once grandmaster Artur Yusupov, a member of Schaakstad Apeldoorn, visited the town house of his home town in Germany. He mentioned his name to the civil servant, who frowned: 'Yusupov, Yusupov... , that's a well-known name.' A chess grandmaster nods politely in such cases. 'Ah, now I remember', said the civil servant. 'Of course - you are the husband of the coach of the school's chess team that took second place in the national championships!' Many top-class chess players enjoy the experience of now and then giving workshops to well-motivated youth players. This not only applies to top players at the local club, but also to international masters and grandmasters. In order to analyse a game, an interest in children is the chief didactic prerequisite. If necessary, a more didactically experienced person can be asked to assist. The children will have a field day. Actually, top players are more often than not willing to do this. It's just that nobody asks them. In fact, that was exactly what grandmaster Jan Timman replied when asked why he was hardly involved in the education of young top talents. The authors of this book know from their own experience that he was already prepared to give workshops years ago. For talented youth players, teaching is a good possibility to develop 121 communication skills. It also forces them to reflect more closely on the matter at hand. By the engagement of stronger club players, masters, and talented youth players for regular trainings or guest trainings, more youth players will get the opportunity to further their development. For years Apeldoorn has known a primary school competition, in which more than twenty primary schools play against one or more other teams. This competition was an initiative by a few enthusiastic chess club members, like Hessel Visser. In the past, once in a while a talent would break through, but he would have to find his way to the top (or not) all by himself, with only his parents' support. After Marc Jonker, Renate Limbach (as trainers), and Karel van Delft (as an organizer) had set up a top training programme for youth players, many Apeldoorn youths developed quickly and achieved regional and national titles. This has resulted in a dozen or so players having a 2000 rating - or much higher - who play in the foremost teams of Schaakstad Apeldoorn today. The trainings did not get off the ground without a struggle. A number of club members feared that top-class sport would be at the expense of the pleasant atmosphere at the chess clubs. Practical experience shows that a number of youth players who received extra trainings in the past have by now become active chess organizers. A number of these former youth players, such as Martin van Dommelen, Stefan Kuipers, Sjef Rijnaarts and Roeland Pruijssers, give trainings themselves today. C1.2 Chess club or foundation Dutch chess clubs often have a weekly club competition, and club teams participate in competitions against other clubs. Sometimes there is an entertaining evening with, for example, a blitz tournament. Clubs have -less and less - club bulletins, and more and more clubs have their own websites. Many clubs have a youth section of their own. Many of them organize tournaments where players from other clubs are welcome. A limited number of clubs play on top level, with or without the support of a sponsor. Here and there, chess foundations are established by people with ambitions that reach beyond those of the local club(s). Some clubs cooperate under the umbrella of a foundation for part of their activities, like tournaments and trainings. One reason for establishing a foundation may be that many fellow club members aren't interested in more than their weekly game. Sometimes they fear the financial risks of extra activities. Often they just prefer things to stay as they are. A foundation with a few enthusiastic people often turns out to be more decisive than club boards, which have often grow indolent over the years and do not have a clear vision of their possibilities and their future. It can be finanCially advisable to separate the relatively large tournament budgets from the modest club funds. Obviously it is a good thing for chess clubs and foundations to cooperate where possible. 122 Armen Hachijan during a club evening of Schaakstad Apeldoorn. (photo Cocky van Delft) Karin Pruijssers during a club evening of Schaakstad Apeldoorn. (photo Cocky van Delft) 123 C1.3 Policy plan In a policy plan, an organizaton writes down its aims and how it wants to achieve them. This can be combined with an organizational set-up including a division of tasks. For example, a club can make a policy plan which states that it aims to realize top-class sport, recreational sport, talent development and promotion of their sport. This involves a wide array of activities. These can be put on a list, which also contains the names of the responsible board members and other staff members who are responsible for the activities. Using such a policy plan, the board can evaluate regularly and give account at general meetings. The chairman or the secretary can keep an eye on the day-to-day proceedings. The advantage of a policy plan with an added organizational scheme is that the activities are clearly structured, the various responsibilities are put on paper, and if something goes wrong this will quickly become clear. Cl.4 Costs In comparison with many physical sports, chess is a cheap sport. Weekly club evenings and walk-in hours for novice youth players are not expensive. Talent development, however, does have a price. That's normal. Why should it be free of charge? Nevertheless, where chess is concerned, some club members and parents have a different opinion. They are, of course, fully entitled to this, but as a rule their objections will hamper youth players in their development. For the organization of good trainings and the achievement of good results, good trainers are needed. And they tend to cost money. Why should a chess trainer earn less than a music teacher or a tennis coach? And an ambitious youth player also needs books and a chess computer program. Cl.S Volunteers With all kinds of sports, many tasks are performed by volunteers, and only trainers receive payment. Some organizations suffer from a lack of volunteers, whereas for other organizations this is much less of a problem. The difference is not only a question of 'good or bad luck'. It turns out that every organization that has a sufficient or even a large number of volunteers, fulfils a few specific conditions. It is important that one single person or a small group of people act(s) as (an) enthusiastic pioneer(s). Volunteers like to be taken seriously by their organization. They do a better job performing their tasks if they feel that their opinions are listened to, and if they themselves bear the responsibility of giving shape and content to their tasks. More people will be willing to volunteer if their tasks are clearly described, and if a club asks them to do activities they are interested in, and/or which do not take too much time. It is a good thing to express your appreciation for the volunteers with a nice activity. This may be, for instance, a simul with a strong player, or a fun tournament between them. SBSA was once involved in the organization of a tournament where supervisors of the more than twenty school chess clubs in Apeldoorn took part. Volunteers can also have limitations or bad character traits. They may forget things or be a little casual with their appointments. It is fatal to a club, and certainly to top-class sport, if volunteers view their activities as being free of obligations. 124 It is important that someone bears the final responsibility for each activity. In consultation with volunteers, he can see to it that appointments are kept, and communicate regularly by email or telephone, or verbally. L. to r. Sipke Ernst, Manuel Bosboom, Arthur van de Oudeweetering and Merijn van Delft win the national KNSB cup for Schaakstad Apeldoorn in Groningen. C1.6 Calendar Planning activities per year is convenient. It enables everyone to know timely what is on the programme. It also enables a good changeover of activities. It is useful if everyone involved knows where they can consult the calendar - on a clubsite, for example. Cl.7 Evaluation, second opinion An organization will function better if the board evaluates its activities regularly. This involves making an inventory of experiences and opinions, and establishing what can be improved the next time around. It will lead to a better commitment if all the staff members of an organization get the chance to give their opinion and see that the board takes them seriously. A board should also explicitly involve youth players in the youth policy of the organization. Evaluation can be done in different ways: in passing, during brief conversations, in meetings, or via inquiries. Anyone can make a mistake. Therefore, people who perform a task do well to 125 regularly ask others for a second opinion. For example, it is not a lot of work to have someone else read through a press release via email before you send it around. It may contain spelling mistakes, or the author's intentions may be unclearly formulated, or he may forget to mention the time schedule or the playing venue. The same goes, for instance, for tournament scenarios or training programmes. Never forget that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A sound board is also useful. In SBSA's early years Petra Stellwagen, Daniel Stellwagen's mother, actively thought along with the foundation via email about the development of activities. Analysis in club venue 'De Brinkhorst' after the match Schaakstad Apeldoorn - HSG. C2 Communication C2.1 The importance of communication A chess organization that wants to function well, should communicate well. This should be taken into account with all its activities. It is rather unfortunate if at the start of a Premier League game two boards remain unoccupied, if these players do not take the trouble to call the team captain and the latter does not have their mobile phone numbers at hand. Appointments about such things are no luxury. Good communication leads to better involvement. A club board confers with the members at the annual general meeting. But a chairman can also occasionally make a short speech at the start of 126 a club evening, bringing the members up to date on topical issues in a few sentences. Bulletins, a website and email newsletters are different means to involve members and other interested people in your organization. The board of a club can hang announcements and information about tournaments on a notice board which also displays the club competition results. Good communication is two-way traffic: you tell people things and you listen to them. Organizers will gather a lot of information if they regularly ask committed people for their opinions. L. to r. Arthur van de Oudeweetering, Lucien van Beek, Merijn van Delft and Manuel Bosboom win the Dutch blitz team champion ships for Schaakstad Apeldoorn in The Hague. C2.2 Inquiry With an inquiry, a chess club board can gather information from its members. This can also be a useful instrument for the development of an active youth section. Since a club board can bring all kinds of questions to the attention of youth players and parents with such an inquiry, this also has the effect of an activating research project: by presenting possibilities you will hand people ideas. In the appendix section we have included an inquiry that was once held at De Schaakmaat when we were setting up a youth training programme there. 127 C2.3 Contacts with the media Via media like radio, tv, newspapers, local papers and Internet sites, a chess organization can generate free publicity and in this way involve more people in its chess activities. Sponsors are always interested in publicity. A tried and-tested recipe to get sponsors mentioned in the media is by connecting the sponsor's name to that of a club or an event. Schaakstad Apeldoorn, for example, has acted under the artist's names of BIS and Homburg Apeldoorn. In full, the Apeldoorn weekend tournament is called ROC Aventus Open Apeldoorn Chess Championship. A chess organization can generate exposure in the media via contacts with journalists. It is practical to first make a press release, then contact journalists in person or via telephone, and then send them the press release. It is important for an organizer to think about the question why a journalist should want to receive his information, and to keep his message concise. A journalist will only be interested if he thinks that his readers or listeners will be interested. This may be the case if, for instance, a well-known chess master takes part in the tournament. A journalist is always looking for news, that is: information that is new and interesting for the public. C2.4 Press release A press release should be short and sweet. The receiver should get an answer to six questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. The information should be actual. A press release should contain information about the sender, his phone number and email address. This allows a journalist to contact him without trouble if he wants to have more information. Producing pieces of beautiful prose doesn't make much sense. Usually, journalists write down their own version of a story, though editors from local papers sometimes copy the delivered texts in full. It is wise to timely contact journalists personally (two weeks before the event) to make practical appointments about the sending of a press release or a report on an event. It is practical to make a press list (with names of contact persons where possible) of media that may be interested in chess activities. C2.S Email newsletters Via email messages, an organization can keep in contact with relations in a quick and cheap way. An example is SBSA's weekly email newsletter. It has a standard format. On top is the SBSA logo and the heading 'SBSA email newsletter', followed by the number of the newsletter and the date. The next line mentions that earlier email newsletters can be read on the foundation's website www. sbsa.nl. For non-Dutch-speaking relations, a summary in English is given first. This is followed by a table of contents and a list of attachments. These attachments are mostly pgn files with interesting games that are connected with an article in the email newsletter. The editor of the SBSA email newsletters is SBSA's secretary Karel van Delft. He writes a number of texts himself, but every year there are around 70 different people who also send in texts, photos and games. Every now and then the editor will slightly edit these texts to make them more reader-friendly. 128 The articles are presented in the order indicated by the table of contents. Under a heading in bold letters the text is given. An article often starts with a picture, and sometimes it contains a chess diagram. Articles and photos are accompanied by the name of the author or the photographer, unless the text or picture has been made by the editor. Pictures serve to illustrate the texts and brighten them up. They are highly appreciated by most readers. Furthermore, players' faces will become known to those who do not know them yet, and those who do know them will enjoy recognizing them. Also, pictures will liven up the atmosphere of the described events. There are several calendars at the end of the newsletter: a general calendar of chess activities in Apeldoorn, the competition dates of the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB, a youth calendar, and a calendar with SBSA youth training dates. Then there is a list with data of Apeldoorn chess clubs and their websites. The articles range from extensive tournament reports to results and tournament announcements with lists of applied participants. The reader can quickly find his way in the newsletters by their clear, standardized lay-out. One reader may only be interested in a workshop by a grandmaster, another may want to read an extensive report on a tournament where a youth team took part. The editor arranges the texts in a Word file. After the newsletter has been sent, the Word file is cleared of all the information that is no longer topical, and this file is used as a basis for the next newsletter. Throughout the next week texts are sent, and the editor often places them in the next newsletter on the same day already so as to have less workload on Sunday evenings, when the messages are sent around. Pictures are scaled down with a thumbnail program (50 to 200 kb) and then copied in Word with the Paint program. This way the newsletter will be less than 2Mb even if it has twenty pictures. pgn files are mentioned in the list of attachments and are ready for use on the computer's desktop. Before the editor sends the newsletter on Sunday evening, he copies everything from Word into Outlook. Attachments are added, and the newsletter is sent with the help of several mailing lists. The newsletters keep SBSA's relations up-to-date about events and developments. There are around 600 recipients, about one-third of whom are inhabitants of Apeldoorn. Of the others, several dozens are contacts outside The Netherlands, or chess players from the rest of the Netherlands. Many of these are people who regularly participate in events in Apeldoorn, or chess organizers. Attracting participants to events is partly done with the email newsletters, which saves us a lot of correspondence work. C2.6 Internet site An Internet site is an effective means of spreading information. It can contain texts, pictures, films, game collections, and tournament calendars. The webmaster may be a member of the board, or a volunteer who simply enjoys the work. Websites are very cheap these days. For a few tenners a year you can already make one. A weblog is a simpler version of a website. It consists of one single page upon which pictures and texts can be placed. This is often free of charge. Ruben Kuijper, who participates in SBSA youth trainings, has his own weblog on which he reports on his experiences, his favourite chess books, and his games. 129 C2.7 Flyer, poster Flyers and posters are approved means of attracting participants to join activities - even more so if they are made up in colour, with an attractive illustration. It is easy to make a flyer on A4 format on a pc. Such a flyer should contain information, a contact address, possibly a logo, and sometimes a picture to attract attention. Excess information is not advisable. The marketing formula AIDA is a good guide for design and content. The formula stands for Attention (which it should attract), Interest (which it should arouse), Desire (it must be desired) and Action (it should inform which action can be undertaken to make use of the offer). Chess organizers can also design a poster themselves on a computer - they are often made on A3 format. It can be put on paper either by printing it out yourself, or by handing in a digital file on a usb stick or a CD-ROM in a copy shop. Organizers of bigger tournaments often engage professional printing companies, but this is only possible with a sufficient sponsoring budget. Spreading flyers and posters can be done by fellow club members. The organizers can hand out the information at tournaments and clubs. They can, for instance, pin up posters in libraries, at tournaments, in community centres, on the windows of private houses, in shops, and in schools. C2.8 Making a CD-ROM or a DVD A chess organization can make a report on CD-ROM or DVD about a jubilee evening, a chess tournament, a workshop day, or various other activities. One disc can contain pictures, films, pgn files with game collections, and texts. A short preface may be given in a Word file. There is a lot of free-of-charge study material on the Internet. A trainer can gather useful material and put this on a disc for his young pupils. With software that can be downloaded free-of-charge on the Internet, a picture can be made into a box sleeve. In the same way it is possible to make a sticker to put on the DVD or CD-ROM. The making of such a disc doesn' t have to cost more than one euro apiece. C2.9 Club bulletin A club bulletin is an opportunity to involve members more strongly with their club. It can contain actual communications, but also enjoyable stories and reports on competitions. The club bulletin can also contain actual information about, for example, the club board, membership dues, a calendar of activities, or other pieces of information. Club bulletins on paper are increasingly giving way to email newsletters and/or websites. ASV, in the nearby Dutch city of Arnhem, for instance, has been publishing a weekly two-sided A4 sheet with information and game reports for decades. This can combine perfectly with other publications. The advantage of such an information sheet, which is literally handed out, is that it will be quite hard for club members to miss the information. 130 C2.10 Sponsors Sponsors are important to help a club pursue a sport on a certain level. Sponsors provide money with which strong players can be hired for a team, or a tournament with an attractive prize fund can be organized. By attracting strong players, a team will be able to play on a higher level. Also, their contribution will help raise the level of young talents in a club. As a rule, youth talents will not be able to develop much further than the level of the best player of their club. The higher the prize money, the greater the chance will be that strong players visit a tournament. If it is known that a few strong players, e.g. (grand)masters, take part, this will attract more other players as well. It is not easy to attract sponsors for chess activities. Chess is not a mass sport, and chess organizations - club boards, but also regional and national chess federations and the world chess federation FIDE - are often rather amateurish. A sponsor wants to get something in return for his money. A chess organizer who wants to bring in sponsors must think of motives why a sponsor would want to give money or, for instance, provide a playing venue. The organizer must create a win-win situation. Practice shows that chess sponsors often have affinity with the sport themselves, or they sympathize with the volunteer work of the organization. Often relatively small amounts of money are involved: a few hundred euro. Such sponsors find it advantageous to sponsor a chess activity or, in any case, they do not mind spending a small part of their sponsoring budget on it. With bigger tournaments that generate more publicity, the sponsorship will fit in with their public relations policy and then the grounds for the sponsorship will be more commercial. In Apeldoorn, our weekend tournament has been sponsored for years by the local ROC (i.e. Regional Education Centre), which advertises as a sports education centre. The workshop event 'Youth Meets Masters' is financially supported by a shop-owner in Apeldoorn whose son is a chess player. With his working days, this shop-owner cannot do any volunteer work, but sponsoring enables him to make a contribution. His son is not a youth player any more (he is a chess organizer in another town now), but the shop-owner is still sponsor. Often organizers mainly look out for their own interests - they need money. It is advisable to also look at sponsorship from the other side and to investigate what can motivate potential sponsors, and how the organizers can approach them personally. It's more effective to have one pleasant conversation than twenty unanswered begging letters. A talk with a sponsor will go better if the organization describes the activity that is to be sponsored concisely on half an A4 format sheet beforehand, listing also their promotional activities. In general, not a lot of money goes around in chess. This is where many boards of chess clubs pay for being too amateurish. In order to spread the risks, it is advisable for a chess organization to find a different sponsor for each activity. This also reduces the amount of money that is needed per activity, and increases the chance of getting more sponsors interested. C2.11 Live commentary Live commentary is the explanation by a (mostly strong) player of a game to an audience with the help of a demonstration board. This may, for instance, 131 be a competition game that is being played at that moment. A commentator may also discuss a game from an international elite tournament in a cafe. On a school club evening, players can show a game they have played against another school team. Live commentary is an approved form of explaining the game of chess to people - especially to motivated youth players. This can be interlarded with amusing anecdotes. During Premier League home matches, Schaakstad Apeldoorn always tries to organize live commentary. Many strong players will not be available on these days, because they are playing themselves. However, there may be strong players who are no longer active in competition, like Jeroen Noomen in Apeldoorn, who are willing to give live commentary. Every now and then, a player who has quickly finished his game gives comments. Sometimes also a strong reserve player can do the job. Since the Fall of 2007, Schaakstad Apeldoorn organizes commentary sessions before the club competition on Tuesday evenings. These 'Buro Post' game analyses (named after its sponsor) last 45 minutes. In the first year they were performed by turns by the eighteen-year-old club members Roeland Pruijssers and Stefan Kuipers, who also give SBSA trainings. They discuss their own games, and also games from the club competition, taking into account that there are weak as well as strong players in the audience. This is known as a 'layered presentation', i.e. a presentation given on various levels at the same time. At the beginning of the session there are roughly ten people present. This mounts up to around 30 right before the beginning of the games. At the end of the first season, it was decided to reserve the final 15 minutes for a presentation by a youth player who participates in the club competition. Here, the commentators function as assistants. The first youth player to do this was nine-year-old Thomas Beerdsen, who showed a game that had won him the brilliancy prize at the Dutch U-12 championship. C2.12 Chess newspaper A local chess newspaper can inform many people about activities, and with sufficient advertising sales it can even bring in money. It can be a good visiting card for a chess organization, and also a means of education. Since 2000, Schaakkrant (i.e. Chess newspaper) Apeldoorn annually appears in september as a removable section in the tabloid-format local newspaper 'Apeldoorns Stadsblad'. This chess newspaper is an initiative by SBSA, with the intention to bring chess in Apeldoorn to the attention of a large audience. The paper is an eye-catcher, with several large pictures, a coloured front page, and a state of-the-art layout. The wide diversity of chess life in Apeldoorn finds expression in this publication. It contains, for example, tournament announcements, some attractive fragments from games by Apeldoorn players, interviews with youth champions, and stories about school chess and computer chess. A list of addresses of chess clubs in Apeldoorn is included, as well as a number of links to websites. The circulation of this newspaper is 68,000. 2000 extra copies are printed to be distributed at chess events. The 'Schaakkrant' usually has eight pages, half of which are in full colour. Almost half of the pages are filled with advertisements, which pay for the paper, and the other pages are available for content. Some of 132 Berby Hanekamp does the layout of 'Schaakkrant Apeldoorn'. the advertisements are related to chess. SBSA takes care of editing, attracting advertisers and collecting pictures. Printing and distribution is done by the publisher of Apeldoorns Stadsblad, with whom a contract has been drawn up. The layout is done by the communication agency Nijsen Media B.V. The advantage of cooperating with such small agencies is that flexible working arrangements are possible. The budget has been fixed with the publisher of the newspaper. The company makes invoices for those advertisements that cover its expenses. The other advertisements are invoiced by SBSA. Usually there is a small profit, which is utilized for chess activities. It takes some work to make such a paper. It is important to have good copywriters and photographers. SBSA often manages to get free or cheap services by professional volunteers. Quality is important - a text should be a good read, and a picture should please the eye. Advertising space is sold to companies and institutions with which SBSA has - often personal - relations. In an agreement, clear arrangements are made about prices and in which form the advertiser should send his material to the layouter. For the making of the paper, a well-worked-out editorial set-up as well as a good production plan are important. Since it is volunteers' work, it is important to start on time. By putting all the activities on paper you will not forget anything. The editor sends the production plan to various people involved, asking them to make a critical judgement. Contacts with the publisher are maintained via a regular paper manager. SBSA draws up a contract with the paper manager, and a few weeks before publication 133 SBSA Schaken in Apeldoorn 1><: .. JWI"'"t ..... ,_""'" nornbuf¥. A�ldo')()l'Jl (�'�'Jll'hm)Mll'l Dr H'hQ.k>n \ptltn or)(luiln,i: (0.)1)11)(" � k1tbJ� kft't UU..s�Ydl CRAns SP'UEKUREH • Wo.,ud.., 9:00..10:00 ",ur, 'i'QOf �1.un Of\d('Mmt'r� trinM"1'l ht'\ MKB. Oondrrtrd.,9:Q()..10:00 UlJr; VDOr 4dvit\00 ht'tgdritd ....n A.!Wldu('(h Sod-oUt 'I't!1t�t'ring\l'('(ht. Srr.frt 8&( AdvQuttn. (hristhu G�urtnug J. Ap�tdoorn www.b(� .. dvQc.1t.n.nt. ttl. 055-5411417, hx 05S·�416104 the latter sends a technical memorandum.Such commercial publications are only profitable if three-quarters of their content consists of advertisements. The use of volunteers will lower the costs, and the paper will be financially feasible with only one-third in advertisements. After publication of the paper, a pdf version is also published on the SBSA website by webmaster Marco Beerdsen. Tr aditionally, our chess newspaper appears approximately one week before the Apeldoorn championship weekend. When they think about the contents, it is important for the editors to realize who their readers are. The larger part of the audience is not anxious to read extensive club board reports, or to look at portraits of board members. A deliberate choice has been made in favour of as many large advertisements as possible. For a volunteers organization it is virtually impossible to attract a large number of small advertisers and keep in touch with them. C2.13 Chess stand on a market or a festival A chess club or foundation can reach a large audience at markets or cultural festivals. Club members can, in a stand or simply by putting down a few tables, play blitz against the public or give a simultaneous exhibition. In a flyer for the public you can briefly describe what goes on during an evening at the chess club. A collage of pictures on a board will have great attention value, and it can provide a sneak preview of a club evening. Johan Wolbers gives a blindfold simul on the market square in Apeldoorn. 135 C3 Tournaments and events C3.1 Weekend tournament A weekend tournament consists of six rounds with a four-hour time control (maximally two hours per player per game). One round is played on Friday evening, on Saturday there are three rounds, and the final two rounds are played on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. The players are often divided into two level groups. Usually, participants are allowed one free round (a 'bye'), for which they get half a point. In Apeldoorn, two byes are possible in the first four rounds. For churchgoers it is possible to take a bye on Sunday morning, for pub-crawlers it isn't. One of the advantages of two byes is that youth players do not have to play in the evenings, or if, for example, they have a soccer game on Saturday morning, they won't have to give that up. Youth players tend to gain a lot of experience during weekend tournaments. If they finish their game quickly, they can spend their time analysing, or watch the stronger players at it, or play blitz with each other. A strong chess player can give live commentary on the top boards on Saturday and/or Sunday afternoon. He can also discuss a game by a promising youth player. The organization of a weekend tournament is quite extensive. It is essential to have a good scenario. It is important for the organization to have enough staff members who can take over the tasks of others if necessary. It is also important to start early with the preparations. With an organization that works with volunteers, a lot of things can go wrong. Staff members may fail to meet their commitments, or there are differences of opinion. In any case, the coordinator of the event should possess a good deal of patience and endurance. Artur Yusupov, who is also a chess organizer himself, is of the opinion that every chess player should work in a tournament organization once in his life. For certain players it will be very revealing to see what the organization of such an event entails. C3.2 Blitz tournament and rapid tournament As a rule, a blitz tournament lasts one day. The time control of the games is usually five minutes per player. A rapid tournament usually also lasts one day, with seven rounds. The time control is usually 20 or 25 minutes per player. For both of these tournament variants it is important to have a good scenario. Its items can be taken from the scenario for a weekend tournament. SBSA organizes four or five rapid tournaments per year in the Apeldoorn Mind Sports Centre, and the blitz championship of Apeldoorn is held in a cafe - for instance, the local Art Cafe 'Sam Sam'. These tournaments are made financially possible partly by sponsors. The blitz championship is held in a cafe every Sunday after Schaakstad Apeldoorn's first team match in the new calendar year. As a rule, several international masters take part. Before the blitz tournament, a (grand)master, who also takes part in the blitz tournament, gives a simul to participants of the SBSA youth training, who also take part in the tournament. As the international (grand)master is there for the blitz tournament anyway, he will be willing to give such a simul for a modest fee. 136 Sipke Ernst during the ROC Aventus weekend tournament. Sebastian Siebrecht playing Friso Nij boer during the ROC Aventus Open chess championship of Apeldoorn. 137 Staff members of the ROC Aventus weekend tournament: I. to r. Henk Scholten, Paul Ham and Marco Beerdsen. Henriet Springelkamp during ROC Aventus. 138 Tom Smid watches Alexander Kabatianski play during the MuConsult rapid championship. (photo www. fredlucas. eu) Merijn van Delft playing Martin van Dommelen during the MuConsult rapid championship. (photo www. fredlucas. eu) 139 C3.3 Tournament scenario The organizing committee of a tournament has to think of many practical things. In the appendices there is a list with keywords and an extensive scenario for a weekend tournament. It is useful to include all sorts of practical tips in such a scenario. At a number of tournaments, for instance, the tournament director will make a short speech. As this speech will escape the attention of many of the players, it is more effective to also include important announcements in the tournament bulletin. The organization can make or break a tournament. It is, for instance, advisable to keep spare material at hand. It will be frustrating to discover that the printer cartridge is empty and, consequently, pairings cannot be printed out. Often, doors will be rattling during tournaments. A towel around the door-handle or a foam rubber frame will damp the noise. Freddie van der Elburg versus Armen Hachij an during the MuConsult rapid championship. (www.fredlucas. eu) C3.4 Chess festival A chess festival is a nice way to bring chess to the attention of a broader audience, and to offer adults and young players a few pleasant hours. The programme can consist of various items. At an SBSA festival in the Mind Sports Centre in Apeldoorn, international master and TV host Hans Bbhm gave a lecture to more than one hundred attendants about a book that he had written together with grandmaster Jan Timman. On that same festival, Johan van Mil and Erika Sziva from the Dutch company 'De Beste Zet' sold chess books, Harold van der Heijden had a stand where he gave explanations of endgame studies, the Apeldoorn correspondence chess grandmaster Jacques Kuiper gave information about correspondence chess, Merijn van Delft played 'opening doctor' at a table, the board of the Lightning Chess Foundation organized two-minute chess tournaments, videofilms were shown on pc's, there was a cosy bar, there were 140 chess lessons for beginners, a blitz tournament for youth players, and simuls. On two occasions there was a sponsor who connected his name to an SBSA festival. It generated quite a lot of publicity for them. If all staff members are working on a volunteer basis, the costs will not be high. A scenario is very useful to have at a festival. C3.S Chess party If now and then the members are having a good time, this will improve the atmosphere in an organization. At a club enjoyable meetings can be organized, with food, drinks, blitz, a simul, or a nice chess movie. C4 Youth chess C4.1 School chess club The organization of a school chess club can be quite simple. There are enough children who want to play chess. It is important that there is at least one adult who wants to spend a few hours on the club every week. Often school chess clubs hold weekly one-hour meetings. During this hour, children play a game with each other for half an hour (with or without a clock) and they receive a lesson during the other half hour. With the pairing program Sevilla, which is free downloadable, it is possible to quickly and easily make a competition pairing. The lessons usually follow the Step-by-Step Method. This instructive and structured method does not require much chess knowledge from the teacher - certainly not with the first two Steps. This is just as well, since school clubs often depend on well-meaning parents who are not strong chess players. It is a good thing to regularly discuss games with children. A school chess club can inCidentally invite guest trainers to do this if necessary; for example, an uncle of one of the children, a member of a chess club, or a former student. Regular trainers who can analyse with children are often hard to find. There is a much greater chance that a strong player agrees to visit once in a while or, for example, four times a year. Having a handful of these people over will already secure a number of worthwhile trainings. If there are several level groups, two adults can divide the tasks: a chess-playing parent can give lessons to two groups by turns, while a non-chess-playing parent keeps a look-out during the competition games. Schools teams can compete against each other. Apeldoorn has a school competition where dozens of teams play. Another possibility is a 'mass meeting', where two school teams with, say, fifteen children play each other. A school chess club should be fun. It can be even more fun when, for example, movies are shown, simuls are given, and blitz tournaments or twosomes tournaments (child teams up with parent) are played. Not much material is required to start a school chess club: a few boards with pieces, chess clocks, and perhaps a demonstration board. If there are a few chess boards in the school hall, children can also play chess with each other during breaks. They will spontaneously teach each other the game. The school can download the Step-by-Step Method on pc's. Then, children who want to spend more time on chess can peruse lessons themselves now and then, or solve exercises. Enthusiasm is the 141 mainstay of the functioning of a school club. In Apeldoorn, Carla van der Hulst has led the school chess club at a primary school called 'Sjofar' for years. This nursery school teacher never got past Step 2 herself, but that did not stand in the way of her success at all. At a certain point, 140 children were playing chess at her school. There was no shortage of teachers. A few weeks before the summer vacation, young children could follow a few sample lessons to see if they enjoyed chess. If after the summer they went on to do Step 1, their parents were invited to attend lessons as well. A number of them came to like it, and after a while they became teachers themselves. You can set up a school chess club with very limited means, and one teacher will be enough already. Some schools have an extensive organization with many trainers, a wide range of activities and an own website. In both situations, organizers can draw inspiration from experiences gained elsewhere. You can easily gather such information by visiting a few school chess clubs and entering a few keywords in a search engine on the Internet. C4.2 School competition Schools can play each other in competitions. Often this is done with teams consisting of four players. This takes a little organizing. Someone should take up the coordination and the communication - for example, via a website or an email newsletter. You need a pairing, competition rules, every school must have a contact person, and someone has got to buy prizes (trophies) and hand them out. It is useful to organize an annual meeting with everyone involved, and to draw up a scenario. Apart from - or instead of - a school competition, an annual local school championship can be organized in the form of a tournament. C4.3 Youth chess tournaments Many clubs regularly organize youth chess tournaments. Usually the time control is 20 or 30 minutes per game, so seven games can be played in one day. In a number of regions, clubs cooperate to organize a Grand Prix series. Children quite enjoy being able to accumulate points in an overall list of rankings. Organizers will do themselves a favour if they draw up a good scenario with a clear division of tasks. Before the first time that you organize such a tournament, you are well-advised to take a look at the organization of another tournament. Many organizers will gladly share their experience with others. C4.4 Chess camp Various clubs in The Netherlands organize chess camps at tournaments that last more than one day, like for example the Open Dutch Youth Championship in the region of Twente. The young participants camp there and are accompanied by their parents. Often there is a strong player present, who regularly analyses games with the children. 142 CS Miscellaneous CS.l Creative Tournament Creative thinking - what does this mean anyway? - is quite a hard thing to do. This conclusion was drawn by participants from the 'Creative Youth Chess Tournament' held in Apeldoorn in 1994. This was an initiative by what was then the top youth training section of 'De Schaakmaat'. The tournament had various sponsors, notary office Dijkstra de Graaff being the main sponsor. The starting point of this two-day tournament was that creativity is a thinking skill that can be developed up to a certain pOint. By way of a warming-up, participants were given a summary of the book 'Creative Chess' by Amatzia Avni before the tournament. A tournament book was made afterwards, entitled 'Op zoek naar het onverwachte' (i.e., 'In Search of the Unexpected'). In the event, twenty strong youth players took part - some of them from Apeldoorn, others from elsewhere in The Netherlands. On the list of participants were today's grandmasters Erik van den Doel and Sipke Ernst, as well as the international masters Lucien van Beek, Martijn Dambacher and Merijn van Delft. Most of the participants were of the 1979 vintage, which is the most succesful one in Dutch chess history. Perhaps this is a coincidence (after all, by definition one vintage will have to be the strongest) - on the other hand, the fact that these youth players did many things together and stimulated each other may have contributed to this success. In the tournament, the participants played six rapid games, and in between they attended lectures by the chess masters Joris Brenninkmeijer (a psychologist), Leon Pliester (a psychologist), Renate Limbach, Herman Grooten, and Dharma Tjiam. General practitioner Kees Gorter held a lecture about physical condition and nurture. Karel van Delft, also a psychologist, was the tournament coordinator. The lectures were about themes Renate Limbach gives a lecture during the Creative Tournament. 143 Participants of The Chess Experience. (photo Ferdi Kuipers) like the development of creativity in chess, the thinking (process) of the chess player, creativity and endgame studies, the power of pattern recognition, and the history of the theoretical development of chess. CS.2 The Chess Experience In July 1999, six strong youth players from Israel, six from Germany and twelve from The Netherlands gathered together in Apeldoorn for almost one week. In the evenings they played matches, and during the day they trained together with Artur Yusupov and Mark Dvoretsky. There were also recreative and sportive activities, such as an indoor soccer tournament. A rapid chess tournament was also on the programme. The players stayed with host families in Apeldoorn. The team coaches were Yochanan Afek (Israel), Uwe B6nsch (Germany) and Loek van Wely (The Netherlands). The latter made his debut as a coach for the occasion free of charge. The event took place under the name of 'The Connection 1 Chess Experience'. With this name, the main sponsor PinkRoccade honoured the memory of its predecessor, the Rijks Computer Centrum (i.e. 'National Computer Centre'). Its founder, Willem Jan Muhring, had been a chess player who had promoted chess as a sport in The Netherlands together with Dutch World Champion Max Euwe. The organization of the event was in the hands of PinkRoccade and SBSA. The website www.sbsa.nl has a report on the event. The city of Apeldoorn and the Dutch chess federation KNSB were sub sponsors. This formula was inspired by meetings between coaches together with their pupils representing different republics in the former Soviet Union. The 144 idea came up in a conversation between Mark Dvoretsky and Yochanan Afek, when both were staying at Karel van Delft's home. The participants quickly became enthusiastic. The formula turned out to be attractive, and when the strongest players agreed to take part, it became an attractive challenge for the others as well. Later, this event led to similar meetings between youth teams from Germany and The Netherlands. Participants in this event were (including the titles they had at the time) GM Boris Avrukh, 1M Alik Gershon, 1M Alex Rabinovich, Michael Kobrin, Nati Ribshtein and Yevgeni Rapoport (Israel), FM Fabian Dettling, Jan Gustafsson, 1M Heiko Machelett, Florian Grafl, Stefan Bromberger and WFM Jessica Nill (Germany), GM Erik van den Doel, 1M Ruud Janssen, 1M Dennis de Vreugt, 1M Sipke Ernst, Lucien van Beek and Maarten Solleveld (The Netherlands A), and Merijn van Delft, Tom Middelburg, Nico Vink, Marten Wortel, Jeroen Willemze and Daniel Stellwagen (The Netherlands B). CS.3 Three-day chess event in Apeldoorn Starting in 1997, an annual three-day chess event was organized in Apeldoorn for ten years on end. This originated at the top training of De Schaakmaat, later it was done by SBSA. The event (of which the first edition even lasted four days) consisted of various activities in which strong youth players from Apeldoorn took part, but also players from the rest of The Netherlands and sometimes Germany. Players from 'outside' stayed at the homes of chess players in Apeldoorn. One of the first participants was eleven-year-old Daniel Stellwagen, who later, as a grandmaster, participated as a trainer. Each year the items on the programme changed. Sometimes the event was combined with a home match by Schaakstad Apeldoorn, a chess festival, or the Apeldoorn blitz championship. In another year, an exposition of chess photos was held in the city hall during the event. Tournaments, simultaneous exhibitions and workshops were almost without exception part of the programme. There were also lectures. In the first year, pupils of national karate coach Jaap Smaal (white), who lives in Apeldoorn, and pupils of the Fred Groote kempo school (black) performed a living chess game in the city hall in Apeldoorn - they played the famous Anderssen-Kieseritsky game. On their heads they wore paper chess pieces. Frans van Veen, chairman of De Schaakmaat, gave a few chess lessons on every school for the occasion. Former draughts World Champion Ton Sijbrands announced the moves to the public that had come flocking in. In the second year, the Apeldoorn choir The Musical Selection Singers sang songs from the musical 'Chess' in the city hall. After that, Johan van Mil and Merijn van Delft played a blindfold game (and drew). Youth players made their moves on a garden chess set, which made it easy for the audience to follow the games. Chess composer Cornelis Siagmolen from Apeldoorn, who was already past ninety, composed tournament problems for various editions of the event. One time the organization discovered a dual solution. In such cases you can ask for a new problem, but a simpler idea was to ask the audience to name both solutions. A few elderly men knew why this was done. 'These days you have computers and of course they don't want you to use them to find the solution', one said to the other. The Three-day chess event was the precursor of the later 'Youth Meets Masters' event. After ten editions this formula was abolished. Every now and then it is time to take a new course. 145 Living chess game in the Apeldoorn city hall. Ton Sij brands reads the moves during the living chess game in the city hall, Apeldoorn. 146 Merijn van Delft plays a bl indfold game with Johan van Mil in the Apeldoorn city hall. Merijn van Delft gives a training during 'Youth Meets Masters'. (photo www.fredlucas. eu) 147 Manuel Bosboom during 'Youth Meets Masters', (photo www,fredlucas,eu) CS.4 Youth Meets Masters Youth Meets Masters (Y MM) is an annual event in Apeldoorn that is organized by SBSA on the final Friday of every Christmas holiday. During YMM, a number of groups with youth chess players attend a workshop given by a strong player, often a (grand)master. The idea of these workshops is to pass on knowledge and insights, to give tips for study, and also to create a fascination for the game. The workshops enable people to make contact with each other, and friendships are struck up. Youth players from Apeldoorn as well as the rest of The Netherlands take part in YMM. The workshops have a duration of approximately five hours. The players are of roughly equal strength in every group. Each group is a mixture of youth players from Apeldoorn and from outside. Some sessions are given in English, because some of the trainers are from abroad. Sometimes there is a group consisting exclusively of girls, with a female trainer. In recent years, the training is often held in the Mind Sports Centre in Apeldoorn. Most of the groups are seated in one big hall. The programme consists of various items. There is a basic set-up, but a trainer is free to deviate from this pattern. Some of the items are: an introductory round (the trainer asks questions like: who are you, how do you train), a (clock) simul with analysis after the games, and other themes to be selected by the trainer. Some trainers show one of their own games, others take a classic game. Explanations are given to the participants, and they are questioned about certain moves in the game. Sometimes a study-like endgame is discussed, sometimes chess problems. With the youngest age groups, the simul player gives comments during the game itself. During such a performance, Manuel Bosboom once made quite an impression by showing how good he was at piling up pieces. In the appendices there is a list of questions that can be used in a talk about (self-)training. The participants get a score form (see appendices), where pOints can be scored on each item. Each group winner receives a chess book. The participants are enthusiastic about YMM. This can be gathered from the texts that 49 of the 59 participants sent in for the CD-ROM about the event that was made in 2005. It is quite an experience to train with a master, and YMM is an inspiring event with a pleasant atmosphere, where participants can also get acquainted with players from elsewhere in the country. There are costs involved - trainers, hallrent and organization expenses must be paid. These are covered by a participant's contribution of ten euro supplemented with a sponsor's contribution by Van der Mey Jewellers. Parents of participants are allowed to watch during the workshops, provided they keep their distance. Some parents also make themselves useful by making sandwiches and helping behind the bar. On a number of occasions, the participants were offered home made soup and snacks made by parents and volunteers. Eating together tends to create an excellent atmosphere. Originally, blitz chess was an item at the YMM workshops - in recent years the Apeldoorn youth blitz championship has been held in the two final hours. This is a seven-round Swiss event played in one single group. There are various (rating) prizes in the form of chess books. During this day, digital photographs and a film are made. These are later put on a CD-ROM, along with the material used by the trainers and a selection from the games. Participants, trainers, staff members and the sponsor later receive the CD-ROM 149 Alexander Kabatiansk i gives a training during YMM. (photo www. fredlucas. eu) Sipke Ernst gives a training during YMM. (photo www. fredlucas. eu) 150 Artur Yusupov gives a training during YMM. Manuel Bosboom gives a blitz simul during YMM. 151 as a concrete memory. During the day itself, the participants receive an issue of the Apeldoorn Chess Newspaper of that year. SBSA sponsors regularly provide small presents for all the participants. The day is organized by a working group of the SBSA. The scenario contains the following items: date, time, playing hall, bar staff, chess material (boards, pieces, clocks, demo boards), trainers, attracting participants and pairing them (participants can apply via a notice in the SBSA email newsletters), ordering scoresheets, chess books as prizes (for groups and for blitz), making score forms, making photographs and a film, making CD-ROMs, bringing along Chess Newspapers, budget (collecting contributions, contact with the sponsor, payments). Not only the participants, but also the trainers find the YMM formula inspiring. Alexander Kabatianski, who takes part every year, emphasizes how he can always read the inspiration from the children's faces. He calls this the 'inner chess flame'. The late Rob Hartoch told us about his experiences as a YMM trainer in an interview given elsewhere in this book. The trainers are largely recruited from among the players of Schaakstad Apeldoorn's first team. In 2005 the workshops were given by Artur Yusupov, Daniel Stellwagen, Sipke Ernst, Alexander Kabatianski, Manuel Bosboom, Arthur van de Oudeweetering, Merijn van Delft, Rob Hartoch, Lucien van Beek, and Evi Zickelbein. Nine out of these ten trainers are members of Schaakstad Apeldoorn. Daniel Stellwagen started years ago as a participant in a precursor of YMM and now he has given several workshops himself. The trainers frequently dine together after the workshop. On several occasions, Artur Yusupov gave a training to the YMf\.1 trainers themselves in the same weekend. cs.s Match of Champions with live commentary In June 2008, SBSA organized the KVDC Match of Champions in Art Cafe Sam Sam in Apeldoorn. Four rapid games were played between Dutch champion Jan Smeets and Dutch U-20 Champion Roeland Pruijssers from Apeldoorn. The audience could watch the games in a small room in the back of the cafe. The champions played on a DGT board, which was connected to a laptop in the front of the cafe. There, Merijn van Delft gave live commentary. After the match, Smeets and Pruijssers gave explanations to the audience. Afterwards, the games were also shown on the Internet via the SBSA website. Chess organizers can organize similar matches between, for instance, an international master and a local youth talent. CS.6 Lightning Chess Foundation A local chess culture will really blossom if initiatives are developed in various places. In 2002, former Apeldoorn youth players Thomas de Hoop, Barend Tempelman and Youri Gerritse started the Lightning Chess Foundation, which has successfully organized the official Dutch Lightning Chess Championship ever since. In this chess variant both players get two minutes for the entire game. The tournament is held in the Apeldoorn city hall, a top location in the heart of the town. The organization is well-worked-out, the staff consists of many active volunteers, and thanks to a range of sponsors a sizeable prize 152 fund is guaranteed. Internationally recognized specialists like Roland Schmalz, Manuel Bosboom and Daniel Fridman are on the roll of honour. All information, including tournament reports with films, can be found on the website www. I ig htningchess. nl. Lightning Chess. 153 David Bronstein and Peter Boel. David Bronstein plays Dharma Tjiam. 154 o - INTERVIEWS D1 David Bronstein 'Researching, developing possibilities. That's what chess is about. ' 'You shouldn't solve problems, you should create them', said grandmaster David Bronstein (72), who gave a guest training in Apeldoorn on October 8, 1995. Good calculation of variations is useful, but what matters most in chess is the way you approach problems. That is also what chess trainings should be about. By researching and discussing together, you can increase your understanding of chess and derive joy from it. Various strong youth players joined the workshop: Tim Lammens, Merijn van Delft, Jochem Snuverink, Tim Remmel, Dennis de Vreugt, Joyce Fongers, Joost Hoogendoorn, Vincent Deegens, Joost Mellegers en Jaap Houben. Freelance journalist Peter Boel made a report for the local newspaper 'Apeldoornse Courant', and guest trainer Dharma Tjiam of De Schaakmaat was present as a listener. The training session was organized by Karel van Delft with financial support by local waste paper trader Schrijver. Bronstein is positively brimming with ideas about creativity and coaching. He shows great respect for the Dutch World Champion Max Euwe. With Euwe, Bronstein shares the urge to let others share his passion for the game. We haven't been able to report any positive utterances about today's Dutch chess prominents. Money and pOints, that is what they are after, Bronstein thinks. Dr. Euwe was of a different mould; at least he loved chess and he wanted to teach it to young people. 'I wonder if these boys here would have learned to play chess if there had been no Euwe', Bronstein said. A weekend with Bronstein is overwhelming. What an abundance of energy this man has! And his understanding of the game is stupendous. Obviously, without this understanding he would never have been able to off-handedly produce so many games and positions that corresponded to the questions put forward by the training participants. One time, in 195 1, Bronstein was almost World Champion, but when the match ended in a 12-12 tie, Botwinnik kept the title. However, with 'Zurich 1953' Bronstein did put the best tournament book of all time to his name. This book is still available. Bronstein is not exactly charmed by the current generation of top players. They prepare the game to death and hardly dare to tread new paths. He plainly calls Kasparov and Anand 'gangsters' who do not stoop to cashing 1.5 million dollars for games where hardly anything new is tried out. 'It has never happened before during a world championship that in a game, the players repeated the previous game with changed colours and then agreed to a feeble draw.' Bronstein thinks this is outrageous, and he thinks that Karpov's games are more instructive than Kasparov's. Bronstein thinks it is even more outrageous that he himself has been given an Elo rating of 2400-something. 'I am being judged by my current competition results. As I am getting older, I'm not so good at visualizing (calculating by heart) any more, and because of this I lose a 155 game now and then. I don't want to be judged by my results, but by my ideas.' And there is nothing wrong with his original ideas, as this training session has made clear. Still, at many tournaments free boarding and admission is given only to 2500+ grandmasters. 'Because they have stuck a low rating on my mind, I now have to pay to participate. As if I have no ideas any more. It's preposterous, there is no more respect for older players like Smyslov and me. Take the Donner Memorial, last year they even put us in a separate group there.' Obviously you have to study technique, understand positional play and know something about openings, but in Bronstein's opinion the most beautiful thing in chess is the combination. For youth players he has a crystal-clear piece of advice: winning games is not important. You will, eventually. Enjoy the game, try to confront your opponent with problems. Points are not important, the main thing is that you learn new things about the game every time. You should think independently, develop your own ideas and not rehash theory. Studying endgames and, at crucial points, first trying out for yourself what is possible, is the best way to find out what you can do with the pieces. Bronstein was also critical during the training session. To his mind, the youth players too frequently asked for concrete solutions, for example to opening questions. Such knowledge can be found in books. It is more important to develop your own way of thinking. By playing through creative games, you can pick up many themes that you will be able to use in your own games. That is, if you have the guts to think independently and make decisions. He made a compliment to Joyce Fongers (15 years old, and the Dutch U-20 girls champion). Technically her game has many flaws, but at least she tries out ideas and goes on the attack, showing the right attitude. Bronstein found it tiresome that the players hardly entered any discussion with him, so that he was the only one talking for most of the time. The participants eagerly absorbed everything he said - they hung on his lips and were deeply impressed by everything he dished up. But discussion and research are the basis of development, Bronstein claims. That's what a training should be about; it should not be one-way traffic from teacher to student. A chess player who wants to develop should ask questions and come up with ideas. Investigating all kinds of issues will help you think independently. Only then will you be able to find beautiful questions yourself, and will the game come alive for you. The 'secret' of his creativity is very simple, Bronstein says: 'Just keep on searching for interesting ideas and don't worry about results.' Often magnificent combinations are possible if you look further than your nose ('The secret of the Russian Chess School is that we studied a position until its very end'). Bronstein thinks it is terrible that many chess players are so afraid to lose that they do not play interesting games any more. Without reason, they go through life as nervous wrecks instead of inventors. He has a pOint of advice for those who want to get rid of this attitude, which was followed up during the training: play each other on four boards at a time, then analyse the games together. This way the result may be 3- 1 or 2,5-1,5, which will do more justice to the balance of powers. Bronstein is charmed by the fact that on the digital chess clocks the option of the 'Bronstein system' has been included. With a time increment after every move, you never have to lose on time. Analysing together after a game is very important, Bronstein claims. You can push each 156 other to new heights. By confronting your ideas with the your opponent's, and both of you will get new ideas that neither of you would have found separately. 'I like to play against computers, because at least they do not come up with all sorts of excuses when they have lost a game', Bronstein says sarcastically. Again, he means that many players attach too much importance to gathering pOints. Instead, they'd better look for what other moves were possible during the game. Even the winner has probably missed all kinds of marvellous ideas, and therefore a little modesty is in order. Being ashamed of a lost game is about the most stupid thing Bronstein can think of: what matters is what you can learn from your games! You will be doing yourself a bad turn if you never dare to try something new. 'These days, many chess players prepare entire games at home, and they try to beat each other that way. That's not chess. You have to try and discover new possibilities at the board. You are not fighting a human being, you are fighting to develop new ideas.' In other words, in fact you are fighting yourself and pOints on the scoreboard do not matter - the only thing that matters is what you learn. In chess, what matters is how well your pieces cooperate. Bronstein calls this 'energy'. In various positions he indicated on cards which squares were controlled by the pieces. With this aid, you can check if the pieces cooperate well. In a game you search for possibilities to pinpoint the weak spots in the position of your opponent. Bronstein's aid helps you to understand certain types of position. Players follow the fashion too much, i.e. the issues of the day, and because of this they only play certain openings. Bronstein thinks it is short sighted nonsense to claim that a move is no good because it is not in the books. And even if a position is no good, you have to know why this is so. Rehashing other players' moves will not get you anywhere - you must investigate positions critically and make your own judgement. Only if you have found out yourself why certain positions are good or bad, you will know how to handle them and be able to play a proper game of chess. Bronstein claims that chess is more than just calculating variations. He applauds the fact that during trainings at De Schaakmaat there are regular discussions about all kinds of views and experiences. He thinks it is highly important to learn to think independently and to solve problems on your own. By exchanging thoughts you will gain new insights - not only factual knowledge, but also a 'philosophy', a way of thinking. Playing against a computer together and discussing what happens is an excellent training method, Bronstein thinks. He also considers playing through annotated games where ideas are explained verbally to be an excellent exercise. 'You have to look between the moves', he says, and you can formulate your ideas in words. That's what it's all about. It's not about variations, because they are only elaborations on ideas. Of course, it is useful to train variation calculation - for instance, by putting an interesting position on the board and then calculating all kinds of continuations in your head. The best way to develop this skill is by starting at a young age, and doing it regularly. Creativity means using your imagination. Fear will only paralyse your fantasy. Only if you look in every direction with an 'open mind', you will see many things. That something may go wrong and you may lose a point now and then, is a price that you should be willing to pay for conceiving beautiful ideas. And Bronstein has proved that this attitude may get you a long way too. You can develop 157 your imagination by taking inspiration from interesting games by players like Tarrasch, Simagin, and Boleslavsky. Bronstein himself loves flexible positions, where the pawn structure is not fixed. By playing through a number of his games, you will see how a pawn mass may 'suddenly' get rolling (although you should keep in mind that there can be no attack without proper preparation), opening many lines, along which the pieces execute the sentence over the opponent. By just rehashing moves you will not learn anything. That is why Bronstein advises to regularly look first what you yourself would play in a certain position when playing through a game. This will make the game come alive for you, and you will understand it better. In order to become a really creative player, you must learn to investigate and to reason independently. 'First think for yourself, and only then ask, or look up in the book, what's going on.' It is quite unwise to adopt things indiscriminately. 'You shouldn't believe anyone just like that, you shouldn't believe me either. I don't want to give you advice anyway, I only want to make my convictions clear.' Bobby Fischer may have been talking about 'crushing the other guy's ego', Bronstein's approach is much more friendly. 'You do not beat your opponent. He makes wrong evaluations and that is why your position is better. But the winner also makes all kinds of mistakes. You have to have respect for your opponent. After the game you can investigate all the possibilities together. Investigating, and developing possibilities - that is what chess is about.' Karel van Delft, October 1995 158 02 Loek van Wely 'Believe in yourself and keep on fighting. ' Name: Loek van Wely. Born: in Heesch. Age: 23. Rating: 2605. World ranking: 56. Title: GM (since November 1992). Profession: chess player. Loek van Wely has played chess since he was four years old. His father taught him the moves, and Loek even managed to take his chess board to nursery school ('That's when things had already gone wong'). He thinks that he has become such a good player because he has played so many games and he always analysed with his opponent afterwards. Apart from that, he has read many chess books. He thinks Max Euwe's 6-part series is very good, and the same goes for the 'Master versus Amateur' triptych. Van Wely has also learned a lot during KNSB trainings with Cor van Wijgerden, and from individual trainings with Herman Grooten. Last year, David Bronstein called Kasparov and Anand 'gangsters' because Simul by Loek van Wely at he start of the SBSA Youth Academy. 159 in their PCA world championship match they pocketed 1.5 million dollars without doing anything creative on the chess board. Van Wely thinks that this assessment of the match is correct. However, he also thinks that Bronstein's version of the story is a little too black-and-white. 'Kasparov does create new ideas, even if he has prepared them at home.' Van Wely thinks that Bronstein has become somewhat embittered because young players have little respect for the old guard. 'Glory fades quickly. Jan Timman also complains about this, he is sometimes seen as an old man past his prime.' Van Wely himself knows perfectly well what the qualities of both grandmasters are, even if their Elo rating is not so high any more. By the way, in his opinion a good book to study is Timman's 'The Art of Analysis'. Bronstein's Zurich '53 (the best tournament book of all time according to the connoisseurs) is probably also excellent, but Van Wely does not know that book. He has played Bronstein once. 'He came up with a quite original idea and he could probably have drawn. But he wanted to play a beautiful game and then he got what was coming to him. You have to be 160 realistic. If you want too much, you can lose.' Van Wely does not believe that the current generation of elite players only plays for money. 'Sportive honour is also definitely at stake', he argues. Van Wely does not say very much about his stay in Elista with father and son Kamsky. It struck him that Gata is a very nice lad who works very hard. Van Wely also had to work very hard as his second. He wouldn't want to spend the rest of his life that way. Moreover, Loek wonders whether it is useful to study more than eight hours a day. At a certain point you are no longer able to absorb information, so then it is better to take up other things, like sports. 'Kamsky senior arranges things with an iron hand, which is not always a very pleasant experience', he has found out after two months of cooperation. On the basis of a few blitz games Van Wely draws the conclusion that things do not look so bad for the top youth players of De Schaakmaat. 'There is still hope', he ventures. Just like with many Dutch youth players, the opening knowledge of some of the 'Schaakmates' is 'heavily overdeveloped'. 'It is better for them to acquire a better understanding of the middle- and endgame by studying books. It irritates me now and then. They know all kinds of opening lines - as if they are reciting a lesson. And then, as soon as some real chess has to be played, they do not understand anything of the opening. Take the Sveshnikov. With my rating, I hardly understand it. It's better for them to play Dragons or King's Indians. They can learn from those. I didn't study openings seriously until I had a 2400 rating.' Van Wely thinks that his own strongest point is also his weakest: 'My optimism. Also, I can put up a great fight. Sometimes that's unwise, sometimes I want too much when I should be happy with a draw. That would allow me to divide my energy better during a tournament.' Van Wely doesn't smoke or drink, and he does a lot of fitness sports. 'I notice that this often gives me more energy during the last two games of a tournament than I had before. Moreover, I think I will last longer this way. If you look at Anand and Gelfand, you'll see that they are becoming fatter and fatter.' In an interview with 'New in Chess', Van Wely once said that psychology was nonsense and does not play any role whatsoever in chess. Dharma Tjiam claimed that Van Wely said this to 'avoid all the fuss'. Van Wely has to laugh when he hears this. 'Did Dharma say that? Yes, that's about right.' On top level, psychology does play a role, as he knows from experience. 'You have to be able to handle the tension if there is a lot at stake. You have to be able to cope with defeats, and your irritation threshold is also put to the test. Some players try to bamboozle you in all kinds of ways. Don't think it's all wine and roses at the top. Instead of popping off for a pint together, they play with the gloves off. That said, there is a good deal of camaraderie between the Dutch top players.' For Van Wely the most important psychological rule of thumb is: keep believing in yourself and keep on fighting, then you will go a long way. International chess master and psychologist Joris Brenninkmeijer thinks it is a good thing for top chess players to deepen their knowledge of psychological factors. His lament that where psychology is concerned, it's easier to talk to a piece of wood than to Van Wely, is duly confirmed by the latter. However, Van Wely's grin leads us to suspect that he does indeed recognize the importance of psychological issues, though he does not necessarily want to chat about them with Brenninkmeijer. Suddenly Van Wely starts to laugh. Psychology - yes, 16 1 actually he does apply it now and then. In the Germany Bundesliga he once blundered a piece after nine moves of theory in a quiet opening. His opponent sank into thought for half an hour. Van Wely whispered to one of his opponent's team mates that he had blundered a piece. As expected, the player duly passed on this information to Van Wely's opponent, who fell into even deeper despair. In the end, he did not dare to take the piece and lost the game. At the moment, Van Wely occupies 56th place on the FIDE rating list. He does not know when he will reach his ceiling. But he does think that a 2680 rating, and with it a place in the top-ten, should be within the range of possibilities. 'Adams is also in the top-ten, and he's quite a heavy boozer. He isn't exactly a model of hard work. I think that strong nerves, the right attitude and talent can get you a long way.' As is well known, many Russian grandmasters have had the opportunity to work with a master three or four times a week during their youth. Van Wely and other Dutch top players had to make do with a few individual trainings and a few group trainings per year. 'But I compensated for that by working through many chess books by myself. If you want to reach the top, it's largely up to yourself.' But working hard is not enough, Van Wely thinks. It also depends on what you do. 'Today, young players are mainly busy keeping their databases up-to-date. The importance of this is relative. It does not automatically improve your understanding. It's better to play a few lesser moves and understand what is going on in a position.' Understanding is largely based on the recognition of themes in a position, Van Wely supposes. You grow familiar with these themes by playing and analysing many games, and also by playing through many commented chess games. He also stresses the importance of regular tactical exercises. 'Your level will drop very quickly if you don't do that. If you do practice regularly, you will recognize tricks more easily and you will be able to weave them into your own positions as well.' In general the level of chess journalism in The Netherlands is reasonably good, Van Wely thinks. Especially Gert Ligterink (de Volkskrant) and Hans Ree (NRC) are very good in his opinion. At New in Chess they are too tame sometimes. 'I had reluctantly agreed to write comments to one of my games with Timman. I wrote, among others: 'it's my turn to kick Timman's ass', but they left that out. I don't much care for that kind of censorship. Ten Geuzendam wants to remain friends with everybody. That is why (the Dutch magazine) Vrij Nederland had such a namby-pamby interview with Piket, Timman and me.' The Netherlands is a good country for chess, with many good tournaments and many books. However, the Dutch training culture is heavily underdeveloped, Van Wely thinks. He does not exclude the possibility that he might have gotten much further with better training and coaching facilities. 'What's more, the 'country', i.e., everything outside the two bulwarks of chess, Leiden and Amsterdam, is being discriminated against. The KNSB is now drawing up contracts with a few strong youth players. This means that a lot of money will go to a few players from Leiden and Amsterdam. I think this is a bad thing, since a number of other good youth players don't get any chances this way.' Van Wely is partly drawing from his own experience. Twice he wasn't able to take part in a world junior championship because he had to pay for expenses himself. 'The next time, when they noticed that I had a good chance to win the world title, suddenly there was money. But then I stood firm and didn't go.' 162 There's one misunderstanding Van Wely wants to clear up. The story went that he hadn't called the federation to announce that he would not play in the Dutch championship until he was leaving for Kalmykia. 'That's not true. I told them a week-and-a-half earlier. But then they threatened me with lawsuits and exclusion from other tournaments. That's why at first I agreed to play. But when I spoke to a lawyer friend of mine, and some things turned out to be different. Then I called it off on account of having been unduly pressed.' By the way, Van Wely has been restored to favour again by the KNSB. For that he had to lay 2, 100 euro on the table. '900 euro because a new flyer for the Dutch championship had to be made, and a fine of 1,200 euro. This money will be put in a youth fund, which means that I will be paying for trainings of youth players from Leiden and Amsterdam.' If only for this reason, he enjoys going to Apeldoorn to draw the attention of a bunch of youth players to their deficiencies, we should understand. He explicitly refuses to accept even travel expenses. Looking back on his own development, Van Wely points to the fact that it is highly important to visit tournaments with a group of youth players. You will enjoy yourself, and that is important if you want to learn to play well. Moreover, you will do a lot of analysing in an enjoyable way, learning a lot while you play. Van Wely himself has made many trips to foreign countries with, among others, Joris Brenninkmeijer and Dharma Tjiam. On those occasions, the young gentlemen didn't mind teasing each other where possible in a playful way. Any small defeat was a good occasion to rub salt into the wound. Just to keep the spirit high, of course. Karel van Delft, June 1996 163 03 Artur Yusupov Yu supov and the road to your own top 'Every human being has talents, this is my conviction. The only question is: which talents, and how should you develop them? It is healthy to have ambitions, but you have to ask yourself what price you are prepared to pay for them', says chess grandmaster Artur Yusupov (4 1), the former world number 3 in his sport. Yusupov travels up and down to Apeldoorn a few times a year, where he occupies first board for Schaakstad Apeldoorn, a team that plays in the Dutch Premier League. On Friday, 24 March 200 1, he managed to combine this with an appearance in the sports cafe organized by local chess sponsor ROC Simultaneous exhibition by Artur Yusupov. (photo Cocky van Delft) Aventus during the 'Plenty Jobs' jobs market in the 'Americahal' in Apeldoorn. Artur Yusupov was born in Moscow, as the second of four boys. Both his parents were mathematicians. At home they played chess on amateur level, as was done in many Russian families. When Artur was six, his father taught him to play chess, and soon he began to devour chess books. He was utterly fascinated by the game. 'My parents didn't mind this at all, and I was lucky to grow up in a country where the state strongly stimulated chess. There were many good trainers available, and you could play a competition game every week. When I was fifteen, the famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky, who has remained a friend, started to train with me, and on my seventeenth I became Junior World Champion. In 1986 I occupied third place on the world list, behind Kasparov and Karpov. Nobody 164 A game analysis with Artur Yusupov during an SBSA youth training. (photo Cocky van Delft) ever forced me to do anything, 1 very much wanted to reach the top myself. And 1 have never regretted it. 1 have been able to visit dozens of countries, and have a lot of life experience.' After finishing secondary school, Yusupov started a university study in economics. 'The level of education in Russia was definitely not worse than in Western Europe, but the Soviet system had deteriorated into an absurd, paranoid social order.' After two years, Yusupov dropped out. 'I could no longer combine my study with top-class sport.' To achieve results, whether in top-class chess or in graduating at school, you have to believe in your goal, Yusupov claims. 'You have to be focused, you have to be totally committed to your goa!.' Which mean that you have to develop self-discipline and reserve sufficient time to achieve your aim. 'Looking back, 1 think 1 could have made more out of my career. Probably I've been enjoying life too much. And perhaps 1 should have started giving lessons sooner. If you give trainings yourself, you begin to think more deeply about things than if 165 you only study them for your own use.' To have ambitions is healthy, Yusupov claims. 'But you have to ask yourself what you want and what you are prepared to give up to get it. You can study night after night, but if this is at the expense of your family life, you have to either make good arrangements or adjust your goals.' Yusupov is well-known for his great sportsmanship: 'A bad character is not a prerequisite for achieving a world top position. 1 think that you also have to have respect for the people around you. To reach the top you must be hard on yourself, not on others. But there is a dilemma here: you have to invest a lot of time and energy into your ambitions if you want to get the maximum out of your capacities. You have to find a balance between your ambitions and your social life.' Ten years ago, after a robbery at his flat where he got seriously injured, Yusupov decided to leave Russia. Now he lives with his wife and two children in Germany, where he has founded a chess academy. 'I play for clubs in four countries, 1 write books together with Mark Dvoretsky, 1 have created the commercial website www.chessgate.de together with a few people, now and then 1 organize a tournament and 1 give trainings.' These days, Artur Yusupov occupies 50th place on the world ranking list, which means that he is still getting along fine in his sport. However, he spends a lot of energy on trainings. 'I very much enjoy training with amateurs. The level is not so important - if people are motivated I'm enjoying it as well. And 1 think it is a fascinating job to coach young talents.' When Yusupov gives trainings to young talents, he offers them more than pure technique and understanding. He creates an easy-going atmosphere where all the participants immediately fee! comfortable. He asks questions and stimulates people to think and to consult each other. Top -class sport has everything to do with self-management, and with his attitude, his questions and his remarks, Yusupov contributes to the education of his pupils. He feeds their faScination, teaches them to relativize, and passes on a love for research. 'A good coach is important. You can do a lot on your own, as Bobby Fischer has shown us, but a good coach can help you to study much more efficiently, and he can help you develop your social skills. Good education is not just delegation of knowledge, you also educate your pupils as human beings. With a good talk and some critical questions, for instance, a coach can help you become more decisive. He can help you develop a vision, and improve your self-management. But a coach cannot do everything. The most important thing for students is to have a strong character. They must be longing to achieve something themselves and they must spend energy and time on this. Every human being has talents, and the thing is to determine your own goal, your own ceiling, on a realistic level, and to determine how you can reach it.' Karel van Delft, Spring 200 1 166 04 Jan Ti mman Grandmaster Jan Timman signed his book 'De macht van het loperpaar' (this book was later combined with 'De kracht van het paard' into the English language book 'Power Chess with Pieces') in March 2004 in bookshop Nawijn & Polak in Apeldoorn. Roughly forty chess players purchased one or several of his books. Afterwards, Jan Timman spoke with SBSA secretary Karel van Delft in the local La Paz restaurant. Ti mman is still fu ll of ambition The 'best of the west', Jan Timman (52) was called in 1982, when he was second on the world's rating list behind World Champion Anatoly Karpov. In 2004 he can still compete with the greatest players in the world. That is what he says himself, and he demonstrated it in the latest Corus To urnament, where he drew with Vladimir Kramnik . However, despite splendid play, he squandered winning positions against Van Wely and Leko, and Timman ended up at the bottom of the list. 'I was very nervous and I had too little energy', says Timman candidly. 'I've had his before, but never so often during one and the same tournament. This was extreme. I don't know how this could happen. I will have to work on it.' With an Elo rating of 2578, way below his standard, Timman is ranked seventh on the Dutch rating list. It would, however, be a mistake to think that in his fifties, Timman is ready to be written off. 'I've had temporary setbacks before. I can still compete with the strongest players, and I expect to perform better again in the near future.' That might happen in Almelo, where, during the Easter weekend, Timman will play a short match of four games with the Dutch champion, grandmaster Loek van Wely. Timman will also probably be taking part in another summer tournament, in Amsterdam. Jan Timman has been a professional chess player ever since he left school. 'I do this mainly because I'm good at it, I think. The game still remains interesting, but if you have been playing for so long, you cannot always perform on top level.' His life as a professional player has brought Timman many interesting encounters with lots of people, and he has been to a great many countries. 'I haven't counted how many, but I have never been in Australia or China yet, for example.' He says this one day before his umpteenth visit to Iceland, where he will take part in the Reykjavik Open. Timman has written many chess articles, among others in New In Chess, the best chess magazine in the world, of which he is editor-in-chief. He is also the author of roughly a dozen chess books, and of an autobiographical collection of articles called 'Een sprong in de Noordzee' (i.e. 'A jump in the North Sea'). He considers 'Het smalie pad' (i.e. 'The narrow path') to be his best book. In it, he discusses games and describes how he fared in various matches for the world championship in the period 1972-1986. Of this Dutch-language chess book, approximately 7000 copies have been sold - less than your average regional novel. You cannot make a living out of writing chess books, says Timman. However, he is utterly captivated by the analysis of games, in search of the ultimate chess truth - and writing chess books challenges him to reflect on the game. Besides 'De macht van het loperpaar', Timman recently wrote the book 'Briljant Schaken 2003' ('Brilliant Chess 2003') together with international 167 Jan Timman signs books in books hop Nawijn & Polak. Merijn van Delft gives a simul during Timman's book presen tation. 168 master Hans Bbhm. In this book, the two authors discuss ten beautiful games and ten brilliant endgame studies. If this formula catches on, the book will get a follow-up in an annual series.At the moment, the grandmaster is also working on a book on the famous Candidates-tournament Cura<;ao 1962. As a writer of chess books, Timman is doing many chess fans an immense favour, following in the footsteps of World Champion Max Euwe. 'Euwe was more of a didactician, his books were more aimed at instruction than mine', Timman says. 'The difference is that I write more about clearly defined themes. But I try to make them accessible to a wide audience.' In a recent radio talk with Hans Bbhm and the greatest Dutch talent Daniel Stellwagen, Timman claimed that he didn't know for sure whether he would want to be a professional player if he were a young talent today. 'The problem is that these days, a lot of preparation is done with the computer', he explains. 'You must first acquire an enormous amount of knowledge in order to keep up the pace nowadays. That makes it less attractive. 'The last time Jan Timman participated in a Dutch championship was in 1998. Of the fourteen championships in which he took part, he won nine. 'I would like to participate again', he says. 'But the problem is that the KNSB refuses to give conditions.' As a professional player, Timman has his principles, and as long as the Dutch chess federation does not meet his wishes, the chess fans will have to do without him during the Dutch championship. And then there is also the issue of the anti doping test. Like grandmaster Artur Yusupov, Timman thinks that such tests are irrelevant and to his mind, peeing in a cup and handing it over borders on the embarrassing. 'Still, this is a problem that can be overcome, and this law will probably be abolished one day. 'The greatest obstacle for his return to the Dutch championship is KNSB board member Sytze Faber, Timman says. 'There is no talking to that man.' The Dutch writer C. Buddingh' once wrote in his Dagboeknotities (i.e. 'Diary Notes') 1977- 1985 that Timman would never become World Champion. 'He is way too friendly, too sophisticated, too amiable, too creative even. To become a World Champion in this day and age, you need to be an android connected to a computer.' Confronted with this quote, Timman smiles. 'I don't know if that's true. I can be friendly and also professional. But one thing is true : Karpov, Kortchnoi and Kasparov have a certain fanaticism, they can focus on one thing. I don't have this characteristic by nature, I would really have to arouse such an attitude within myself.' The grandmaster, who lives in Amsterdam, is highly interested in endgame studies, and he also composes them himself. He can talk enthusiastically about this subject. 'It is the way of thinking that appeals to me, also because of its kinship with practical chess. Endgame studies have paradoxical, counter-intuitive and esthetic aspects. In the near future I want to think up something for the celebration of Pal Benko's 75th anniversary. Chess problems appeal less to me, they are often not practical.' Timman has never played a match in Apeldoorn. He did stay in Hotel De Keizerskroon in 1993, during his world championship match with Karpov in Zwolle. In 1976, 1977 and 1978, he stayed in Apeldoorn three times with, among others, Donner, during a training camp of the Dutch national selection. Even then he did not believe that physical training as a means of preparation for competition would pay off. Fitnessing in a gym, as Loek van Wely does, is not his cup of tea. 'I swim and I play tennis for fun. Anyway, did Van Wely get 169 very far with it?', he laughs. On the argument that without fitness, which is also something that Kasparov swears by, Van Wely might have come less far, Timman replies benevolently: 'That's true.' For youth players with ambition, Timman has no tailor-made recipe. 'It is hard to give a general answer to this question', he says. Of course, tactics should be practiced regularly, and it is important to play through annotated games. 'Especially Keres's game collections are instructive. 'Studying opening books has even less sense - this is more suitable for advanced players. 'Of course you have to study the basics, you also have to do that if you want to learn to play the flute. But you have to watch out that you don't start playing cliche moves.' As a youth trainer there is no great future awaiting Timman, at least not in the near future. Now and then he trains with two members of the Dutch national youth selection at a time, among whom Smeets and Stellwagen. 'We analyse games for four hours. The last time was in December, and arrangements have been made for another training in April. Of course, this is not nearly enough. The federation has all kinds of training plans for Stellwagen, and I have expressed my willingness to cooperate. This can be useful - Kasparov has also trained with Geller, for instance. I hope it is not too late, as Stellwagen is already 17 years old. But I don't know if something will come of it. I don't want to have any more contact with the member of the board who is in charge of top-class chess - Sytze Faber. That man does not know anything about chess. He calls me late at night in Wijk aan Zee when I have to play Shirov with black the next day. I think that he has to leave, but he will only leave if he is forced to. He enjoys power.' Karel van Delft, March 2004 170 Rob Hartoch gives a training during YMM. 05 Ro b Hartoch 'This formula is great, they should adopt it everywhere. ' Rob Hartoch looks back with great pleasure at the latest edition of Youth Meets Masters, where he was in charge of the youngest age group for the third time. Hartoch tells his story two weeks later in the canteen of De Moriaan, during the Corus tournament, where he takes part in one of the two highest reserve groups. Most of the seven children in his training group in the Mind Sports Centre in Apeldoorn were around eight years old. These four girls and three boys had one or two diplomas from the Step-by-Step Method. To discuss an entire game takes up too much time, Hartoch thinks. 'You have to keep it playful.' The training lasted five hours, minus two half-hour breaks. That is perfectly feasible as long as your approach is interactive and varied, as Hartoch has found out. 'This formula is great, they should adopt it everywhere.' The training in Hartoch's group started with a presentation of five problems to the children. In one position a piece had to be won, in another a positional advantage had to be achieved. The children were allowed to take independently quite a few decisions during the training. For example, they could choose whether they wanted to solve a problem on their own or in twos. 'Whatever they like best. I give them this freedom.' Hartoch first explains the intention of a theme, and then he lets the children toy with the problem. 'I walk around and answer questions. It's fine this way, it allows me to step outside and smoke a cigarette now and then.' The atmosphere in the group was quite jolly during the entire day. It was a good thing, Hartoch thought, that his group was placed close to the exit. This way the children could go to the canteen section without having to walk past other groups. 'The other groups may have been bothered by my rather loud 17 1 voice', Hartoch supposes apologetically. But this turned out not to be a problem. In the hall there were 59 children, 10 trainers and some more staff members of the organization, as well as a few parents who occasionally took an interested look at the proceedings in the various groups. The oldest, strongest groups trained in the back of the hall, and as you got closer to the exit, the average age and rating lowered. Parents and children gave Hartoch many compliments, he says, visibly pleased. Not a word of this is untrue, as observations of the group and reports sent in by the children afterwards showed that the children considered themselves enormously lucky to have been in Hartoch's group. 'They thought I was a friendly gentleman and a good chess player as well', Hartoch relates with a smile. Another training item was a blitz tournament. Six children played a single-round competition with each other, while Hartoch took on Emma, the smallest of the group - and tasted defeat. She beamingly accepted a booklet with a handwritten foreword by Hartoch after the training. In 1965, Hartoch came second at the junior world championship in Barcelona, and he played for the Dutch team at two Olympiads. He has played against the giants, and beaten, among others, Paul Keres. There is a whole world of difference between that level and that of the children. For the international master from Amsterdam this is by no means an obstacle for enthusiastically playing chess with the children for an entire morning or afternoon: 'They have so much fun, it makes me enthusiastic as welL' It reminds Hartoch of the time he learned to play chess himself. 'I was six. My father was the best teacher I could have wished for. He wasn't a strong player, but he had fun and explained the game to me with much pleasure.' Soon he became too strong for his father. 'Then I went on the streets, looking for opponents, and later on I searched the entire neighbourhood. At secondary school, in the afternoons, I would set off running to the Leidseplein, because that's where the strongest players in the city were to be found.' He is grinning. 'But when I tell this to children, I also tell them that they should make their homework first.' Hartoch has also told this story to the children in his YMM group. 'We started by introduCing ourselves and telling each other how we learned to play chess. I also told them who I am and what I have done in chess.' Hartoch abolished the notation of the moves during simuls this year. 'Last year one of the kids started to cry - he could play chess but he couldn't yet write.' Nor has he given any tips to the children about how they should train: 'They are still too young to overlook such things.' In between events, he did regularly present quiz questions to the children, with which they could earn bonus pOints. Questions like: Who is the Dutch champion?, or: Which is the strongest chess club in Apeldoorn? With older children he discusses the simul games afterwards. You shouldn't do that with young kids, Hartoch knows: 'They immediately forget the games, and then they are no longer interested.' You have to strike the iron while it's hot, which is why Hartoch analyses during the games. 'Important moves I discuss with them right away. They are also allowed to take back their moves. This way they can learn something, and it remains fun. If you want to stimulate chess, children should have fun. You should make a social thing of it.' 'If children offered me a draw, I could not refuse', Hartoch says. 'But when I offered one, there were even some who refused. Then I had to win. Except 172 against Emma, she was too strong for me. So she got the most pOints. Because she was so good, she participated hors concours, as I agreed with the other children. That's why, as the youngest, she got a special prize.' Children find these YMM days very inspiring. As young as they are, they can be quite fanatical. Marike had gathered five zeros in blitz, but she kept her drive. 'Touch-move', she would tell her opponents. 'Well, she lost all games, but judging by the level of the games the result could have been the opposite in every game. The winning chances were swinging at every move.' Apparently, Marike wasn't traumatized by her series of zeros. Hartoch and her father, Gerrit, are friends. 'He called me on the next day, a Saturday, to tell me that she had won a big trophy at a youth tournament.' Four hours nett of chess training is no problem whatsoever for young children if the YMM formula is followed, as Hartoch has found out several times already. 'You should allow them to be active - give them free rein. But you must also indicate clearly what they should do, and be at hand in case they have questions or they cannot make headway with a certain problem.' The children could gain pOints on the various items. One year earlier they even got three points for picking up pieces from the ground. 'They were all fanatically trying to gain pOints. The element of competition is important for them. That makes it more exciting. Of course I also give away pOints, but I will always be fair and take care that the strongest player gets the most pOints in the end.' Hartoch repeats that he values the YMM formula highly, as it gives every trainer the freedom to introduce his own methods and subjects. 'We should keep it this way. Everybody enjoys it. It is also unique that virtually the entire first team of Schaakstad Apeldoorn gives trainings. I will be back next year.' Karel van Delft, January 2005 173 E - APPENDICES El Analysis Questionnaire By analysing your own games, you will learn from your experiences. This will provide you with insights which you will be able to use in the future. An analysis questionnaire can help you analyse your games thoroughly. When you analyse a game, you have to think of a lot of things. The most important pOints are mentioned in this list. Not all questions apply every time. Analysing games takes time. But it has the advantage that you discover what your strong and weak pOints are. Keep in mind that it is better to analyse one game thoroughly than ten games superficially. First fill in the questionnaire by yourself, and then discuss it with a strong player. It is also useful to analyse a game with your opponent afterwards. Your opponent may be able to explain certain things to you. It may also be instructive because he/she may have thought about the game in an entirely different way than you. This also applies to games you have won! On the basis of your experiences you can make additions to the lists. You can also make a list of points of attention that you want to keep in mind in the future. Technical questions 1. Which opening was played? Do you play it more often? Why? Do you know the ideas behind the opening? Do you know the tricks? Is it a quiet opening or an aggressive one? 2. Until which move did you know the opening (suggestion: look what you can find in opening books)? 3. Were there any remarkable situations in the opening (e.g. transposition of moves, unnecessary loss of tempo)? 4. Which moves took you a lot of time? Why? 5. Which of your opponent's moves surprised you? What did you expect and how did you plan to react? 6. Which of your and your opponent's moves do you find very good? Why? (you can describe this in variations and/or in words. Did you mainly play actively (with initiative) or passively (waiting)? Why? 7. Which of your own and your opponent's moves do you find very bad? Why? 175 8. Look at Steinitz's list. Were there any moments in the game when you or your opponent obtained one of these advantages? Which mistakes were the cause of this? What were the consequences for the game? 9. Which of your moves marked the start of the execution of a plan? Can you describe the contents of this plan in words? Do you think now that this plan was good or bad? Have you changed plans at a certain pOint? Why? 10. Do you know which plan your opponent followed? Do you think you have given this enough attention during the game? How do you assess this plan? 11. Were there any moments in the game when you had no idea which plan to follow? Why did you play the move you eventually played? (suggestion: it is better to have a small or a mediocre plan than no plan at all) 12. Were you familiar with the type of position? If so, describe how you have come to know it. If not, was it difficult to find a plan? Why? 13. Were you able to sacrifice anything? Why did or didn't you do that? 14. Did you at any moment have a choice between a tactical and a positional struggle? What did you base your choice on? Did you take the strength of your opponent into account? 15. Which tactical means have you used? 16. Were there any possibilities to simplify into a certain kind of endgame? Why did or didn't you do that? 17. Did you at any moment think of alternative moves? What were these alternatives and to which type of position would they have led? 18. What was the decisive mistake of the game? Why? 19. Which suggestions did your opponent make after the game? 20. Which subjects are you going to study (again) as a result of this game? 21. Which technical rules of thumb can you derive for yourself from this game? 22. What did you find the most instructive about this game? 176 Tactical means/combination motifs These means and motifs are aimed at acquiring the advantages mentioned in Steinitz's list. 1. advantageous exchange 2. twofold attack 3. pin 4. removal of the defender (taking/chasing away) 5. double attack 6. discovered attack/check 7. X-ray attack/check 8. interruption 9. decoy/deflection 10. blocking 11. magnet combination 12. attack on the king 13. occupying the 7th rank 14. hunting and aiming 15. line or square clearance 16. tempo gain 17. tying and/or overburdening pieces 18. zugzwang 19. quiet move Elements of Steinitz Permanent advantages: 1. material advantage 2. bad king position 3. passed pawn 4. weak pawns 5. weak squares 6. weak colour complex 7. pawn islands 8. strong pawn centre 9. bishop pair in open position 10. control of a file 11. control of a diagonal 12. control of a rank Temporary advantages: 1. bad piece position 2. inharmoniously placed pieces 3. advantage in development 4. concentration of pieces in the centre 5. space advantage 177 Psychological questions 1. What expectations did you have at the start of the game? Why? Were they fulfilled? 2. How did you feel? Why? 3. What did you know about your opponent? Have you taken that into account? How? 4. Did you have any psychological problems during the game (nervousness, doubts, recklessness, eagerness, fear of failure, failing willpower, etc.)? 5. Do you suffer from 'vices' during a game (e.g. touching a piece too quickly)? 6. How was your self-control? Were you self-confident? 7. How was your ability to concentrate? 8. How was your time management (and your opponent's)? 9. Were you disturbed by things that happened around you? 10. Did your opponent use any psychological tricks? How did you react? 11. Were you tired (before, after)? If so, why? 12. Were you too focused on your own plan or did you also take your opponent's plan into account? 13. Was it easy for you to make decisions? 14. Have you relieved effort with relaxation? 15. Were you afraid of your opponent? If so, why? 16. How creative were you in this game? 17. Did you show your opponent how you felt (e.g. did you show uncertainty)? 18. How was your mood? Did that influence your play? 19. Did you panic during the game? And your opponent? If so, at what moment? What could be the reason for this? 178 20. Did you do any 'wishful thinking' during the game ('I play this, hoping that my opponent will play that')? 21. Were you occupied by the game or were you thinking about the result, the public, your opponent, or doubts? 22. Were you in the mood to play well? Why/why not? 23. What did you do when things got difficult? 24. Did you concentrate on a good result (1-0) or on playing a good game? 25. Did you commit blunders? If so, what was the cause? 26. Did you play the game in your own tempo or were you influenced by your opponent's tempo (slow, fast)? Was that wise in this game? 27. Did you fight until all the possibilities had been tried? 28. Did you divide your time well? Did you take enough time to think deeply at the crucial moments of the game? 29. Did you stop looking at certain continuations because you 'felt' that they were impossible? 30. Did you in any way allow yourself to be influenced by your opponent's behaviour? 31. Can you say goodbye to a finished game? 32. Were you annoyed by your opponent? Why? 33. At certain moments, did you look what you would do if you were your opponent? 34. What will you do differently next time? 179 E2 Score form Youth Meets Masters Youth Meets Masters, Friday, January 7, 2005 Mind Sports Centre Apeldoorn, Dubbelbeek 24, Apeldoorn 11.00 - 17.00h Organization: SBSA (www.sbsa.nl) Coordination: Karel van Delft (k. [email protected], 06-22226928) Sponsor: Van der Mey Jewellers Programme Time schedule and contents of workshop can be arranged differently, according to own judgement 11.00 entry, payment (10 euro, SBSA youth participants have already paid), forming of groups 11.15 - 12.15 everyone introduces themselves, discussion of own game by trainer + explanation about opening 12.15 - 13.15 blitz tournament, trainer joins if amount of participants is uneven 13.15 - 13.45 talk about the best way to train, have participants tell their own story, trainer as well (here the list of points of attention from the coaching talk can be used) 13.45 - 14.45 simultaneous exhibition (write down the games) 14.45 - 16.00 discuss games 16. 00 - 16.30 extension, various (for example: endgame) 16.30 soup Name workshop giver: Name participant: For each item you can earn pOints, with a maximum of 90 points. The participant with the highest amount of pOints in a group wins a chess book. During the game discussion you will be asked five questions, you can gain a maximum of six points for each. Question 1 .... pOints Question 2 .. .. pOints Question 3 .. .. pOints Question 4 .... points Question 5 .... points Total game discussion: .... points 180 Blitz tournament: Loss 0 paints, draw 3 paints, win 6 points. The workshop giver joins the tournament in case of an uneven number of participants; Pairing based on numbers. Workshop giver gets no. 6. 1st round 1-6 2-5 3-4 .... paints 2nd round 6-4 5-3 1-2 .... paints 3rd round 2-6 3-1 4-5 . . . . paints 4th round 6-5 1-4 2-3 .... paints 5th round 3-6 4-2 5-1 .... paints Total blitz ...... points Simultaneous exhibition: If with clock: Simul player and participants get half an hour each. Writing down game is obligatory. Loss 0 paints, draw 10 paints, win 20 paints. Number of points: .... Mark for level of the game (maximum: 10): .... Total for clock simul: ..... paints Total number of paints for these three items: ...... paints 181 E3 Points of attention for consultation about (self-)training 1. How much time do you spend on chess every day/week? What do you do? 2. Do you have trainers? 3. Do you have a training partner? 4. Do you keep a chess diary, or do you make notes of the things you do? 5. Do you work with a week schedule, or do you plan the things you have to do in another way? 6. Do you store your chess information, for instance, in a binder? 7. Do you write down your games during (rapid) tournaments and matches? 8. Do you save your own games in a computer? 9. Do you analyse your games on the board and with Fritz? 10. Do you analyse your games with your opponent afterwards? 11. Do you ever play through annotated games? 12. What chess books do you have? 13. Do you read chess magazines? 14. Do you play chess via the Internet? 15. Do you ever play theme tournaments with a certain opening? 16. Do you visit tournaments regularly? 17. Do you make tactical exercises daily? Which ones? Do you know the collection of 3500 tactical exercises? 18. Which openings do you play? How do you practise them? 19. Do you give trainings yourself? Where, which, to whom, and how? 20. Do you play correspondence chess? 21. Do you know what 'CIEPC' means? When can you apply it? 22. During a game, do you ever wonder what you would do if you were in your opponent's shoes? 23. In which school team or club team do you play? 24. Do you ever write reports on chess for a school paper or a club bulletin? 25. How is your time use during games? 26. What is the best way for you to concentrate? 27. During a game, do you apply energy management? 28. Do you know the SBSA Analysis Questionnaire? (see www.sbsa.nl) 182 E4 List of psychological tips Questions 1. If you want to learn something, which is better: to spend a lot of time on it in one session, or during various short periods? 2. In what way will you learn to understand something better: by working on it in the same way all the time, or by working on it in different ways? 3. What is the advantage of playing together against a computer? 4. Why is alternation of procedures important during a training? 5. If you have studied something, you have to ask yourself: 'what have I learned here?' Why is that? 6. Why should you analyse games together with others? 7. What is the result of feeling insecure? 8. How should you react if you blunder during a game? 9. What use are mistakes to you? 10. Lasker always tried to create as much tension as possible in a game, working on his opponent's nerves. What do you think were the consequences of this? 11. Tal was known for his daring combinations and sacrifices. How do you think his opponents reacted to this? 12. How did Fischer surprise Spassky at their 1972 match for the world championship? 13. Why is creativity important for chess players? 14. What did the blind man say? 15. In a chess diary you can keep score of new things you have learned. Name four advantages of a diary. 16. Why is it important to make tactical exercises on an (almost) daily basis? 17. Why is it useful to collect thematic positions in a computer database? 18. Is it good to quickly learn new things right before a tournament? 19. If you find a position very difficult, it is not clever to panic. What should ' you do instead? 20. Is it good to constantly concentrate on the position throughout the game? 21. What is wishful thinking? 22. During a game, circumstances are different than during a training session. Conflicting interests are at stake, there is an opponent, there is an audience, there can be noise in the playing hall. Many players are self-focused in such cases, which leads to doubt and tension. What is the best thing to do? 23. What does it mean if you lack self-confidence? How many opponents does this give you? 24. What are mnemonics and what use are they to you as a chess player? 25. Why is it important to analyse your own games? 26. Which are the factors that determine your performance ability? 27. What is the intention of psychological tricks? 28. Is it a bad thing to lose form? 29. What can you do if you are regularly in time-trouble? 30. Why is it useful to talk about your functioning with fellow team members 183 and a coach? 31. How useful is it to look for solutions to problems? 32. Do people always look at (chess) problems objectively? 33. Is good planning important? 34. Is it useful for a chess player to give lessons? 35. What is experimenting? Is it useful? 36. What is the best way to internalize all these insights? Answers 1. Several short periods is better, as this will allow you to memorize the information better. 2. By working on it in different ways. 3. When you play together, you learn from each other as you go along. For example, about the way you analyse (divide a problem into parts and assign meaning to those) and the way you reason (if this, then that). 4. It's more fun and your attention won't fade so quickly. If something is fun, it will be easier for you to learn. 5. In this way you force yourself to check if you really understand it. You can write the most important things in a chess diary as rules of thumb ( = general rules). By writing it down, you acquire your knowledge actively instead of passively, and it will remain in your memory. By going through your diary now and then, you can refresh your memory. This is useful during championships! 6. This way you can learn from each other's insights. Moreover, others may ask critical questions about things you wouldn't realize by yourself. Everyone has his blind spots. Moreover, you cannot see what you do not know. 7. You will more easily make mistakes. A little fear of failure is understandable before or during important games, but it is not useful. You cannot do the impossible. It's best if you intend to make every game a beautiful one, and, in any case, if you try to learn from each one. This mentality will lead to the best results in the long run. It's no use only worrying about the result. S. Stay calm and take your chances. Always keep in mind that your opponent can also make a mistake. Very often, players get over-confident in better positions. This is at the expense of their concentration and will soon cause them to make mistakes - especially if you try to take the initiative and complicate the play as much as possible. 9. Mostly they will not make you happy. But you can learn from them. So do just that, and show your lost games to a stronger player. Nobody's perfect. 10. His opponents tended to make mistakes sooner. 11. They often got into time-trouble. 12. He changed his opening repertoire. You have a better chance of success if you are unpredictable for your opponents. 13. You practise creating surprising solutions to problems for which many others think there is no solution. Einstein said: 'Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else has ever thought.' Creativity 184 can also be described as finding connections between things that appear to have nothing to do with each other. Creativity consists of a number of thinking skills which can be learned. 14. 'First seeing, then believing.' Everything is not what it seems at first sight. An apparently losing position can sometimes be won by a creative turn. 15. A. It allows you to reconsider what you have learned and experienced, B. You build up a good survey of the things you know and can do, C. You can enter rules of thumb in it, D. It's fun to read it again after a while; you will see what you have learned. 16. Our memory has limitations. You have to keep skills like recognizing and executing tactical combinations up to date. 17. Because if you look at these positions regularly, you will sooner recognize similar positions and be able to make use of your knowledge of the characteristics. 18. No. You have to learn all year long. It is much more efficient to repeat certain things right before a championship, like thematic positions in a computer database, your diary, tactical exercises, and refreshing your opening repertoire. 19. Think of your opponent. He just might perceive the position as being even more difficult. 20. No. You have to alternate exertion with relaxation. On balance this will yield the best results. 21. Thinking what you would want to happen. This is not really useful. It is better to think realistically about the possibilities offered in the position, and to make a plan that offers you opportunities and your opponent restrictions. Wishful thinking is a well-known pitfall. Many people mainly look at what they want to see, and that is what they verify; i.e. they check if it is correct. They do not try to falsify (i.e. refute) their own ideas. 22. Working in a task-oriented way: you have set yourself a goal (to play an interesting and instructive game) and you will seriously devote yourself to this task. You cannot do the impossible. You know what you can do and that is what you will show. A surgeon is not going to fall into doubt during an operation, and complain that he was out of form if the patient dies. Working task-orientedly pre-empts cramped thinking, as you will be using all your energy for constructive thoughts. 23. That your self-esteem is too low. This gives you two opponents: the other player and yourself. 24. Mnemonics are thinking tricks that help you structurize your thinking. For example: CCAP = Check, Capture, Attack, Plan. If one of your piece is attacked: CIEPC = Capture, Interpose, Evade, Protect, Counterattack. When assessing a position: MIKOPCP = Material balance, Immediate threats, King position, Open files, Pawn structure with strong and weak squares, Centre and space, Piece Development. 25. You do not learn from books only, but mainly by internalizing your own experiences: what are your weak pOints, which themes and techniques should you study more closely? 26. Talent, trainings, motivation. 185 27. To mislead the opponent and make him insecure. It's best not to pay attention to your opponent and to play your own game. If an opponent becomes really annoying, you can either tell him that or call the arbiter. Chances are that this has a boomerang effect and your opponent becomes insecure himself. 28. No. Each growing and learning process has stagnations and temporary setbacks. See if you can find the causes for your loss of form. Perhaps you have too many other things on your mind, or you have trained too much or too little. If you have learned many new things, it will take a while before all those things have found their places in your thinking system, and this will sometimes cause your thinking system to falter. Possible solutions: do not worry about your results, look for distractions now and then by doing something completely different, take a rest and start training again after a while (analyse games and take pleasure in learning from your mistakes). 29. Note the time used for each move. During the analysis in a training session this allows you to check if you really divided your time well, i.e.: if you have used the larger part of your time on crucial moments. Often time-trouble emanates from indecisiveness, i.e. the inability to make decisions. As an exercise, you can resolve never to think more than three minutes about a move, regardless of the consequences for the result of the game. Also promise yourself that playing instructive games is more important than winning at all costs. 30. Keep in mind that he who judges himself is subject and object at the same time. Therefore, he will have blind spots. Don't be afraid to appear vulnerable and to learn from other people's comments. 31. Of course you do want to have a solution to a problem. But it has to be a good solution. The famous natural philosopher Isaac Newton already said that it is important to ask the right questions. By first looking what the problem is, you will find the best solution. Moreover, this will allow you to trace pitfalls that you would otherwise miss. 32. No. What moves people is not the things in themselves, but the way people look at them. Often their state of mind (for example fear, wishful thinking, or determination to win at all costs) determines which possibilities a player sees in a position. 33. Yes. Often people have many things on their minds, and too little time. By drawing up a programme you can make a list of the things you want to do and add how much time you have for them. This will give you more peace of mind and enable you to take an effective and efficient approach. 34. The experience of several good chess players is that they have become stronger by giving trainings and writing articles, since this forces you to think more systematically about things. In your games you will reap the fruits of this. 35. To experiment is to try out ideas. That is certainly useful. By experimenting with playing styles, as well as with your behaviour, you will gather experience. This will give you a better insight in your strong and weak points. As a result, you will have a number of extra possibilities at your disposal. For instance, you may not know for certain whether it is better 186 to remain seated on your chair for the entire game, or to take regular short walks. In that case it is best to try both procedures five times and write in your diary how you liked it. After ten games, re-read your diary and decide what you will do from then on. 36. By re-reading them regularly. Write down the numbers of tips that you still have trouble with. Select the most important tip that you want to keep in mind, and write down in your diary how you get on with it. You can discuss this with your trainer or with a training partner. If you have learned to put the tip into practice, you can try your hand at a new one. 187 ES Keywords tournament planning - date - location (rent) - starting time, end - organizational form (working group) - which age categories/level groups - amount of players - invitation policy, maximum number of participants - playing material (boards, pieces, clocks, demo board) - press releases - pairing system (Swiss) - arbiters - present for participants - sponsor(s) - competition forms (pairings/who plays who; results) - scenario on paper, divide tasks among staff members - organizational time schedule before the event - set up tables in the playing hall - notice boards for round-by-round results - competition rules - presentation (big board at the entrance?) - microphones for announcements - First Aid - organization space - recreational space (comic books?) - how many rounds - opening (by whom) - time-control - general supervision on order/quiet - pins: staff member of organization - which own contribution, how to collect - draw up an estimation - computers, operation, pairing program, transportation - way of registration, contact addresses, final date - prizes - who gives prizes - treasurer, budget - rent of playing hall - cleaning - printing (invitations) - round schedule (playing times), breaks - eating/drinking - scoresheets 188 E6 Scenario weekend tournament The below scenario is based on the ROC Aventus Open Chess Championship of Apeldoorn 2007, which was organized by SBSA. The tasks have been anonymized, and for the sake of readability the text has been slightly abridged. SCENARIO ROC AVENTUS OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP OF APELDOORN, 2007 Version 7 September 2007, name of author 1. Date, location 2. Organization 3. Sponsor 4. Layout of location 5. SBSA website online 6. Layout of playing hall 7. Participants, entering participants in the program, boarding possibilities 8. Bulletin for participants 9. Registration on the first day of the tournament 10. Opening 11. Programme 12. Live commentary 13. Arbiters and computers + organization utilities 14. Playing material 15. Order, safety 16. Recruitment and pr 17. Financial matters 18. Catering 19. Cleaning 20. Announcing the tournament to OSBO (i.e. the regional federation) / KNSB and submitting results 21. Prize-giving 22. Booksellers 23. Chess newspaper 24. Checklist of actions before, at the start of, during and after the event 25. List of telephone numbers 26. Various 189 1. Date, location 7, 8, 9 September 2007, De Brinkhorst, Ritbroekstraat 2, Apeldoorn Arrangements with location manager, confirmed by email Dates: Friday 7 (starting 17.00h), Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September (until 18.00h) Manager brings keys on Friday Rent for a socio-cultural tariff (shifts, not all hours) Send invoice to sponsor (contact person, telephone number) Halls no. 14 (big playing hall), 13, 9 and 5 for post-mortem analysis and hall no. 12 for organization Use of entire building, no other tenants Manager can be reached via telephone number, email address Sufficient amount of tables and chairs in the building Maximally 130 participants Reserve coordinator: name, telephone data, email Refrigerators arranged by SBSA with Schaakstad Microphone arranged by SBSA with welfare organization 'Wisselwerk' (contact person) Container for litter is available Coordinator can be reached by mail and telephone 2. Organization Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn Coordination and name of tournament director (mobile phone number) Communication via email (save copies in Outlook), telephone, verbally Keeping things up to date in documentation portfolio Annually extensive documentation of the tournament on CD-ROM, especially concerning organizational matters. Division of tasks: Explicitly mention names for the various tasks. Where there are no names, the coordinator takes care of the task (or asks someone else to do this). Coordination: two names Staff members for various tasks, with mention of names, tasks, times Catering Setting up/cleaning up Digital board Registration/pairing Substitutes in case of odd number of participants Arbiter Report in Schaaknieuws Live commentary: 190 SBSA website Various staff members Organization present: fill in times [Name] makes table numbers for A-group (with SBSA and ROC Aventus logos) 3. Sponsor Coordinator maintains contact with sponsor Arrangements with sponsor: Tournament is held on 7/8/9 september in De Brinkhorst, Ritbroekstraat 2 Coordinator arranges use of the building with the manager Last year's tournament has been documented on CD-ROM - give several copies to sponsor Further consultation about future tournaments SBSA treasurer sends an invoice Invoice De Brinkhorst directly via Accres 100 posters. Same procedure as last year, updated Digital file with new poster in jpeg to put on website and in email newsletter. Useful to send a proof 150 presents for participants (120 small for participants, 30 bigger for staff members) Aventus Communications asks chairman of the board to do prize giving Afterwards coordinator sends digital pictures with text for Aventus website Before the event, Aventus does internal pr via its magazine Aventijn and its own website Digital version of flyer with tournament data is mailed by coordinator SBSA generates publicity for the tournament via various media (see scenario) Coordinator can collect posters and presents at Aventus Contact data Aventus Chess newspaper Date of publication. Who signs advertisement contract Chess newspaper (full page, full colour, price: see agreement). Quarter page advertorial is delivered by Aventus, as well as tournament announcement. 4. Layout of location Play in big hall (top boards on the stage, long rows of tables). Analysis in three small rooms. Organization in small room. 191 Bar next to reception in the hall. Inner court and walk-around for recreation. Live commentary in the back of the hall on the left + pc connected to digital board. Borrow microphone via 'Wisselwerk'. Refrigerators and spare catering via contact Schaakstad (keys of refrigerators and storeroom). Take First Aid kit along. S. SBSA website online Report on the tournament with result lists (Sevilla), reports, pictures and games. SBSA webmaster coordinates. Games of masters in A-group online after each round, if possible. Who enters the games in Chessbase? Webmaster uses SBSA laptop. Work in the organization room. Coordinator checks possibility of fixed telephone line - if not, wireless or from home. Also laptops for pairing (via fellow club members). 6. Layout of playing hall Friday 16.30h: layout of playing rooms Top boards on stage Tables in long rows with space in between 7. Participants, enter participants in program, boarding possibilities Participants: Expect around 110 participants In case of odd number of participants, four people are available as substitutes. Substitutes receive half point for every round they do not play. Application before the event via coordinator (email, telephone). Titled players, substitutes, staff members, guests, SBSA youth trainers do not pay entry fee. FM half price. Enter participants in Sevilla program: Players in two groups, in alphabetical order, and according to national rating on list / floppy (plus copy) for registration and pairing with Sevilla. Publish names of participants beforehand in SBSA newsletters, with national and, where possible, FIDE ratings. Webmaster publishes them on the website and enters them in Sevilla already (with backups). Make backup of results after each round. Note birth date and address of participants who don't have a KNSB number. KNSB wants these data and refuses to acknowledge the tournament results 192 without them. Boarding possibilities: No hotels (to save expenses). Name for coordination. Three addresses. 8. Bulletin for participants See appendices - updated by coordinator In English and Dutch 9. Entry on first day of the tourament Registration: A- name, B- name. collect the money (not: titled players, staff members, SBSA trainers, substitutes) hand out bulletin for participants, Dutch and English check byes entry until 19.15h, new pairing after 19.30h Coordinator keeps money during tournament and settles with treasurer. Hand out presents on Sunday during afternoon round. A-group payment Titled players, substitutes, staff members, SBSA trainers free Adults € 30,00 Youth under 20 € 20,00 During registration, write either amount paid or 'present' (without payment) behind name hand out bulletin for participants, Dutch and English check byes and note changes on list where necessary B-group payment Adults € 25,00 Youth under 20 € 20,00 Substitutes, staff members free After registration, write amount paid behind name hand out bulletin for participants check byes and note changes on list where necessary 10. Opening By coordinator with microphone. Summary in English. Introduce yourself. Announcements during opening: 193 Welcome. Introduce arbiter. Mobile phones off, otherwise a loss. Refer to bulletin for participants, check byes. Thank sponsor, keep premises clean. Attention for Chess newspaper, SBSA email newsletters. Beware of noise nuisance for neighbours. Smoking outside on inner court. Results via scoresheets, brilliancy prize a digital clock (jury: live commentator) Request for silence in playing hall. Any questions? 11. Programme Round 1: Friday 19.30 - 23.30h Round 2: Saturday 9.00 - 13. 00h Round 3: Saturday 14. 00 - 18.00h Round 4: Saturday 19.30 - 23.30h Round 5: Sunday 9.00 - 13.00h Round 6: Sunday 14. 00 - 18.00h Six rounds Swiss, 2 hrs pppg. Two groups: A from 1800 Elo, B maximally 1900 elo. New rounds are announced with microphone by coordinator. 12. Live commentary Live commentary [name] Sunday afternoon 14-17h discussion of games. Brilliancy prize on the basis of games from Rounds 1-5 that have been sent in, and possibly from Round 6 if the live commentator selects a game himself. The live commentator decides, the audience thinks along. 13. Arbiters and computers + organization utilities Names arbiter and assistant arbiters on the spot in time-trouble phase. Order Fide competition rules from KNSB. Lay scoresheets on tables, they also serve as result forms (arbiters). Order 800 scoresheets with carbon copy. Computers, install printers, reserve file on usb sticks. Computers SBSA laptop with printer, three laptops from fellow club members with printer. Take paper. Print out lists A-B for registration. Number scoresheets per group beforehand (arbiters). Envelopes for prize money. Keep byes up-to-date, different name per group. Number tables with stickers (arbiters). Pairing first two rounds by rating, then by Buchholz. Process results and lay aside candidates for brilliancy prize (arbiters). Record names, addresses and birth dates of ratingless participants at registration - not necessary if KNSB number is known. At 19.15h enter participants into computers, those not present get a bye, possibly pairing against each other New file name per round 194 Hang up pairings and results (with SBSA stamp) 'Silence please' signs in the vicinity of the playing hall. Arbiter starts the clocks at the beginning of the rounds. Put extra queens beside each board. Also mention byes on the website. Arbiter/organization: check empty boards after the start of every round. Pc's for digital board, pairing, Internet, entering games, spare laptop. Chessbase program to put top games on website. 14. Playing material Top pairings play on wooden boards. Pieces/boards/clocks from Schaakstad Apeldoorn (calculate the number) and demo boards and digital board, present in the premises Take SBSA boards and pieces if necessary Blitz in auditorium with private clocks, can be obtained at the bar 15. Order, safety Tournament committee and arbiters keep a close watch on things, besides this: rely on social control. Take First Aid kit and put it near the bar. 16. Recruitment and pr Before Chess newspaper (door-to-door in Apeldoorn) SBSA email newsletters, information and lists of participants during a number of weeks SBSA email list (approx. 600 addresses) digital file poster Send Aventus logo to KNSB website for link to SBSA website Distribute posters at tournaments and to clubs and four libraries in Apeldoorn Flyers to tournaments and clubs Announcement on own website Pre-event story and report in local newspaper Pre-event story in free local paper Press release in advertiser Announcement for calendars of chess media: SchaakMagazine, Schaaknieuws, OSBOde, internet calendars KNSB, Jonkman, news group chess, www.schakers.info, www.chessvibes.com Regional broadcasting company, announcement via website Local sports magazine Possible other media (email media list) Press release, posters and chess newspapers via Aventus channels Announcement before the event on ROC Aventus website with poster Contact person emails youth Schaakmaat and school chess clubs (send 195 flyer) Secretary of Schaakstad emails members of Schaakstad After Report: Schaaknieuws Report SBSA email newsletter Report in local newspaper Report on KNSB website (with picture) Report www.schakers.info (with picture) Report ROC Aventus website, email pictures Afterwards, a report on CD-ROM with texts, pictures, games, film, newspaper reports etc. (for sponsor, staff members and various relations) Poster Text poster to Aventus. 100 posters: 20 ROC, 25 clubs, 4 libraries, S tournaments, various, and for furnishing playing hall Reduced pdf format poster of Aventus to SBSA for digital processing on website etc. Flyer Dutch, German and English, via website, SBSA newsletters, directed email messages and hand out at Schaakstad and De Schaakmaat. Mention parking possibilities. Mention free entry GM/IM (not: 'titled players') See separate files. Pictures/video With digital camera and video camera (charge beforehand). Afterwards, mail digital pictures to participants. Webmaster also makes pictures. 17. Financial matters Money prizes: A-group: € 1000,00; € 500,00; € 250,00; € 150,00; € 100,00 B-group: € 200,00; € 100,00; € 75,00; € 50,00; € 40,00 With equal pOints money prizes are shared, rounded up to the nearest € 5,00 Rating prizes: Five DVD's 'Training with Yusupov' (for categories, see the bulletin for participants). In case of equal number of points, Buchholz decides Brilliancy prize: DGT Easy Game Timer 19 1 196 Entry fee A-group: € 30,00 B-group: € 25,00 Youth (U20): € 20,00 1M's + GM's free Staff members, SBSA youth trainers, children of staff members and substitutes free Starting fees and guarantees A maximum of ten titled players (mainly from Apeldoorn) get financial conditions, also place to sleep for titled players. 1M's Schaakstad prize guarantee, i.e.: their prize is supplied in case it is lower than their guaranteed starting fee. Ask team captain to send a mail to the selection of Schaakstad. Budget RECEIPTS Sponsor contribution Aventus Contributions of participants Profit catering Total EXPENDITURE Prize money Rating prizes (DVD's) Explication Organization (postage, notation, envelopes, petrol, food, organization) Starting fee/prize guarantees Hotel, pensions Uganda school chess Unforeseen/SBSA overhead Total Profits for the benefit of overhead SBSA. Before: get small change. Coordinator does payments. Arbiters and staff members get their expenses covered, free food and drinks. Afterwards a free dinner. 197 18. Catering [Name] takes 15 crates of beer and deducts from catering budget. Sale in reception hall Take along own coffee cups, sugar, milk Staff: names and spontaneous efforts Present as long as the premises are open Purchases: make a list, buy things Sale: make a price list Coffee-maker present as well as cups, glasses Bring along plastic cups Dishcloths, detergent, change, coffee filters, napkins, opener, cash box, cleaning towels Food and drinks are free for staff members and grandmasters Take catering gear to premises beforehand Catering coordinator makes purchases himself, and credit balance goes to SBSA Catering price list Coffee € 0,60 Tea € 0,30 Beer € 1,50 Red wine € 1,50 Jenever € 1,50 Cola € 0,60 Cola Light € 0,60 Spa mineral water € 0,60 Orange Juice € 0,60 Orange soda € 0,60 7 up € 0,60 Ham roll € 0,60 Cheese roll € 0,60 Almond flavoured round € 0,30 Cup a soup € 0,60 Apple juice € 0,60 Catering purchases (see list catering coordinator ) Coffee: 4 packs of coffee + 4 milk, sugar Tea 2 packets Beer 15 crates (depending on the weather - 15 crates were used up in the past two years) Red wine 5 bottles Jenever 3 bottles Cola 90 litres Cola Light 3 bottles Spa mineral water 8 bottles Orange Juice 20 cartons Orange soda 6 bottles 198 Rolls 350 pieces Ham 130 slices Cheese 220 slices Butter 4 Almond flavoured roundsl00 Cup a soup 40 Apple juice 5 cartons Napkins 4 packs of 100 apiece Saturday morning: Collect remaining 250 of the 350 rolls Another 1000 cups More Cup-a-soup In case of shortage: borrow from storeroom Schaakstad and replenish later. Refrigerators already have cold beers and soft drinks, put the same amount in storeroom Schaakstad. 19. Cleaning Premises, toilets Afterwards and in between events 20. Announcement of tournament at regional federation OSBO and national federation KNSB, and submitting results Announcement. Send results to national chess federation for processing. If no national federation number: submit name, address, club, birth date and, if relevant, FIDE number. Results in SBSA newsletters and on website. With regard to names and addresses of players without national federation number: FIDE number instead of national federation number is OK. Only national federation number is also sufficient. For procedure sending information: see KNSB website. 21. Prize-giving Money in envelopes, sufficient change, determine rating prizes. Hand out prizes with representative of Aventus (closing speech). Thank arbiters, catering, webmaster, organization, Accres and, last but not least, sponsor ROC Aventus. Bar open until 30 minutes after prize-giving, in the meantime local people/ staff members clean up, appeal on the spot. 199 22. Bookselling Ask a bookseller to put up a stand. 23. Chess newspaper Lay down copies (also from earlier editions) in playing hall. 24. To-do checklist before, at the start, during, and afterwards Actions before - check parking space in the vicinity and mention it in flyer - contact with manager where necessary - collect things to be taken along beforehand (in a crate) - put byes round 1 on list - check scenario regularly and update text where necessary - send information for website to webmaster (update participants, flyer in three languages, tournament information) - arrangements for report in Schaaknieuws (text, picture) - arrangements for report on www. schakers.info. website KNSB - catering purchase - check with staff members if they will be present - recruiting staff members to set up the pieces - posters to libraries/public institutions, clubs, tournaments - press release to media - number stickers - install Sevilla and Chessbase - draw up budget and control it - count playing material - if necessary, an appeal for boarding addresses in SBSA newsletter - mail flyer to clubs - flyer in SBSA newsletter as attachment - name-plates - print out 'quiet, please, turn off mobile phone' (lOx) - print out bulletins for participants (two languages) - print out lists of participants for registration - print out catering price list (in plastic standard) - print out 'please mind our neighbours' near the entry Contents crate with gear - pens - photo camera - number stickers - box for result sheets - cash box - usb stick - screwdriver 200 - printing paper - sellotape - scissors - extra cartridge - floppy discs - SBSA stamp - blocnote - felt-tip pen - badges with names of staff members typed on them - connection cable from camera to pc - batteries Take along: - Presents Aventus - posters (furnishing) - extra laptops, printer - scoresheets - Chess newspapers - bag with spare queens - rating prizes (glass chess sets, books) - private clocks for blitz in bar - DGT timer brilliancy prize To do before the start - set up tables and chairs - set up boards, pieces, clocks, demo boards in the hall - lay down numbered scoresheets - install digital board - number tables with stickers - registration, check byes, names/addresses/birth dates ratingless players - put catering ready - set up computers, printers - hang up byes near the bar - put results box ready - hang up posters near first board and front door - opening, with microphone - hang up pairing near the bar and in playing hall - check other halls - put name-plates beside boards (possibly only highest boards) Morning of first tournament day - buy things for catering and bring to playing venue (16.00h) - put ready Chess newspapers, laptop, crate with various, presents, camera etc. - check scenario and do various things 201 Afterwards Clean up first, then prize-giving (mention this in bulletin for participants) - clear up boards, pieces, clocks, and count everything - clean up - take catering gear home - calculate finances 25. Telephone list 26. Various Guests: chairman of Aventus board, Sunday Points of attention: Give copies of games for article in Schaaknieuws Mobile phone number of coordinator, especially on website General [Name] only does things before tournament Overcapacity for tasks in case of drop-out Pass on pOints of attention to coordinator and note them for next scenario. APPENDICES: Bulletin for participants in Dutch and English. Flyer in Dutch, German and English. 202 Bulletin for participants ROC Aventus Open Apeldoorn Chess Championship 2007 - Six rounds are played. The time-control is two hours per player, the FIDE competition rules apply. - There are two groups: A from 1800 Elo (the organization may allow lower rated players), B up to 1900 Elo. - Smoking is allowed on the inner court, not at the main entrance of the building. - Taking maximally two byes is possible in the first four rounds, check the list near the bar - if necessary, contact the arbiters. - In order to make the number of players even, substitutes may be used - they get half a point in rounds they do not play and do not compete for the prizes. - The website www.sbsa.nl will have reports on the tournament. Also via the weekly SBSA newsletters. If you want to receive these messages, please apply to Karel van Delft. - Results will be sent to the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB for Elo rating; if you are a member of the KNSB but do not yet have a rating, please give your birthday and address to the arbiters. - All boards are in one and the same playing hall. - The pairing for each round will be hung up near the bar and in the playing hall. - Pairings first two rounds: Swiss, based on rating, after that: by Buchholz. - For a bye requested by yourself you receive half a pOint. - The arbiter determines the place of the clock. - Players are obliged to write down the moves until they have less than five minutes thinking time left. - The foremost sheet of the scoresheet is regarded as the result sheet. Players are required to fill in the result on this sheet and sign the form. The scoresheet must be put in the result box on the arbiters' table immediately after the game. - You can write 'BP' on the form if you want your game to be considered for the brilliancy prize (a digital clock). In principle, only games from the first five rounds that have been sent in are considered. - On Sunday afternoon, live commentator 1M Rob Hartoch determines who will be awarded the brilliancy prize, after consulting the audience. Mr. Hartoch is also at liberty to choose a game from the sixth round for the prize. Actually, the brilliancy prize is a public award: the audience determines which game it values most highly. - Analysing or blitz in the tournament hall are not allowed, this can be done in various analysis rooms in the premises. It is not allowed to take clocks outside the playing hall. - The arbiter is Paul Ham. Assistant arbiters may be appointed. - Arbiters' decisions are binding. - The tournament direction consists of Karel van Delft and Marco Beerdsen. - The tournament directors can be reached via mobile number 06 22 22 69 28. - In cases not covered by these regulations, the tournament direction decides. 203 Prizes Group A. Group B. 1st prize € 1.000,00 € 200,00 2nd prize € 500,00 € 100,00 3rd prize € 250,00 € 75,00 4th prize € 150,00 € 50,00 5th prize € 100,00 € 40,00 Brilliancy prize : digital DGT clock. Rating prizes: The highest-ranked players in the following Elo categories are awarded rating prizes. A: 2201 - 2300, 2101 - 2200, 2001 - 2100, 1901 - 2000, up to 1900 B: 1701 - 1800, 1601 - 1700, 1501 - 1600, Elo up to 1500, no Elo Playing times Round 1: Friday 19.30 - 23.30h Round 2: Saturday 9.00 - 13. 00h Round 3: Saturday 14. 00 - 18.00h Round 4: Saturday 19.30 - 23.30h Round 5: Sunday 9.00 - 13.00h Round 6: Sunday 14. 00 - 18.00h 204 E7 Subjects for a parents meeting - technically: structure of the programme - personality building (self-image, social skills) - importance of analysing own games - material (chess material, reading material) - didactics - motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic) - variation - interaction - feedback - differences in level - challenges - degree of complexity - atmosphere - student tracking system - analysis questionnaire - essence of lessons on paper - week planning - verbalization (games with verbal comments, analysis questionnaire) - workload in hours - use of demo board, or around the table - procedures - practice makes perfect - importance of tactics - fascination - support own development - on an adventure - performance versus result 205 E8 Study guide SBSA youth training Study guide SBSA youth training season 2007/2008 For questions, contact trainers or organizers. General remarks With group trainings, knowledge, understanding and skills are increased. Level within groups is as equal as possible. Learning styles, talent and effort differ. Chess players themselves are responsible for their own input and development. It is important for parents to feel involved - and also, to be familiar with this program. Training participants can profit from the trainings and the possibilities offered by advice, and by the entire SBSA chess culture. He who wants to accomplish something must be resourceful, and study and play a lot. SBSA trainers and organization will be happy to think along. Trainers, organization Trainers are 1M Merijn van Delft (Friday AB-group), 1M Yochanan Afek (Sunday AB-group) and Martin van Dommelen (C-group). Besides, 1M Roeland Pruijssers, Stefan Kuipers and Tom Meurs will be present as guest trainers and assistant trainers with various activities, e.g. opening study, as substitutes for absent trainers, and during Youth Meets Masters. The organization is in the hands of Marco Beerdsen and Karel van Delft. Trainings take place in the Mind Sports Centre Apeldoorn, Dubbelbeek 24, tel. 5332766. SBSA newsletters, email Via the SBSA newsletters and via email you will receive additional information about the SBSA youth training. Keep an eye on the SBSA newsletters for possible announcements and date changes. Expenses The trainings cost 250 euros per year for the A- and B-group, and 200 euro for the C-group. Kindly transfer to account number 39.32.95.850 in the name of SBSA, Apeldoorn. First half before 1 October, second half before 1 February. In consultation other spreadings may be possible. Training days Calendar: see below, and/or in the SBSA email newsletters. It is possible that sometimes a training date is cancelled. These trainings will be rescheduled at the end of the season. Absence: check out via email to your trainer and to Karel or Marco. 206 Parents meetings On four Sundays, the dates of which will be announced (see SBSA newsletters), one-hour meetings for parents will be held in the early afternoon, on the subject of training and coaching. These meetings are coordinated by Marco Beerdsen and Karel van Delft. Subjects, procedures and learning goals A- and B-groups Subjects: Friday, with Merijn: - classic games (Kasparov series) - themes 'Judgement and Planning in Chess' (Euwe) 60 min - self-study, tactics, various 30 min. Sunday, with Yochanan: - own games 120 min. - endgames (Silman), studies, various 60 min. A concrete list with subjects will be published at a later stage. The subjects will be announced in every training report. Procedu res : Varying and interactive: demo board, playing out positions simultaneously/ in pairs, group discussion, a 'track' with a number of positions. Learning goals: To improve knowledge, understanding and calculating ability. Increase the fascination for the game. Promote self-study. Homework: - Email at least two self-annotated games in pgn to Merijn, Yochanan and Karel. - Interesting material to study at home is handed out regularly. - View interesting subjects for yourself via CD-ROM on self-study. - Trainers will occasionally give you positions to study. - Tactics (monthly 300 exercises on Tactic Server). Survey: The most important information is summarized afer each training and emailed to the participants. 207 Coaching A- and B-group During the trainings, Merijn will devote attention to self-study. Questions on self-study can be asked to the trainers. See www.sbsa.nl under coaching/training for study tips. SBSA has a small library where you can borrow books. See also: supervision during tournaments. Subjects, procedures and learning goals C-group Minimal level: Step 3. Subjects: Each training - discuss notable events/tournaments 10 minutes - discuss own games/fragments, learn Fritz 90 minutes - basic endgames (Silman) 20 minutes - technique/plans (Euwe) 'Chess Master versus Chess Amateur' 30 minutes (for two games, test homework; third game in quiz form) - mating attacks (Ftacnik) 20 minutes - the King's Gambit traps/variations 20 minutes - various/current events/experiences/films/cd-rom self-study 20 minutes - tactics solve/discuss positions and creative position Krabbe 20 minutes - closing round 'What have we learned?' 10 minutes Two lS -minute breaks. Procedures: For all items pOints will be given (score form). Frontal explanation with demo board. Discovery learning in pairs, or play out simultaneously versus teacher, followed by explanation. Discovery learning via group discussion and quiz form. Group conversations/discussions. Everything highly interactive and dynamic. Learning goals: - discuss three games/fragments by each participant - 50 basic endgame positions Silman - 24 games book Euwe 'Chess Master versus Chess Amateur' - 8 attacks on the king - King's Gambit: principles, opening traps - tactical positions Steps via self-study (30 a week x 40 weeks, including repetition) - 16 creative positions from current events and from literature - learn self-study, learn self-reflection, learn to formulate ideas 208 Homework: - Mail every month at least two self-commented games in pgn to Martin and Karel. - Play through two games 'Chess Master versus Chess Amateur' every month (see floppy disc) - Step-by-Step Method 3x 1D positions per week (teacher establishes the starting level) - You will regularly receive interesting material that you can study at home. - Look at interesting subjects yourself on CD-ROM self-study Survey: The most important information is summarized afer each training and emailed to the participants. Coaching C-group C-group partiCipants and their parents will have a 3D-minute talk with Martin van Dommelen two times a year. He draws up a schedule and invites them. These talks take place before or immediately after the training. During the talk, coaching lists will be used (see CD-ROM self-study, handed out earlier). Questions on self-study may be asked to the trainers. See www. sbsa.nl under coaching/training for study tips. SBSA has a small library where you can borrow books. See also: supervision during tournaments. Fritz, Step-by-Step Method on CD-ROM, send in games Every participant has Fritz (analyse games and positions, save games, send to trainer) and the Step-by-Step Method on CD-ROM (study of tactics, exercise regularly, also: repeat). Database Every training participant saves his own games in a database, for example in Fritz. Pen and notebook Take pen and notebook to trainings and make notes. CD-ROM self-study This CD-ROM, made by SBSA, contains many tips and a lot of training material, as well as some nice films. It is recommended to regularly have a look at it. 209 Other training components Apart from the trainings on Fridays and Sundays there are several other training variants: - 'Youth Meets Masters', a workshop day with masters and strong players. - Four rapid tournaments (see calendar). - Two opening trainings (introduction, two rapid games, analysis, simul against trainer) Two variations of the King's Gambit are discussed. Supervision: Martin and assistant trainer. Playing tournaments It is important that you regularly play games and visit tournaments. A useful tournament is the ROC Aventus Open Chess Championship of Apeldoorn on 7, 8 and 9 September. You can take two free rounds (byes), so you don't have to play in the evenings. In the SBSA newsletters there are announcements of tournaments. The KNSB calendar (see www. schaakbond.nl) also has announcements of tournaments. Supervision during tournaments During several tournaments, (assistant) trainers and training coordinators wil be present part of the time, and training participants can ask them for advice. During the Open Dutch Championship in Dieren, training participants who take part in this tournament can analyse for several evenings at Karel's home with Merijn and, possibly, other international masters. Participants can visit several tournaments together with trainers and/or coordinators. Tips You can keep your training material in a binder with plastic sleeves. You can study more systematically by making a week schedule. In a diary you can briefly write down what you have learned after each training or self-study (this makes you reflect on what you learn, and you will also build up a reference book for yourself). On www. sbsa.nl there are study tips under the heading 'coaching/training'. The programme also contains names and addresses of trainers, organization and participants. There is also a SBSA youth training calendar 2007-2008 with a time schedule: Eight Friday evenings A-B-group: one hour and a half Eight Sundays A-B-group: three hours; C-group four hours Four Sunday afternoons rapid tournament, twice opening study Youth Meets Masters: one day 210 E9 The SBSA Youth Academy project in Apeldoorn Introduction: Since September 1998, SBSA (Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn, i.e. Foundation for the Promotion of Chess in Apeldoorn) develops all sorts of activities for chess players in Apeldoorn and the (wide) surrounding area. In cooperation with the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB, SBSA received a subsidy from the Dutch Olympic Committee NOCjNSF of 10,000 euros for the year 2005, with the aim to gain experience with talent development within a network of local cooperation forms. Thanks to this subsidy, the SBSA was able to organize a substantial number of extra youth activities in 2005. These new activities were assembled along with the already existing activities in the area of talent development under the name 'SBSA Youth Academy'. Interview with Karel van Delft by Willy Hendriks In the following retrospective of the past year's activities, the focus is on the question what chess clubs can learn from SBSA's experiences. Could any (youth) club adopt SBSA's approach? Are there activities that can be organized by every club in the same way? These and other questions I asked to the driving force behind SBSA, secretary Karel van Delft (seconded by Hans Bouwer, treasurer of the SBSA). A yearly high pOint in your programme is the Yo uth Meets Masters event. Th is is a kind of workshop day where strong players from Schaakstad Apeldoom (such as Sipke Ernst, Artur Yusupov, Manuel Bosboom, Merijn van Delft, Arthur van de Oudeweetering, Rob Hartoch, Alexander Ka batianski) give lessons to youth players fr om Apeldoom and the (wide) surrounding area. An event like Yo uth Meets Masters - could any club organize something similar? The YMM formula hinges on two principles: to enthuse, and to pass on knowledge. Each trainer completes a programme with his group. This programme includes, among others, a game in the form of a quiz, an item with tactical positions, and a simultaneous display with a discussion afterwards. After this there is a collective blitz tournament and a pea-soup meal. Every time, the reactions of the participants show that this formula catches on fabulously. You can also organize something like this on a smaller scale - the latest YMM had 8 trainers and 63 participants. A nice extra is that senior players and youth players can get into contact here. Of course the trainers don't have to be international masters. Any club with youth players can organize a day with a number of seniors who can offer the youth players a varied program. Didactic skills are useful, but it all starts with empathy. Enthusiasm, and sympathy and empathy for youth players, that is what matters! Yo u guys atta ch much importance to the so-called 'multiply effect'. Yo u have described this as fo llows: 'It is important that as many strong players as possible are given the role of trainer. We want to spend each euro at least three times: we hire a tra iner, those who receive training also give trainings, etcetera . Th is is a kind of 'miraculous multiplying '. Has this multiply effect been a success in the past year? Partly. For example, Artur Jusupov and Alexander Kabatianski have given 211 trainings to the first team of De Schaakmaat, and players from this team have in turn given lessons themselves, or they have analysed with children on various primary schools. But sometimes there is no follow-up, which is why we have introduced the following rule for these trainings: either you train others in turn, or you pay for the trainings you receive. You see, it's impossible to keep track of everything. But on club level, for instance, these things can be organized without trouble. You hire a trainer, you ask him to give a training to the top players of the club, and in return you ask those players to train the rest of the club and youth players. This way the project will come alive for everyone in the club. Some clubs have a formula with a (paid) player/trainer in their first team. I think this is also a fine elaboration upon the multiply formula. That is, as long as you take care that everyone interested can join in. Aren 't you afra id that a spanner may easily be thrown in the multiplying works if players are not capable of giving trainings - or do not fe el like doing it? Sometimes you get a spanner in the works, but as far as capability is concerned - as I already said, empathy and enthusiasm are the most important things. As soon as you have that, there are always possibilities. Not everyone is asked to give a training before a big group right away, it can also be done in smaller groups, or one-on-one. If you keep in mind the following four cornerstones, you will soon be able to start giving trainings: 1. study tactics; 2. play through annotated games; 3. stimulate your pupils to play a lot themselves, and analyse young players' games with them; 4. introduce them to everything that chess has to offer - let them dabble with the material. Last year we had a Chess trainer A course by Paul Grooten with 8 participants from Apeldoorn and 4 from the surrounding area. It was a great success. So we have also tried to attract attention in the area of didactic skills. Coaching and training have your undivided interest. I understand th at at the moment you are working on a book on this subject. Is this intended to be a useful book fo r the average youth leader at a youth club? Absolutely ! I have nominated around 80 themes by now, about each of which I intend to write short pieces. Those 80 themes rank under the following three cornerstones: training, coaching, and organization/communication. In this context, the idea of 'best practices' plays a prominent role : examples which have proved their worth in practice and are applicable for any club. I am writing the book together with my son Merijn and Artur Yusupov, and the photographer Fred Lucas also contributes. Like me, Merijn has a degree in psychology. Yusupov has been involved in SBSA activities for a long time, and of course he is a treasure-trove of experience at the highest level. An item that will surely re ceive attention in your book is the ro le of the parents. What is your view on this ? That role is very important. Parents must be involved in the education of their children. If youth players are not supported by their parents, it will be very hard to accomplish anything. That is why we regularly organize parents meetings alongside our trainings. You will notice that parents will also often make a 212 contribution as volunteers. You have to take into account that parents often don't know much, so it is necessary to inform them well - meaning: you must point out to them what is going on in the chess world, but also coach them well, and make clear what is expected from them if they join club activities. In this respect, the SBSA newsletters also play a major role. In the past year, you ha ve organized a lot of activities. Has this generated much publicity ? At the start of the SBSA Youth Academy, we had a simultaneous exhibition for youth players in Apeldoorn by Loek van Wely. That generated a lot of pUblicity. But other activities also attracted quite a lot of attention. Also, we publish the Apeldoorn Chess Newspaper on a yearly basis, as a loose supplement of a free local newspaper, in a circulation of 70,000 copies. The costs are entirely covered by the advertising revenues. We can safely say that this a unique publication in The Netherlands. We have brought out six issues so far. The success and the effects are hard to measure, but we still have the feeling that it is worth the trouble. For one, the bridge players in Apeldoorn look at it with admiration and would like to have such a periodical too! Yo u yourself have a lot of experience in journalism, and you also have direct access to the media. Do you ha ve any tips fo r clubs that do not have this direct access? It certainly helps if you have contacts. So that is my advice: do not only send a press release (but do send one!) if you wa nt to attract attention to one of you r activities, but also try to establish personal contact with the editors of a (free local) newspaper, by making a phone call or paying a visit to the editorial office. Do keep a press release short and to the point, as journalists have more work to do. Yo u also re cord the larger-scale activities, like the simul with Va n Wely and YMM, on film, photographs, documents, etcetera, and then you publish it on CD-ROM. What are the advantages of that? The most important thing is that it is a nice memory for the participants. But also with regard to contacts with current and future sponsors it makes for a nice visiting card. And to a certain extent it is also what I called earlier a recording of 'best practices'. It's not hard to make, it can be done on any club. Any club? Are you sure ? I'm not sure if I would be able to do this so quickly. OK, granted, I have some help, but it is the copying of the material that takes up most of the time. That can be combined beautifully with, for example, reading a newspaper. You can divide the tasks - one makes pictures, the other makes a film, a third makes a sleeve or a sticker to paste on the CD-ROM; you can enter games in pgn, enter texts in Word, then you have to buy boxes, paste stickers on them, copy the CD-ROMs, and for less than one-and-a-half euro apiece the job is done. Can people who wa nt to organize something like Yo uth Meets Masters order that CD -ROM with you ? 213 Yes, they can, I will be glad to send them for a small compensation. Now we are talking about pr and related subjects. Yo u send an email newsletter around every week. Do they receive positive reactions? The SBSA email newsletters are a fantastic means of communication. By now we have more than 400 subscribers and around 40 people who contribute directly. In chess-playing Apeldoorn and the surrounding area, there is quite a lot going on. There are several clubs, there is a broadly developed school chess scene, and there are many tournaments, trainings and other activities. Those SBSA newsletters do something that many clubs fail to do: simply inform people! If you look at the SBSA Yo uth Academy's goal - stimulate youth chess on all levels and you will automatically breed top players - how has that worked out? If you take a look at our list of activities in 2005 (see appendix), you can see that they spread out in all directions. We have done our bit for (potential) top-class players as well. And now I can see a few among them who have the making of top players, but I won't mention any names out loud for the moment. Membership figures of chess clubs are dropping. Do you have a 'golden idea ' that can turn this trend around? It is important to learn from each other. That's also what I mean by 'best practices', and this is how I want to do my bit. I also think that there are quite a lot of good ideas about membership recruitment around, but these ideas should be shared. When I see that the KNSB has a sizeable assortment of items avalable for club support, but they are quite well-hidden on their website, and you cannot even download many of them - I cannot understand that. If there are good ideas, then it is also important that there is an en thusiastic group of people who can put them into practice. What's the situa tion with SBSA like in this respect? This also goes for SBSA, and for me this is a delicate point sometimes. Many people have contributed, but last year we had so many activities that sometimes it almost became too much for me. So for the future, we must see what we can keep doing and what we cannot do any more, and also how we can show others what possibilities there are to do certain things themselves. What I'm doing is real people work, and this has many good sides, but now and then it also brings disappointments. People who do not meet their appointments, or sponge on the activities of others, I have a problem with that. I think that in the chess world we must all be prepared to make a contribution. But, well, this problem with volunteers applies in many areas in our society. Perhaps we will end up like the Americans, who now have professionally managed sports clubs with very high membership dues. So be it. A well-known picture in (youth) chess is the fo llo wing: one organizer does a great many things, he is not very good at delegation, and without him th e organization would collapse. Are you such an organizer? Is this meant to be a provocative question? No, that's not how I see myself at all. We rely heavily on contributions and feedback from many different people. In fact, it is not at all my intention to do everything on my own. We from SBSA 214 want to do a number of things structurally, and a number of things once-only, to show what is possible. Call it creating a climate for chess which inspires others to get to work. It is important to create not only a structure, but also a culture where top-class players and recreational players, and also youths and adults, stimulate each other. Of this research-oriented culture that we have created, many youth players have profited, I think. We also have a few meetings every year, where all the people who are involved with SBSA join in the conversation and exchange ideas. This has led to new initiatives, like, for instance, a collective training for the school chess clubs and an enjoyable chess meeting at the end of the season, with people who give chess lessons at school or help with school chess activities. Last question : what can we expect from SBSA, and from you, in the fu ture ? We can look back on a great year with many activities. In the near future, SBSA will get round the table and see what we can do next year. As said, it is desirable that more people put their shoulder to the wheel with certain activities. As for myself, I hope to get a little more time in order to get my book going. But - last question, if I may turn things around - have you yourself seen any inspiring or new initiatives lately? Erm, let me think about that a little. Th e great strength of many SBSA activities seems to me to be the good contacts between youth and senior players, between talents and strong players. On many clubs those two are worlds apart. Th at is also a way of taking youth seriously. My experience fr om last year is that SBSA 's motto, 'to develop a culture where top level and recreational level inspire each other', has tru ly been realized! 215 Appendix 1 Tips/ideas for every (youth) club * When organizing activities, you will always need to improvise. So try to put as many things on paper as possible, in the form of a scenario and/or a checklist. This will avoid embarrassing moments like when you suddenly cannot print out a pairing because you forgot to bring along a spare cartridge. * With regard to publicity for your activities: try to make personal contact with the media. Keep your press releases short and to-the-point. * If you organize trainings for seniors, try to create a 'multiplying effect': see to it that the trainees in turn train others and spread further the knowledge they have acquired. * Appoint a (paid) player/coach for your first team. Then the players of that team can spread their knowledge further. This way, the entire club will profit from the sponsoring. * Get the parents involved in the (chess) education of their children - by organizing parents meetings, for example. * Get parents involved in the organization, but inform them well about what is expected from them. * Chess training starts with empathy! * Organize activities for youths and seniors together - this will stimulate mutual contacts and inspiration. * In youth trainings, always give feedback on your pupils' own games. * Take care that the communication is good between all involved. An email newsletter is a possible means to this end. Appendix 2 A bird's eye view of the activities of the SBSA Youth Academy in 2005 Profile SBSA's aim is to promote chess in Apeldoorn. A lot of attention is paid to the stimulation of youth chess (top level as well as recreational level) - among others, with trainings, coaching, information supply and the organization of events. SBSA has been active since 1998, and operates within the active and successful chess scene in Apeldoorn: for instance, in recent years Apeldoorn has had various national youth champions, and the school competition in Apeldoorn has had more than 20 school clubs for years (who organize their own internal competition with roughly 800 children, as well as lessons in the Step-by-Step Method, with more than 500 certificates every year). SBSA's philosophy is not to aim solely at the top. Apart from structure, it is important to develop a culture where top level and recreational level stimulate each other, and where youths become the 'co-author of their own upbringing' (Polgar). According to this motto, SBSA does a lot of work in the area of knowledge acquisition, and of passing on knowledge by means of coaching and training. The SBSA Youth Academy project is developed in consultation with 1M Willy Hendriks, who is charged with the portfolio of talent development on behalf of 216 the Dutch Chess Federation KNSB. Representing SBSA, Karel van Delft coordinates the activities. Hans Bouwer is in charge of various practical tasks. 1M Merijn van Delft, 1M Sipke Ernst, Lucien van Beek, Martin van Dommelen and Johan Wolbers are closely involved in the initiatives, as are youth leaders Hessel Visser and Heleen Kers (De Schaakmaat) and Henk Pruijssers (Schaakstad Apeldoorn). The SBSA Youth Academy cooperates with various organizations, among whom Schaakstad Apeldoorn, De Schaakmaat, the Apeldoorn Schools Competition, ROC Aventus, the Jussupow Schach Akademie and the Mind Sports Centre Apeldoorn, as well as various companies and organizations. The city of Apeldoorn is also involved in the project. Reports on the developments around the SBSA Youth Academy are published via the SBSA email newsletters and on www.sbsa.nl. Activities 2005 1. Youth Meets Masters: an annual day with various masters and approximately 60 participants. Workshops, a simultaneous exhibition, a blitz tournament, dinner together. 2. The regular SBSA trainings for (top) youth players in Apeldoorn: two groups with 8 trainings, two other groups with 16 trainings. Trainers are Lucien van Beek and Martin van Dommelen. 3. Individual coaching of four top talents from Apeldoorn. We also mediate for players who are looking for a paid trainer. 4. Two talent days to introduce the SBSA trainings, with a total of roughly 65 participants. 5. Visits to various primary schools with a simultaneous exhibition and an introduction of the Chess Academy by Johan Wolbers. 6. A chess camp during the Open Dutch Junior Championship in Hengelo, supervision and coaching, several dozens of participants, in cooperation with chess club De Toren from Arnhem. 7. Strong players analyse games at various youth tournaments (among others, the Photo Kuipers tournament). 8. Training sessions by Kabatianski and Yusupov at De Schaakmaat. 9. Training sessions by players from De Schaakmaat on various primary schools. 10. Workshops by Yusupov en Michalchishin. 11. Opening of the SBSA Youth Academy with a simul for youth players from Apeldoorn by Loek van Wely, around 40 participants. 12. Production of various CD-ROMs about SBSA activities. 13. Weekly publication of SBSA email newsletters. 14. Publication of the yearly Chess Newspaper Apeldoorn (which can also be viewed on www. sbsa.nl). 15. Organization of a side programme at the 'Kadaster Dutch Chess Championship for Companies'. 16. Two opening theme tournaments, with an introduction of the opening in question, playing games and plenary analysis. 17. SBSA Youth Academy conference, followed by a simul by Daniel Stellwagen. 217 18. Import of chess sets from China, to enable school chess clubs to purchase cheap material. 19. Support of school chess club in Kampala (Uganda) with money and materials. 20. Collective training for all primary schools that have qualified for the championship of the regional federation OSBO. 21. Keeping the website www. sbsa.nl up to date. 22. Organization of the Chess trainer A course. 23. Chess stand on the spring market in Apeldoorn. 24. SBSA functions as an oracle for all possible questions about chess. 25. During the annual ROC Aventus weekend tournament, Rob Hartoch gave live commentary. Extra attention is given to youth talents. 26. Various strong players, like 1M Alexander Kabatianski and GM Artur Yusupov, are involved in the activities and regularly give advice. With general consent, Yusupov has allotted himself the title of 'senior advisor SBSA'! 27. Youth players can take part in the annual SBSA rapid and blitz tournaments. 28. Now and then youth players are taken along when adult players visit a tournament, and there they are coached on technical aspects. 29. During home matches by Schaakstad Apeldoorn, live commentary is given, which is very interesting also for youth players. 30. Inquiry at all school chess clubs. 31. Information meetings for parents. 32. And much, much more ...... 218 El0 Training with diagrams or board positions Introduction: As an introduction to tactical as well as positional subjects, young chess pupils often receive a two-dimensional presentation of themes: with books, workbooks, exercise sheets or a demonstration board. Exercises are also often made on a two-dimensional level (diagrams). Also, positions are set up on a board during trainings to introduce a theme, or to play them out, or to investigate or solve the position for yourself. This is a presentation on three-dimensional level. Sometimes the two are combined (position on a demonstration board and on an own board). Question 1: Does it make any difference in learning effect whether a theme is presented two- or three-dimensionally? Question 2: What are the advantages and the disadvantages of both ways of presentation? During a 'Chess trainer A' evening course organized by the Dutch chess federation KNSB in Apeldoorn in November 2005, no clear-cut answers could be given to these questions - neither by the teacher, nor by the participants. Marco Beerdsen, the father of a seven-year-old chess talent, says he has the impression that it is easier for his son to fathom positions in two-dimensional diagrams than on the board. The question urged itself whether this is a case of habituation, or of learning style - or does this apply to most or even all youth players? And even if this is the case, what about the transfer effects of trainings with two-dimensional diagrams to actual games? Or doesn't it make any difference anyhow? Edgar van de Oudeweetering, the father of a ten-year-old player, is of the opinion that for solving exercises, the length of variations, age, gender difference and visual setting are of influence. Gep Leeflang, who has been a top-100 draughts player for years, thinks that the size of the board matters: 'To us draughts players all these things don't make any difference, everything is flat anyway.' In the present investigation these questions are examined in three ways: • Literature search • Interviews: what do trainers think of this subject? • An experiment: do pupils perform better on diagrams or on board positions,and what do they think of this themselves? Literature search For our literature search we looked at a method which is predominant in The Netherlands: the Step-by-Step Method by the trainers Cor van Wijgerden and Rob Brunia. This item was rounded off quickly: there is no mention of the subject. 219 Interviews: what do trainers think of this subject? - 1M Alexander Kabatianski: Probably training with a board is better than with diagrams. You can give examples on either a board or a demonstration board, and then have your pupils exercise with diagrams on paper. If you hand out positions on paper, pupils can repeat the theme at a later stage. There is no best overall procedure for chess - there are good trainers with various methods, as well as different learning styles. Probably it does not play an important role whether you work with diagrams or with positions on the board. What is much more important is whether a pupil is interested. Kabatianski, who himself originates from Ukraine, does not know of any discussions around this theme in the former Soviet Union. He does remember certain debates about the question whether novice players should start studying endgames or with openings. Kabatianski thinks that the way a trainer transfers information is more important than whether the information is offered via a diagram or a board position. GM Adrian Michalchishin, for instance, speaks quickly and says a lot. GM Artur Yusupov and 1M Mark Dvoretsky speak slowly and deliberately. They turn questions into problems and discuss these interactively with their pupils. This increases their understanding, their motivation and their concentration, Kabatianski supposes. - GM Artur Yusupov prefers training vvith three-dimensional board positions to two-dimensional pictures, since a board position corresponds to the way a position is perceived during a game. In other words, an actual chess game is simulated. In his opinion, this will yield better learning results. If a position is depicted on a computer screen before him, Yusupov tends to move too quickly himself. He does not know if this is individually determined. He adds that he also studies two-dimensional positions in books. In the Soviet Union he has never heard of any discussion about whether it was better to present positions two- or three-dimensionally. He says that he has once tried to study positions depicted three-dimensionally on a computer screen. 'That does not work for me.' He also observes that the extent to which the transfer from two to three dimensions takes place, may depend on the level of a player. - 1M Merijn van Delft: 'The advantage of three dimensions is that this simulates the game situation, whereas two-dimensional may be a more practical solution. By the way, I think this is a highly creative question, and I don't have a conclusive answer to it. Variation is also important in a training, perhaps these procedures can complement each other nicely. More important than the procedure may be the amount; you have to practice tactics as often as possible. In order to become really good you have to devour chess books.' 220 - Martin van Dommelen (Elo rating 2104, trainer SBSA youth training) 'Here is a brief idea about 2- and 3-dim. positions with trainings: I can agree with Yusupov's idea that by using a 3d position the game is best imitiated. But still I wonder if this is the best way to train. Most of the time it is easier to solve a position from the board than from a demonstration board. Therefore a demonstration board may be more challenging for children, as they will have to exert themselves more, concentrate better, and they cannot try out every move, but really have to check their thoughts with calculation. Actually, I always let the children choose if they want to work with or without a board.' Experiment: When do pupils perform better: playing from diagrams or from board positions? What do they think of this themselves? 27 participants at the SBSA youth training in Apeldoorn got ten minutes during a training session to solve six diagrams on paper, and then they got ten minutes to solve six board positions. The positions were a mix: half of them could be solved easily by average pupils, the other half was difficult. Afterwards, they were asked to indicate in a questionnaire whether they had a preference for either a two- or a three-dimensional presentation of positions during trainings. The answers varied, but the majority of pupils had a clear preference for three dimensional presentation. Remarkably, on average the oldest, i.e. highest-level group performs better on the board, whereas the other three groups perform better on paper. This may have been partly due to the fact that time was short and younger children have a greater tendency to walk restlessly and in a jumble from one position to the other, and thereby also lose time. 221 Questionnaire: Name: Age: Boy or girl: 1A - I find it easier to solve a position: in a diagram on paper on a chessboard it doesn't matter 1B - Why is this? 2A - I find it easier to solve a position: on a chessboard on a demonstration board it doesn't matter 2B - Why is this? 3A - I find it easier to solve a position: in a diagram on paper on a demonstration board it doesn't matter 3B - Why is this? 222 easier on easier on easier on score score name age gender certificate diagram board or piagram or board diagram or board demo board �emo board Joost 12 B 4 3 2 board board �emo board Anirudh 11 B 4 1 2 board same �emo board Jan-Willem 14 B 4 5 2 board board �emo board Maurice 11 B I 4 2 2 board board Isame )ered 13 B 4 4 1 !same demo board !same Kristianne 14 G 5 2 2 lSame demo board demo board Koen 15 B 5 4 4 Isame board diagram Morris 14 B 3 3 3 board same same Tom 13 B 5 4 5 board same same 28 23 Sam 9 B 3 2 1 board board demo board Thomas 7 B 3 2 I 5 same same demo board Marion 12 G 4 3 4 diagram board diagram �rmen 12 B 3 3 3 diagram demo board Isame Nico 12 B 4 2 4 board �emo board demo board Martijn 9 B 3 2 2 board same demo board I Kyra-Tiana 11 G 4 2 I' 3 same board diagram 16 1 22 Nico 10 B 3 2 1 board same Idemo board Roy 11 B 4 1 4 board same Idemo board Gerwin 14 B 3 0 I 4 board board Isame Nick 11 B 4 2 3 board board Idemo board Remko 12 B 4 3 6 same same same 8 18 Fons 10 B 3 1 3 same demo board demo board Petra 11 G 3 1 4 board board diagram Sharon 12 G 4 2 1 board board demo board Sybren 8 B 2 0 1 board board demo board Bas 10 B 3 0 0 board same same Edgar 10 B 2 0 2 board same demo board 4 11 board 18 board 12 diagram 4 �iagram 2 demo board 5 demo board 15 !same 7 same 10 same 8 223 Ell Tasks of a team captain A team captain fulfils a number of tasks. It is useful to make a list of these. Then you won't forget anything and it will cost you less time and energy. The below list was used by Karel van Delft when he was the team captain of Homburg Apeldoorn. Before the match Follow correspondence with KNSB and keep the competition guide Home match: invite arbiter one week before the match (route description) Home match: invite opponent a week before the match (route description) Phone or email players where and at what time the next match will take place, arrange for a substitute player Give players suggestions for transport, or arrange this Make a team lineup and inform players via email, telephone If necessary: team meetings (consultation, training) Bring scoresheets and competition forms Home match: arrange for live commentary Publicity before the match in various media Manage sponsor money (plan expenses) Withdraw money for payments Boarding for various players (before the match, and after the match for players who cannot get home) On the day of the match Know KNSB membership numbers Name-plates, results form Fill in and sign competition forms During home match: offer opponents and arbiter something to drink Bring competition rules and FIDE Rules Give scoresheets (with carbon copy) to players and collect them after games Arrange payments Consultation in case of draw offers Hand out Chess newspapers Make pictures Offer CD-ROM to opponent and arbiter Afterwards Home match: call results service and submit the match result (see competition guide) Make report with individual results for newspaper Report for SBSA email newsletter Home match: arrange for report to be made for Schaaknieuws Enter games, send as attachment to SBSA email newsletter Home match: mail individual results to KNSB 224 E12 Inquiry youth section De Schaakmaat Inquiry youth players De Schaakmaat, Part A THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF AN INQUIRY. PLEASE HAND IT IN NEXT WEEK TO HESSEL VISSER OR KAREL VAN DELFT. NEXT WEEK YOU WILL GET A SECOND, MORE EXTENSIVE INQUIRY OSBO training Several times a year, OSBO organizes youth trainings for strong and motivated young club players. These trainings are held in Apeldoorn. One time in 1992, 20 youth members took part, and another time there were 13. 1. Have you ever participated in such a training? Yes/no 2. If yes, what did you think was good about it, and what wasn't? The Belorussian trainer Sergey Parmon will give OSBO trainings on Sunday February 28 in Apeldoorn, in 'De Kayersheerdt'. One group is held from 10.00-13.00h (10 guilders) and one group from 13.00- 18.00h (15 guilders). Parents/others interested are also welcome, entry fee is the same. 3. Are you interested in this? Yes/no On April 4 and May 2 there are again OSBO trainings (trainers: Marc Jonker, Renate Limbach, Dharma Tjiam, Theo Hommeles). Subject is 'the pawn'. A pawn looks insignificant, but don't be fooled ... Together these trainings cost 30 guilders (half of this amount if you are unable to attend on one of the days, e.g. because of spring holiday). 4. Do you want to receive more information about this? Yes/no Simul by Sergey Parmon On March 1, the Belorussian trainer Sergey Parmon will give a simultaneous display for adult players of De Schaakmaat. Place: De Drie Ranken. Start: 19.00h (until approximately 21.00h). Youth players and their parents are also allowed to take part. Entry is free. Will you be coming too? Yes/no Inquiry youth players De Schaakmaat, Part B For some time we have been doing some extra things for youth players of De Schaakmaat. You don't have to take part in every activity, because we are a club that wants to offer something to suit all tastes. We want to ask you a quite large number of questions about this. Your answers will help us find out how we should do different kinds of activities. If you find the questions difficult, your parents can help you. If your answer is too long, you can use the back of this sheet to write more. We think it is very important that everyone thinks along about the club and gives his opinion. It's a long list, but this information is very important for the club. WE WANT YOU TO RETURN THIS FORM NEXT WEEK The inquiry also has a separate part that has to be filled in by your parents or guardians. A report on the inquiry will appear in De Koningsvleugel (i.e. club bulletin 'The Kingside'). In response to your answers we may contact you. Delete where appropriate. You can hand in the inquiry to Hessel Visser or Karel van Delft. 225 De Koningsvleugel 1. Do you read De Koningsvleugel? yes / no 2. What do you find interesting in De Koningsvleugel? 3. Have you ever written anything in De Koningsvleugel? yes / no 4. Would you want to write in De Koningsvleugel (e.g. a report on a match, or an analysis). yes / no If yes, what? 5. Have you read the blue issue of De Koningsvleugel about training activities? yes/no If yes, what did you think of it? 6. Do you have any ideas about how De Koningsvleugel can be improved? Schakend Nederland (i.e. 'Chess in The Netherlands', official magazine of the Dutch chess federation KNSB, nowadays called: SchaakMagazine) 1. Do you read the Youth section of Schakend Nederland (the yellow section)? yes / no 2. Do you read the rest of Schakend Nederland? yes / no 3. If yes, what do you think of Schakend Nederland (what is especially interesting, what do you miss, what remarks do you have)? 4. Do you solve the diagram quiz (you can send it in)? yes / no Chess magazines 1. Do you subscribe to chess magazines? yes / no Which ones? 2. If yes, what do you think of them? Step-by-step lessons 1. Do you attend Step-by-Step lessons? yes / no 2. \"Jhat do you think of these? Too fast / too slow / tempo is just right / boring / interesting 3. Is there something else you would want to do during the lessons? yes / no If yes, what? Simultaneous display Now and then an adult player gives a simultaneous display. 1. Have you ever taken part in such an event? yes / no 2. Should we go on organizing such events? yes / no Club competition 1. Until when do you usually notate your moves? 2. Do you think the playing hall is quiet enough? yes / no 3. Are there things that irritate you? If yes, what? 4. Do you get enough time to think? yes / no If no, how much time would you want? 5. Is there anything you would want to be arranged differently? If yes, what? OSBO competition 1. Are you taking part in the OSBO competition at the moment? yes / no 2. If yes, how do you like it? 3. Are there things that could be better arranged? 4. Do you want to play next season? yes / no Championships 1. Have you taken part in the OSBO championship in De Stolp? yes / no 2. If yes, how would you evaluate the organization? 226 3. Will you take part in the Apeldoorn Championship? yes / no 4. Do you want to take part in the Open Dutch Youth Championship in Hengelo this fall (this will last one week, we're going with a number of players)? yes / no 5. In the summer, do you want to take part in the Open Dutch Championship in Dieren (duration: one week, you can take part in the C- or B-group as a youth player)? yes / no 6. Would you take part if an Apeldoorn blitz championship were organized (1 day)? yes / no 7. Would you take part if an Apeldoorns rapid championship were organized (1 day)? yes / no 8. Do you (or your parents) have any objections against the organization of activities on Sundays? yes / no 9. In which other championships have you taken part? 10. Can you remember any pleasant experiences which De Schaakmaat can use as models? Analysing after the game From 1l.00-13.00h you can analyse your game in a separate room. There will be various adult players who can help you with this. Analysing is important, because if you want to become a better player, you have to reflect on your experiences. This is important for all players, even if you are only five years old. If your opponent does not feel like it, you can also analyse with someone else who is sitting by himself, or with an adult player. 1. Have you ever analysed a game at the club? yes / no 2. Have you ever analysed with an adult player? yes / no If yes, how did this go? 3. Will you analyse your games at the club in the future? yes / no 4. Do you have any further remarks on this subject? Analysis questionnaire In the blue issue of De Koningsvleugel there were a long and a short questionnaire that you can use when analysing your games. 1. Have you ever analysed with this? yes / no 2. If yes, did you use the long or the short version? 3. If yes, what did you think if it? Do you have any suggestions for improvements on the list? Notice board 1. Do you think the notice board is well organized? yes / no 2. What could be improved? Picture survey 1. Is your picture already in the picture survey (who's who at De Schaakmaat)? yes / no 2. Do you find the picture survey useful? Ceefax, newspapers, books, library 1. Do you ever follow the chess news on Ceefax? yes / no 2. Do you ever play through games from a newspaper? yes / no 3. Do you ever borrow books on chess from the library? yes / no 4. Which books do you find good, and possibly interesting for other youth players? 5. Via De Schaakmaat you can order the book '400 Kurzpartien' (400 short games, arranged according to 50 different openings) for 7 guilders. They are easily understandable, even without knowledge of the German language. Are you interested in this? yes / no Training groups A number of players really want to practise chess as a sport. This is not obligatory, but it is possible at De Schaakmaat. At the moment there are 19 youth players in training groups. This means that they regularly visit an adult trainer at home (mostly two times a month) to analyse, study openings, attend theory lessons, etcetera. These players are also required to do some work at home, and in between trainings they gather 227 together regularly. So the trainer's function is to support, not to explain everything over and over again. 1. If you are not in such a group already, would you be interested to join one for the next season? yes / no 2. If you are in such a group, what are your experiences up till now? (which subjects do you like, which subjects don't you like, what could be improved?) Opening study A chess game begins with an opening. It is quite useful to know a little more about openings. This already happens in training groups, and Merijn is writing a series in De Koningsvleugel (which is useful to collect!). Also, we have decided that once a month an opening will be discussed at the club (from 12.30- 13.30h). These trainings are given by adult players. We have already had one training. With the eight players that were present (a number of players couldn't make it due to their participation in championships) it was decided that we will use the following procedure: Beforehand you get information (on a few sheets) which you study by yourself. The training starts with a simultaneous display (half an hour) where you are obliged to play a certain opening. In the second half hour the opening will be discussed by looking at one of the games played in the simultaneous display. The dates will always be announced a few weeks before the event. 1. Do you want to regularly take part in this? yes / no 2. Are you unable to come (because you have another sport in the afternoon) but do you want to receive the information? yes / no 3. Which opening would you like to discuss? 4. Which openings are you playing yourself already? Self-study Some players would like to do more work on chess at home, but they don't know how to go about this. At the club we can help you with that. 1. Would you like to have a talk about how you can spend more time on chess at home? yes / no Chess diary 1. Have you read in De Koningsvleugel why a diary can be useful? yes / no 2. Are you keeping a chess diary? yes / no 3. Do you want to be shown an example and receive help with starting a chess diary? yes / no Extra club trainings On January 24 there was a training in De Kayersheerdt about the Timman-Short match. Marc Jonker analysed a game and gave a simultaneous display. Each participant paid 5 guilders to cover the expenses. 13 youth players and 5 parents were present. 1. If you have attended this training, what did you think of it? Do you think activities like this should be organized more often? 2. If you have not taken part, would you like to take part in such events in the future? yes / no 3. Do you have any ideas about possible activities? Which ones? Training trip / double training A number of youth players are developing strongly. This leads to a demand for good/varied training opportunities. The idea has been suggested to look outside the OSBO area for other clubs to occasionally organize things together. For example: a day's visit (probably on a Sunday) to another town, playing a team match, analysing 228 with your opponents (with adult supervision) - then a chess lesson by a good player about a certain subject, and a simul as a dessert. In between events there is a collective lunch. And one month later we receive the same club in our town. 1. Would you like to take part in such an event? 2. Do you have any more ideas about this? Such as? Video 1. Are you interested in borrowing an (English-language) video about Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov (interviews and games)? yes / no 2. Do you possess any video material yourself that may be interesting for other players at the club (e.g. TV matches in Germany)? yes / no For girls A while ago, former Dutch Women's Champion Renate Limbach gave an afternoon training about a number of different chess subjects to six girls from De Schaakmaat (for a small fee). 1. Are you interested in this? yes / no Chess weekend Many sport clubs have a yearly sport weekend on a farm, or something like that. A number of De Schaakmaat members thinks this would be a good idea for our club as well. 1. Would you also like to have such a weekend? yes / no 2. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this? Special trainings Last year, Merijn, Jelmar, and two other OSBO players trained one afternoon with Dimitri Reinderman (Dutch youth champion and the junior no. 3 in the world!). The participants paid for this themselves, but the costs weren't very high (what do tennis lessons or piano lessons cost?). Something like this could possibly be organized again in the future. 1. Are you interested in this? 2. Do you have any suggestions for this? Correspondence chess (playing chess by letter or by postcard) This is a useful, instructive and enjoyable pastime! Hessel Visser is the secretary of the Dutch Federation of Correspondence Chess Players. Erik and Jeroen are taking part in an official competition. Jelmar, Merijn and Emile play correspondence chess with former Open Dutch champion Nico Schouten. But you can also do this with a friend. 1. Do you already play correspondence chess? yes / no 2. Do you want to know more about this? yes / no Chess computers 1. Do you ever play against a chess computer at home? yes / no 2. If yes, against which program? 3. Have you ever played against a computer with a friend (by consulting someone you can learn a lot)? yes / no 4. There is a possibility to organize a lesson about NICbase (a chess program with many search options). Are you interested in this? yes / no 229 Tournament of generations 1. Do you think it would be nice to play a tournament with adults once a year? yes / no 2. Do you have any ideas about this (for example, having a very good player give a simultaneous display, etcetera)? Tournaments 1. Do you want to be informed about championships and tournaments outside Apeldoorn? 2. On the Queen's Birthday there is a tournament for mixed teams of various ages (with a youth leader) in Den Bosch. Would you like to compete in this? yes / no School chess 1. What school do you go to? 2. Is chess being played at your school? yes / no 3. If yes, what activities are taking place? 4. Do they also have activities that might be good for De Schaakmaat? Such as? Fun 1. What do you like most about De Schaakmaat? 2. What do you dislike most about De Schaakmaat? Other things Are there any other chess activities that you do which have not been discussed here, and which may be a good idea for others as well? What can be improved at De Schaakmaat Please write down below all the ideas that you have about things that could be improved at De Schaakmaat, or things that you miss. FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS As a chess club, De Schaakmaat tries to offer a programme that is as complete as possible. We want to accommodate the recreational chess player who wants to learn some theory (Step-by-Step Method) alongside another sport he may be doing, and just wants to play a nice game of chess. We also want to offer opportunities to top-class chess players (a number of youth players are competing on national level). We think that these two approaches can go hand in hand. Also, we are a large club (roughly 90 senior members and roughly 90 youth members). This requires a good organization of a number of things. Commitment of (youth) members and parents is an important factor here. This is also the purpose of this inquiry. So we would like to ask you to kindly fill in this inquiry and, where necessary, help your child to fill it in. 1. Do you read the youth bulletin De Koningsvleugel yourself? yes / no 2. Are you (which one of the parents/guardians) involved in the youth section? Which tasks do you perform? 3. Would it be possible for you to come and help in the coming season (we may be needing your help several times a year for certain tasks)? Please circle which activities you would want to do or continue doing. Please also indicate which one of the parents/guardians o sweets stall o supervision OSBO team o giving Step-by-Step lessons o driving to tournaments o supervision of training group o editing De Koningsvleugel o being in charge of the playing hall during competition o help with analyses 1l.00-13.00h o help with opening study 230 o I want more information about the possibilities 4. Do you think the membership fee is high / low / just right? 5. Would you be prepared to pay a higher membership fee if this means that there will be more and better facilities available for the youth section? yes / no How high a raise would be acceptable? 6. Do you think that now and then the club should be allowed to use money from the general fund to hire an external trainer (e.g. Marc Jonker or Renate Limbach), or do you think that the participants of these trainings should pay for this themselves? (the background of this question is that some people think that paying (top) trainers is principally incorrect and that this should be paid for by those involved, while others think that free participation will be an incentive, and that such things are normal for a (mind) sport club.) Please circle what we should do in your opinion Financed by general fund Participants pay themselves Don't know 7. Karel van Delft has written a brochure on sport psychology and coaching for youth players. On February 4 and 25, two meetings have been arranged with close to twenty interested persons. Knowledge of psychology is useful for chess players. You can: Learn more efficiently and more effectively, and with more motivation; Learn to think more economically/more systematically; Learn about self-management (self-confidence, concentration, etc.). Knowledge of psychology is also useful for supervisors (e.g. didactics, communication). Good quality supervision is important not only in top-class sport. After all, sports are mostly pursued for fun, and the quality of the supervision can be important for the personal education of the player. We should add here that going in for top-class sport (within the limits of their possibilities) can have a very positive effect on children. The brochure consists of 52 pages in AS format and costs 5 guilders. Are you interested in this brochure? yes / no 8. Are you satisfied with the current club accommodation? A. yes B. no C. don't know D. suggestion for accommodation: 9. Have you read the blue issue of De Koningsvleugel (named 'chess psychaos') about training possibilities? yes / no Do you have any remarks on this? If yes, which? 10. What do you think of the idea of seeking sponsors for extra activities? A. for B. against C. don't know Do you have any suggestions for sponsors, or do you have contacts with possible sponsors? 11. What could be improved at our club in your opinion? Do you have any other remarks or suggestions? 231 F - GLOSSARY Activity - effectiveness of pieces Adjournment - break during a game, which is continued later Advanced Chess - chess variant where consultation of computers is allowed Aiming - bringing a piece, via a threat, to a square where it can attack Algebraic notation - notation system that codes moves with letters and numbers Ambition - goal which a player wants to achieve Analysis - investigation of a position Analysis questionnaire - questionnaire that enables the user to analyse a position systematically Angstgegner - weaker or equivalent opponent against whom performance is bad Annotated games - games with annotations in words and/or variations Arbiter - referee in chess Artistic aspects - esthetic qualities of a position Attack - activity aimed at assailing the enemy position Audience - spectators at a chess game Back rank - first or eighth rank on the board, 'bottom rank' Back-rank mate - mate with rook or queen on the bottom rank Backward pawn - pawn that is less far advanced than its colleagues and cannot be protected by them Bad bishop - a bishop that is hindered by its own pawns standing on the same colour Bad form/Loss of form - a player performs below his normal level Battery - two pieces standing on one file, rank or diagonal, making a combination possible Bind - grip on the position, and the space advantage that goes with it Bishop endgame, Bishop ending - endgame/ending where there are only bishops and pawns left on the board Bishop pair - two bishops, as opposed to e.g. bishop and knight, or two knights Blindfold chess - variant where the players do not see board and pieces, they must visualize them in their heads Blitz - a chess game with a very short time-control, often five minutes per player per game Blitz tournament - tournament with games with a very short time-control Blockade - stopping an opponent's pawn by putting a piece on the square before it Blunder - a grave mistake that results in a great disadvantage Board - the playing field, consisting of 64 squares Bolthole - playing a pawn forward to prevent the own king to fall victim to a back-rank mate (also: luft) Boxing in - to deprive a piece of the possibility to escape (also: 'enclosing') Breakthrough - when a pawn breaks through the enemy lines Brilliancy prize - prize for the most beautiful game in a tournament Browsing - spontaneous and unordered investigation of interesting issues Buchholz - criterium to determine the final rankings or the pairings by looking at the opposition each player has faced Bye - free round Caissa - goddess of chess Calculating ability - the ability to calculate variations Calculation - ascertaining with the help of variations where a combination leads to Candidate moves - moves that come into consideration to be played Capturing - conquering a piece or pawn of the opponent Castling - playing king and rook in one move Centralization - putting pieces in the middle of the board Centre - the four central squares of the chess board Character - mental qualities of a person Chasing - forcing an enemy piece with threats to go to a certain square Check - the king is under attack Checkmate - see 'Mate' ChessBase - German chess publisher Chess clock - clock that registers how much thinking time players use 233 Chess club - club where chess is being played Chess column - column in a medium about a chess subject Chess computer - computer with which chess games can be played Chess computer program - program for playing or analysing chess on a computer Chess culture - circumstances where there is a lot of attention for chess in many ways Chess development - the development of chess skills Chess didactics - method of teaching chess Chess During the Day - organization that allows people to play in a chess competition during the day Chess festival - event with numerous chess activities Chess Informant - a chess periodical with opening variations, published in Serbia Chess newspaper - newspaper which is entirely devoted to chess, like 'Schaakkrant Apeldoorn' in The Netherlands Chess machine - device that can play chess, predecessor of the chess computer Chess pedagogics - method of chess education Chess psychology - psychological knowledge of behaviour concerning chess Chess video - video about a chess subject Clock simul - simultaneous display where players get a fixed amount of time Closed game - way of playing where many lines are blocked by pawns Closed Games - openings that start with the moves l.d2-d4 d7-d5 Club bulletin - bulletin published by a club for its members Coach - someone who supervises a player Colour - the colour with which someone plays, i.e. white or black Colour complex - a group of squares of the same colour, i.e. white or black, on the board Combination - forced sequence of moves with the aim to achieve an advantage Compensation - when a material disadvantage is counterbalanced by other factors Competition - system of matches where individuals or teams play against each other Competition rules - rules concerning a competition Composer - someone who creates chess studies/problems Computer chess - chess with a computer Concentration - when thinking is focused on a certain task Condition - (physical) shape Connected passed pawns - two or more passed pawns on adjacent files, cooperating Constructive thinking - systematic, purposeful, efficient and effective thinking Consultation game - game where players are allowed to consult each other Coordinates - letters and numbers that are used to indicate the squares on the chess board Correspondence chess - playing a game via mail or email Counterplay - the player who has had to defend until a certain moment becomes active Courage - the readiness to take risks Creative thinking - thinking with an eye for unexpected possibilities Critical position - decisive moment in a game Crosspin - a pin is crossed by a pin by the opponent Cup matches - matches in a system of elimination, only the winners qualify for the next round Database - data carrier in a computer Decisiveness - ability to take decisions Decoy/diversion - enticing a piece to move to a certain square where it can be attacked Defence - taking measures against an attack Deflection - enticing a piece to move to a certain square where it can no longer fulfill a certain function Demonstration board - big chess board against a wall on which a game can be explained Desperado - sacrificing a piece which is lost anyway Development - the extent to which pieces have been brought into play DGT - Digital Game Timer, digital chess clock Diagonal - a diagonal line on the board Diagram - picture of a chess position Diary - notebook where instructive facts are recorded Didactics - the method of teaching Discovered attack - remove a piece to enable a piece behind it to attack Discovered check - remove a piece to enable a piece behind it to give check Double attack - when a piece or a pawn attacks two targets (piece, pawn, square or king) Double check - two pieces give check with one move 234 Doubled pawn - two pawns of the same colour on the same file Draw - game ends undecided Dream position - a position with a great advantage Drive - the extent to which someone is able to keep taking blows while striving to achieve his goal Dynamic chess - playing style with much activity, contrary to static chess Eliminate - beat a player, who is then cut out from a tournament; also: capturing a piece Elo system - system with rating points, devised by professor Arpad Elo, which indicates playing strength Email newsletter - newsletter distributed via email Emotions - feelings Empathy - the ability to sense another's feelings Enclosing - to deprive a piece of the possibility to escape (also 'boxing in') Encyclopedia - book of reference on a certain theme, for example openings or endgames Endgame/ending - final phase of a game, when there are few pieces left on the board Endgame study - composed endgame position Energy management - management of own amount of energy English notation - certain notation system developed in England En passant - when an enemy pawn has moved two squares on the previous move, ending up next to the opponent's pawn, it is captured by the latter in such a way as if it had moved only one square Escape square - square to which a king or a piece can escape Euwe - the only Dutch World Chess Champion, author of many chess books Exchange sacrifice - exchange of a rook for a bishop or knight Exchanging - both players capture a piece from the opponent Exercises - activities aimed at improving skills Experience - events that a player lives through in games Experimenting - trying out possibilities False negative - wrongfully assessed as insufficient False positive - wrongfully assessed as sufficient Falsification - checking if something is untrue Fascination - great enthusiasm about something Fear of failure - the fear of not achieving a certain goal Fianchetto - placement of a bishop on square b2, g2, b7 or g7. FIDE - world chess federation (Federation Internationale des Echecs) FIDE master - title bestowed by FIDE on a player who has an Elo rating of 2300 or more File - eight vertically adjacent squares File clearance - opening a file by playing a piece or a pawn Fixation of thought - being focused on a certain thought, which makes you miss other things Flag - part of a mechanical chess clock which indicates when a game is lost by falling down Flank - one half of the board: kingside or queenside Flexibility - versatility Flow - excellent frame of mind with characteristics like total concentration Fool's Mate - the end of the shortest possibe chess game: 1. f3 eS, 2. g4 Qh4 mate Force - impose a continuation upon the opponent in a forceful way Fork - when a pawn or knight attacks two or more pieces at once Fortress - position that is defendable in spite of a material disadvantage Four-column notation - notation of a game in several columns as a training procedure (in this variant, expected and possible moves are also put on paper) Four-event match - four chess players each play one game against each other Fritz - computer chess program Fun - enjoying the game of chess, which contributes to the development of talent Gambit - way of playing where material is sacrificed in the opening Game - chess contest Game analysis - investigation of the developments in a game Game collection - publication of a number of games, e.g. of a certain player, in one volume Game quiz - questions about a game with which points can be gained Garde clock - chess clock with mechanical works Gens Una Sumus - 'We are one family', the motto of world chess federation FIDE Glanzpartie - brilliant game Goal setting - determining which goal must be achieved 235 Golden rules - 1. pawns in the centre, 2. develop pieces, 3. bring king into safety Good bishop - bishop that isn't hindered by its own pawns standing on the same colour Grandmaster - title bestowed by world chess federation FIDE, requirements : three grandmaster norms and an Elo rating of minimally 2500 Grandmaster draw - the players agree to share the point without a struggle Group training - training in a group Half-open file - file which is closed off only on one side by a pawn Hash table - memory function of a chess computer with earlier moves and evaluations Helpmate - when mate is made possible by a move of the opponent Hole - a square that cannot be protected by a pawn any more ICC - Internet Chess Club, online chess club Imaginative power - the extent to which a player can imagine variations In-between/intermediate check - giving check to the enemy king during a combination In-between/intermediate move - move which thwarts an intended plan Individual training course - training programme of an individual player Initiative - taking the lead, determining the course of events Insight - understanding of the way a process works Inspiration - being motivated by a positive idea Internal competition - competition between players of a club International Master - title bestowed by world chess federation FIDE, requirements: three master norms and an Elo rating of minimally 2400 Internet chess - chess via Internet Interruption - neutralizing the effect of a piece along a file, rank or diagonal by interposing a piece or a pawn Intersubjectivity - to take into account the circumstances, the character, the qualities and the style of the opponent Intuition - subconsciously detecting patterns and establishing relationships Investigating - finding out how something works Isolani - see 'Isolated pawn' Isolated pawn - pawn that has no adjacent pawns of the same colour J'adoube - 'I touch', this is the term used by a player if he wants to adjust the pieces Judgement ability - the extent to which a player is capable of evaluating a position Keeping order - taking care that all those present observe the rules of conduct Keizer system - a certain pairing system, popular in The Netherlands and Belgium Key squares - crucial squares, e.g. in a pawn ending Kiebitzer - onlooker at a chess game Kingside - the side of the board where the king stands in the starting position Knight endgame/ending - ending where there are only knights and pawns left on the board Knight fork - a knight attacks two pieces at once Knowledge - information concerning a certain theme KNSB - Koninklijke Nederlandse Schaak Bond (i.e. Royal Dutch Chess Federation) Lead in development - being better developed than the opponent Learning programme - programme that serves to acquire knowledge, insight and skills Learning skills - qualities to study well Lightning Chess - chess games with maximally two minutes per player Live commentary - explanation of games to visitors at a chess event Logical thinking - systematic thinking according to the principles of logic Long Algebraic notation - notation where both the starting square and the end square of a move are written down Loss on time - not making the required number of moves within the time-control Luft - see 'Bolthole' Magnet combination - piece sacrifice putting the enemy king, if it takes the sacrificed piece, on an unfavourable square Main line - the most important, most essential variation within an opening system Major pieces - the queens and rooks Manoeuvre - sequence of moves which serves to move a piece to a better square Master - see 'International Master' Match - contest between two players or teams Mate - the king cannot escape the attack, the game is over Material - the pieces and pawns Material balance - the balance in value of the pieces and pawns on both sides 236 Mate threat - threat to give mate to the enemy king Mating attack - attack on the enemy king Mating net - the king is caught in a web of mate threats Mentality - way of thinking, psychological disposition Mental training - training of mental skills and mental insights Mentor - supervisor of a pupil Methodical approach - dealing with something in a systematic way Middlegame - middle phase of a chess game Miniature - a game that lasts maximally twenty moves Minority attack - attack with pawns on a flank where the attacker has less pawns than the defender Minor pieces - the knights and bishops Minor promotion - promotion to a knight, bishop or rook instead of a queen Motivation - factors that move someone to adopt certain behaviour Move - a turn of a chess player who plays a piece or a pawn Move repetition - repeating moves, resulting in the same position Move transposition - alternative move order which leads to the same position Natural move - move that looks obvious and logical New in Chess - Dutch (English-language) chess publisher N. N. - nomen nescio, name of the player is unknown Notate - write down the moves of a game Notation - the moves of a game put on paper Notation book - booklet with game notations Novelty - a good move that has not been played before Octopus - strong knight on the sixth (for White) or third (for Black) rank Odds game - game where one player starts with a pawn or a piece less Olympiad - most important international competition of world chess federation FIDE Open file - file that has no pawns on it Open game - way of playing where the position contains many open lines Open Games - openings that start with the moves l.e4-e4 e7-eS Opening - first phase of a game Opening repertoire - the collection of opening systems employed by a player Opening trap - a trick to provoke a mistake in the opening Opposite-coloured bishops - a light-squared versus a dark-squared bishop Opposition - kings are opposite each other with an odd number of squares between them; the king that is not to move is said to have the 'opposition' Optimism - full confidence in a positive outcome Outpost - a square situated deep inside the enemy position Pairing table - table showing which participants are to play each other Parents meeting - meeting where a trainer/coach speaks with parents Parrying - averting/fending off an attack Passed pawn - pawn that meets no enemy pawn Patience - calmly waiting for the possibilities to come Pattern - motif, the way in which pieces and pawns are arranged on the board Pattern recognition - recognition of patterns (with corresponding characteristics) Patzer - weak player Pawn endgame/ending - endgame where only pawns are left on the board Pawn chain - a group of connected pawns Pawn fork - a pawn attacking two pieces at once Pawn majority - one of the players has more pawns on a certain flank Pawn race - pawns try to promote earlier than enemy pawns Pawn sacrifice - giving away a pawn in order to achieve a certain advantage Pawn structure - the way in which pawns are arranged on the board Pedagogics - educational science Performance readiness - to be prepared to make an achievement, which requires effort and concentration Performance goal - to be focused on playing a good game Perpetual check - when continuous checks can be given to the enemy king Personality development - development of characteristic features of a person PGN - portable game notation, a computer format for saving games Piece - king, queen, rook, bishop, knight 237 Piece mobility - amount of space that pieces have to move Piece sacrifice - to allow a piece to be captured in order to achieve a certain advantage Pin (relative, absolute) - because of a threat, a piece cannot be moved Plan - way of playing in order to achieve a certain goal Playing tempo - the amount of time that players get for a game Ply - a half-move, i.e. a move by White or Black only Poisoned pawn - pawn that cannot be taken on the penalty of a disadvantage Position - certain configuration of pieces and pawns Positional advantage - pieces have more influence than the enemy pieces Positional play - putting the pieces on squares where they exert optimum influence Positive reinforcement - stimulating certain behaviour by rewarding it Post mortem - 'after death': analysis after a game Preparation for a game - work systematically before a game in order to play optimally Preparation move - move which enables a certain combination Private trainer - a trainer who coaches an individual Problem (chess) - constructed positions where the king must be mated in a certain number of moves Problem-solving ability - extent to which someone is able to solve difficulties Process orientedness - when a development follows a certain process Promotion - a pawn reaches the other side of the board and changes into a piece of the player's choice Prophylaxis - anticipating the opponent's move while improving the own position at the same time Protect - defend a piece in such a way that the enemy attacking piece can be recaptured Pseudo-sacrifice - apparently giving away a piece, but winning it back Psychology - science that studies behaviour, thinking, feelings Psychological flaws - the inability to perform certain mental actions Public relations (pr) - communication with groups inside and outside an organization Purposiveness - when all activities serve to achieve a certain goal Quadrant - a square; e.g. a king can stop a pawn that is within its quadrant or 'square' Queen endgame/ending - ending where there are only queens and pawns left on the board Queenside - the side of the board where the queens stand in the starting position Quick play - using little thinking time for each move Quiet move - move that does not immediately attack anything, but turns out to be devastating on the next move Rampant rook - rook that wants to be captured constantly, with the aim of stalemate Rank - eight horizontally adjacent squares Rapid chess - chess game with a short time-control (mostly 25 minutes per player) Rating - number that signifies playing strength Repetition - going through subject matter more than once; an important teaching principle Resign - admit to the opponent that the game is lost Result-oriented play - the result of the game (i.e. a win, or a draw) is the first priority Retrograde analysis - finding out, by reasoning backwards, which moves have led to a certain position Romantic chess - chess style from the 19th century where a lot of material was sacrificed Rook endgame/ending - endgame/ending where only rooks and pawns are left on the board Rook's pawn - pawn on the edge of the board Round robin - tournament system where every player is paired once against every other player Royal game - an epithet of the game of chess Rules of the game - the rules of chess, established by FIDE Rules of thumb - general rules that are helpful with an assessment Russian chess school - chess culture with good trainers, hard work, many strong opponents Sacrifice - to give away material in exchange for a certain advantage SBSA - Stichting Bevorderen Schaken Apeldoorn (i.e. Foundation for the Promotion of Chess in Apeldoorn) Scenario - survey in which organizational tasks of an event are described Scheveningen system - kind of match where team members play all the members of another team Scholar's Mate - quick victory via a combined attack on f7 by queen and bishop School chess - playing chess on schools Scoresheet - form on which the game is notated 238 Sea-snake - game that lasts more than 100 moves Second - assistant of a player during a tournament or match Self-teaching - tried-and-tested procedure that is advantageous for chess talents Self-confidence - the knowledge that one has sufficient qualities for a performance Self-criticism - being critical of oneself Self-management - keeping oneself under control and judging oneself realistically Self-study - study completed individually by a chess player, without supervision Seventh rank - on this rank, major pieces are often dangerous Short notation - form of notation with the letter of the piece and the coordinates of the square where it ends up Simultaneous display - when a chess player takes on several opponents at once Sitzfleisch - the ability to play accurately for a long time Skills - capacities, qualities Smothered mate - mate with the knight, when the enemy king is boxed in by its own pieces Social determinants - social factors that influence the development of chess talent Sonneborn-Berger system - system for determining the final rankings in a tournament Space - squares on the board that are available to a player Space advantage - one of the players controls more squares Sponsoring - supporting a chess organization or a chess activity financially or materially Sportsmanship - playing mentality that shows respect for the opponent Square (1) - the chessboard has 64 squares, each square can contain one piece or pawn Square (2) - see Quadrant Square clearance - by playing a piece or a pawn, a square is vacated Stalemate - when a player can make no legal moves but is not mated; draw Stamina - condition that enables a player to finish a performance, cope with setbacks, react with resilience Staunton chess pieces - certain trend-setting design of chess pieces Steinitz, Elements of - first World Champion, he described a number of important characteristics in chess positions Step-by-Step Method - popular method to teach chess, devised by Rob Brunia and Cor van Wijgerden Strength/weakness analysis - inventarisation of good and bad qualities of a chess player Strong square - a square that cannot be attacked, and from where a piece exerts a lot of influence Strategy - a general plan to achieve a goal Stress - mental tension Students' chess - a certain match form: the winner of the game gets one minute less in the next game Study - learning systematically about chess, also : endgame study Style - manner of playing, which differs for each chess player Swindle - trick to save a hopeless position Swiss system - a certain pairing system for tournaments Tactic - concrete sequence of moves, combination Tactical exercises - positions for developing tactical skills Talent - innate qualities Target - square, pawn, piece, or king at which an attack is aimed Task readiness - willingness to perform a certain task Tasks of team captain - tasks performed by a team captain to make sure that a match develops properly Team captain - the coach of a chess team Team competition - competition against other clubs Team training - collective training of team members Technique - procedures with certain characteristics Tempo - a move Tempo gain - to gain an extra move for free (by means of a threat, for instance) Tempo loss - a useless move Text move - the move actually played in a game (i.e. not in the given variations) Thematic position - position with typical features Theme tournament - tournament where everyone is obliged to play a certain opening (variation) Theory - the body of knowledge of moves that are considered good Thinking ahead - thinking about positions that can occur at the end of variations 239 Thinking process - the way in which thinking goes Threat - the possibility to achieve a certain advantage Three-day chess - chess event that lasts three days Time - the number of moves that make up a variation Time-control - the amount of thinking time a player has at his disposal in a game Time management - using the thinking time in a controlled way Time-trouble - too little time to judge a position properly Time use - the way in which a player manages his thinking time To uch-move - if a player touches a piece, he must make a move with it To urnament - contest with more than one round To urnament book - book with reports on a tournament (with games, result tables, pictures, etc.) To urnament bulletin - bulletin with a report on (a round of) a tournament To urnament visit - watching or taking part in a chess tournament TPR - tournament performance rating: the rating score of a player in a certain tournament Trainer - coach who indicates how a chess player can practise Training - situation where chess skills are practised Training decathlon - practising different chess skills in ten different items Training partner - partner with whom a chess player trains together Training scheme - scheme that indicates what, where, when and how trainings take place Trap - a move or plan that entices the opponent to make a wrong move Triangulation - playing the king over three squares in order to lose a tempo Trick - technical or psychological pitfall Tripled pawn - three pawns of the same colour on one file TWIC - 'The Week In Chess', well-known online chess magazine Unprotectable - a piece, pawn or square cannot be defended Unprotected piece - piece that is not defended Value of the pieces - the power of pieces expressed in numbers Variation - certain continuation starting from a position Variation calculation - calculation of possible variations Variation tree - series of possible move sequences starting from a position Variety - regularly doing other things; an important teaching principle Verbalization - to put an idea into words Verification - checking if something is true Visualization - conjuring up positions to your mind's eye Visualization ability - the ability to assess positions and variations in your head Waiting move - move that does not worsen the own position and deliberately leaves the initiative to the opponent Weakening - when a position gets less possibilities and more restrictions Weakness - part of a position where the opponent can seize an advantage Weak pawns - pawns that cannot be defended, or only with difficulty Weak square - square on which the opponent has a lot of influence Workshop - training procedure where there is much space for spontaneous ideas X-ray attack - an attacking piece looks through an enemy piece to a target X-ray check - an attacking piece looks through the enemy king to an enemy piece Zugzwang - being forced to make a move that worsens one's own position ZwickmLihle - repetitive discovered check which enables a player to win a number of pieces 240